Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro Talk Meeting and Staying Friends

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro presented their first collaboration, the 1973 crime drama “Mean Streets,” and then discussed the film during a De Niro Con presentation at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The celebration of the film’s 50th anniversary took place Saturday at the Beacon Theatre, where the screening was followed by a conversation between Scorsese and De Niro, moderated by legendary rapper Nas.

While “Mean Streets” was the beginning of their 10-film, 50-plus year creative journey together, Scorsese said their introduction first came at a Christmas dinner, where they were urged into conversation by another to-be-legendary filmmaker: Brian De Palma. Although the pair grew up just two blocks away and heard talk of each other in the neighborhood, they had never been properly introduced until that fateful night.

“Bob was sitting there after dinner and then he looked at me and they had gone inside or something,” Scorsese said. “He said, ‘You used to hang out with so-and-so and so-and-so.’ I said, ‘Yeah, how do you know?’ And he said, ‘I’m Bobby.’ I said, ‘Bobby? Bobby. Oh, my God. We had seen De Palma after doing “Hi, Mom!” After you did that, he said, “You got to meet this guy.”‘ Then he had seen ‘Who’s That Knocking,’ and it was very accurate as to the nature of that subculture in the neighborhood. He identified with that, so when ‘Mean Streets’ was finally put together, he came on.”

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro Talk Meeting and Staying Friends