I had the advantage of reading the book, and when the script was first submitted to me, it was just another gangster story - the east side taking over the west side and all that.

Some of these films such as Vice Squad (1953) proved excellent in their own right while others such as 1958's Tank Battalion were critical and commercial failures. Immediately prior to filming the emotional scene Robinson told his co-star and longtime friend Charlton Heston that he was dying from cancer and had weeks to live at best. One of his chief pastimes was collecting records of the world's leading concerts.

He was included in the American Film Institute's list of the 25 greatest male stars in American cinema. Other memorable roles include Barton Keyes in the film noir Double Indemnity Dathan in The Ten Commandments and his final performance as Sol Roth in Soylent Green.