 "The Valachi Papers" grossed about $17 million domestically, generating theatrical rentals of $9.3 million.Reviews were mostly negative, as many critics inevitably compared the film unfavorably to "The Godfather".Roger Greenspun of "The New York Times" wrote, "Often ludicrous and often just dull, Terence Young's 'The Valachi Papers' has the look of a movie project that ran short of ideas before it was finished, and ran out of class almost before it was begun."