If you’ve never seen this film, give it a shot.
The atmosphere in the film is quite special, you almost feel like it was made in modern times, just adjusted in post to be black and white.
My 2¢: this could be a consequence of both the movie's strengths as much as of the trade-offs taken that did not overshadow the strengths. For example, the movie's wartime moral dichotomy is carefully offset with reminders about the limitations of moralism.
I'm surprised that the professor never saw The Godfather :)
Wait, you haven't seen The Godfather either???
I was also making an oblique reference to the meme that The Godfather is "the perfect film".
I was trying to be amusing, but apparently I failed spectacularly. I am ashamed.