Rags to Riches (song) recordings by Sunny & the Sunliners (#45 in 1963) and Elvis Presley (#33 in 1971) also made the Billboard charts. Tony Bennett's version was used at the beginning of the film "Goodfellas", just after Henry Hill closes the trunk of the car and says in voice-over, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster." The song was also used in an episode of "Columbo". The opening line of the song was sung regularly and exuberantly by the character Carmine Ragusa on the television series "Laverne & Shirley", typically when he had good news. "Rags
Tony Bennett a half later and started Bennett's career as an international artist. Once the rock and roll era began in 1955, the dynamic of the music industry changed and it became harder and harder for existing pop singers to do well commercially. Nevertheless, Bennett continued to enjoy success, placing eight songs in the "Billboard" during the latter part of the 1950s, with "In the Middle of an Island" (which he vehemently hated so much) reaching the highest at number nine in 1957. For a month in August–September 1956, Bennett hosted a NBC Saturday night television variety show, "The Tony Bennett Show",