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Mobsters (film)
''Mobsters'' is a 1991 American biographical crime drama film directed by Michael Karbelnikoff. It details the creation of The Commission. Set in New York City, taking place from 1917 to 1931, it is a semi-fictitious account of the rise of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. The film stars Christian Slater as Luciano, Patrick Dempsey as Lansky, Costas Mandylor as Costello and Richard Grieco as Siegel, with Michael Gambon, Anthony Quinn, Lara Flynn Boyle, and F. Murray Abraham in supporting roles. Synopsis The film recounts the rise of four Infamous gangsters: Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Frank Costello. The four begin as members of youth gangs on the streets of New York, fighting and hustling as they learn the rules of the street and form strong friendships that benefit them as they grow into their teenage years. The beginning of Prohibition provides them with an entry into organized crime, and under the mento ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Kazan
Nicholas Kazan (; born September 15, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film producer and film director, director. Early life Kazan was born in New York, the son of Greek Americans, Greek-American director Elia Kazan and his first wife, playwright Molly Kazan (née Mary Day Thacher). Through his mother, Kazan is a descendant of classicist and college administrator Thomas Anthony Thacher, Yale president Jeremiah Day, and founding father Roger Sherman. Career Kazan, a noted playwright, premiered his newest work, ''Mlle. God'' (2011), in Los Angeles with the Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA. Kazan's dark comedy re-invents Frank Wedekind's seminal "Lulu" character. He noted his inspiration came "most of all by Louise Brooks' luminous cosmic performance" of the character. Kazan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for his work on ''Reversal of Fortune''. Personal life In 1984, Kazan married screenwriter Robin Swic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States. A member of the Jewish mob, Lansky developed a gambling empire that stretched around the world. He was said to own points (percentages) in casinos in Las Vegas, Cuba, The Bahamas and London. Lansky additionally had a strong influence with the Italian-American Mafia and played a large role in the consolidation of the criminal underworld. The full extent of this role has been the subject of some debate, as Lansky himself denied many of the accusations against him. Despite nearly 50 years as a member/participant in organized crime, Lansky was never found guilty of anything more serious than illegal gambling. He has a legacy of being one of the most financially successful gangsters in American hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Sadler
Nicholas Sadler (born 1967) is an American actor, director, writer and producer. Early life and career Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he was raised in Apple Valley, Minnesota, where he attended Apple Valley High School. He was accepted into the Juilliard School's Drama Department while a senior in high school. After graduating, he had roles in Stephen King's '' Sometimes They Come Back'' and as Mad Dog Coll in ''Mobsters''. He has had major roles in films such as ''Disclosure'', ''Twister'', '' Scent of a Woman'', and '' Hellraiser: Inferno''. Writer and director In 1998 Nicholas Sadler wrote and directed the short film ''Jesus Tells A Joke''. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival and went on to screen at festivals around the world, including Slamdance, Denver, and Deauville. In 2002 Nicholas Sadler was the creative consultant for the Ray Romano documentary ''95 Miles to Go'', directed by Tom Caltabiano ( Producer, ''Everybody Loves Raymond''). Per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaetano Reina
Gaetano Reina (; September 27, 1889 – February 26, 1930) was an Italian-American gangster. He was an early American Mafia boss who was the founder of what has for many years been called the Lucchese crime family in New York City. He led the family until his murder on February 26, 1930, on the orders of Joe Masseria. Early years Reina was born on September 27, 1889 in Corleone, Sicily to Giacomo Reina and Carmela Rumore. Critchley p. 86 In the early 1900s, the Reina family moved to New York City and settled on 107th Street in East Harlem. Reina along with his brother Antonio began working with members of the Morello crime family. In July 1913, Reina's sister Bernarda married Vincenzo Terranova. He married Angelina Olivera, and the couple had nine children; five sons, Giacomo, became a member of the Lucchese family, Capeci p. 61 Henry, Sam, John and Bernard, and four daughters, Anna, Carmela "Mildred" Valachi, married Joe Valachi in 1932, Rose Bongrieco and Lucy Sterling. The fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Penn
Christopher Shannon Penn (October 10, 1965 – January 24, 2006) was an American actor. He was the brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn. Noted as a skilled character actor from a prominent acting dynasty, he was typically cast as a tough character, featured as a villain or a working-class thug, or in a comic role and was known for his roles in such films as '' The Wild Life'', ''Reservoir Dogs'', '' The Funeral'', ''Footloose'', ''Rush Hour'', ''Corky Romano'', ''True Romance'', ''Beethoven's 2nd, Short Cuts'', ''The Boys Club'', '' All the Right Moves'', ''At Close Range'', ''Pale Rider'', and ''Starsky & Hutch''. During his career Penn had won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in ''The Funeral''. He also provided the voice of the corrupt, ruthless cop Edward "Eddie" Pulaski in the video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''. Penn was found dead in his apartment on January 24, 2006, at the age of 40. An autopsy revealed the primary cause for his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Masseria
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (; January 17, 1886April 15, 1931) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York City Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 to 1931. In 1930, he battled in the Castellammarese War to take over the criminal activities in New York City. The war ended with his murder on April 15, 1931, in a hit ordered by his own lieutenant, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, in an agreement with rival faction head Salvatore Maranzano. Early life Giuseppe Masseria was born on January 17, 1886, in Menfi, Province of Agrigento, Sicily, in a family of tailors. When he was young, he moved to the town of Marsala, in the Province of Trapani. Masseria arrived in the United States in 1902. He then became part of the Morello crime family based in Harlem and parts of Little Italy in southern Manhattan. Masseria was a contemporary of other captains of that mafia family such as Gaetano Reina. In 1909 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931) was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. He instigated the Castellammarese War in 1930 to seize control of the American Mafia, winning the war after the murder of rival faction head Joe Masseria in April 1931. He then briefly became the Mafia's ''capo di tutti capi'' ("boss of all bosses") and formed the Five Families in New York City, but was murdered on September 10, 1931, on the orders of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who established an arrangement in which families shared power to prevent future turf wars: The Commission. Early life Salvatore Maranzano was the youngest of 12 children born to Domenico Maranzano and Antonina Pisciotta. Five of his siblings lived to adulthood: Mariano, Angelo, Nicolo, Giuseppe, and Angela. As a youngster, Maranzano had wanted to become a priest a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( , ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for the establishment of the Commission in 1931, after he abolished the boss of bosses title held by Salvatore Maranzano following the Castellammarese War. He was also the first official boss of the modern Genovese crime family. In 1936, Luciano was tried and convicted for compulsory prostitution and running a prostitution racket after years of investigation by District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. He was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison, but during World War II an agreement was struck with the Department of the Navy through his Jewish Mob associate Meyer Lansky to provide naval intelligence. In 1946, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Five Families
The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War. Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs in New York City into the Maranzano, Profaci, Mangano, Luciano, and Gagliano families, which are now known as the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese families. Each family had a demarcated territory and an organizationally structured hierarchy and reported up to the same overarching governing entity. Initially, Maranzano intended each family's boss to report to him as the '' capo di tutti i capi'' ("boss of all the bosses"). However, this led to his assassination that September, and that role was abolished for The Commission, a ruling committee established by Lucky Luciano to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and to mediate conflicts between families. It consisted of the bosses of the Five Families as well ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Cosa Nostra
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra (, "our thing" or "this thing of ours") and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN). The organization's name is derived from the original ''Mafia'' or ''Cosa nostra'', the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia (or ''Cosa nostra'') groups from Sicily operating in the United States, as the organization initially emerged as an offshoot of the Sicilian Mafia (known also as ''Cosa nostra'' by its members) formed by Italian immigrants in the United States. However, the organization gradually evolved into a separate entity partially independent of the original Mafia in Sicily, and it eventually encompassed or absorbed other Italian immigrant and Italian-American gangsters and Ital ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rum-running
Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The term ''rum-running'' is more commonly applied to smuggling over water; ''bootlegging'' is applied to smuggling over land. It is believed that the term ''bootlegging'' originated during the American Civil War, when soldiers would sneak liquor into army camps by concealing pint bottles within their boots or beneath their trouser legs. Also, according to the PBS documentary ''Prohibition'', the term ''bootlegging'' was popularized when thousands of city dwellers sold liquor from flasks they kept in their boot legs all across major cities and rural areas. The term ''rum-running'' was current by 1916, and was used during the Prohibition era in the United States (1920–1933), when ships from Bimini in the western Bahamas transported cheap Caribbea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletics, including conspiring to fix the 1919 World Series. He was also a mentor of future crime bosses Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and numerous others. Rothstein "transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business, run like a corporation, with himself at the top", and gained notoriety as the person who first realized that Prohibition was a business opportunity, a means to enormous wealth, who "understood the truths of early century capitalism (giving people what they want) and came to dominate them". His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, portrayed in contemporary and later short stories, novels, musicals, and films, including the character Meyer Wolfsheim in ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
