powerful young franchises in western Pennsylvania, the success of their organization relied on their ability to successfully influence local politicians, control law enforcement, and move across various social lines in the community”(Kahne, Small-Town Mafia).Even in a smaller environment, the mob still often operated in a similar manner to one in a larger city. First they gained financial power through gambling, and then were able to gain political power. Once they had both political and…
ya horses Vito, I’m goin I’m goin.” “Next time I see ya give money away like that, I’m gon be pissed!” “Please, relax will ya.” “Get the hell outta here.” Henry Tomasino and Vito Scaletta, two childhood friends, are middle aged men in the Italian Mafia. Besides drinking and killing, these two friends gamble on everything. It started in 1933 when Henry and Vito’s friend, Carlo Falcone, got them into gambling at the age of 19. Two men began brawling at bar and Carlo had them bet money on who…
In the Godfather movies, Michael Corleone attempts to find his place in the Corleone family. Michael is the youngest son of Vito Corleone, who is the original “Godfather” and head of the Corleone family. In the beginning of the first movie, Michael insists on remaining away from the family business, and enlists in the Marines to be away from the family. However, he eventually returns home with his girlfriend to introduce her to the family. When his father is nearly assassinated, Michael offers…
As previously stated, law enforcement focuses heavily on the Italian American Mafia structure and tend to try to take down the ruling boss of the family or go after the street level drug dealers. The issue with this is that if a boss is arrested, another person will step up and take their place. Likewise, if a street level dealer…
talks about how the culture effected the mafia in Sicily. He first started talking about how Morello’s story was not known around the world yet. So, he explained how Morello set up crime in New York in the 1900’s. Mr. Morello was well operated before the mafia was even a big deal to screenwriters. Morello ended up getting imprisoned, then murdered. Mike Dash then goes on to talk about the culture of Sicily, where Morello had lived, had given rise to the mafia. He started to talk about how…
There was a time, maybe a couple of years ago now, when the name 'Nino Marchesi' could have been heard in the Gilded Cage. Not up in the front of the house, of course, where Vinnie's beloved girl sang her songs and customers put out hard-earned dollars that would end up in the coffers of the mob. No. Instead Nino's name was reserved for the back rooms and only a select few lips. Vinnie would light up a nice, fat cigar and take a few puffs on it while letting the smoke drift around under the…
Whether by groups of people or a single individual, negative actions may even happen with good intent. In the case of the Mafia however, it has cause negative impact long before the 1920’s. However, there is something about the 1920’s that make the negative impact even more noticeable. Not only did affect the prohibition era it also left negative impacts even after that. The Mafia made their first appearance in the 1800’s and had already established themselves in the social and economic parts of…
A child from an italian immigrant family Al capone, nickname “scarface”.He rose up as a leader of a chicago mafia during the prohibition era.He grew up with a very poor family but he had a taste for bigger and better things. Many New York gangsters in the early 20th Century came from impoverished backgrounds, but this was not the case for the legendary Al Capone. Far from being a poor immigrant from Italy who turned to crime to make a living, Capone was from a respectable, professional…
Francis Ford Coppola’s, The Godfather Part II, released in 1974, provides additional insight into the Corleone family affairs following the events of the first film. The film begins with a mafia chief executing all of Vito Corleone’s immediate family in Sicily. Left alone, young Vito flees his hometown and travels to America. As Vito gets older, his career of crime begins with petty theft and later escalates into the neighborhood negotiator. Despite his life of crime, Vito continues to be…
beginnings of organized crime. Later on, the Italians were the most commonly associated group that took part in organized crime, followed by the Asians and Latinos. When the Italians first came to America they were treated as slaves and were put to work doing strenuous labor, as more and more came they started to inhabit Manhattan and started taking payments for protection, then the Irish came, and they were stuck with the undesirable jobs. The Irish and the Italians hated each other, this is…