The American Mafia

Over a 50-year period, these ambitious, young immigrants come together to form the American Mafia, Making millions, killing thousands,And changing the face of crime, forever. Their authority stretches across two continents, impacting global wars And creating empires. There's none that had the institutional tentacles of the Mafia. Totally criminal, totally amoral, totally horrible, but totally brilliant.

(Gunshot firing) “Just get it done, now.”

Charles Luciano[sicilian], Meyer Lansky[Jewish], Benjamin Bugs Siegel[Jewish]

"The blood on the streets must stop, and these cycles of revenge must end.We may be criminals, but that doesn't mean we're savages.We have to run our business like a business.

To begin, we start organizing our families, like we did in sicily.The Capos, the Crews, the Consiglieres, all reporting to the head of the family, but there will be no more boss of bosses.Instead, we'll have a board of directors, a commission run by the heads of the five New York families.They will have the final say in all matters, even life and death.

(raise glasses)To peace and profits." ——Luciano,in a hotel of Chicago,1931

In a single move, Luciano creates the most powerful organized crime syndicate America has ever seen.Uniting thousands of ruthless criminals across the country and bringing order to a multimillion-dollar operation.

It's the birth of the modern American Mafia, and it all began more than two decades earlier.

[1906] Luciano More than four million people live in New York City, piled into highly segregated tenements. And while most fight to scrape out an honest living, others turn to crime. As neighborhoods sprang up, whether they were Jewish, Irish, or Italian, you had exploiters.You had gangsters. They plundered from their own people.Shaked down storekeepers. If you didn't pay money for them, you might be beaten up. And it was easy money for them, and it was an easy market. Across the city, hundreds of unorganized gangs terrorize entire blocks in a chaotic turf war. There's a wide array of mobsters in New York City. There's mobs upon Mob. It is damn dangerous because they are knocking each other off on the streets. In this unstable environment, Luciano's family struggles to survive.

"For the people that I grew up with, who ended up getting involved in crime, there was nothing else.They didn't have a great education.In those days, if you came from a poor environment, this was a way of earning money."

Meyer Lansky My grandfather, Meyer Lansky, met Lucky Luciano on the streets of New York. He was being run down for some money to cross over to the other neighborhood. My 5'4"(1.62m) grandfather said, "I'm not giving you any money.You'll have to fight me for it."And at that point, Luciano respected him. Meyer Lansky is a Russian immigrant with a knack for mathematics, whose parents came to America to avoid religious persecution.

Benjamin Siegel While Bugsy Siegel is an intimidating Jewish kid from Brooklyn, known for his charm, and also his violent outbursts. Bugsy Siegel got his nickname because when you were bugs, you were nuts.

Combining their unique talents, Luciano, Lansky, and Siegel begin to establish themselves as an up and coming criminal force on the lower east side.

Joe Masseria,Frank Costello[Italian]

(Gunshot firing)

"See what he has on him.Come on.Let's go."

"Looks like 50 bucks."

"See if he has any gold in his mouth."

"What? A couple fillings."

"Good.That's good.Get 'em."

"Oh, Christ.(Cocks gun) Go on.Get outta here."

"Wait.Wait.Maybe we can give you a hand.Bugs."

Over the next few years, they run successful rackets for Costello Under Joe Masseria, a ruthless criminal kingpin. By 1919, the crew was nothing more than a group of petty criminals, making money through small-time gambling rings and protection shakedowns.

Vito Genovese Seeing an opportunity to strengthen their crew, Frank Costello brings in a new soldier.

-Hey, Frank.

- Vito.

-I want you to meet my associate, Charlie Luciano.

- Nice to meet ya.

- Likewise.

-Vito's in the import-export business.

-Mostly import.

Vito Genovese was almost a classical tough guy.Who'd be a guy who-who beat up innocent victims.Who would slug anybody.Who would kick a dog when he was down.There was nothing, no atrocity he wouldn't pull.Toughest guy in the world.And he wanted that reputation. With Vito Genovese on board, they're ready to transform their crew from low-level street thugs into a legitimate gang. Meyer Lansky is the money man. Bugsy Siegel is the suave charmer with ruthless instincts. Frank Costello has all the connections and knows how to play the system. And Luciano is a visionary with relentless ambition. They know all they need now is the right opportunity.

1920s' the 18th Amendment(Prohibition)

The theory was prohibition would decrease alcoholism, and it would increase the morals and the moral fiber of Americans. The whole concept backfired.

Masseria Instead of cleaning up America, prohibition plays into the hands of the gangsters, creating a billion-dollar industry virtually overnight.Prohibition was one of the best things the government ever did for the Mob. Masseria creates an underground network of bootlegging distilleries in warehouses, selling his own product at a curbside liquor market and secret drinking establishments called "speakeasies". Prohibition probably reverses Joe Masseria's fortunes more than anybody else in the underworld.He goes from being petty bootlegger, to the king of the underworld.Joe Masseria becomes Joe the boss.

Hijack Luciano begins to devise a plan.One that he hopes will get Masseria's attention. The Mafia people, like Luciano, were ambitious.They were entrepreneurial.They were not willing to exist on the lowest level of the social pecking order.They were opportunistic people. Luciano decides to hijack a rival gang's truck, filled with illegal booze, and deliver it to Masseria.If he can pull it off, he'll have a chance to move up in Masseria's organization and finally earn some big money. Luciano emerged from this whole group because he was not afraid to make decisions.He was a leader. Luciano and his crew have just pulled off a huge heist.The only problem is, they've inadvertently robbed a truck belonging to their own boss. Luciano knows that he and his crew can't just return what they've stolen, as Masseria will make a brutal example of anyone who crosses him.

-(Knock on door) It's Frank.Let me in.Masseria's got guys lookin' for us everywhere.

-We can't just stay holed up here forever.Let's just take him out.It's either him or us.It might as well be him, right?

-You can't just walk in there and take out Masseria.

-You're right. But we're not gonna be hunted down like dogs, either.

-What the hell are we gonna do, Charlie?

-I'll go see Masseria myself.

Luciano was smart, but he was a tough guy, and he was a street guy.And you put that together, and you got this kinda unstoppable force.

Umberto Valenti

-Ever kill anyone, Luciano?

-No.

-It's actually pretty easy.Some people say It's an acquired taste.

But, to me, it comes very naturally.

I always felt that the mentality of a wise guy when he has to shoot somebody, it's no different from, uh, being in the trenches.

So, war is war.A soldier is a soldier, whether you're a soldier for the wise guys or you're a soldier for the government.

In the Mob, you will get an order to commit a violent act.Now, you have to detach yourself from the act.You have to think that you are paying homage to the boss, and you're doing what's expected of you.So, you have to be strong-minded, and think you have a license to do it.You're just gonna do it, no matter what.

Heroine and Rothstein

Now in Masseria's inner circle, Luciano was ordered to run a high stakes racket, selling a recently outlawed painkiller Known as heroin. Heroin was legal in America into the teens, and it's a drug that is legitimate.There'd be heroin in things like cough syrup, in aspirin. Heroin usage quickly spirals out of control.And when the government finally makes it illegal, demand skyrockets.

Prison The myth of the Mafia not dealing in drugs comes from "The Godfather," when Don Corleone spoke the lines about, "we don't do that.It takes people's souls." I don't think there's any truth in it.They were interested in making money. Luciano was arrested for dealing heroin and sentenced to six months in prison.He's proven himself a loyal member of Masseria's crew, but it's only landed him behind bars.While Luciano was left rotting in jail, Masseria continues to rake in the profits.Luciano begins to realize that if he truly wants to succeed, he'll have to find a way to become his own boss.

Arnold Rothstein Meyer Lansky met Arnold Rothstein at a bar mitzvah.Arnold Rothstein saw potential in him.They talked business for hours.There was an instant respect. Born to a middle class Jewish family, Rothstein disappointed his parents by gambling at a young age.He would go on to fix horse races, operate illegal casinos, and plan the most notorious sports betting scandal of all time.Arnold Rothstein was known as the brain. One of his claims to fortune, or to acclaim, was that he had fixed the 1919 world series.It will come to be known as the "black sox scandal".Arnold Rothstein bets heavily on the series, winning the modern day equivalent of $4 million. MLB黑襪丑聞案事件 當(dāng)年交戰(zhàn)的二支球隊分別是國家聯(lián)盟的辛辛那提紅人隊和美國聯(lián)盟的芝加哥白襪隊。 白襪隊是當(dāng)年戰(zhàn)績最佳的球隊，也一致被看好能拿下世界大賽冠軍，但先發(fā)一壘手甘地爾(Chick Gandil)和當(dāng)?shù)氐穆殬I(yè)賭徒蘇利文(Joseph "Sport" Sullivan)合作，買通七位對白襪老板不滿的球員(包括明星外野手“無鞋喬”("Shoeless" Joe Jackson)和二位先發(fā)投手)，在比賽中放水讓紅人拿到冠軍。大賽結(jié)束，紅人以五勝三負(fù)(當(dāng)時采九戰(zhàn)五勝制)擊敗白襪獲得冠軍。 隔年(1920年)球季，放水傳聞不脛而走，聯(lián)邦檢察官及大陪審團(tuán)開始調(diào)查，最終判定參與放水的八名球員均處終身球監(jiān)。 Arnold Rothstein was an influence and model, not just his vision for business, but his whole way of life. He could go into a ballroom and mix with the fanciest people in the city, or he could go downtown and handle himself with the biggest thugs in the city.His style influence becomes the modern gangster. So, any time you see a guy on a street corner pull out a big wad of bills all rolled together, that's Rothstein. He believed in makin' money, and he didn't care on what your nationality was or the color of your skin.He wanted to make money.He was a businessman.

Father Rothstein is very good at sizing up situations and people.Smart people recognize smartness in other people.

-I'll give you a shot.See if you don't screw it up.

Luciano was still part of Joe Masseria's gang, but he begins distributing alcohol for Rothstein on the side. Rothstein begins to show Luciano how to organize his criminal rackets like a corporation.

-How long do you keep these books（賬本）? You keep these books forever.

Teaching him to dress like a businessman and to sell quality liquor to maximize his profits.Luciano is not exactly as polished as Arnold Rothstein, but he's willing to learn. Rothstein says, "make yourself into someone who can work not only the lower east side", "the Upper East Side.""Be a success." Arnold Rothstein teaches"Don't be like Joe Masseria.Don't sell people rot gut.There's more money in selling to rich people than to alcoholic poor people.So, sell the good stuff."

Storm

Masseria wanted kickbacks.He wanted as much as $10,000 from each person who worked for another gang.And he saw this That he deserved it because he was so important and so vital to Italian gangsters in New York City. Masseria, he's sloppy.He's hotheaded.He's not careful. Luciano and Lansky know that working for Masseria is a dead-end.

-We're gonna have to do somethin'.

They're watchin' us build, and build, and build, right? And then, they think they're gonna just scoop up and take everything, right?

Yeah, exactly.And that's when we strike.

For years, Meyer Lansky and Charles Luciano have operated under Masseria's control.And now, they've had enough.

-Right now, you're just a soldier.Another tapista with a gun, and you're tired of it.

-Yeah.

-Hmm.There's safety in no one knowing who you are.Nobody targets a nobody.

-You took risks.I mean, you still take risks.

-Calculated risks.Smart ones.One where the odds work in my favor.

-Yeah.

-You got balls.I'll give you that.

-You do this, there's no goin' back.

-I know.

-(Chuckles) You already made up your mind.Why ask me?

-Because I trust you.

-Trust yourself Because if you do this, you're on your own.

Sometimes, you get someone who's really intelligent, but they're not tough guys. And then, you get someone who's really, really a tough guy, but he's just not intelligent. But, when you get that combination of intelligence and big balls, you rise.

The Death of Rothstein ，1928

Rothstein is the epitome of sophistication and self-control,but every man has a weakness.And for Rothstein, it's high stakes gambling.

Without a doubt,the Mob will eat away at your personality and at your soul.You have this weight that you're carrying around with you.Now, some guys are able to shed it with alcohol.They shed it with sex. They shed it with drugs.But, eventually, it's gonna wear on you.

Rothstein has been a compulsive gambler,from betting on horses,to being the man believed to have fixed the 1919 world series.But Rothstein's addiction has finally caught up with him.

In September 1928,Arnold Rothstein's luck is starting to run bad.He's been losing at the track.He's been losing at cards.His marriage is also deteriorating badly.

News of the first assassination of a New York kingpin makes headlines across the country.On November 4th, 1928,Arnold Rothstein was gunned down in the streets.And dozens of big name gangsters arrive in New York to attend Rothstein's orthodox Jewish funeral.

Arnold Rothstein taught other people.He was sort of an equal opportunity, uh, mentor thief.He didn't mind helping Italian,or Irish, or Jewish gangsters.So, he had this cloud of appreciation around him that he was such an important guy.

For Luciano,the murder of Arnold Rothstein is a crushing blow.With his trusted adviser gone,He decides to put his plans to take out Joe Masseria on hold.

Al Capone and the Saint Valentine's Day massacre，1929

The Federal Government begins to crack down on gang activity across the country,and for the first time in years,New York City's mobsters are under fire.In the spring of 1929,special Government task forces raid speakeasies and Mob headquarters throughout New York.It's part of a sweeping effort to take down mobsters.Triggered by the actions of a notorious gangster over 800 miles away named Al Capone.

Al Capone is a Brooklyn gangster who fled to Chicago,and Chicago was a much rougher city than New York.And he operated very well in that environment.But, he didn't have the tempering influence of a Meyer Lansky , who could say to Luciano,"This is stupid."He would do things very much out in the public.Very much in the face of law enforcement.But on February 14th, 1929,Capone goes too far,ordering the brutal execution of rival Chicago gangsters.More than 150 shots are fired,in what becomes known as one of the bloodiest days in Mafia history,the Saint Valentine's day massacre.

The Saint Valentine's Day massacre is so incredible,it gets attention.There is more unhappiness in the public that there is this stuff going on.The Mob tried to fly under the radar.And when they got people's attention,it could be very bad for them.

With the Feds sweeping the country,New York Mob boss, Joe Masseria,has to act fast to take the heat off of his operation.He knows he needs to get Capone under control.Knowing Al Capone and Luciano ran in the same New York gangs as teenagers,Masseria is convinced that Luciano is the only one in his organization that can get close enough to Capone.Joe Masseria orders Charles Luciano to take care of Al Capone.

Luciano organizes a top secret Mob conference at the Ritz-Carlton（麗嘉酒店）, in Atlantic city.Owned by the Mob boss of New Jersey,Enoch "Nucky" Johnson.

-Al's gotta give himself up.

-I'm not gonna be a sacrificial lamb.Cause Christ almighty can come down,walk across the water,and ask me to turn myself in,and I'd still say "No."

Lucky Luciano had a variety of ways of winning people over.It might be fear.It might be good business techniques.It might be a willingness to work with other people.He's a threat.He has muscle behind him,and he's willing to put the muscle to work.

-The law, it's not letting up on this one.

-I don't care.

-You better care.It's about the greater good.

-I gotta look out for myself.

-And so do I.

You know, I could help you, Al,but if you don't listen to me, I can't protect you.

We got friends in the D.A.'S office, in Philly.You plead to a minor charge.I look after your business in Chicago,and when you get out, it'll be waiting for you.

In a bold masterstroke,Luciano convinces Capone to take the fall.And with the Mob's connections,Capone is sentenced to just a year in prison.

Luciano was earned a new level of respect from gangsters around the country.Respect to a man like Lucky meant that everybody listened to him.Almost like a director in a play.They listened to him. They trusted him.He was in control.

The Great Depression，1929.10.28

On October 28th, 1929,the U.S. Stock market crashes,losing billions of dollars in just one day.Nine thousand banks fail,and one in four Americans are unemployed.But while most people see the great depression as a time of hopelessness,Luciano sees it as a new opportunity.Together, with Meyer Lansky,he develops a new racket,designed to take advantage of the economic depression.Using the millions they've made from bootlegging,they begin providing loans to businesses on the verge of bankruptcy,at extremely high interest rates.

Just as Prohibition was good for the Mob,the depression was good for the Mob.Banks are going under. People need money.People need to get loans.You just couldn't go to a bank and say,"Could you loan me some money?Uh, my rent is due."You couldn't say, "Loan me some money.I gotta get my kid through college,"because they weren't gonna give you a loan.So, you would go to people that they called "Loan sharks,"and, look, credit cards charge up to 18% interest,and the interest from a loan shark is 20%.So, what's the difference if you borrowed money from Chase Manhattan bank,or borrowed money from the street?

-Thought I might find you here.

-Bugsy, it was just a misunderstanding.

-Misunderstanding?You know, that's okay,because people have misunderstandings all the time.For instance, I don't understand how you think that you can borrow money from me and not pay me back.That's a horrible misunderstanding.

There were the cases where they would break your knees,or they'd break your legs.And, as a result, people learned,they paid off the Mafia.They paid off the Mafia before you pay off a bank.And when they can't, the Mafia would say,"Okay, well, then we're gonna own 10% of your business."While America's in financial ruin,Luciano and his crew are making a fortune.The Mob owns a stake in businesses across New York,and Luciano is earning 20% interest, every week.

Still forced to kick money up to Joe Masseria,Luciano believes the time is finally right to remove the only person standing his way of getting to the top of the New York underworld.

But before Luciano can make his move,a new rival strikes first.

Maranzano and the Castellammarese War,1930

In may of 1930,one of warehouses belonged to Masseria comes under attack.Masseria's empire has been targeted by a ruthless, well-funded sicilian Mob boss named Salvatore Maranzano,who is determined to muscle in on Joe Masseria's territory.The Italian gang headquartered in Brooklyn,known as "The Castellammarese". Maranzano has been sent to New York by Mafia bosses in sicily.

The Mafia's power is being crushed by the rise of a tyrannical young dictator,Benito Mussolini.For the past century,the sicilian Mafia has dominated Italy.Mussolini saw that one of his big problems was the Mafia.That they wouldn't bend to his will.So, he just rounded up what he considered suspected mafiosos and simply imprisoned 'em.And it led to one of the largest exoduses of future Mafia in America.

There's a lotta wise guys compare themselves to soldiers in an army.When the general says,"You guys gotta go hit that hill and kill the enemy,"it's the same as a don in a family saying,"You guys gotta go take these other guys out."You're takin' orders.

An all-out war breaks out,which was known as "The Castellammarese War"（雙雄之戰(zhàn)）.The Castellammarese War was the first time you had really a brutal war between rival Italian gangs. We had never had that before in New York, or in America.

Nobody was safe on the streets.You had a situation of what they call"Going to the mattresses,"where they had to hole up in safe places.If you went out on the street,you could be mowed down.

one of Joe Masseria's top lieutenants,Charles Luciano,is in the hands of ruthless sicilian boss,Salvatore Maranzano.

Julius Caesar once said,"It's easier to find men who are willing to die than to find those who are willing to endure pain with Patience."

And for eight hours,Luciano is beaten and tortured.Luciano was taken to a remote area in staten island,where he's dumped and left for dead.Against all odds, Luciano somehow survives.Luciano's unlikely recovery earns him a nickname that will last a lifetime."Lucky" Luciano.

To the Top，1931

the Death of Masseria，1931.04.15

Luciano decided that Masseria had to be removed.The time has finally come to kill Joe Masseria.And Luciano sees potential in forging an alliance with the man who just beat him to within an inch of his life.

Luciano has he deal he came for.

-Tomorrow, I want you to call up Masseria,and you set up a meeting in coney island.

Though Masseria is surrounded by bodyguards,Luciano knows that their loyalty can be bought for the right price.That's the part of the chess game.The loyalty that they profess to have is bullshit.They're as loyal as they have to be.And whatever they can get away with,they try to get away with.

Lucky Luciano, he knew what a gargantuan appetite Masseria had.He invited him to his favorite restaurant in Brooklyn.

-Would you excuse me for a second?

While they were having dessert,Lucky had said he had to go to the bathroom,and he left Masseria alone at his table.The man who ruled the New York underworld for ten years,Joe "The Boss" Masseria, is dead.

the Death of Maranzano,1931.09.10

In may of 1931,Salvatore Maranzano calls a meeting of the most powerful gangsters in New York,men like Joe Bonanno, Joe Profaci,and Lucky Luciano, to declare a victory.

-I Will serve as Capo di tutti capi,the boss of bosses.Salud.

Maranzano declares that he's really gonna be supreme.He's doing exactly what Masseria tried to do.This doesn't go down well with Luciano.

Soon after declaring himself "Boss of bosses,"Maranzano becomes convinced that his rivals are plotting to kill him.The reason it was dangerous to be the Godfather was,you're a target.You're not only a target from law enforcement,but your own people wanna get rid of you 'cause they wanna be the boss.

Maranzano starts to wanna kill everybody around him he doesn't trust.Maranzano hires his deadliest assassin,mad dog coll,to begin killing all those he suspects might betray him.And the first man on his list is Lucky Luciano.

-Now that Masseria's out of the way,Maranzano, he's gonna shake things up a bit.

Luciano soon learns from Frank Costello that Maranzano has a contract out to kill Lucky.There's only one thing for him to do.He has to kill Maranzano before Maranzano gets to him.

-He'll be waiting for us. We know that.

-There's gotta be a way to get to Maranzano.

-Yeah, but it's gotta be quick, right, in and out.

-He's got a lotta muscle.They'll take out any thug that gets near the place.

-No, there's gotta be a way.There's gotta be a way to get to him.

-What if we don't send a thug or a hitman?

The IRS has been breathing down everybody's neck, right?

Including Maranzano.

Luciano knows the Federal Government has begun investigating high-level mobsters for tax evasion.And in the past few months,the IRS has been planning to audit Salvatore Maranzano.The FBI does crack down a bit more.

Luciano orchestrates a lethal plan.And he enlists his closest advisor, Meyer Lansky,and his enforcer, Bugsy Siegel,to carry out the operation.

-Lansky was a brilliant operator.

He was able to maneuver between some very violent men and some very vile men.

I'd put Meyer Lansky in charge of anything.He could've run the Pentagon.

On September 10th, 1931,with Bugsy Siegel and his men disguised as IRS agents,Luciano orders the hit on the boss of bosses.

In less than five months,Lucky Luciano has taken out the two biggest Mob bosses of the New York Mafiaand now can take his place as the king of New York.

The King of New York Underground

The Commission

After taking out the two most powerful Mob bosses in New York,34-year-old Charles "Lucky" Luciano,sets in motion the next phase of his plan:to seize control of the New York Mafia.Over a matter of months,gangsters across the country are murdered in the biggest purge the Mafia has ever seen.

Luciano spares a select few who he feels are more valuable as allies.Luciano calls a meeting with Maranzano's former underboss,Joe Bonanno.

-Killing Maranzano was necessary.

It was either gonna be him or me,and it wasn't gonna be me.

The past is the past.

Joe Bonanno, he was a man of wealth, a man of influence,a man of reason.Luciano decides to offer Bonanno the opportunity to head his own family.With Bonanno on board,Luciano has eliminated his competition,establishing order in his operation.

Maranzano's gone, Masseria's gone,and Luciano is at the top of the hill.

But Luciano decides the most important thing to be done is to create organizations that won't war with each other.They need a regimen, rules.Luciano turns to his homeland for inspiration.

the Sicilian Mafia has always been strictly organized.There are nearly 100 gangs referred to as crime families.Each family has a boss,and they all work under the capo di tutti capi.It's almost like the aristocracy of the underworld.Men who were family heads needed to establish some rules and boundaries and understanding for the continuation of their way of life.It's a system that has worked for over 100 years and is known as Cosa Nostra,which translates to "Our Thing."

To gain the support of the other Mob bosses,Luciano keeps Mafia membership limited to Italians.But Lansky will remain Luciano's most trusted advisor from outside the Mafia's ranks.

Luciano called for a major meeting of the crime bosses in New York and major gangsters elsewhere.Until this time,there really is no Mafia in America.You have individual gangs operating in some kind of ad hoc manner.

-The heads of the five New York families,the members of the Commission, are Giuseppe Profaci,Vincent Mangano,Tommy Gagliano,Joseph Bonanno and Lucky Luciano.

Luciano creates the Commission,a board made up of the heads of the five New York families who will run the Mafia instead of a boss of bosses.In effect, Lucky is writing a constitution for the Mafia.There will be a boss of each family,there will be a second-in-command,an underbossand there will be a consigliere,the counselor.Luciano creates the modern Mafia.

Luciano's motivation was power.He would give a role to all these other guys because he was smart.He knew how to play people.And if you share power the right way,you have the power.

Murder, Inc.

They sort of said,"We're not gonna have these random killingswhere one guy gets pissed off at another guyand he goes off and he just kills him.So, we're gonna do it like they do it in the real world,which is if somebody has a problem with somebody else,he will go to an underworld court,and he will plead his case."They were like the Security Council of the U.N.,and I know that's laughable in many ways,but they used to try to resolve as many of their problems peacefully as possible to stay away from the law.

Disputes would get reported to the Commission,and most of them would get settled.Of course, when they didn't get settled,then a murder might have to take place.

To carry out the Mafia's approved hit list,Luciano knows he will need an enforcement arm with no ties to the Italian Commission.So he looks outside the Five Families to a group of Jewish gangsters.

In 1931, Luciano orders his most trusted business partner to assemble the lethal team.Lansky was like a recruiter at a board meeting for a college.He knew who they were and he recommended them as the guys that could fill this new role that was suddenly created by this underworld court.Lansky quickly enlists an elite group of Jewish hit men.Violent killers who will come to be known as Murder, Inc.It was kind of a sub-company of the new modern Mafia that Luciano designed.

Most of the hit men were Jewish.They integrated, so that threw 'em off.Each hit man has his own signature style.

Bugsy Siegel is a loyal member of Luciano's crew who takes pleasure in making his victims suffer.

Albert Anastasia is a feared killer with a short fuse and deadly aim who becomes known as the Lord High Executioner.

Abe Reles believes in a hands-on approach,earning the nickname "Kid Twist" for his preferred method of killing.Strangling his victims with wire.

Louis Lepke is a disciplined assassin,isolating his targets to avoid witnesses.

These were guys that were the baddest of bad.They were cold-blooded murderers that worked for the Mob.They formed the deadliest team of hit men in American history and transformed the art of killing into a science.

Once a contract is handed down,the assassin spends weeks preparing the execution.Assembling weapons,stealing a getaway car,and trailing his target.When the moment is right, he makes a clean hit and begins covering his tracks.Fingerprints are often burned beyond recognition,and the body is dumped in a river or buried with chemicals to eliminate the smell.

In just ten years,Murder, Inc. Will kill more than 1,000 people,averaging one murder every three days.And because no ties to the assassins are left behind,hundreds of murders remain unsolved for years.

With the Commission in place and Murder, Incon call,Lucky Luciano has created an underground government and an invisible army.Lucky Luciano delegated the violence.He said, "If we all band together,We could do this thing as an organization."So there'd be order.

Dewey:Shultz,then Luciano

Dutch Schultz

Dutch Schultz ran a very powerful gang in New York and the Bronx.In fact, some people used to go around saying,in New York, there was a Big Six,not just a Big Five,because Schultz was so important.

紐約五大市區(qū)：

The Bronx

紐約市五大區(qū)中最北面的一個，居民主要以非洲和拉丁美洲后裔居民為主，亞洲人較少。

紐約洋基隊的主場亦位于此。

Manhattan

紐約市五大區(qū)之中人口最稠密的一個，也是最小的一個行政區(qū)。

曼哈頓主要由一個島組成，并被東河、哈得孫河以及哈萊姆河包圍。

這里集中了許多著名的企業(yè)，被譽為世界的經(jīng)濟(jì)中心，是紐約最富有的區(qū)。

Brooklyn（原名是荷蘭文Breukelen），the south of Long Island

紐約市五大區(qū)中人口最多的區(qū)。

布魯克林區(qū)一開始只有6個荷蘭移民小村莊建在東河邊，并有小荷蘭的稱呼。在1664年成為紐約屬地的一部份。1898年正式劃入紐約市，成為五大區(qū)之一。

Queens（“皇后”得名于查理二世之妻凱瑟琳皇后），the north of Long Island

紐約五區(qū)中面積最大、人口第二多的區(qū)。

皇后縣建立于1683年，為紐約州最初的12縣之一。1898年開始在皇后縣的基礎(chǔ)之上建立了皇后區(qū)。

Staten Island

紐約市人口最少的一個區(qū)。

Dutch Schultz is known as the Beer Baron of the Bronx.He muscles his way into the restaurant unions and Harlem's number rackets.His numbers operation alone brings in $20 million a year.Schultz is also a vicious gangster with a hair-trigger temper.

Schultz has been building relationships with politicians for years by fixing their elections.Schultz pays off voters and brings them to the polls,so they can vote for his candidates.

-Can I ask your business here?Tampering with elections is illegal.

Schultz is unaware that he's just caught the eye of the one man in New York he can't pay off.A 32-year-old lawyer from Michigan named Thomas E. Dewey.

Thomas E. Dewey

Thomas Dewey is an assistant U.S. Attorney with political aspirations.Tom Dewey had been a poll-watcher at one point and had seen this, and it probably inspired some of his later prosecutions.He'll go on to become the governor of New York and run for president,losing one of the most famous elections in American history.（1948年總統(tǒng)大選中杜威一度被看好，但最終落敗于杜魯門。）

Dewey firmly believes in the rule of law.He also wants to make a name for himself in New York.Tom Dewey went after Lucky Luciano, because he was a major organized crime figure in the United States.He saw this as a stepping stone,a way that he could burnish his resume so that he would be able to run for political office,and ultimately run for the presidency of the United States.

- This is the guy.

- What guy?

-The guy from the polls, Dutch Schultz.

-You don't give up, do you?This isn't personal.Schultz is all over the number rackets,restaurants, the Jersey waterfront.

-Schultz works with Lucky Luciano.Schultz is nothing but a crack.He's our way in.We can't get to Luciano, but we can get to Schultz.

-How much time do you need?

-Give me a month.

-Get busy.

With approval from U.S. Attorney William Dodge,Thomas Dewey is about to declare war on the Mob.

With Mob boss Lucky Luciano insulated by crooked politicians and an army of thugs,Dewey's first target is Jewish gangster Dutch Schultz.

But Schultz has been paying off judges and politicians for years.To bring down Schultz,Dewey is going to have to find a way to prosecute him.And a trial from a year earlier may give him the answer.

Capone under arrest

Al Capone has ruled the violent Chicago underworld for a decade.If you go all the way back to the time of Al Capone, and you read about it,he hung around with politicians and judges and police.He was right in the midst of society at its highest level.He's beaten witnesses,bribed judges,intimidated juries and has ties to over 100 murders,including the savage St. Valentine's Day massacre.

When Capone was finally brought to trial,it wasn't for murder,it was for not paying his taxes.

-I hereby find Mr. Alphonse Capone guilty of tax evasion ,and hereby remand him to the custody of the state for the next 11 years.

Thanks to an ambitious law enforcement agent named Eliot Ness,the most infamous mobster in America will spend the rest of his life in Alcatraz.

Alcatraz惡魔島

美國加州舊金山灣內(nèi)的一座小島，四面峭壁深水，聯(lián)外交通不易，因而被美國政府選為監(jiān)獄建地，曾設(shè)有惡魔島聯(lián)邦監(jiān)獄，關(guān)押過不少知名的重刑犯，于1963年廢止。

現(xiàn)與金門大橋同為當(dāng)?shù)刂^光景點。

Thomas Dewey sees his opportunityand goes after Dutch Schultz on tax evasion charges.

But even though he's a wanted man,Schultz is seen partying at Manhattan bars and nightclubs.Schultz liked to be a big shot around town.

-Get another bottle of vino over here for the ladies.

So he was a man about town as well as a man about gangsterdom.

Schultz's exploits start making headlines.But he manages to stay one step ahead of Thomas Dewey and his investigators.Months pass without an arrest.

-How much overtime it costs.

Dewey's inability to bring Schultz into custody soon turns from a local tabloid story into a national embarrassment,landing on the desk of the director of the F.B.I.,J. Edgar Hoover.

J. Edgar Hoover

Hoover has made his reputation by taking down some of the most notorious criminals in the country.But he's refused to let the F.B.I.investigate organized crime in New York.For most of his reign,Hoover totally ignored the Mafia and claimed it didn't exist.But he had reasons for not tackling the Mafia.

In the 1930s,nearly all of Hoover's agents are clean-cut men from small towns in middle America.They had no idea about the Mafia culture.There was no way they could infiltrate the Mafia.

Hoover may also have another,more personal reason for not going after the New York Mob.J. Edgar Hoover never wanted to take on the Mafia because the mob had a file of him,with pictures of him wearing dresses and garter beltscould have been extorted.That's a theory.

Despite the risks，Hoover can longer let Dutch Schultz make a mockery of law enforcement.For the first time in history,Hoover names a New York gangster Public Enemy Number One.

Get off

After nearly two years of successfully eluding,the most wanted man in America is turning himself in.With Schultz in custody,Thomas Dewey is now closer than ever to clinching his first victory over the New York Mafia.

-In the old days,when a member of a group got into trouble,the group took care of them as far as a lawyer was concerned.They didn't go hungry. They got 'em out on bail.

Days after Schultz surrenders,he easily posts bail.And the Mob's lawyers win a petition to move his trial 400 miles north to Malone, New York.If the Mafia can't buy off the biggest city in America,they'll settle for something smaller.The minute Schultz arrives in Malone,he begins spreading money all over town and hosting parties for local officials.

-Enjoy it! And it's on me.

People often think that the way to succeed in the Mob is to be feared.Certainly that's important.But what's more important is just being charming.

A week before his trial,the Jewish mobster takes his public relations campaign a step further.Schultz would try to ingratiate himself so much that he actually converted to Catholicism.These ambitious, lawless gangsters,they were cunning.They were capable of presenting themselves as men of respect.

Just as Luciano promised,Schultz gets off and is free to get back to business.

Out

But Dewey was a fighter.And he was never going to back down.

Just six weeks after the trial in Malone,Dewey pinned Schultz as the leader of the largest illegal gambling ring in New York,sending over 60 officers on a citywide raid to shut down Schultz's most lucrative racket.With Dewey closing in,Schultz goes into hiding and decides there's only one way out，to kill Thomas Dewey.

-This Dewey is a rabid dog.He's not gonna stop.He's not the first.And he's not gonna be the last.

-Well, what if he is the last, huh?

-What if Thomas Dewey takes down you, Luciano?What if he takes down every damn one of you?Is that a chance you're willing to take?

-We can't just knock guys off every time the law kicks up some dust.

-Since when?

-Since now. Settle down, Schultz.It'll all blow over.

-Oh, not this time. Not this bastard!

-What are you saying? Huh?

-I'm tellin' ya, this son of a bitch Dewey is not gonna rest one day until every one of you is behind bars.

-Maybe Dutch is right.Maybe we should take him out before he causes any more trouble.

-It's gonna wreak havoc on our business.

-Business isn't everything.

-Yes, it is.

-It's not gonna happen.

When the Commission,and especially Luciano,hear about this, they realize Schultz is bad for business.

-You can't kill a prominent prosecutor.You'd bring the whole wrath of the criminal justice system.Why risk it?

After being rejected by the Commission,Dutch Schultz turns to Murder, Inc. Hit man Albert Anastasia.

-I'm gonna take a leak.

After he was tipped off by Albert Anastasia of Schultz's plan to kill Thomas Dewey,Lucky Luciano has ordered a hit on one of his own.

But what Luciano doesn't realize is that by taking out homas Dewey's number one target,he's just put himself on the top of Dewey's most wanted list.

Band

Dewey launches a crusade against organized crime and to save the Mafia,the New York kingpin orders a hit on one of his own.With Schultz out of the picture,the Mob is back in business.Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel,Frank Costello and Vito Genovese are living the high life.

Guys like Lucky came up from the bottom,clawed their way up, and wind up being on top,and when they became the boss,it was almost like their "Man of La Mancha" Dream.（拉?曼恰La Mancha，堂吉訶德的家鄉(xiāng)?！短眉X德》原著名為《Don Quixote de La Mancha》。）

By 1935,Luciano and his crew had built an empire pulling in the modern-day equivalent of over $100 million a year.

Meyer Lansky is leading the charge,revolutionizing their gambling rackets,turning their low-rent gambling dens into high-class establishments.Lansky saw opportunities where other people saw nothing, and he saw treasurewhere other people saw trash.He was the first guy to take craps（擲骰子）, which was a street game,and put it up on green felt on a table and thereby make it respectable and fancy.

As Lansky is inventing the first modern casinos，Vito Genovese has a heroin racket that's pulling in millions of dollars a year,but he decides to diversify,and begins running high-stakes poker games,luring in unsuspecting wealthy businessmen and fixing the outcome to make sure he always wins.Gambling was the strength of the American Mafia.The reason gambling was appealing to Mob guys was because their life was a gamble,and it was only a reflection of the way they lived.

While business is booming,Bugsy Siegel makes sure the money is collected and that the Mob's authority is understood.And as part of the Mob's hit squad, Murder, lnc.,Siegel carries out orders sent down by the Commission.

Frank Costello keeps the authority at bay.Using his connections with corrupt politicians and law enforcement to ensure the Mob's business runs smoothly.Now that they were running these criminal organizations,very profitable ones,they had to pay off police and politicians to continue thriving,because they didn't want any outside interference.

At the top of the operation is 38-year-old Lucky Luciano.The best way to describe Lucky Luciano was that he was a creative genius,but a criminal creative genius.He knew entrepreneurship.He knew how organizations should function and how to get rid of rivalries and competition.In effect, he was an early equivalent,a criminal equivalent.