HOW ITALIAN AMERICANS STARTED THE MAINSTREAM ORGANISED CRIME IN USA AND THE WEST

It was the 1970’s and I happened to be in Mumbai with my friends Mukesh and Samantha – we were in our teens and it was a short trip to the dream city – when Samantha jumped from her seat saying “look, The Godfather has hit the halls”.

We saw The Godfather that day and never forgot the immense cinematic power of the film.

One shot that is etched in my memory is when Michael Corleone murders Virgil Sollozzo and Captain Mark McCluskey at an Italian American Restaurant. And we were cinematically baptised to the workings of the immensely powerful Italian American mafia and their modus operandi !!

That single shot propelled Al Pacino (Michael Corleone) to one of the greatest stars of American cinema, the shot was the first one given to Al Pacino on the condition that if he failed, he would be replaced by other actor as the role of Michael Corleone was central to the film.

Al Pacino was utterly nervous before taking the camera as one wrong would wreck his career.

The Background of the shot. Don Vito Corleone (father of Michael Corleone) had made a name of himself in the rugged terrain of organised crime in America. The rival team of the Five Families made a fool proof plan to assassinate Vito Corleone. As luck could have it Vito survived.

The Revenge. The Corleone family was an established name and they would not take this humiliation lying down. Over dinner the Corleone family decided that Michael would be taking the ownership of eliminating those who had tried to kill his father. Things were not easy as local police was corrupt and after great effort Michael was able to call the culprits to a restaurant. In the course of having dinner Michael grabbed the revolver (which was hidden in the bathroom and Michael had to excuse himself to get hold of it) and executed Virgil Sollozzo and Captain Mark McCluskey at Louis’ Italian American Restaurant in the Bronx (picture above).

The moment was a turning point in many ways. It captured Michael’s transformation from war hero to mobster. Nothing can express more succinctly the immense desire for revenge than this defining scene from The Godfather – written by Mario Puzo, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert Ruddy. It made Al Pacino a global star overnight and guaranteed Paramount Pictures millions of dollars in profits followed by a flattering array of Academy Awards at the Oscars.

Why Godfather. The film exposed the intricacies of the Mafia modo de proceder to the millions and millions of global audiences and so authentic was the rendition of the characters that it stunned everyone who saw it and showered their love for the film filling theatres in droves.

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 organised crime group. The organization is often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra. 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 Italian American crime groups active in the United States and Canada that were not of Sicilian origin. In North America, it is often colloquially referred to as the Italian Mafia or Italian Mob, though these terms may also apply to the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organised crime groups in Italy or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries.

The core nucleus. There were five New York City Mafia families, known as the Five Families: the Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Binanno and Colombo families. These Italian American Mafia families had long dominated organized crime in the United States. Each crime family had its own territory and operated independently, while nationwide coordination was overseen by the Commission, which consisted of the bosses of each of the strongest families. Though the majority of the Mafia's activities were contained to the North-eastern United States and Chicago, they continued to dominate organized crime in the United States, despite the increasing numbers of other crime groups.

Why Sicily happens to be the epicentre of organised crime, mafia or the mafiosi? Because it is perhaps the most conquered territory in history as so many empires and countries had invaded and taken over control of the island from time to time.

One glaring example is, on July 10, 1943 (World War II) American, British and Canadian troops landed in Sicily under the overall command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower of United States of America.

These invasions dealt a cruel blow to the Sicilian locals. One atrocity led to another and as a result these locals would band together into clandestine groups and keep things running as usual forming a shadow government. Venting acrimony there was a deep-rooted desire to rule and revenge on the sprawling lands of Italy and America.

These groups were the seeds that formed the modern Mafia.

The social – psychological bubbles. The effects of the Mafia have been extensively studied from sociological, economic, and historical points of view. However, little research has investigated the influence of the Mafia on individuals and communities in terms of its psychological and social impact. In order to contribute to the advancement of our understanding of the psychological effects of the Mafia

on individuals and communities and to promote a participative process of social change, a group analytic intervention was conducted within a Community Based Participatory Research carried out in Corleone, a small Sicilian town with a historically recognized role in the evolution of the Mafia, as well as in the fight against its control.

And the research gives a telling story. The Mafia maintained monopoly of violence and the control of a territory since it illegally ensured several services that State was unable to provide to citizens. It also required a lifelong allegiance to its membership, violence was used to ensure absolute obedience of the affiliates and punished those who betrayed or disrespected the rules and the authority of the group.

The Mafia does exist even today. The Italian American Mafia is still around in the United States of America. However, it is a shadow of its former vicious self. The 70’s and the 80’s saw a string of federal prosecutions which severely curtailed its activities.

The Mafia is currently most active in North - eastern United States with the heaviest activity in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and New England. After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the American Mafia abandoned its bootlegging operations and settled into gambling, labour racketeering, loan-sharking, narcotics distribution and prostitution rings.

On a lighter note. The gripping story of what the producer of The Godfather Albert Ruddy encountered while making the film is poignantly described in the ten - episode series The Offer (Netflix). The American Mafia opposed to the making of the film, gangster Joe Colombo (played by Giovanni Ribisi) almost ruined it but later Ruddy made friends with Joe Colombo and the film was made. It is available in Paramount Plus (USA) and will be streamed again on Prime Plus UK from June 22,2023.

Can you believe it. Michael Corleone’s sister Connie was ill treated by her husband in the entire film as shown. What is interesting is in reality the actor (played by Gianni Vito Russo) misbehaved with Connie (Talia Shire) on the sets and when it was reported Ruddy took a stance. In the scene where Sonny (Michael’s elder brother) goes to give Vito Russo a solid thrashing when Connie cried for help, Francis Ford Coppola and Ruddy actually instructed Sonny (James Caan) to thrash and give a solid beating to Vito Russo while on live camera for his misbehaviour.

The audience saw a real beating of Vito Russo by James Caan !!