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By
WADE GOSSETT
Culled from material
originally shown on A&E TV's "Biography" series
and on the History Channel, this two-disc set
neatly covers the history of the Mafia and
profiles the most infamous of its godfathers, in a
riveting five-hour presentation.
The first volume, "The Godfathers," traces the
history of the Mafia from the foothills of Sicily
to the shores of the New World. Through interviews
(with investigators, journalists and some with
Mafia members) and archival material La Cosa
Nostra is put into proper perspective as a home
grown criminal organization that flourished in
America due to purges by Benito Mussolini,
increased Italian emigration, the Prohibition and
the late '20s stock marker collapse and the Great
Depression.
The second volume takes an in depth look at
several notorious Mafiosi.
"Lucky Luciano: Chairman Of The Mob" shows Luciano
as a businessman, running the mafia like a
corporation, with diversifying rackets and the
running his own political candidates. He was
undoubtedly one of the most successful criminal
masterminds, especially since he didn't die in a
hail of bullets. After 1946 he was deported back
to Italy to serve a ten-year prison sentence but
he was still able to control his criminal empire.
"Meyer Lansky: Mob Tycoon" concentrates on one
godfather who was not Sicilian: Lansky was a
Russian Jew, who fled the pogroms of Eastern
Europe and ended up becoming a Vegas power. He
claimed never to have killed anyone, and was the
Mob's financial leader.
"Genovese: Portrait Of A Crime Family" traces this
most infamous of crime families, which has been
involved with the Mafia for more than a century.
Its heyday was the Prohibition and its most
interesting member was Vito Genovese. The family
was eventually broken up in 2001 (or so we think)
by Federal Agents.
"Bugsy Siegel" was good-looking, sleek, glamorous
and pretty vicious, starting his career as a hit
man on the streets of Brooklyn and ending up
creating Las Vegas out of dreams and sand. He was
eventually gunned down.
There are no extras; the discs are all full-frame. |
