Robert Kennedy never made it to Chicago, home of the crime boss he tried to destroy in the early sixties. Ever since his assassination, there has been speculation that Sam Giancana had a hand in it. The connection between Giancana and the Kennedys began many years earlier, when Joseph Kennedy and Sam Giancana were in the boot-legging business. Although they didn’t know each other, they shared a common interest – ambition. Sam Giancana the documentary
At about 10:30 on the evening of the 19th June 1975, an old friend visited Giancana in his basement kitchen. Sam cooked a snack of Italian sausages while they chatted. With his back to his visitor, Giancana attended to his cooking. The visitor pulled out a .22-calibre pistol, placed it on the back of his neck and pulled the trigger. ibid.
Giancana was head of the Chicago Mafia mob that had once been run by Al Capone. Joe Kennedy had asked him to support his son’s election campaign. JFK – The Scandals Revealed
The Mafia’s skill at exploiting human weaknesses gave them an opportunity to snare the future president of the United States. They contributed to his election campaign, and they paid for his personal pleasures. But JFK seemed oblivious to the risks. ibid.
I steal. Sam Giancana
‘Hey, Sam! How about a loan?’
‘Whattaya need?’
‘Oh about $500.’
‘Whattaya got for collateral?’
‘Whattaya need?’
‘How about an eye?’ Sam Giancana
Sam Giancana was the most extravagant gangster of all. Mafia’s Greatest Hits s1e1: Sam Giancana
Sam Giancana had learnt his gangsta trade from Al Capone’s top enforcers. ibid.
Boss of the Chicago outfit. ibid.
He was well connected to the Kennedys ... Before voters went to the polls Giancana sent one of his men to spread $50,000. ibid.
Giancana called them G Men ... Kennedy was changing the game. ibid.
It wasn’t just the Mob who wanted Castro gone. ibid.
When a US government agency secretly commissions murder from gangsters, they should have seen trouble coming. ibid.
An injunction against lockstep surveillance was granted. ibid.
‘With Kennedy, a guy should take a knife and stab and kill that fucker.’ ibid. Sam Giancana, FBI tape
It hadn’t gone unnoticed that Giancana had asked Ruby for help from time to time. ibid.
Sam Giancana was at home ... He was cooking in his basement kitchen ... But the Mafia hadn’t finished with Sam Giancana. The way he was killed showed the Mob no longer trusted him to keep quiet. ibid.
A home-loving husband, dedicated father, Tony Spilotro was in fact suspected by the FBI of over twenty murders. As Las Vegas enforcer for the Chicago Mafia, Spilotro hit whoever his bosses wanted taking care of. Mafia’s Greatest Hits s1e5: Tony the Ant Spilotro
The Chicago Mafia controlled some of the biggest hotel-casinos in the city. ibid.
1973: Spilotro found himself back in Chicago under investigation for murder. ibid.
Frank Cullotta decided to accept the protection of the FBI. ibid.
The bodies were found just eight days later on a farm in the neighbouring state of Indiana. ibid.
Tony Spilotro’s death marked the end of an era in Sin City. ibid.
In 1979 the FBI launched a vast electronic surveillance operation of one criminal in particular: Allen Dorfman. Allen Dorfman wasn’t a Mafioso, he wasn’t even Italian, he was Jewish, and his weapon was not a gun but a pen. Dorfman’s crime was to raid a billion-dollar pension fund for his bosses. Mafia’s Greatest Hits s1e9: Allen Dorfman
An ambitious Teamsters’ official, Jimmy Hoffa wanted to become president. Red Dorfman agreed to help. ibid.
Government agencies discovered Allen Dorfman had made $3 million from Teamsters’ insurance policies. ibid.
And what did the gangstas do with all these millions? They built casino hotels in the Nevada desert – Las Vegas. ibid.
Hoffa and Dorfman approved sixty loans totalling a mammoth $91 million. ibid.
Hoffa was gone ... this was a great opportunity ... Access to the pension fund was just too important to the Mob. ibid.
Joey the Clown Lombardo was a serious gangsta ... Lombardo oversaw the Las Vegas casinos. ibid.
Joey Lombardo was a Mob enforcer and would stop at nothing to back up their money man Allen Dorfman. ibid.
Suddenly, the man who’d loyally bankrolled the Mob for years seemed a dangerous liability. Mob bosses decided to put out a contract on Allen Dorfman. ibid.
Allen Dorfman’s death was a watershed for both the Mafia and US law enforcement. ibid.
Without Dorfman, the Mafia’s money supply was suddenly cut off; this crippled the Mob and they never recovered. ibid.
Then I became what they call a raving maniac. Do I make myself clear? Mad Sam DeStefano
Remember my name. Tony Spilotro
Do I have time to say a prayer? Tony Spilotro
A man who has become the most notorious gangsta in America history faces an epic battle to bring him down. Natural Born Outlaws, newsreel commentary, Discovery 2016
During the 15 years of prohibition, there are over 500 prohibition-related killings in Chicago. ibid. Caption
‘He was as big a celebrity in his field as Babe Ruth was in baseball.’ I Am Al Capone, Discovery 2017
When an attempted gangland murder of Capone’s boss Johnny Torrio fails, Torrio moves to Italy and cedes the entire operation to Al Capone. ibid.
‘The gangsta picture brings out of that mythology of an anti-hero.’ ibid.
Lucky Luciano, Vito Genovese, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky – each of Siegel’s childhood crew has either been the boss or has had the freedom to run his own operation. Siegel wants to be remembered as more than just a trigger man – he wants a lasting legacy. The Making of the Mafia s1e7
There are many stories about Michael Sullivan ... But I once spent six weeks on the road with him in the winter of 1931. This is our story. Road to Perdition 2002 starring Tom Hanks & Tyler Hoechlin & Paul Newman & Jude Law & Daniel Craig & Stanley Tucci & Jennifer Jason Leigh et al, director Sam Mendes
Boy: Why are you always smiling?
Daniel Craig: ’Cause it’s all so fucking hysterical. ibid.
Natural law: sons are put on this Earth to trouble their fathers. ibid. Newman
There is only one guarantee: none of us will see Heaven. ibid. Newman
Gissa swig. The Public Enemy 1931 starring James Cagney & Jean Harlow & Edward Woods & Joan Blondell & Donald Cook & Leslie Fenton & Beryl Mercer & Robert Emmett O’Connor et al, director William A Wellman, opening scene - little boy swigs from bucket of beer
Dutch here knows the layout. We’ve been casing the joint for a week. ibid. Putty Nose to gang
You better lay low for a while. The heat’s on. ibid. dude on door
Remember this, boys: you gotta have friends. ibid. Paddy Ryan
I suppose you want me to go to night school and read poems? ibid. Tommy
Somebody’s gotta protect your customers. You’re yella. ibid. Tommy
So beer ain’t good enough for ya? ibid. Tommy
Oh, Tommy, I could love ya to death. ibid. her to him
I can drink it as long as you can pour it. ibid. him to her
The end of Tom Powers is the end of every hoodlum. ‘The Public Enemy’ is not a man, nor is it a character. ibid. caption