E1 台词摘录
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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黑袜丑闻案事件 当年交战的二支球队分别是国家联盟的辛辛那提红人队和美国联盟的芝加哥白袜队。 白袜队是当年战绩最佳的球队,也一致被看好能拿下世界大赛冠军,但先发一垒手甘地尔(Chick Gandil)和当地的职业赌徒苏利文(Joseph "Sport" Sullivan)合作,买通七位对白袜老板不满的球员(包括明星外野手“无鞋乔”("Shoeless" Joe Jackson)和二位先发投手),在比赛中放水让红人拿到冠军。大赛结束,红人以五胜三负(当时采九战五胜制)击败白袜获得冠军。 隔年(1920年)球季,放水传闻不胫而走,联邦检察官及大陪审团开始调查,最终判定参与放水的八名球员均处终身球监。 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(账本)? 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.