Good day, ladies and gentlemen.
This is Robert Hodge,
United States Attorney for the Southern District,
speaking to you here in New York City.
My fellow citizens, we are at war.
Not against a foreign potentate.
Not against a bloodthirsty despot.
We are at war against an army of hoodlums
who have made our streets unsafe for decent people.
Fear, intimidation,
violence...
these are the tools of this nefarious scoundrel
known as the modern-day criminal.
From the Lower East Side to Harlem,
Brooklyn to New Jersey,
stretching as far south as Atlantic City.
Bloodshed and mayhem are the currency
of these reprobates, thugs, and bootleggers...
as they struggle for control of our nation's streets.
Both Governor Roosevelt and I remain committed
to this battle, which we must and will win.
Together, with the officers of Police Commissioner Mulrooney
and District Attorney Crain,
my staff and I are working round the clock
to make certain these cowards
are brought to justice.
I give you my solemn word
that I shall not rest till every man, woman, and child
can once again safely walk our streets.
This has been Robert Hodge
broadcasting from New York City.
19 men dead between us,
at least a million in lost revenue,
and no goddamn end in sight.
Calm, Mr. Thompson.
Yes, you've been saying that for weeks.
Like all impetuous children, Luciano will make a mistake.
And while we're waiting, how are we supposed to eat?
- Hey, Nuck. - What?
12 of our trucks were firebombed.
Nearly 100 grand up in smoke.
God fucking damn it!
You had mentioned Mr. Capone in Chicago.
Perhaps with additional support...
He's cut me loose. Don't you get it?
We're on our own here.
All that happens, happens as it should.
Then why see a doctor, Sal?
Why get out of the way of an oncoming train?
Why get out of the fucking bed in the morning?
I'm counseling restraint.
We are playing a game of chess.
I've played chess and I've never had an opponent try to kill me.
I'm counseling action.
As in stringing this Luciano up by his fucking ball sack.
You're tired. Understandably so.
As am I.
I will send more men to guard your trucks.
And in the meantime, if Luciano shows a hair...
I will cut it.
Along with his fucking throat.
Car's ready, Mr. Maranzano.
Gave it a good scrubbing.
Got the bugs off your windscreen.
Bravo, picciotto.
So we may all see clearly the road ahead.
Tired of waiting on him.
Oh, no, that's okay. My pleasure.
Really, but thank you.
We talked about last night.
Aren't you the kid told me he was hungry?
Doing okay now.
Fill your gut a lot quicker with this than a shammy.
How's that make you feel?
What are you doing?
It's all hands on deck, ain't it?
You're not part of this, you understand?
Take Archie and Sean, head to New York.
For what?
I could be impetuous myself.
Oh, if it ain't the macher of Willett Street.
Your husband around?
He went to Aqueduct for the morning.
Then I'll just grab what I came for.
And the book.
I bought the book.
With what?
The money I had.
Where'd you get the money?
You can't prove it.
I don't have to prove it, you do.
That's not how the law works.
Give it to me anyway.
You have a library?
- Yes. - How many books?
Just that one for now.
But it's the proper thing to do.
Who taught you that? Your mother?
Everybody comes from somewhere.
Where do you come from?
From here.
Born here. Family's here.
Where's your family?
It's rude to ask personal questions.
I'm sorry to offend you.
But here's our situation.
- You stole all these things. - I didn't...
Except for the book.
A legal scholar such as yourself
should know that's called larceny.
You've been sleeping on the boardwalk.
That's vagrancy.
So I could put you in a cell
and you can sit there until you decide to talk.
Or I could help you.
Why would you do that?
You look like you might need help.
Where are your parents?
Who looks after you?
Where did you learn what's proper?
915 Haddon Avenue.
There's no Haddon Avenue in Atlantic City.
It's in Trenton.
Whose house is that?
Nobody's house.
Is it a school?
Is it an orphanage?
My name is in that book.
If you take it, you're stealing from me
and you're certainly no gentleman.
I need you to pull all the prostitution cases
north of 110th Street.
You need me to?
Mr. Hodge does.
Right.
I'm sorry, okay? I don't make the assignments.
Would it be any different if you did?
Yes.
I know you're good at your job.
Mr. Hodge does, too.
It's just...
you have to admit this is all a little sensitive
given your family background.
Sensitive?
What is that code for? Thompson can't be trusted?
If anyone felt like that, you'd have been fired by now.
- Thompson. - Or never hired in the first place.
Thompson.
- Call for you. - All right.
Ahem, Thompson.
Hello?
Hey, Willie, it's your father.
Where are you?
I'm in town.
What are you doing?
I just flew into town and I was wondering if...
No, I can't.
Maybe...
No, I can't.
I understand. I was just thinking...
I...
Not till this evening.
Okay. Okay.
Everything okay?
Let me get you the rest of those files.
It's an orphanage in Trenton.
Doesn't seem to be a telephone.
I can bring her back tomorrow,
but it will be most of the day coming and going.
Why did she run off?
I couldn't get it out of her.
Sounds rather harsh.
I didn't do anything. I brought her here.
She must have a reason.
Everyone has a reason.
Murderers have reasons.
You said she stole cigarettes.
I just mean you can only help someone so much.
Who are you trying to persuade?
I'll take her back in the morning.
It's all I can do.
If that's how you see it.
What do you want from me?
What do you want from yourself?
I'm tr...
I'm trying to do the right thing here.
I haven't even had supper yet.
Next time, get here earlier.
You won't have to work so fast.
Then I'd have to talk to you.
Mayn kleyne farbrekher.
- Hey, Talia. - What?
I think I left my tongue down there.
Ben Siegel. I can't believe it.
Hey, Morris.
What brings you to the neighborhood?
Schnorrer upstairs owes me money.
Feigenbaum? Ah, he's a prick and a half.
I don't name names.
John Hancock for my wife?
Everybody knows who you are.
Sure thing. Clara, right?
Talia.
I'm thinking of my aunt.
My pop, your pop, same minyan at Bialystoker.
Yeah, he's praying for both of us.
Oh!
Like that joke, right?
Rich man and a poor man.
And they're both davening at the same...
Look who it is. Look, Ben Siegel.
Talk about bad pennies.
Why you got to be like that for?
With you, it's always crepe-hanging.
This is an important person.
And please, put on a dress. It's the middle of the day.
What are you...
Oh, fuck!
Manténlo vivo.
Manténlo vivo! Alive!
Alive!
Yeah.
What the hell's going on?
Stop shooting, you fucking moron!
It's quitting time, pal.
Now, you and me...
No!
Oh, no. Don't.
You come with me.
I'm dying.
So you're the one sliced off Tonino's ear?
I'm dying.
- That was some loopy shit. - I'm dying.
- Morris. - What, do you keep 'em in your dresser?
- Maybe I keep yours. - Okay! Okay!
- Okay. - I'm dying, I'm dying.
You're not dying.
Who wants to go on living like this?
Hey, Morris.
Morris, abi gezunt, huh?
Yeah.
Ahem.
What do you think?
Very pretty.
I wasn't quite so tall at her age,
but better than cap and trousers.
Yes, ma'am.
We should get started.
Oh, there's something she'd like to say.
Yes?
I wish to make amends.
I beg your pardon?
For the things I stole.
And how would you do that?
By working.
Working where?
She can help around the house.
And I'll ask at the school. I'm sure others can use her.
She has to go back to Trenton.
May I speak with you?
You cannot leave her there.
It's where she belongs.
No child belongs there. It's brutish.
You don't know that.
- I know what she told me. - She ran away.
What do you expect her to say?
That is my point exactly.
She can't stay here. We don't have the room.
We don't have the money and we don't have the right.
I will find her a situation.
Girls are always needed.
She has no one.
Children her age are not wanted.
You can't stop every bad thing.
Then why stop an... any of them?
Your desire was to help.
This is what helping means.
Fanelli took a ride by the club.
He didn't see hide nor hair of Maranzano or his men.
Probably hunkered down in the Bronx.
He's working from his office, the New York Central Building.
Park Avenue.
So we get one of the Vanderbilt broads to ice him.
Ahem. Benny's on the line. Says it's important.
100 bucks says it ain't.
- Where the fuck are you? - Atlantic City.
- I've been kidnapped. - God damn it, Benny.
He's in Atlantic City.
- With some skirt? - Where else?
Listen to me, you fucking numbskull.
- Get your ass back here. - Fuck you yelling at me for?
I've been snatched, for Christ's sakes. I'm practically killed.
I don't care how great a piece of ass she is.
Get on the horn with this yentzer and...
He hung up on me.
Who did?
- Charlie. - Why?
He's a fucking asshole. What do you want from me?
Is this for real?
Oh, you want to play games now?
- Don't hang up on me. - Who's this?
If you want to see your friend again, you'll listen to me very carefully.
I fucking told you I was kidnapped.
Ah!
Shut you fuck up.
- You there? - Put him on.
He wants to talk to you.
Hey, Charlie. What's cooking?
- You all right? - Sure.
They took me to see the diving horse and everything.
Later on, we're getting cotton candy.
I told you to be careful, didn't I?
I got a bullet in my leg. You gonna hock me now?
Put Thompson back on.
- I'm here. - What do you want?
A meeting so we can settle this bullshit.
I'll meet you at your funeral. We can talk there.
You'll go to Siegel's before mine.
Interesting proposition. Let me think it over.
You gonna be using that phone again?
Why?
I got to call Esther.
It's Lag BaOmer tonight. I said I'd be home.
- Someone married you? - Now you're talking shit about my wife?
Just so happens
I'm gonna be a father in a couple of weeks.
- What's your decision? - About what?
I take that very seriously.
- Margaret? - Sure, I cat around.
But a good woman waiting for me? Never forget it.
- Is something going on? - Rehearsing an act downstairs.
So any of you momzers rats me out about being at that gash's apartment...
- You wanted confirmation. - Hold on.
I swear to God, I'll pop a slug so far up your ass, your back teeth...
Say it again.
You've shorted 50,000 shares
of the Mayflower Grain Corporation.
Short another 50,000 in the morning.
You're being awfully curt.
Sorry. Please short another 50,000.
- It's a big position. - Meaning?
The market will notice.
That's the point.
Come on, get him up.
- You have anything squirreled away? - A bit.
Well, take a short position yourself.
I'll make my own decisions, if you don't mind.
Of course you should. Just trying to help.
I appreciate your concern for my well-being.
But since I don't know what it is you're trying...
I have to go. They're rehearsing again.
Not even a handshake.
What are you doing here?
Passing through.
To where?
You talk to your mother?
Yes.
What she say?
She saw you in Chicago.
A good visit.
I screwed up, Will.
- Pop. - Got in over my head.
- Pop. - Can I... I just want you...
- Pop! - I want you to know.
Look, whatever it is, I can't hear it.
You understand?
Yeah, of course I do.
Nobody needs the grief.
Where are you staying?
Doesn't matter.
Look, I...
455 West 93rd.
5D. Wait for me.
Clean yourself up, get something to eat.
And I'll...
we'll sort it out.
Take it.
You want money?
What is it you want?
I told myself...
if he's doing okay, then it was worth it.
And here you are.
Right side of the street.
That's all.
Pop.
Pop, come on now.
What are you doing? Get off of me.
- Be quiet. - Pop!
Let go! Pop!
- That's my son! - Pop!
- That's my son! - Got in the car and took off.
"One never knows the capacity of an ordinary hand satchel
until dire necessity compels the exercise
of all one's ingenuity to reduce everything
to the smallest possible compass.
In mine, I was able to pack two travelling caps,
three veils, a pair of slippers,
a complete outfit of toilet articles,
inkstand, pens, pencils, and copy paper,
needles and thread, a dressing gown..."
Yes, a hand satchel.
Don't take me back.
Who's going to look after you?
I'll look after myself.
You can't live out of a satchel.
- Nellie did. - Until she came home.
She had to come home whether she liked it or not.
I could help Mrs. Thompson
when her time comes.
That's months away.
She's scared.
- What? - She's scared of something.
She told you that?
You can see it.
Please. Let me stay.
What do you mean?
They lock you in a room.
They don't give you food or water.
They tell you you're born in sin,
that your whole life is a sin.
You can never wash it away.
I didn't do anything.
I didn't...
She sailed around the whole world.
All right, now.
All right.
Can you come with me?
- What for? - You're needed.
Don't worry about the uniform.
Good evening, Sheriff Lindsay.
Good evening, Mrs. Thompson.
Have you come to steal my husband away?
Just some county business.
I'll tend to her.
Her niece.
She's visiting from Camden.
Can I rely upon you or not?
Start supper without me.
♪ There's one pet I like to pet ♪
♪ And in the evening we get wet ♪
♪ I stroke it every chance I get ♪
♪ It's my girl's pussy ♪
♪ Seldom plays and always purrs ♪
♪ And I love the thought it stirs ♪
♪ But I don't mind because it's hers ♪
♪ It's my girl's pussy ♪
♪ Often it goes out at night ♪
♪ Returns at break of dawn ♪
♪ No matter what the weather's like... ♪
Can somebody shut him the fuck up?
One more sap, his head will split open.
What's so bad about that?
Go put a gag on him.
Take three of you. Make it tight.
We bringing Maranzano in on this?
He's off playing chess.
Hmm.
If Luciano doesn't bite,
what happens with Ruth Etting up there?
I just need to know.
What's so funny?
Me and you together.
Hey, songbird.
- Hey, get your fucking hands... - Yeah.
Shut the fuck up!
Hey, everybody has their ups and downs.
Let me through. Let me through!
I came for him.
- Hold him. - Get the fuck out of my way.
Hold him!
- Settle down! Settle down! - Come on!
Bring him here.
Fuck this.
Archie.
Put that away.
You better have a goddamn good reason for being anywhere near me.
See? Fresh as the dew.
♪ All the old gang that I once knew ♪
♪ Now have left me two by two ♪
♪ The old neighborhood don't look so good... ♪
You know who I am?
Salvatore Lucania.
Charlie Luciano.
Occasionally Charles Lane or Charles Reid.
Got the emmis on you.
What about him?
Meyer Suchowlansky.
Sometimes known as Michael Lewis.
You have a brother Jacob.
Who am I?
You're...
Benjamin Siegelbaum. Shortened to Siegel.
Two out of three, huh?
Sorry, Pink.
Benny... Benny's not here right now.
What else do you know about us?
You, uh...
you've been criminal associates since childhood.
He's a lieutenant of Salvatore Maranzano.
And whatever happens to me,
sooner or later,
you're all going to jail.
Why is that?
Because the United States Attorney for the Southern District
has staked his career on it.
Sounds serious.
Well, this is more like a family matter.
- What? - He's the nephew, right?
That's the dope from the inside.
There's something I want you to understand.
I got no beef with you.
But like you said...
Friends since childhood.
So whatever your uncle does to Benny,
that's got to reflect on you.
I got nothing to do with my uncle's business.
I'm an assistant United States Attorney in the office of...
We'll go over your job history a little bit later.
All right? Enough, Pink.
- Yes? - You and your boss have crossed the line.
I'm my own boss, Mr. Thompson.
Put him on now.
We get your attention?
Let me talk to my nephew, make sure he's okay.
You want to talk, fine.
But we'll do it in person.
He was putting up the Corner Hotel.
Never knew where he got the money, you know.
I was just a joiner's apprentice.
But for some reason, he saw me as a reliable man.
So I did one thing for him.
And then another.
Then I put on a badge.
Look what he's built for himself now.
What's the task at hand?
You said you wanted to help.
Here is opportunity.
Go on.
Aren't you coming?
I believe I'm done.
Mr. Lindsay?
Mr. Lindsay.
Where did the sheriff go?
He was feeling poorly, sir.
Vague answer.
It's all I know, Mr. Whitlock.
This is a private concern.
It goes without saying that discretion is paramount.
Wait here.
What happened to Lindsay?
He left matters to me.
I'd counsel we address that later.
Leander will instruct you.
Conduct yourself with honor and...
we'll discuss what happens next.
Yes, sir, Commodore.
Yes, sir.
Always a good boy.
The Commodore believes in the virtue of charitable acts.
Some of these acts are demonstrated in public,
some are not.
To offer opportunity to the poor and beleaguered youth of the county,
he enlists such as he can in service
with an eye towards schooling them in the useful domestic arts.
But not all children prove suitable.
And there is a limit to how much they may be helped.
You will bring her to this address.
You will make clear to the mother
that no further compensation will be forthcoming
and no further inquiry will be brooked.
Are you capable of that?
What the fuck they waiting for?
So take off if that's what you want.
What do I get for sticking around?
What do you have in mind?
The club,
clear title.
5% of everything else.
All right.
I didn't think you'd say yes.
Caught me in a good mood.
Hmm.
You have a gun?
I need to know.
This has to stay controlled.
I don't even have cigarettes.
Nothing without my say-so.
We need to see him.
Same here.
You all right, Will?
Been better.
Take the gag off.
Khamoyer. Vos Makhstu?
Get me the fuck out of this, huh?
Why we came, Benny.
Guns down, make the exchange.
Hey, let go of me!
Wait! Hold it! Hold it! Nobody...
Fuck you! Fuck you, Thompson!
- Eli, you're gonna get us all killed. - I don't give a fuck!
Lick the piss off my shvantz,
- you piece of Jersey shit. - I'll fix it.
- You like that, cocksucker? - All right?
- I don't care! - I'll fix it.
We'll fucking bury you! Your whole fucking family!
We had an agreement.
Name somebody you ain't fucked over.
- Teaching me a lesson? - This is business.
And I want all of yours, down to the last pasty
in that rat-ass strip joint you run.
And Cuba. Whatever you got down there.
- What then? - Decide that later.
- Hey, Charlie. - Mickey.
I just... something to consider.
- Mickey. - We all swim in the same waters.
Whatever beef you two got,
I've been running that place the last seven years.
You don't need to be throwing the baby out...
Shut the fuck up for once.
Look out!
You son of a bitch!
- Hold on! Stop! - Puta!
Put them down!
- Stop! Everybody stop! - Stay calm!
You fuck!
It's yours.
Everything's yours. Let him go.
What's everything?
What I have.
All I've ever had. Atlantic City.
What do you think?
I think I'd like to see him on his knees.
Make my friend happy.
Now you know how it feels.
I underestimated you, Charles.
That was a mistake.
You're much smarter than I gave you credit for.
And what's that make you?
Dumber than I knew.
Good words for the headstone.
I'm giving you what you want.
- Let him go. - Ah, just fucking kill him.
Kill him, kill the kid, kill 'em all.
Grab it anyway.
Mouths of babes.
That won't solve your problem.
- And what problem's that? - Maranzano.
- I'll get to him. - Unless he gets to you first.
Don't say it doesn't worry you. It's all you think about.
24 hours,
I take care of it.
I take the risk
and you let him go.
- Hey, jerk-off. - What?
Let's get steak and eggs.
Get him in the car.
You deliver and we deliver.
What'd you just do?
I don't know.
Capone made over a million between '25 and '29.
Failed to report a nickel.
22 counts of willful evasion of income taxes.
Bootlegging, gambling, extortion...
that money is all taxable.
Specific violations of the Revenue Act of 1926.
Tell me about these ledger books.
Profits, losses, expenses
all laid out in black and white.
With a witness willing to testify.
We're ready to move on him, sir.
We can trace the money.
We can prove the crimes.
And we can put this crook in jail.
Gentlemen...
you've got your warrant.
Bureau of Internal Revenue.
We have a subpoena for Mr. Salvatore Maranzano.
Aiut... aiuta...
Aiutami!
Merda...
Where the heck have you been?
Maybe I shouldn't ask.
That'd be a good idea.
Well, get cleaned up.
Hodge is on his way and he's loaded for bear.
What's going on?
Cripes, did you even see daylight?
Salvatore Maranzano was murdered
this afternoon in his office.
Couldn't have gone cleaner.
In and out, five minutes.
All people saw were hats.
Any problems, we have our friend on the inside.
What else?
Atlantic City.
Give it to Pinky.
That's a big bar mitzvah present.
Somebody's got to run that shithole.
Something more important.
We got to set this meeting.
Sooner is better.
Everyone from Pittsburgh to Podunk.
Lay out the rules before people get their own ideas.
Now, I can make these phone calls.
That'll be the easiest.
Most of these guys, we all cut our teeth on Mulberry Bend.
So when they hear it from me...
We're gonna handle it, Johnny.
These are big changes.
I want to be sure everything goes...
We appreciate all your advice.
Couldn't have done it without you.
Jesus, look at you alter kockers.
We celebrating or not?
This could be a good year, Charlie.
So what are you waiting for?
Let's pop those bottles already.
Let's get this thing going.
Whoo!
Ha ha!
Whoo!
Here you go. Let's cut a rug.
Who is it?
Joe Harper.
It's unlocked.
Thought you might want it cleaned up in here.
Not right now.
You want refills on those?
Just clear the empties.
All the booze, out.
Do you know what happened?
You won.
Mickey, Arquimedes,
they're not coming back.
Understand?
What's it like when you see it?
You tell yourself it's quick.
But you don't know.
You can't know until it's you.
And then you'll never tell anyone.
Is the club staying open?
Ask the new boss.
You know, there's things I can do for you.
Sure.
You can sweep the sand.
Sorry?
That's 1,000. Maybe more.
Go be a plumber or a bookkeeper
or the president.
Sir?
Just take the money.
Take it.
Then do whatever you want, you stupid hick.
But do us both a favor
and get the fuck away from me.
I'm sorry.
Business took longer than I expected.
It's my job.
I don't have a choice. You know that.
Mabel?
What did you say to her?
What?
What did you say?
- Nothing. What... - She's run off.
When?
I was asleep.
She take anything?
- I don't know. - Did you look?
Why would you even ask me that?
Because she's a thief.
She is a thief. That's what she is.
She was someone who needed help.
I tried. I tried.
I care about you.
I care about the family we're going to have together.
That's all that matters to me.
You can't fix everything.
Come back.
Please come back.
What is it you expect me to be?
"Dear Sheriff Enoch.
You came to my aid once
a very long time ago.
I write in the last hope that you can find it
in your heart to think of me once again.
As a child, and for most of my life thereafter,
I only did what I had to do to survive,
making a devil's bargain
and in the process giving birth to a child
fathered by a man I did not love.
With no hope of reprieve
and with everything in this world taken from me,
for the past seven years I have been held captive.
I feel as if I am in hell,
which is a pain worse than death.
Taken away one piece at a time.
You are the only one left who knows me.
Please tell them who I was before.
You promised not to return me
to a place determined to crush my soul.
Show me the same kindness now
that you once showed an orphan girl under the boardwalk.
I know in your way you thought you could save me.
Would it have been better for both of us if you had not?
We were innocent once.
Every moment here is a torture I cannot describe.
As a girl and for most of my life thereafter,
I did what I had to do to survive.
I do not look for absolution, but only relief.
I gave birth to a son fathered by a man I did not love.
Everything in this world has been taken from me.
With no hope of reprieve.
I go back over what I have just written.
I look at the words and think they make sense.
And with each passing day I am less and less certain.
Bit by bit,
they take you away until all you are...
I tell myself I am sane.
...and finally nothing at all.
If you would come, if you would sit beside me...
You are the only one left who knows me.
Show me the same kindness now that you once showed an orphan girl.
There is forgiveness for everyone.
I turn to you on my knees.
I beg you."
Please help me.