The classic movies with a connection to the mafia
Just last week, we explored how back in the day, the mafia controlled the music business. Yet music was not the only industry that the mob sought to possess. So too, did they finance and produce some of the classic Hollywood films.
Money was always the motive when it came to the mafia, so it is unsurprising to learn that they had a vested interest in one of the most profitable industries in the world, going right back to the early days of black-and-white cinema.
In the golden age of the mob, gangster films were high on the list of priorities for Hollywood. The public were fascinated by the illicit underground dealings of organised crime syndicates. However, Al Capone said gangster flicks were merely “terrible kids’ stuff” and poorly researched portrayals.
That said, when Howard Hawks’ Scarface came to the surface in 1932, Capone (whose nickname was Scarface) wanted to ensure that the character that was only based on him (and not at all actually meant to be him…) was a good portrayal. As such, he sent a few of his cronies to have a word with the film’s screenwriter, Ben Hecht.
They asked why Hecht had called the film Scarface if it wasn’t actually based on Capone, and Hecht somehow mustered up: “Al is one of the most famous and fascinating men of our time. If we call the movie Scarface, everybody will want to see it, figuring it’s about Al. That’s part of the racket we call showmanship.” So he wormed his way out of that one.
Of course, one of the most iconic mob films is Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, and when the mob caught wind of Coppola adapting Mario Puzo’s novel for the screen, he also got a bit of unwanted attention. New York boss Joe Colombo Sr. had his organisation, the Italian-American Civil Rights League, demand consultation rights on the film.
The group had at one point asked for the film to be shelved, as they felt it portrayed Italian-Americans in a poor light. This didn’t work, so threats were made via phone calls, filming equipment was stolen, and two mail bombs arrived at the Paramount offices. The compromise that saw the film get made? That the word “mafia” would never appear in the script.
Yet gangster flicks were not the only genre that the mob had some sort of dealing with. They also played their part in the production of the iconic horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Having laundered the profits of the golden-age porn film Deep Throat, the cast and crew of the film had to sue Louis ‘Butchie’ Peraino to get paid. Peraino’s company, Bryanston Distributing Company, had received all the profits of the film, and the cast and crew were severely underpaid.
When Peraino had been charged with obscenity for Deep Throat, the cast and crew saw it as the perfect opportunity to strike. When Bryanston went bust and couldn’t pay, New Line were able to acquire rights to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and it became one of the most memorable horror films of all time.
Check out a more comprehensive list of mafia-tied movies below.
The classic movies with a connection to the mafia:
- Scarface (Howard Hawks, 1932)
- From Here To Eternity (Fred Zinnemann, 1953)
- The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
- Behind The Green Door (Artie and Jim Mitchell, 1972)
- The Cotton Club (Francis Ford Coppola, 1984)
- Winter Kills (William Richert, 1979)
- The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (James Goldstone, 1971)
- Analyze This (Harold Ramis, 1999)
