The Florida tomato farm that was Al Capone’s hideout and Burt Reynolds’ home
There’s long been a link between Hollywood and organised crime, between movies and the mob.
In many ways, the violent, power-hungry world of the mafia, for example, presents creatives with perfect, readymade film storylines, as witnessed by the early gangster films of the 1930s all the way through to arguably the best movie ever made, The Godfather.
While actors and directors draw upon the edgy, cutthroat world of crime, there’s also a mutual admiration from those on the other side; being seen hanging around with movie stars has always been a pull for anyone at the top of an underworld organisation. Mobsters sought out the fame and glamour of the big screen, while those who appeared on it might turn to them for financing or protection.
Probably the best known example of this symbiotic relationship, certainly the most documented, was that which was alleged between Frank Sinatra and the mafia, which prompted an investigation from the FBI that resulted in some 2,000 pages of material, although ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ was never convicted of any crime or even arrested for that matter.
But another lesser-known link, albeit one that came about through the sale of property, was that between notorious Chicago mob boss Al Capone and Smokey and the Bandit star Burt Reynolds, who was himself the subject of interest from the FBI back in the 1970s. That occurred due to Reynolds’ purchase of an old 150-acre ranch in Jupiter, Florida, which was often referred to as just ‘The Farms’.
It had been used to grow tomatoes in the ‘Sunshine State’ for several decades, and was once owned by Capone himself in the 1920s, thought to be a cover for his criminal activities with the production of the fruit used to make the mobster seem legitimate while doubling as a handy hideout. And in the late 1960s, it came to the attention of Reynolds, who, although not yet a movie star, had appeared in major TV shows for over a decade.
His purchase of the house was anything but straightforward, however, as Reynolds and his then-girlfriend were put on the radar of the FBI for using an attorney called Frank Ragano to broker the deal. Ragano had made a huge amount of money representing characters including mafia kingpin Santo Trafficante Jr and union boss Jimmy Hoffa, famously played by Al Pacino in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.
The FBI opened up a file on Reynolds and Ragano, and the waters were muddied further when, a year later, in 1973, the lover of Reynolds’ glamorous co-star, Sarah Miles, on a film called The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing, was found dead in a motel the day after an alleged disagreement with Reynolds. The actor had to testify at an inquest into the budding screenwriter’s death, but no charges were brought.
Meanwhile, the ‘Burt Reynolds Ranch’, as it came to be known, was often used as a filming location for the star’s films, including Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, and somewhat ironically, he had been considered for the role of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather several years earlier, with director Francis Ford Coppola keen to cast him, but it was supposedly vetoed by Marlon Brando, although Reynolds later said he turned the role down.
