"Pocketful of Miracles" with Bette Davis and Glenn Ford (1961)

Here’s a movie which captured my attention; as well as my heart; back when I was about 7 years old. As I grew up I was only ever to catch this one on late night TV reruns; and later on when it was released on VCR I was probably the only one to borrow it from the library. And that’s a shame because this is one fine movie.

From the original story by Damon Runyon (“Guys and Dolls”) to the direction by Frank Capra (too many films to mention) this movie has everything going for it. The acting is excellent, with none of the cast playing their roles “over the top” and chewing up the scenery. Even Peter Falk; who is known for being a bit too much like Peter Falk in all his roles; manages to pull off his role as Joy Boy with just the right mixture of comedy and pathos.

The story centers on the relationship between Apple Annie; played by Bette Davis in one of her finer roles; who is a poor street peddler selling apples on the corner during the Depression. Her best customer is Dave the Dude; a successful gambler played by Glenn Ford in one his most memorable roles; who is superstitious and never does anything without buying an apple from Annie before he does it. He believes in the power of luck, and that luck; as far as he is concerned; comes only from Annie’s apples.

Annie has a secret. The old woman has a daughter, Louise; played by Ann Margret; who lives out of town, where she attended a very prestigious school. Now grown, she is returning to New York City to see her mother, who she has not seen since she was a little girl. She believes her mother to a wealthy socialite named Mrs. E. Worthington Manville. She believes this because her mother has been writing her letters to this effect for many years. So, while Louise is excited, Annie is completely unhinged. Her daughter knows nothing about her mother’s real circumstances in general; let alone that she has been reduced to peddling apples in the street.

Annie has been conducting this ruse by obtaining stationary from the fancy hotel where she claims to be living. She uses that stationary to write the letters to her daughter and reinforce the fantasy of her life as a rich woman. But now that the gig is up Annie is terrified that her lies are about to be revealed. This is more than she can bear.

When Dave the Dude becomes aware of the problem he does what he does best. He’s a gambler after all; so he takes the long odds and with the urging of his girlfriend Queenie Martin; played by Hope Lang; he decides to help Annie. With Queenie coaching Annie on the refinements of being a socialite, Dave arranges for all their other friends to pitch in on the effort to save Annie’s reputation.

Pool hustler "Judge" Henry G. Blake ; played by Thomas Mitchell;  poses as Annie's husband. Dave also arranges for Annie and the Judge to occupy an out-of-town friend's hotel suite. Even the man’s butler, Hudgins; played by veteran character actor Edward Everett Horton; gets involved.

Dave, meanwhile, is having his own problems postponing a very important “meeting” with some very important “people”.  The whole film is pure Frank Capra as the two plots unfold and you are left wondering how all this will work itself out in the end. But it’s a Frank Capra film and everybody winds up being exactly where they should be. And along the way Dave the Dude learns that true luck; and love; don’t necessarily come from apples.

"Mafia Summit" by Gil Reavill (2013)

Depending on where you lived in America prior to 1957 determined what you called the mafia. In Los Angeles it was the “Combination”; Chicago had the “Fix”; New York had the “Mob”; and everyone knew they were connected. That is, everyone but J. Edgar Hoover, who didn’t admit the Mafia even existed until after the release of the Valachi papers in the early 1960’s. And since Valachi referred to the syndicate as La Costra Nostra, or, “This Thing of Ours”; rather than the Mafia; Hoover still insisted that he was right. There was no Mafia. Essentially, Hoover saved America from the Communists, but in doing so,  gave it to the mob.

Gil Reavill has done a superb job in researching, as well as writing, this detailed history of the mob in America, while telling the story behind the infamous Apalachin Conference in 1957 and the repercussions which evolved from that incident.

New York State Trooper Sergeant Edgar Croswell had been keeping an eye on local resident Joe Barbara for years. Their first encounter involved gas siphoning during the last days of the Second World War. But when Sgt. Croswell noticed an assemblage of high priced, late model automobiles; dozens of them; parked at Mr. Barbara’s home one morning in November of 1957, he ran the plates, and changed the course of the history of the mob in America. He also shook up J. Edgar Hoover’s little fiefdom, which had been busy chasing Communists for so long that they didn’t even have a clue about this organized  criminal element, and how far they had penetrated our very own government.

Along with the story of the Summit the author has also told the story of the syndicates in the various cities across America and how they became united. Tracing the mob wars back to the Castellammarese clan he draws a clear picture of how the power struggles of the past led to a nation-wide criminal organization which held ownership in legitimate businesses; using the profits to buy politicians and evade the law for decades.

The first real mob “convention” took place in 1928 in Cleveland. It was held at the Statler Hotel for the express purpose of deciding who controlled what territories. This was a result of the Castellammarese ‘war”. The meeting was called by Joseph Porrello, also known as the Sugar Baron. That meeting was broken up before any real progress could be made, but is acknowledged as the first summit of its kind.

The next time the mob held a meeting was in 1929 in Atlantic City. That meeting was spoofed in the hit movie “Some Like It Hot”, with many of the characters bearing similar, if not exact nicknames of the mobsters who attended the conference.

After that was the 1931 meeting held in Chicago at the Congress Hotel. This meeting was held to codify national commission to settle disputes.  By 1946 the mob leaders met again in Havana to discuss the new business of trafficking in heroin. Present at that meeting were Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese and the newly freed; and deported; Lucky Luciano, who flew into Cuba from Italy with a fake passport.

One of the most interesting parts of this book was how far into our everyday life the mob had gone. Take a bottle of soda as an example. The main ingredient was sugar, and as such, it was a valuable commodity, ripe for manipulation. Cuba was important not only for gambling and drugs, but sugar as well. When Castro took over in the late 1950’s, we lost our sugar holdings, which affected the price of a bottle of soda for millions of Americans.

One of the reasons we went to such great lengths to overthrow Castro was sugar, which was vital to the still thriving, tax free bootleg liquor industry in America. Local bootleggers could not simply buy a thousand pounds of sugar locally without arousing suspicion. It had to be bought on the black market, which is where the mob came into play. The price of sugar rose drastically after Castro took over, and cost the mob a tremendous amount of money in lost profits here at home as well as in the casinos in Havana.

The story of the Summit at Apalachin on November 14, 1957 is well known. The images of mobsters, dressed in expensive suits, running through the late fall woods, slipping and sliding in their pointed toes shoes is a part of our culture. But the story behind the officer who precipitated the raid, and the light which was shed upon the existence of the mob in America, is a story that has never really been told in such detail as by Mr. Reavill. His attention to the details of the history leading up to the Apalachin Summit; as well as the results of exposing the connections of the various crime families in America; is fascinating and informative.

With an appendix listing the names and details of the various bosses, coupled with a chapter by chapter section of notes; along with an extensive bibliography; make this a lively and educational read for anyone interested in the history behind all of the movies about organized crime in America. 

"The Cooler" with Maria Bello, William Macy and Alec Baldwin (2004)

Nobody does apathy better than William H. Macy. His characters are always a bit removed from the action; even when he is the center of it he manages to evoke the helplessness we all feel at some point of time in our lives.

In “The Cooler” he uses this ability to bring to life the character of Bernie Lootz, a man so unlucky that he is working as a “cooler” in an old established gambling casino in Las Vegas, which is just about to change from the mob controlled town of the 1960’s and 70’s, to the corporate “glitz” which it has become. No one is more unhappy about this than Bernie’s boss, Shelly Kaplow, played by Alec Baldwin, who, along with Bernie, has been in Vegas from the beginning. And, in the process, the old adage “Lucky at cards, unlucky in love” gets turned upside down in this understated film about life, luck and love.  

When Bernie falls into debt with friend; casino owner Shelly; and can’t pay him back in time, Shelley has his leg broken. The two remain “friends” and Shelley offers him a job as a “cooler” in the casino; that is, he is the guy who comes up to the table and helps to break other patrons winning streaks. He does this by a combination of means, but mostly, he is just bad luck for whoever he is around, including himself.

When he begins to think that he should just leave town, Shelly pays cocktail waitress Natalie Belisario, played by the stunning Maria Bello, to fall in love with him. But the problem is that she really does. Bernie is the first man she has ever met who didn’t want something of her. Her affection for him quickly turns to love, which only serves to make Bernie feel like any man who is in love does; lucky.

Of course, this new found confidence makes him a liability for Shelly, as all the people in the casino start to win. When Bernie’s long estranged son Mikey shows up with his “pregnant” girlfriend in tow, Bernie gives him some money to get on his feet. The son uses that money to cheat at the casino, causing Shelly to re-act in the expected way. He is going to have him killed. This puts Bernie at odds with Shelly, who has already realized that Bernie’s luck has changed, making him unnecessary to Shelly any longer.

Paul Sorvino, who usually plays a mobster, portrays Buddy Stafford, a drug addicted lounge singer in what may be one of the most sensitive roles he has ever tackled. He is a beaten man and knows it. But, Shelly keeps him supplied with heroin in order to keep him working, as well as keep his own illusions alive. When Buddy overdoses it is almost symbolic of the changes that are about to occur in Las Vegas, as the old gives way to the new.

The confrontation between Shelly and Bernie reaches a stunning climax as Bernie is forced to choose between luck and love.

Note: IMDB lists the release date of this film as 2003,; however, the DVD shows the release date to be 2004. I have chosen to use the date on the DVD.

Fin, Family and Slang

Above is a "fin", a five dollar bill. It's a slang term which had been relegated to the dump heap until recently, where it has made a comeback in the street level drug trade.

For me the term "fin", as well as the slang term for the $10 bill, or a "sawbuck", belong to another era, back in the 1950's, when I was a small child. I was fascinated with these terms, words which I heard my dad use, frequently when talking to his brother Richie. And there were the times when my Dad would take me to a bar, to collect on some work he had done on the HVAC systems, and the owners were rough hewn "mob" types. In places like those, "fin", "sawbuck" and "double sawbuck" were normal expressions. But where did those words come from?

Let's start with the "fin", pictured above. "Fin" is slang for the old German word "funf", or five, which became Yiddish and was pronounced "finf", and sometimes as "finnif." This was low level slang.

Moving up the chain there was the "sawbuck", or $10 bill, which derived from the device used to hold wood for cutting into lengths that would fit into a fireplace, or stove. The term originated because the first ten dollar bills issued had the Roman numeral "X" for ten on one corner. "Buck" had long been established to mean a dollar, so putting the two together was kind of a natural.

For bigger jobs there was the elusive "double sawbuck", or $20 bill. And after that was the "half a yard" for $50 dollars, a "C" note, or a "yard", was for $100 dollars (the "C" stood for Century, which is rather self explanatory), and then there was the holiest of all, the dreaded "large", as in, "You owe me 5 large", or $5,000 dollars, as in "grand."

I kind of miss these terms. I know that language evolves, and that's a good thing. But as it does, I get older. I'm still not sure how I feel about that!

"Get Capone" by Jonathan Eig

This is, simply put, the best true life crime saga since last year's "L.A. Noir." That book dealt with the crime syndicate and it's history in Los Angeles. It was known there as "the Combination." This one deals with the rise of Al Capone from his early years in Brooklyn to his heyday and eventual downfall in Chicago.

The book is painstakingly researched and covers not only the activities of Capone and his henchmen, including the notorious "St. Valentine's Day Massacre," but goes on to connect the dots of the criminal enterprise that was Chicago during the "roaring twenties." Every cop, alderman, delegate, the mayor himself and anyone in between was on the payroll of "the mob."

Surprisingly, Capones "mob" was composed of many nationalities; from Jewish to Irish to Italian, all the ethnic groups were represented. Sometimes they had disagreements over turf, and these disagreements usually took the form of what is today known as the "drive by shooting." The Thompson machine gun made it's criminal debut in the early 1920's after having been perfected too late for inclusion in the First World War.

But the real intersting part of this book deals with the Federal Governments efforts to curtail the criminal activity that grew out of the Nineteenth Amendment. When the Volstead Act was put into place to combat the flagrant violations stemming from that Amendment, the government still had no "teeth" with which to enforce the law. With Treasury Agents making less than a good bribe could bring them, there was little incentive to enforce the law and risk your life in doing so. Some new and better way to control the gangsters was clearly needed. Enter Income Tax Violations.

The common perception holds that Capone's was the first prosecution of a mobster for tax evasion. This is not quite true. But first, as I always say, a little background on Income Taxes in general. Initially begun during the Civil War under President Lincoln as a way to finance the Union Army, the rate was set at 3% of annual income above $600. This included any income from "property, rents,interest, dividends,salaries or from any profession, trade, employment or vocation carried on in the United States or elsewhere, or from any source whatever." There was no distinction made for illegal income. As far as Uncle Sam was concerned, if it came in, you owed them 3 percent.

The law was very unpopular and was overturned in 1872, re-instated in 1894, and ruled Unconstitutional in 1895. In 1913 Wyoming ratified the 16th Amendment creating the 3/4 majority necesssary to make it law. An additional 1% was levied on those who made more than $3,000 per year and an additional 6% surtax was added to incomes higher than $500,000. Death or fraud were the only 2 ways to avoid the tax, causing Will Rogers to remark in the 1920's that "The Income Tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf."

At first, in an effort to collect these taxes, 6 Post Offices Inspectors were tasked with this responsibility. Now came the tricky part. What was income? Were criminals responsible to report income gained illegally? Would this not fall under the protections of the 5th Amendment? Wasn't it up to the government to prove that you were cheating? All valid questions at the time, when there was no settled law relating to the issue.

In 1921 the first challenge to the law by a criminal took place in the trial of a bootlegger named Manley Sullivan. He would take his case all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing that disclosure of his illegal activities for tax purposes violated his 5th Amendment Rights. The Court decided against him and he was forced to pay back taxes on all his income. This was the opening of the door that would eventually bring Capone down.

Beginning with Al Capone's brother Ralph "Bottles" Capone, the Special Intelligence Unit in Chicago began to pester "Bottles" so much that he finally filed a return listing his income of $20,000 per year as a "gambler." When played out over a 4 year period he owed $11,000 in back taxes and the government began to seize some of his assets. This was the beginning of the close watch on Al Capone's finances that would finally bring to a close his career as a criminal.

The book is quite extensive, delving into Herbert Hoover's role in starting a war on organized criminals and the establishment of Federal Agents tasked with the responsibility to catch them.

A fascinating book that looks into the formation of the FBI as a crime fighting organization, as well as the utilization and enforcement of tax law, to break the hold of one of America's most notorious gangsters over an entire city and part of a nation.