Mobsters (1991)

The story of a group of friends in turn of the century New York, from their early days as street hoods to their rise in the world of organized crime. As their crime empire expands, they ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Karbelnikoff

Writers:

Michael Mahern (story), Michael Mahern (screenplay),

Stars:

Christian Slater, Costas Mandylor, Richard Grieco

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Slater	...	Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano
Costas Mandylor	...	Frank Costello
Richard Grieco	...	Bugsy Siegel
Jeremy Schoenberg	...	Crapshooter
Miles Perlich	...	Crapshooter
Alan Charof	...	Rabbi
Patrick Dempsey	...	Meyer Lansky
Anto Nolan	...	Irish Cop
Andy Romano	...	Antonio Luciano
Bianca Rossini	...	Rosalie Luciano
Stevie Restivo	...	Little Brother
Caroline Gillette	...	Little Sister
Robert Z'Dar	...	Rocco
Michael Gambon	...	Don Salvatore Faranzano
Tracy Swenson	...	Joey's Mother

Storyline

The story of a group of friends in turn of the century New York, from their early days as street hoods to their rise in the world of organized crime. As their crime empire expands, they have to deal with many problems, including their own differing opinions on how to run their business, the local Godfather, and the psychotic Mad Dog Coll.

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Plot Keywords:

new york | severed tongue | 1930s | shot to death | pistol | 

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Taglines:

So you think life was quieter in the old days...? THINK AGAIN!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gangsters

Filming Locations:

Ballroom, Park Plaza Hotel - 607 S. Park View Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$20,246,790 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When "Lucky" Luciano and the others bring in "Mad Dog" Coll to offer him a chance to move to California, they get into a discussion about Coll's style of killing, to which Coll slaps "Bugsy" Siegel on the knee and laughs out "There's nothing so pretty as the back of a man's head!" Ironically, when Bugsy Siegel was murdered in 1947, he was shot through the back of the head.

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Goofs

At that time, the game of choice would have been 5-card stud. 7-card stud was almost unknown.

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Quotes

Lucky: [to the fledgeling Mafia Commission, at a meeting hosted by a young Al Capone] ... You all know how I got this scar. Maybe Joe Profaci, here...
Joe Profaci: Wait a minute. What're you saying?
Lucky: Don't worry, Joe. Maybe you knew it was gonna happen to me, maybe you didn't. But by the old way of doin' things... If I became boss now, I'd have to hit you in case you knew. And all of you shrug, except some of you are friends of Joe's. And one day I might do something that upsets you, so then you'll hit me. And then ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Men Named Milo, Women Named Greta (2000)

User Reviews

La Cosa Nostra in Training

Mobsters casts four young players of the day as four of the legendary gangland figures of the 20th Century in their salad days. Christian Slater, Patrick Dempsey, Richard Grieco, and Costas Mandylor play Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Frank Costello respectively. The film is a fictionalized account of how the four of them wound up on top of the gangland heap.

Michael Gambon and Anthony Quinn play the two old style Mobsters who are rivals for the title of boss of all bosses in the New York City area. Playing Charles Ferranzano and Joe Masseria the two of them control most of the illegal liquor trade which gave organized crime in this country it's real foothold. But our young men prove to be tough, smart and resilient as they play off the two old bosses against the middle.

Mobsters as a film captures the ambiance of New York during prohibition very well. I'm not sure I would have cast Christian Slater as Lucky Luciano, still Slater does very well with the part. Richard Grieco as Bugsy Siegel is very good, you can see the genesis of Warren Beatty's character when he played Siegel in his film, Bugsy.

Note should also be mentioned of F. Murray Abraham as Twenties gambler Arnold Rothstein who was the initial sponsor of the young mobsters in training. And Nick Sadler is one frightening Mad Dog Coll. You'll see quite graphically where his nickname came from.

Mobsters is good viewing, not exactly historically accurate, but actually sticks closer to the truth than most films of this type.