Original subtitles

See, I believe this whole damn country is going to jail. Either that or a lot

of people are going to get very rich selling bootleg booze.

Charlie Luciano, Michael Lasker, Bugsy Siegel. Three friends who fought their

way up from the slums of New York and forged one of America's most notorious

crime syndicates.

The women who loved them.

Joy, Charlie's part-time mistress.

Chris, his lifelong friend and informant.

As well as Al Capone's mistress.

Michael's innocent and naive wife, Ruth.

Stella, Ben Siegel's wife, trapped in a world she couldn't control.

In New York, Charlie Luciano and Arnold Rothstein agreed to sell their bootleg

liquor to mobsters Salvatore Maranzano, Chicago chieftain Al Capone, and Joe the

Boss Masseria.

But the shipment is ambushed as rival gangland leaders battle for power and

control of the underworld.

Why I should pay you, Luciano? Why not just to take what you're bringing me?

Who's going to stop me?

Giuseppe Massaria, this pig.

Soon it comes to a war.

Sorry, Unwin.

is dead, there's nothing we can do about that.

None of the pieces belong to us. The club, the casinos, everything.

We can hold on to it.

The killing of Arnold Rothstein let Charlie Luciano, Michael Lasker, and Ben

Siegel take over Rothstein's criminal empire.

But they needed time and an end to bloody warfare like Al Capone's St.

Valentine's Day Massacre.

Charlie, Michael, and Ben set a meeting in Atlantic City to propose a peace to

lords of crime Frank Costello, King Solomon, Dutch Schultz, and Al Capone.

You know Ben Siegel? Oh, yeah, Mr.

Siegel. How are you? Good to see you. Lovely place here. I like it very much.

How are you doing?

Good to see you.

You said it yourself when we were kids in prison.

When they got you that time for carrying a pistola, you said Frank Costello would

never carry a gun again.

Well, we can get rid of the guns if we just use our heads, if we can make them

understand.

Well, who?

Everybody isn't here, Charlie.

Where's Mazzeria, huh?

Where's Marantano? What, they spit in your eyes?

Charlie, that's a New York problem. We'll take care of New York.

If we can just make a national arrangement.

Hey, I'm New York, too.

Why bury the hatchet?

Somebody's liable to find it and put it in my head.

Talk to the king.

What do you say, Sully?

New England will go along any way Capone wants to go along.

Capone?

What? He's killing us.

People are scared to walk the streets.

He ain't killing me.

Now you got Rothstein's share.

you're a big man, Charlie.

You want to be one of those diplomats, turn us into the League of Nations or

something.

I like it on my own, Charlie.

I'm doing just fine.

And you work it out with Capone.

Arnold Rothstein was a smart man. He said, make money.

Don't fight.

Arnold Rothstein?

I hear he's dead.

What are we fighting for?

You and me, Charlie?

We don't fight.

You delivered my wish.

If we fight, believe me, I don't stand here and make love.

Al, look, this thing on Valentine's Day, it's hurting all of us. Pretty soon the

police are going to move and we're all going to suffer.

But please.

You're kidding me.

Listen, Al.

We've got to make some rules about the killing.

Protect all of us.

The goose is laying golden eggs. Don't put it up against the wall and shoot it.

All right, now I'm going to tell you something.

Today I leave Atlantic City and I go to Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, I get arrested.

Gunshots, something like that. My lawyers got it all worked out anyway.

They sent me up for a couple of months, right?

Capone is arrested. Capone gets punished.

Everybody's satisfied.

You don't have to shake in your boots, my man.

That's terrific.

A couple of months in a country club jail?

Come on, Al.

Things have got to change.

Everything has got to change.

Okay, Charlie.

I'm going to tell you a story.

Want you to think about it tonight when you go home to bed.

I got a couple of guys that work for me.

They're like you and your friend, the Jew, Michael.

Smart, careful, and make a few plans.

And for me, I make something too.

Big bang for it.

Invite all their friends.

And then...

Signed to the chest.

And I smashed their heads in with a baseball bat.

Excuse me, ma'am.

I gotta go get arrested.

Who do they find to talk about so much?

Don't you know?

I'm not that naive. I know they sell whiskey.

Everybody still drinks, even at their wedding.

You think that's all there is?

I thought

you'd

be on the beach enjoying the sun.

I've been on the beach.

What's wrong, Ricky?

Huh?

Something wrong?

I'm sorry, I've been busy.

Those men you've been talking to out there... I know who they are.

I know who you are.

I never lied to you.

Everything was a lie.

Ruthie, it's business.

You'll understand.

Understand what?

Did I marry someone I don't even know?

I'm no different.

I'm the same fellow who drove you to New York.

What do I mean to you, Michael?

You're my wife. I love you.

children, maybe a son.

We'll live our lives together and make each other happy.

Charlie and Ben.

What do they mean to you?

We'd kill for each other.

Have you?

They'll understand it's not what you think.

Sometimes we fight for our lives.

Who punishes?

Who punishes my God?

Later, Dr. Michael.

She'll be all right.

We had to face a few facts.

I'll make it up to him.

What about Capone?

He wouldn't listen.

You want me to talk to Benny?

No.

Watch to keep Benny out of this.

How good are our friends in Washington?

We're working on it.

Talk to them.

There's a new law.

The government wants to tax it on illegal income.

Do it that way.

We'll let them handle Capone.

It'll take time.

How much time do we have, Charlie?

I don't know, Michael.

When Al Capone said he'd go it alone, the Atlantic City meeting collapsed.

Charlie, Michael, and Ben returned to New York.

and found themselves caught between the warring forces of Joe the Boss Masseria

and Salvatore Maranzano.

Charlie went alone to see Joe the Boss on his ground, knowing the danger.

Most of all, he knew his and his friend's chances of remaining outside

the war lessened by the hour.

Charlie, how's it going?

Hey, Pete Morello.

Hey, Lou Charlie.

Come on, Charlie, will you?

Want to insult or something, huh?

Come on.

Hello. Hello.

Yes.

Joe, the boss. He's waiting for you.

I'll finally come to see you.

Sit down. Sit down. Have a glass of wine.

I see you bring Bugsy Sigel.

That's good.

That's smart.

I don't like him.

I never forget what he did to me.

But you know, bring him.

Prove you got the trust for me.

Like I think I trust you too.

Like I trust him.

My friend, Doreen.

I used to make him a boss.

I make all the bosses now.

All right, all right. What do you think? Luciano going to shoot me or something?

I know him since he was a little, little kid. A long, long time.

Go ahead. If I touch you, I'll just stand there. Will you follow out in

private with my friend?

Remember when we first did business?

I tell you, I know you're going to become an important man.

Well, here's the truth.

You do business with me, everybody, long, long time, and you're still alive.

That's an important man.

Things are changing now.

You know, I'm in a bigger, bigger war between me and Maranzano.

You know, you're stuck in the middle.

Maranzano, he make me crazy.

Because he's crazy.

Cesare is, como se dice in English, Julius Caesar from Casa La Merda del

Golfo.

He make a lot of crazy war, not me.

You think he's smart, but he's not smart. He's stupid.

I'm smart.

I'll tell you something you'll never know, Luciano.

I got over a thousand guns out there just to wait for the word from me.

I got plenty of good boys like Rainer.

I got a New Yorker sewed up.

I got my good friend Al Capone in Chicago.

He's backing me up.

I got more men than the army got the soldiers.

So pretty soon, I'm going to get my revenge on this new Caesar.

I'm going to make a grave for Maranzano and put him in a hole.

And you're going to be there with me.

How you talking?

When I was a kid, Joe, a wise man gave me a piece of advice.

He said, Charlie, whenever you go for revenge, you better dig two graves.

One for your enemy and one for yourself.

This isn't my war.

But it don't have to be your fight. You're still stuck in the middle.

Now, what do you think, Luciano?

Everybody dance, you sit on the wall and watch it?

When the music starts, da-da-da-da-da-da, everybody dance, even

you.

I prove it to you.

Last night, last night, you and your girlfriend, you go in a restaurant in

Salerno.

You order a vino piccate.

The waiter who serve you is what you call a fill-in.

He's only there one night.

Got a big mole here.

He got a bigger gun in his pocket, too.

Now, he working for Joe Pinzola. Pinzola, he working for me.

I tell you this, Luciano, because last night... I make a telephone call to the

restaurant. I said two words.

Kill him.

And you were dead, man.

I got no more worry about Mr.

Luciano, which way you gonna go.

Because you gonna go.

Now, I like you very, very much.

I know you a long, long time.

I tell you this.

Bring in your operation.

Bring in your gun.

Bring in your brain. I make you my number one boss.

Bigger than the rain.

Bigger than anybody.

But to me.

You with me, Luciano.

With me.

I'll talk it over with Michael.

Michael who?

Michael Lasker?

He's no one of us.

Neither am I, Joe.

Sonnet society think from Sicily the boys from this town against this

village.

That's not my way of life in America.

Your life in America, in Sicily, all are the same, friend or enemy.

You're with me or you're with them.

Next time we meet, Luciano, you're my friend or you're my enemy.

And in the end, I win.

Mr. Joe the boss.

Lucchese.

Lucchese.

Come in, come in. You move like a dead one.

You don't mind, you stay here.

I go.

Lucchese, he keep you company.

I pull you ahead in the right place.

Make up your mind.

Three finger brass.

I still throw a pretty good baseball.

We used to play ball on the streets, huh, Tommy?

Masseria says kill me. You gonna kill me?

It's a war, Charlie.

Everybody takes care of himself.

Anything, Mr. Siegel?

No, thanks. Not right now.

Are you sure there's nothing you want?

Maybe a little later.

What are we doing, Mike?

The thing on the button.

There's a depression going on out there you couldn't prove anything.

How'd it go?

How did he go?

How do you think it went? Joe the boss.

What a big man he is.

How he loves me so much. He could have had me killed last night, except he

loves me so much. How much he's going to do for all of us, and then we're all

going to dance in Maranzano's grave.

Who says Mazzaria's going to win?

Everything I hear, Maranzano's beating his brains out.

We're not picking horses, man.

No? Thought that's what we were doing.

Charlie, want a drink?

Hey, Benny.

You know, just because we sell that stuff doesn't mean you have to drink it.

I'm a big hit around here.

What does Masseria want?

He wants a city.

He wants you in.

Benny and me, we don't belong to that particular club.

Oh, really?

Well, I'll tell you something, Michael.

Sooner or later, we're going to get sucked into it. Like America got pulled

into this war, we're going to get pulled into this one.

Why?

For what?

The guns go off, we got nothing to win out there.

In the end, we're going to run out of choices.

We're going to have to move.

We don't have to do anything.

We're not street hustlers, Charlie.

We're operating under our own steam.

Politics, we got politicians.

Protection, we got Benny's troops and business. The way things are going,

we're going to have more lending money than the banks.

We're going to be in every business there is. And nothing hurts us, Charlie.

Not as long as we keep using our heads.

I'll keep us out as long as I can, Michael.

Friday night, you're going to get out of here and you're going to turn Catholic.

Make friends, Charlie. Don't fight.

Make money.

Good night, Ben.

Good night, Mike.

You know what he's really saying, don't you,

Charlie?

No, what?

Whatever we've done, we've done together.

Now, you get yourself into this war, how am I supposed to take care of you?

You mean, how am I gonna take care of you and Michael?

Is that what I mean?

Tell you what, Ben.

You take care of the troops.

Michael will take care of the money.

And I'll take care of all of us, capi?

And another thing, Benjamin.

This is a place of business.

And in case you've forgotten, you're a married man.

Try to keep your hands off the cocktail waitresses.

This is Mr. Segal. I'd like a drink, please.

That cocktail waitress, Laura.

Would you tell her to take my drink now, please?

Thank you.

You're late, Michael.

I'm sorry.

I'll go get you dinner.

I want to talk to you.

There's nothing to talk about.

We'll reason it out, okay?

Michael. No, not like that.

This is a night for truth.

Everything happens in God's eyes.

Do you believe I love you?

Did you love me before we were married? Yes.

The night we were married?

Yes. And the day after that?

But not now.

We're married, but no love.

Someday, will you love me again?

I don't know.

Then it'll be this way forever.

I want the woman.

I don't run around. It's you I wanted, you I want.

So when we're very old, maybe, you'll forgive me for being Michael Askin, and

then we'll make love again.

30 years?

20?

Two years? Six months. Can we start with that?

Start with it.

End with it. I don't care anymore.

That's enough, Ruth.

Are you going to shoot me, Michael?

Sure.

See the blood?

There. Always with my hand.

Whatever the world is out there, I don't bring it into this house.

You don't care anymore, then I'll have to care enough for both of us.

I chose you for my wife. You accepted me.

We share the same house. We should share the same bed for the first time since

Atlantic City.

A special blessing.

Into bed, Michael.

What kind of a man do you think I am?

You're my husband.

Do I have a right?

You're not my wife.

When you ask me into your bed, then you'll be my wife.

Don't scream. Don't scream.

There's somebody here. Understand?

It's nothing.

It's nothing. It's only a scratch.

It's all right.

It's all right.

How you doing?

How's what's-his-name?

Where you been?

I've been at the office with Charlie.

No, you haven't been with Charlie.

He just called. He's been trying to find you.

What is this?

What are you running here, a detective bureau or something?

Ben?

What? What is it?

You made me a princess, Ben. You put me in this house. I have maids. I have

everything I could ever want.

But if you're going to lie to me, lie better than that.

At least let me pretend that you're not sleeping all over town.

I swear, baby, I'll never do it again.

I swear to God.

Well, that's better.

Now I can pretend.

You'd better call Charlie.

Somebody just tried to kill Michael Lasker.

How did Ruth take it?

She was afraid for me.

There was a doctor with the police. He gave her something to sleep.

Lunatics.

Michael's house.

His own house, Benny.

Where the hell were you?

What was I supposed to do, stand outside with a gun?

Somebody should have been here.

Charlie's not never into the business.

He shoot at you, he shoot at me. I didn't think they'd try to take Michael.

He's right, Charlie. Be reasonable.

You just saw how right he is. And don't talk to me about being reasonable. Now,

from now on, I want this place protected 24 hours.

You buy the house across the street, you buy up the whole block if you have to,

you do your job. All right!

I'll put my hands in the fire before it happens again. All right, Charlie?

From now on, you carry a gun, capisce?

Oh.

Hi, Mike. Hello, Vito.

Who was it, Vito?

I saw the body, so there's no question, huh?

It was Dr. Valle.

He belonged to Joe the Boss.

My city.

My city.

You're still going to stay out of the war, Michael? You're still going to do

that little trick?

Where's the prophet, Charlie?

Revenge?

You're going to take revenge to the bank?

How do I put it on the books? A credit?

We tear apart everything we built for this?

I met Michael in the meeting with Massady. I told him I wanted to talk it

over with him.

He said you're not one of us.

He's right, Michael. You're not.

Staying clear of the war is going to create its own war.

Vito and me are going to take care of that. From now on, you're out of it.

Now, are you going to take care of his guards or is Vito going to do it?

I'll take care of it.

Good.

Just so it doesn't interfere with your love life.

I'm glad you're okay, Michael, because these things... Thank you, V.

Well, hey.

I feel about you.

What happened?

It's okay, Benny.

Charlie's gonna leave us hanging by our thumbs.

Charlie's gonna do what's best for all of us. That's a fact. I don't want to

hear anything else.

Look, Mike, this whole lash-up we got, it's your brain and my muscle. Now,

don't you know that?

I know that without Charlie, you'd still be busting warehouses, and I'd still be

running a garage.

So will we go on like this forever?

He raised his voice to you. He hurt your feelings.

You're jealous of Vito, so you sulk like a baby, like a baby without a gun. You

want what you want.

Benny, you've got to learn how to wait.

How long do we wait, Mike?

Huh?

The conversation's over.

You're right, Mike. It's been a lousy night.

Turn out the light.

...to Charlie.

First, he had to meet with Maranzano because Joe, the boss, had tried to kill

Michael Lasker.

Second, that attempt on Michael's life was one more bloody warning that time

was running out for himself and his friends.

Well, Charlie, how are you?

Don Marenzano is waiting for us inside the car.

Well, goodbye.

Don

Salvatore.

Caesar's campaigns.

You should read them, Charlie.

Ab uno dice omnis.

Learn Latin, Charlie, and read the wisdom in his own hand.

Caesar whispers in my ear, maybe you stand by my side.

Then, caro bambino, we take the world.

I appreciate the invitation, Don Salvador.

Si, si, si.

For those with the eyes to see,

my own campaign has already won.

Is that why Al Capone went with Masseria?

In the end, Capone will pay his share of the tribute they all paid.

The ones that live.

Those that join with me, they will share.

You've met with Massaria?

Yes.

I have.

Good.

Let there be truth between you and me.

Joe, the boss.

The boss of the pigs. The boss of nothing.

Maybe we leave him in the North Pole, huh?

Now.

He offered to make you a big man. Ma, you're already a big man.

You think I don't know that?

Hmm?

Why do you think I court you like a bride?

Now, Charlie.

You want to hear my offer?

I'm a guest in your house.

Everything you have, you keep.

Everything. I want nothing.

Everything I have, I give you a portion.

The work of my lifetime belongs to you. What we make together, we divide

reasonably.

This I offer you to join with me.

Your offer is very generous.

I take my profit from your strength even more after we make our

victory.

And if I still choose to stand alone?

Alone is alone.

There are many considerations.

How long, Charlie?

Gaetano Reina.

From the camp of Joe the Boss.

You too, Tony?

Yeah, Charlie, we're coming over.

We'll bring our shooters.

When? When Don Salvatore gives us the word.

Until then, we stay with Mazzeria.

He's gone nuts, Charlie.

Like he eats, that's how he deals with us.

There's never enough.

These two, they are my secret ambassadors. There are many others also.

Diplomacy. Diplomacy, Charlie.

The force of arms.

To be wise and ruthless.

Who can resist us?

We want you to understand.

So that you'll know.

We're all together.

Hey, our lives are in your hands.

I give you my word, I won't betray your confidence.

We know that.

If you ride the carousel, Charlie, ride the white horse.

Now it's for you to speak.

If we make a deal, terms you offered, we have to work out the percentage. You'll

be satisfied, I guarantee it.

Don Luciano.

There is one additional requirement.

Your, um... Come here, Sedeci.

Associates. Lasker and Bogsy Siegel.

Get rid of them.

Get rid of the Jews, Charlie.

Charlie Luciano knew that he could no longer stay out of the Castelmarisi War,

the most violent of all the conflicts in the long history of crime in America.

He had to choose one side or the other, and if he chose the wrong side, not only

he, but his friends Michael Lasker and Ben Siegel would be killed.

Thursday, don't miss highlights of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey

Circus. Then Ralph Edwards and David Frost host the 30th anniversary of This

Is Your Life. Stay tuned for Hill Street Blues next.

Hi, I'm Charlene Tilton from Dallas. Join me when I host Saturday Night Live

this week with special musical guest Todd Rundgren and with new talent

Prince. Eat your heart out, JR.