Original subtitles

Both Salvatore Maranzano and Joe the Boss Masseria wanted Charlie as an ally

in the war, not as an independent partnered with Ben Siegel and Michael

Lasker. Both mafia bosses failed to recruit Charlie, who chose to protect

his friends.

Neither boss would give up.

Which way, Charlie?

No deal.

We started together?

We'll finish together.

You told that to Maranzano?

What Maranzano? I didn't see no Maranzano. I saw Julius Caesar. Mr.

Goodman's gonna make him a hat with leaves that go around his head.

Charlie, I think I love you.

Pastrami, our engagement ring.

I didn't think you cared.

I think I'd stand you up for a bunch of Sicilians.

Yeah, I don't know. You were pretty sore with me the other night.

You were ready to dump me, Favito.

Hey.

I didn't grow up with Vito, huh?

Look how far we've come.

When I was a kid, I used to dream of being locked up all night in a delicate

peasant.

Now we got our own keys.

Art leaves us a nice spread so we can talk in peace.

That's because we got the most important key of all. We trust each other.

That's why we got going, just like the banks.

What about the banks?

The Irish still went to Irish banks. The Italians to Italian banks. The Jews to

Jewish banks.

The banking business would still be like a delicatessen.

They learned a new way in America, and so did we.

That's why we're going to win.

You got the tapes you want to go over today?

No, no, no, not tonight.

Tonight, I'm going to show you how successful we really are.

When we get done here, I'm going to take us out for ice cream.

Hey, Fred, you got a dime to help an old soldier?

Well, I don't have a dime. How about five bucks?

I always said I'd rather be a mistress than a wife.

But we're not married.

If we were married, I... Joy.

Find him, Michael, please.

And he's got everybody on the street. Vito's people, Lepke's bunch, the

police, too.

See? I'm fine.

Did you, uh... Did you call Polly Adlers?

He found this car in front of the ice cream place.

He never made it.

He had a gun.

He always had a gun.

He'll be all right with a gun, won't he?

Won't he?

Damn you, Monica.

Damn every damn one of you.

How are you feeling, Charlie?

He's all right.

He can crawl.

Oh, hey, show us, Charlie, eh? Show us how nice you crawl.

Where's he crawling? He's crawling to see Susie.

Who's Susie? If you knew Susie like I know Susie, eh? Oh,

oh, oh, what a girl.

Charlie, all finished now, eh? You can go home now.

When in doubt...

Charlie.

Can you hear me, Charlie?

We got a message for you.

Julius Caesar, Charlie. You remember Julius Caesar?

When Caesar took a prisoner, Charlie, even a king, Caesar brought him home in

a cage.

You

see

how lucky you are, Charlie?

No cage for you.

Only us.

We've been fooling with you, Charlie.

And now we're going to get very serious.

Now we get sincere.

out in Staten Island right away. They just found Charlie. What happened?

I don't know, Benny.

They think he's dead.

I'm sorry, Benny.

Oh!

Oh!

All right, buddy, just stay back.

I'm Michael Lasseter.

Yes, sir. Is he alive?

Well, yeah, he's sort of alive.

John?

Hi, this is Benny. Who did it? It's easy, Benny.

Benny, easy. Take it easy.

Still bleeding. Mom, she's bleeding. It's still a lot.

Oh, this one's all over the whole world. It's going to be bleeding.

Oh, he loves you?

Papa, he's sick.

He's sick. Oh, he come to see you?

All the presents you send him, he keeps them now.

He knows they're from your heart.

He loves you, Salvatore.

You know he loves you?

Sleep, my son.

Hey, they say you're going to be fine, Charlie.

You're out of the kind of mark.

You know what they call on you out there?

Lucky Luciano.

Charlie Luck himself.

And Caesar took a prisoner, Charlie.

Even a king.

We better fool with this, Charlie.

Now we're going to get very serious.

Who did it?

Everybody dances and you sit by the wall and watch.

The music plays.

But what do you think, Lucia?

Everybody dance, you sit on the wall and watch.

When the music plays, everybody dance, even you.

You should have been a salesman, Charlie.

You would have made a great salesman.

You would have made a great salesman.

You would have made a great sense.

You would have made a great sense.

Up there, they're killing each other pretty good, Charlie.

Maybe a couple of hundred already dead.

That's some war this cost. Nobody touches you here.

We did it to you, Charlie.

Say it.

Say it. I'm glad we're just part-time, Charlie.

Otherwise, I might feel bad.

You wouldn't want me to feel that, would you?

P.S., I love you.

But don't take it seriously.

I was in Chicago, Charlie.

I was with Capone when they told him. He laughed.

He said somebody saved him the trouble.

I don't know, the way he said it, maybe it was Capone that did it.

Was it house people, Charlie?

We never give ourselves a chance, do we?

P.S. I love you.

But don't take it seriously.

I spoiled a lot.

How do you ever talk about me?

A little.

I've heard a lot about you.

Your favorite.

For a while.

Want to swap?

I do what I can for him.

I take chances.

I tell him things he has to know.

I don't think you could do that.

No, I couldn't.

What do you do for him?

I sleep with him.

Glad to be home, child?

Yeah, but... And all the time you were getting better.

You were getting better.

How do you like all this? There's a whole delicatessen here.

I'll tell you something, Charlie. It's a lot better than the hospital.

What do you want? I'll fix your plate.

I want to talk.

Let's go talk.

There were four men that night.

The one who sat me in the street and the three who did the job.

We'll find them.

I don't have to find them, Benny. I know who paid them.

Who paid them?

They didn't want to kill me, Benny.

If they wanted me dead, I'd be dead right now.

They just wanted to teach me a lesson.

Now I'm going to do a little teaching.

Charlie, who was it?

Caesar.

Maranzano.

He'll be dead before then. If I wanted a torpedo, I'd have told you in the

hospital.

His house, his offices, it's a fortress.

You can't reach him.

Nobody can reach him.

Except Joe, the boss.

What's that?

You're going in the war.

Where the hell do you think I've been?

So you joined Masseria?

Masseria tried to kill me, Charlie.

I know.

Our books, yours, Ben's, and mine, they're closed until I open them again.

You got no part in this, Michael.

I don't want to see you again until I send for you.

I want you to take a trip.

You've been talking about alcohol from the Caribbean. Go to Cuba, see what it's

like.

Benny?

I'll call you when I need you.

Charlie called Masseria's underboss, Pete Morello, and told Morello he would

no longer be his own man.

You'll give yourself to that slob, Tom?

Take what I need.

Okay, Charlie.

You said the next time we met we'd either be friends or enemies.

Let's get out of here. I'm going to be sick.

Tommy Lucchese and Gaetano Reina, two of Masseria's young men, had defected to

Maranzano.

Charlie wanted to protect his friends.

Tommy? Vito.

Your other boss knows about you and Rainer.

Luciano told him.

What's Telly going to tell him?

Telly told him nothing.

You think Mazzeri lived this long because he's a stunard?

He's as stupid as he looks?

Now just relax, okay? You're going to be all right.

All we want is that if you're going to jump to Maranzano, you make the jump

now.

It comes from Charlie.

For old time's sake.

Thanks, Vito.

I'll tell Raina.

It's too late for Raina.

and underboss Peter Morello knew gang wars cost money.

They didn't know how to make cost into a strategy.

That's what Maranzano's taking out of Chicago.

The last two weeks, last month, the month before.

Want to reach Maranzano?

Cut off his money. Cut off Joe Aiello.

We'll do the work. We'll need Capone's permission.

All right.

You go to Chicago. You talk to Capone.

You take care of it. You do.

It's one more thing, Joe.

Killing Raina was a big mistake.

Oh, sure. I should let him double-cross me, huh? You think that's better, huh?

You think I want to kill him?

He double-crossed me.

What am I supposed to do?

Joe, you were too greedy.

You wanted too much.

For a few thousand bucks, you could have turned him around, let him go to

Maranzano. You could have had your own spy in the middle of his camp.

You see?

That's the way he's with me.

He's got his head in the right place.

You listen to him. Smart.

You do what he say.

Learn to something.

Yeah, Bamba.

The Chicago business.

I want Joe Adonis and Al Anastasia.

They're gonna work with Vito.

All right, it's good to bunch you.

You take care of it.

You do.

You the boss, Luciano.

Morello, give him whatever he want.

Bamba.

Thank you, Joe.

Thank you.

I need the Chicago long distance.

Anastasia, kiss your mantis goodbye.

You're going to Chicago, huh?

Adonis, hey, zveriati.

Come on, handsome, let's go, huh?

So Charlie's strategy would be indirect.

Kill Aiello, Maranzano's distributor, and Maranzano would be too poor to

fight.

Aiello's still selling Maranzano's booze here.

The prophet's feeding his troops.

I don't need no imported guns. That's how come he's still walking around, huh?

How many times have you tried to kill him already?

He's like Joe the boss.

He dances through the rain.

He don't get wet so easy.

Luciano.

I got something for you.

Joe A.L.

You better be right.

No. Maybe I made a mistake.

Maybe I got him confused with my dentist.

Chris Brennan.

You met her at Maransan.

Charlie Luciano.

I remember.

How are you, Miss Brennan?

Just fine, thank you, Mr. Luciano.

I sing you again, Miss Brennan.

Alphonse.

So what does he want in Chicago?

I want a piece of work for me.

I see your business what he's doing anyway.

He looks interesting.

You looked interesting when you met him before.

Well, a girl's got to keep her hand in.

I don't know how long you'll be good to me, Al.

Yeah?

How long you want me to be good to you?

You spilled some juice?

What does it matter?

I'm going back to bed anyway.

That's a hundred for last night.

Huh?

For this, it's for now. For that, I want to see a little action.

This one, that's for no more questions.

See, too many questions could be bad for your complexion.

Huh?

What about Capone?

Well, he said you were doing a job of work for him.

Did you hear that?

What else did he say?

He wouldn't say anything else.

For a minute there, I thought he was suspicious, like he knew there was

something going on between us.

Does he know?

No.

It was just his nature.

Charlie, you ever think about what goes on between me and Capone?

No. You care?

Yes.

And you still let me do it?

Maybe it's your nature.

Yeah. Well, maybe it's your nature to kill people.

You know better than that.

It's business.

Just like your business.

Yeah, well, you go to hell.

Is that my pay, Charlie?

Money on the table?

You know, when you came to see me in the hospital, I remember.

You said maybe we never gave ourselves a chance.

Did I?

Adio, Mr. Ayala.

This is for today. This is for tomorrow. This is for forever.

Gracias, senor. Gracias.

¿Cómo está, señor Lasker? Buenas.

We load everything nice.

Show me what you're loading.

Todo está bien.

Todo está bien. Show me this.

Show me what you're loading.

Felipe, ven acá.

Abre la melaza.

Number one molasses.

La mejor molasses del mundo.

Get it loaded, amigo.

Muchacho, vamos a ponerle al parque.

lot of Cubans in Cuba.

You send our rum to the United States.

Not rum.

It's molasses.

Molasses, rum.

Belongs to us.

You pay us.

I've already paid for what I bought.

You don't pay us.

Now you pay.

Who the hell are you?

Me?

I am

the one who gives the advice.

Him.

He is the one who's gonna cut your damn throat.

It's misunderstanding, huh?

Con permiso. Vamos, vamos.

They disturb you?

Almost. Her name is Lasker.

Michael.

Thank you. Please.

Those men, they will not bother you now.

They think I speak for Machado.

You know our president, Machado?

I never met him.

You call him the butcher.

Those children, they are very poor.

They have no schools.

Once I was like them.

I think once you were like them too.

Once.

The molasses you buy to make alcohol, this is for yourself.

For myself.

I read the American newspapers.

I read you are the partner of Lucky Luciano.

You are a powerful man.

I buy for myself, not Luciano.

My name is Batista.

Fulgencio Batista.

In five days, come and see me at this place.

Senor,

your wife is here in Cuba? My wife is in New York.

Then you are a man alone.

You'll have need of a woman.

I have a girl for you.

Young and pretty.

My Serena don't even come to the office no more.

Poor Kachouf.

a red wagon.

Hey.

Are you listening to me or what?

He don't want to see nobody.

Luciano, your friend Alaska.

I used to find out where he is. He's in Cuba.

I know he's going to business for him himself.

I hear he make a lot, a lot of money.

Maybe we take a little bite out of him, too, huh?

Taking bites out of too many people, Joe. You're losing your troops.

That's all right. With the bite I take, I buy more.

I know what I do.

Sit down. Sit down. Are you going to eat or not? Hey, Joe, I'm not here because

you're my uncle. You know, I joined up because I want Maranzano. Oh, you want a

revenge, yeah?

I tell you, I know what I'm going to do.

Listen, I got a bunch of greenhorners coming in from Sicily.

You give them a gun, they shoot the banger. That's terrific, Joe. That's

what you need. War shooters from Sicily.

They can't even find Grand Central Station. You tell them to shoot, they

shoot the wrong guy. You're kidding yourself, Joe. They eat. They don't win

wars. I hear a lot of talk, talk, talk, Luciano. I don't hear no advice.

What do you think I should do, maybe? Let down a drop of dead?

Yeah, that's what I want, Joe.

Joe, pull our people off of the street. Regroup.

Stop giving Maranzano targets.

So you let him come.

Let him come, Joe.

Let him think that he's won.

Then you nail it in. Tell him you want to work out a surrender.

When he thinks that he's got everything his own way, Joe, then you bring out

every gun that we got.

You nail him in his own house.

I told you I'd call you when I needed you.

You need me. Take some time at night.

What do you got? Some cigars for Stella.

These are for you.

No, you shouldn't have.

Why don't you have a seat?

How's Stella?

Stella's fine.

The baby?

Baby's fine, too.

Sit, John.

Thanks, Ben.

You hit Michael?

I hear Ruthie is pregnant.

That's good, huh?

It's nice.

I'm glad they made up.

Charlie, it's been great talking about old times.

Anything else you need from me?

Yeah.

I have to stop the war, Benny.

We need a peace with Maranzano.

You gonna kiss his hand too, Charlie?

Benny, I said we need a peace.

Look, when Maranzano thinks he has the victory, then we're going to settle up

with him for everything.

What do you want from me, Charlie? I don't even speak the language.

I want you to trust me, Benny.

Because now I have to trust you.

You have to?

Benny, what I'm about to tell you is for you and nobody else, capisce?

Capisce?

Somebody. An outsider.

Somebody has to pass the word to Maranzano.

How's it going, Tommy?

We're holding our own.

I know you're doing better than that.

I was supposed to tell you that Charlie and Joe the boss are looking for a way

out.

What's that supposed to mean?

It means when Marlon Zano thinks he's got the world by the tail, he's going to

get a bullet in the ear.

The way you sit with Mazaria, you're going to be dead about two minutes

later. What are you telling me, Ben?

The official message is they want to work out a surrender.

That's from Charlie.

The rest of it?

One of those guinea tricks.

That you get from me.

You do that to Charlie?

You did it to Mazaria, didn't you?

When your outfit's in the saddle, you owe me a couple of favors.

See you around.

for rich men?

Generals, colonels, the officers.

They are fools.

Men of illusions.

I have no illusions, Mr. Lasker.

The sergeants run the army.

Perhaps one day we will run more than the army.

Por favor.

Thank you. I have prepared a document for you under the authority of our

butcher.

Machado, if anyone bothers you again, show them this.

And now, perhaps, we will be friends.

Buy as you please.

Molasses, alcohol, you will return to buy more.

And when you buy enough, your friends will share in your good fortune.

That's as it should be.

Have you worked at many jobs, Mr. Lasker?

I was a tool and die maker once.

Since then, I've worked for myself.

I've been a clerk, a railroad worker, even a barber.

I am an ambitious man. I will be more than a sergeant.

I will make my own.

Now, if you will excuse me, Mr. Lasker, I must prepare the papers

to have a man executed.

What was his crime?

He spoke against President Machado.

Buenos tardes, Mr. Lasker.

I don't know, John.

I'd kill him, Morello.

He was with me from the beginning.

He was a true friend.

You know, one time I come in the office, I find him shining my shoe. I make a

big, big joke.

And they cut out of my heart.

You still got me, Joe.

You got a strong right hand.

He was on his way to make the peace.

It was the first meeting to make the peace.

So they knew.

They knew we were blowing smoke.

Every man, every gun that we got, I want them on the street now.

Kill them all.

That'll come.

You let them think that we're still hiding under the bed. There's something

else first. Somebody betrayed us.

You give me a few days to find them.

I swear to God, I'll kill them with my own hands.

And we'll come out swinging with everything we got.

You do.

Kill them all.

Charlie took Morello's place as underboss, now owing his loyalty to the

mafia. But Charlie...

Michael and Ben had a plan to survive a war fought with guns and treachery.

Charlie Luciano, Michael Lasker, and Ben Siegel were hardened criminals.

They lived in a violent world.

Like the others in that world, they lived by the gun and by a cruelty that

was someday to destroy them.