Original subtitles

- [Announcer] Tonight on Wiseguy.

- Agent Terranova, you are on record

as having voiced some confusion in loyalty.

Do you know this man?

- [Vinnie] Don Aiuppo.

- Head of one of the largest crime families in New York.

- What's Aiuppo got to do with me?

- He's dating your mother.

(banging)

- Raphael Aiuppo, I'm arresting you for Article 241.

- Speak English.

- You're in this country illegally.

- Hey, what a minute.

What do you, what do you got?

Wait a minute.

Wait.

(banging)

(upbeat music)

(airplane revving)

(wheels squeaking)

(car running)

(whistling)

(elevator dinging)

- Hey, Frank.

Just barely made the shuttle.

What's going on?

It's not about Ritchie is it?

- Oh, I don't have any idea what's going on,

but it better be good.

They tore me away from the hearth

and a colorized version of It's a Wonderful Life.

(door opening)

Well.

Are we a cheery group tonight.

- [Paul] Have a seat

(sighing)

- What, you guy got something against

Fordham University or what?

- Agent Terranova.

You are of Italian ancestry, correct?

- Yeah.

- Mother and father landed immigrants?

- Yeah, that's right.

- Raised in Brooklyn with strong regional and family ties.

- Let me know when he's up for the really big prizes, Paul.

Sorry.

- During your investigation of the Steelgrave family

you are on record as having voiced

some confusion in loyalty.

- I had some problems with the methods

used in that case, yeah.

- You took a six month leave of absence

after your investigation of Mel and Susan Profitt.

Again, you are on record in your confusion.

- There's no confusion there.

Our government was in bed with a dictator to make a buck.

- Agent Terranova, did you take a blood oath

as a soldier in the Steelgrave crime family

or La Familia as it is commonly called?

Subjected to flame and the knife, if I understand correctly?

- Yeah, so what?

- Agent Terranova's taking that oath

was consistent with his duties as an OCB officer.

Paul, what's going on here?

- Frank, you know as well as I do

the longer a deep cover agent stays under

the more the lines blur.

But when blood is involved,

hundreds of years of antiquated tradition,

- What the hell is he talking about?

- Is Vince's loyalty in question here?

- You're aware that in the normal training cycle

baby agents are assigned to surveil

known organized crime figures?

- Mm hmm.

- Agent Sherwood has come up

with some interesting snapshots.

Agent Terranova, do you know this man?

- [Vinnie] Don Aiuppo.

- Born Raphael Gaitanio Aiuppo, casa Valtrona Sicily, 1917.

Immigrated to New York in 1925.

Convicted of assault, 1931.

Subsequently questioned over two dozen times

on a variety of crimes ranging from robbery to murder.

No further arrests or convictions.

Also known as Rudy Flowers, also known as Don Aiuppo.

Once head of one of the largest crime families in New York.

- Aiuppo's been retired for years.

- You know it as well as I do

these old ginzos never retire until the day they die.

- What's Aiuppo got to do with me?

- He's dating your mother.

(tense music)

(clapping)

(upbeat music)

(crowd chatting)

- Oh.

Please, please let me rest a minute, eh?

Woo.

Man's on his feet all day,

you'd think he'd want to sit one out.

- Ah, Tito?

Never.

He dance until the building came down

around his ears if you let him.

(groaning)

- Every year we have a dance

and every year the same people come.

Those that can still walk and breathe.

- Ah.

Cheer up, it's fun.

It's the holidays.

- Yeah, sure, why not?

I guess we all gave up the dream

of a prince sweeping us away.

Decades ago.

- Anybody want to take a chance

on a TV for the senior's center?

- Your cousin Veda wins every year.

- Are you trying to say I fix the raffle?

- Yeah. - I'll take two.

One for me, one for my Vinnie.

(door opening)

(door closing)

- He's got some (speaking foreign language) coming in here.

Lucky the church doesn't fall down.

(light music)

- What does he want here?

- Maybe Monsignor is late on his payment

and now he's got a new partner?

Or maybe somebody in here is marked to die.

- Maybe he's just lonely, like the rest of us.

- Carlotta.

(speaking in foreign language)

- No dance, thank you.

- You're looking well, Carlotta.

- What do you want here?

- Just a little punch.

(ladle clattering)

- Mmm, anisette.

Yours?

- You didn't come here just to sample my baked goods.

- I'm an old man.

These are my people.

- Then you should have got to know them

while you were getting old.

Now you only scare them.

- I done a lot for these people.

Pauly C., I got him into the union in '52.

He retired last year with two kids through college

and a summer place in Seaside Heights.

- Your thugs control the union.

(laughing)

- Mrs. Deborino's son, Phil.

I got him into the Naval Academy.

- You had a politician in your pocket.

- Signor Nozo and his wife were being

thrown out of their apartment by a unscrupulous landlord.

I intervened.

- You held a gun to his head.

- I done something for almost everyone in this room.

- And all for your own gain

so that you could be a man of respect.

- I never said I was perfect.

(laughing)

- This what you do with your life?

You work in a senior citizens center

and you give dances.

- It wouldn't hurt you to help the church a little yourself.

- I put concrete in the new wing at St. Matthew's hospital.

I even bought Father Tom a Cadillac,

'86, right outta the showroom.

- Paid for with blood money.

- What, bloody money?

Everything I did was legal,

at some part of the country.

Everything,

(scoffing)

- 60 years in this country,

he still refuses to learn English.

- He still thinks he's going back to the old country,

just like all the old timers.

- Not me.

I love this country.

Tell me, Carlotta.

You really don't think men can start over?

- The rare man.

- You take a chair,

you put it like this,

it's a chair.

You put it like this,

(chair slamming on floor)

it's still a chair.

That's all I'm gonna say.

♪ And the wandering ways

♪ Now I'm reaching back for yesterdays ♪

♪ Til a long forgotten love appears ♪

♪ And I find that I'm sighing softly as I near ♪

♪ September

- I've been trying to build up my nerve all night.

For old times sake,

Carlotta, with the raven hair.

♪ As a man who has never stopped at wishing wells ♪

♪ Now I'm watching children's carousels ♪

♪ And their laughter's music to my ears ♪

♪ And I'll find that I'm smiling gently as I near ♪

♪ September, the warm September of my years. ♪

(clapping)

(cheering)

(crowd chatting)

(church bells ringing)

(camera snapping)

- You just wait a second.

- We have rolls of film of them together

on at least half a dozen separate occasions.

- You can't believe that Vince is involved with Aiuppo.

- [Paul] I don't know where he plays in this little opera.

Where are you going?

- Going home.

I don't know what the hell's going on here,

but I'm gonna find out first hand.

If you think I'm involved with Aiuppo because of this,

why don't you just come out and say it?

Or is this gonna be another governmental witch hunt?

(tense music)

(door opening)

(door opening)

(door closing)

- Vincenzo, how was your trip?

Did you eat?

- Yeah, Ma, they got restaurants in D.C.

Home a little late, aren't ya?

- Oh, you know how your cousin Rose can talk.

- It's a nice dress.

Is it new?

- It's nothing.

Well I have to get up early tomorrow.

(speaking in foreign language)

- Hey, Ma.

(sighing)

Goodnight, Ma.

(car running)

(car door squeaking)

(car door slamming)

- Hey, can I help you with something?

- No thanks.

- You're Terranova, right?

- Yeah.

- How ya doing?

Hey, the Don doesn't like surprises in the a.m.

Give your knuckles a break, all right?

(pounding)

He's in the hothouse.

(knocking)

You said you'd want to see him.

- Your mother told you, huh?

- She hasn't said a word.

- I guess it's no secret around the neighborhood.

- Great.

- How well do you know your mother Vincenzo?

- She's my mother.

- I'm gonna tell you something you won't believe.

I've been in love with your mother for more than 50 years.

You know something?

I can't break the habit,

hiding this from my wife.

Dead almost 11 years, God rest.

Here, Vincenzo, I got some for you too.

Whoops.

There.

(speaking in foreign language)

Well drink, drink, go ahead.

A couple of drops ain't going to hurt you.

- You were talking about my mother.

Why'd you wait so long to go after her?

- You know our business, Vincenzo.

It takes time to get out of.

I know your mother since she was a girl.

Her family, your family, are from my village.

Our families immigrated here around the same time.

I first remember Carlotta when she was

a skinny little girl with waist-long black hair.

I watched that skinny little girl blossom into a woman.

To see her walk back then

was to see the sun, the moon, the stars.

By the time I was old enough to get serious with women

I was already involved in our business.

She would have nothing to do with me, nothing.

But I always held a special place in my heart for her.

She married your father.

I sent a present.

A couch.

Cost me $800, back before the war.

- You sent her a couch?

- Yeah, and your father sent it right back.

Came to my social club in front of all these people.

He threatened me.

Hey, nobody threatened me back then.

He told me, if I courted his wife

he'd kill me with his bare hands.

(laughing)

Always respected him for that.

- Don Aiuppo,

please listen to me.

What my mother needs most now is peace of mind.

Her emotions are too close to the surface.

Now my brother's only been dead a short time.

It's better if you stop seeing her.

- She told you to say this?

- [Vinnie] No, but I ,

- Well then what gives you the right to say this?

It's between your mother and me.

(Vinnie sighing)

What's the matter, Vincenzo,

you no believe two people our age can fall in love?

- Did she say she loved you?

- Not in so many words.

- It's only three.

- I am not a danger to her.

I lead a peaceful life now.

- The last time I saw you,

you were negotiating a drug deal with Mel Profitt

and treating him to hookers on the side.

Very peaceful.

- Are you putz or what?

I was doing it for you.

All my life I kept my people out of drugs.

Then you came to me with that (speaking in foreign language)

and I say to myself, well,

if Vincenzo thinks it's okay, then it's inevitable.

(speaking in foreign language)

You of all people should understand this, Vincenzo.

You're a man, you have chose the same kind of life I did,

and there were far less opportunities

for us in the old days, believe me.

Don't you want a wonderful girl?

You don't want a (speaking in foreign language).

I know your soul.

- You don't know the first thing about me.

- You'd be surprised.

Why are we arguing?

Let your mother decide.

- No.

- What are you gonna do if she agrees to continue to see me,

shoot me?

Vincenzo.

Is it such a surprise that someone

besides you could love your mother?

(sighing)

You think that she'll like this wreath?

- Yeah, I'm sure she'll love it.

(keyboard clacking)

(simulating gunshot)

- Gotcha.

- Ma.

- Oh, morning, Vicenzo.

You went out early.

- Mmm hmm.

I went to see Aiuppo.

About you.

(slapping)

- How dare you talk to him without talking to me first.

Who told you?

Your cousin Rose?

- Ma, I got called to Washington

because you were seeing him.

Federal agents took pictures of you two together.

- Tell them to mind their own business,

- That's their job.

That's my job.

I put people like him away for a living.

- I been a grown woman a long time, Vincenzo.

I know what I'm doing.

- Ma, this guy is a gangster.

When you thought I was a gangster

you wouldn't have anything to do with me.

- And I had nothing to do with Rudy while he was a gangster.

- Rudy?

Rudy.

I don't get it.

I don't understand, Ma.

You put me through two years of hell

because you disowned me when you thought I was a gangster.

Now you're dating one.

- Let me tell you a story, Vincenzo.

It's about a young boy and a young girl.

There was love involved.

He was handsome, strong, and too brave for his own good.

He wanted a better life than his father,

who broke his back for no money.

He turned to crime

and became an animal to survive.

And this young girl,

accepting the bitter with the good in this new country,

would never again have anything to do with this young man.

- And that was Aiuppo, huh?

- Vincenzo, since your brother died,

the way I look at things has changed.

I thank God every day for the beauty of life.

To be complete I need to have someone

who sees things with the same eyes.

Rudy has those eyes.

Vincenzo.

Some people change, Vincenzo.

- And some people don't, Ma.

Aiuppo's been deceiving people all his life.

Why shouldn't he do the same thing to you?

- Because I know what's in his heart.

Vincenzo.

In your brother's simple teachings of our Lord

he spoke the most about forgiving.

(phone ringing)

- Mmm hmm.

- Only time will tell with this.

Hello?

Oh, good morning, Rudy.

I understand you had a visitor.

I hope he didn't upset you.

Oh good.

Tonight?

- Your mother wanted me to pick up

fresh sausage at Camillo's.

- [Carlotta] Well I'll ask him.

Angela too?

(laughing)

Oh, you mustn't think I'm,

- What is it?

- My mother's going out with Don Aiuppo.

- Everyone knows that.

- [Carlotta] Oh, we'll ride in splendor.

(laughing)

- Where the hell have I been?

- She's got a life of her own too.

- Everybody's an expert on my mother all of a sudden.

- Look at her, Vinnie.

Look how happy she looks.

- You did let her add salt.

She always adds too much salt.

I'm glad you're here.

Rudy called.

He wants to meet Vincenzo and me for dinner.

Please join us.

- I've gotta go.

- Angie, Angie, don't make me face this by myself, please.

- Vinnie. - Please.

Please?

- [Carlotta] Only for you, I'll drink champagne,

because tomorrow I'll have a headache.

I'm not a drinker.

(Aiuppo laughing)

You know, when Vincenzo came to see me today

it made me think of many things.

It made me think of family, neighborhood, roots.

What he made me think of most was love.

There with love, time's far too fleeting.

This was forged in the old country.

It was my mother's ring.

And her mother's mother before that.

Carlotta, I'm asking you in front of your son,

will you marry me?

- Yes.

(restaurant chatter)

(soft music)

- [Angela] Be happy for her, Vinnie.

- I just can't help feeling

that I'm the one that caused this to happen.

- No.

Look how they are together.

- Yeah, they do look pretty good together, don't they?

- Mmm hmm.

(clapping)

- [Vinnie] I'm happy for you, Ma.

- Oh, thank you.

- I really am.

- Thank you.

(chatting)

- Raphael Aiuppo?

Officer Cumberford, U.S. Immigration.

I'm arresting you for Article 241-82

of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

- Speak English.

- You're in this country illegally.

- Hey, wait a minute, what are you,

what've you got, what are you?

You guys are making a mistake.

Wait a minute.

(car doors slamming)

(car running)

- This is just what you life could turn into, Ma.

Nothing but harassments and arrests.

- But he's retired from that life.

- Naw, it's just chickens coming home to roost.

- It just doesn't seem fair for this to happen now.

- Yeah, well let's not forget that Rudy

is not without some responsibility here.

(phone ringing)

Hello.

- Vinnie.

It's Uncle Mike.

- [Vinnie] Did you find Frank?

- Yeah, he's in the air en route to DC.

Listen, I went ahead and I did a reverse track.

Apparently Aiuppo was red-flagged in DC.

This went up with bells and whistles.

- [Vinnie] Any idea who or why?

(sighing)

- All signs point to someone inside the OCB.

- You sure?

- Hey, it was put on interdepartmental class one priority.

Vinnie?

- Yeah, Uncle Mike, yeah, you did, you did fine.

- [Mike] Yeah.

Do you have any idea who might

have it in for Aiuppo down at the home office?

- Hey, Mark.

- What's the problem here?

- You pushed the button on Aiuppo, didn't you?

- You wanted to, you wanted Aiuppo exercise you mother,

I have to charge them all.

I accessed his file back to 1925 and found out he was EWI.

- What the hell is EWI?

- Entrance without inspection.

- Vince, what is it?

- This man's MOK just got Aiuppo deported.

- Sometimes Christmas comes early.

This kid got no off switch.

You know, if I had two more just like him,

we'd shut down crime on the whole eastern seaboard.

- Hey, I'm calling in some markers here.

I want OCB to use it's muscle to keep Aiuppo in the country.

- Am I missing something here?

The most sophisticated law enforcement agency in the world

just found out that Aiuppo was in this country illegally?

- The Sicilian fox had congressman Francis Farber

deep in his pockets for the last 30 odd years.

When Farber retired back in '78,

nobody bothered going back into Aiuppo's file,

assuming it had been fine-combed.

(laughing)

Never inspected and admitted.

That's 241-82 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Entering the United States without inspection,

or at any time or place other than

as designated by the Attorney General,

or is in the US in violation

of any other laws of the United States.

- No.

I want Aiuppo left alone.

- It's not our job to leave mobsters alone.

- What mobster?

This guy is a little old man

who spends his day tending his garden.

Now I want OCB to throw their weight around

to get him released.

- Vince, you are asking us to violate the law.

Now that is the exact kind of indulgence and abuse

that you find so abhorrent.

Whoever Aiuppo is now,

for decades he violated laws against society.

The government extracts a price for that.

- Frank, I gotta find a way to keep Aiuppo in the country.

- For God's sakes, why?

(sighing)

- My mother's in love with him.

- I'm sorry, Vince.

Vinnie, there's not a damned thing we can do now.

- I'm sorry, man.

I thought I was helping a fellow agent.

- I know.

- I always appreciated life's little ironies.

But this, this is (speaking in foreign language)

Bring the cigars?

- Yeah.

- You got one?

- Naw.

- People talk about the old country

like it was some kind of paradise.

That hot African wind blows red dust all day long.

Our people had no running water.

The men worked from first light

clearing the fields for the (speaking in foreign language)

And the women, spend their days pounding laundry on rocks.

It was 70 years ago.

Hasn't changed that much.

- You got any family left back there?

- Last of them ran away from the

(speaking in foreign language)

(sighing)

I'm used to getting the Times on my front step every morning

and picking up ball games on my satellite dish

24 hours a day.

I love this country, Vinnie.

It's where I grew up, where I made my fortune.

I don't wanna go back there and die with strangers.

Be careful, Vinnie.

Power is like no other thing.

I had men, bound by blood, did whatever I told them.

Politicians at my beck and call.

Best of everything.

Clothes, cars, women, oh women.

But I could trust no one.

Did I,

did I do something so different

than anyone else who has to deal with animals?

Didn't our own government deal with the Ayatollah

and trade with drug dealers?

And that country do whatever it has to do

to protect itself, to survive.

Yeah, well.

Vincenzo, get outta this life.

Get out now.

The price you will have to pay is much too dear.

Vincenzo.

I want no more regrets in my life.

I'm gonna ask your mother to marry me now,

this week, before I am deported, and if she says yes,

that means she will live with me, in Sicily.

- If my mother say yes, you have my blessing.

(soft music)

- Nothing will ever change what I had with him.

I loved your father very much.

He was a good man who worked very hard for his family.

We both did.

- I think about him all the time.

The way he smiled.

(laughing)

- His smile was just like your smile.

Oh, he would have been proud of you

and your brother, Vincenzo.

- Yeah.

(sighing)

I'm having a hard time seeing somebody else in this picture.

(car running)

- Hey, hey, hey, take it easy.

Take it, take is easy.

It's Mr. Dimenco, the undertaker.

- [Reporter] I need a picture.

(crowd chatting)

(speaking in foreign language)

- Who invited him?

- I did.

You could speak to him on your wedding day.

- Not today, not ever.

- 40 years without a word between you?

It's disgrace.

- Here you go.

- [Angela] Thank you.

- You're welcome.

- Oh, I love neighborhood weddings

- Yeah.

The last neighborhood wedding I went to,

Ralphie Santangelo chipped my tooth with his school ring

cause I was dancing with Clarice Padudi, know what I mean?

Ah, but they're nice, they're nice.

Be a log nicer if it wasn't serving

as a going away party for my mother.

- Well, sometimes things have a way of working, Vinnie.

(sighing)

Come on, expect a miracle.

It's Christmastime.

- A miracle.

- Yeah.

(glasses clinking)

- My friends.

I want to thank you all for sharing this day

with Carlotta and me.

It's a very special day.

To be married to the woman I love.

To be in the winter of my life,

surrounded by my friends and neighbors.

Some of you I'm getting to know for the first time.

It is with great pride that I am leaving this country.

I am proud of my heritage.

Our homeland gave to the world

Galileo, DaVinci, Michelangelo.

The immigrants came here and forged a new life,

gave this country Iacocca, Cuomo, DiMaggio, eh?

(laughing)

But as I look back on my life here,

I get ready to embark on a new life,

the heroes I am most proud of

are you, the people in this hall.

Hardworking Americans.

I will miss,

I will miss you all.

We will miss you all.

Now, I have only a few more hours left so have a good time.

Dance, sing.

(clapping)

(upbeat music)

(camera clicking)

(cheering)

- Your eyes are so sad, Vincenzo.

- My eyes are fine.

- I'm your mother, I know what's in your eyes.

(sighing)

- You know I'm happy for you.

- Think of it as a beginning.

- I know, it's just that,

I spent so much time away from you,

now I'm only gonna be able to see you once or twice a year.

- We will see.

The house is yours now.

- What are you talking about?

You could sell it.

- If I sell it, where would I stay when I come to visit?

- Poochy.

- Hey.

- How's everything?

- Smooth as a baby's butt.

Decided these (speaking in foreign language)

could use some food.

- You know, I've been sitting out here for two hours and,

- Here you go, Frank.

- That's for me?

- Yeah, it's for you.

- Well thanks, Vince.

- You're welcome.

(sighing)

- Well don't look so sad.

Cheer up.

- Naw, I'm happy.

Be a lot happier if I could

invite my friends from the bureau

inside to my mother's wedding

instead of feeding them out here on the curb,

but I'm happy for my mother, Don Aiuppo.

- You know, Aiuppo must be a very special man.

You don't get to be his age in his business,

much less get the woman of your dreams.

- Listen, I wanna thank you

for going to bat with Cumberford

and the immigration people for me.

My mother wanted to say goodbye to all her friends.

- It wasn't me.

It was strictly Beckstead.

He's not a bad guy once you give him half a chance.

(church bells ringing)

- You hear those bells?

Always loved the sound of those bells.

Well, it's getting late, I'd better get back inside.

I gotta say goodbye.

- Yeah.

Aiuppo's going out tonight?

- No, tomorrow morning, six o'clock.

My mother's going out later.

Thanks, Frank.

Enjoy.

(speaking in foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Angela] What are those men doing with Don Aiuppo?

- It's an ancient tradition.

They ask the Don for favors on his wedding day.

They're gonna haul the old timer out of here in handcuffs.

They think he can still do something for 'em.

- We're gonna have to wrap it up.

- Okay.

(speaking in foreign language)

- They come to me for help with things only God could do.

But, does my heart good they still come to me.

- It's time to go.

- Yes, it's time.

When I was young, my wife complained I never danced.

Now I'm an old man, I dance all night.

Vinnie, I must talk to you about my money

and all these federal people swarming all over me.

I can't touch it.

When things calm down a little I will contact you.

Now, I promised your mother I would

give my money to charity under your brother Pete's name.

When the time comes, will you take care of it?

- I will, Don Aiuppo.

(soft music)

(speaking in foreign language)

- Vincenzo, tell the agents I must speak with my brother.

- Give him a minute, will you?

- It's time.

- Gotta go.

- I would like to say goodbye to my wife in private.

- We checked it out.

No windows.

I can't go with him.

I can't leave my only son.

My friends, I can't, I should never have married him.

- Just take it easy. - I'm sorry,

I can't move to Sicily, I can't leave my home.

- It's just fine.

- Oh, Rudy, I never should have promised you, I'm sorry.

- [Angela] It's okay, it's okay.

- [Carlotta] I can't live in Sicily.

These years, I can't,

Vincenzo, I can't leave you.

I can't leave you.

I can't go to Sicily.

I can't leave you.

(triumphant music)

- You got them brothers

and they didn't speak to each other for over 40 years.

- Yeah, but Tito had a different name.

- Yeah, well, Tito was so embarrassed

by his brother's business he took his mother's maiden name.

- That's why they didn't speak for 40 years?

- Yeah.

Then when Tito refused to come to Don Aiuppo's wedding,

Aiuppo made him persona non grata.

His name was never to be spoken again.

It's a classic neighborhood story.

- I think it's wonderful.

I mean, they both got what they wanted.

Don Aiuppo, the woman he loves.

- Yeah, and Tito gets to go back to the old country.

And when they come back from their cruise,

they're gonna set up shop as Mr. and Mrs. Tito Parmini.

And you know what?

- Hmm?

- I haven't felt this good in a long time.

("Silent Night")

(upbeat music)