Original subtitles

- Tonight on Wise Guy. - One of you gindaloons

popped my father in his own back yard.

For your own safety, I can't stay with you now.

- I need you.

(moaning)

(loud thump)

- One of you assassins

conducted business in my mother's face.

- This ain't the proper place!

- I define propriety.

Why in Rudolfo all you boys are here?

I'm taking my rightful seat at this table.

(loud thump)

(dramatic synthesizer theme music)

(light-hearted swinging electric guitar music)

- You're dreamin', Pooch!

- I ain't dreaming!

- Firecrackers.

Kids are stupid, gonna blind themselves.

And maybe blow off in an appendage.

- You were a kid once, Eddie,

you never played with firecrackers?

- I know from where I speak.

- You lost that shavin' ice.

- Gone is gone.

You're dreamin', Pooch.

- All great lovers are dreamers.

- Hey, Pooch,

don't tempt yourself.

- Why do you want to be with boys for?

Boys don't know that pleasure is a mutual thing.

- They don't need naps either!

- Had to give it a shot, right?

- [Bartender] So why not take a shot at Marie?

- What, are you kiddin'?

I used to have a thing with her mother!

She'd take my head of if she caught me with Marie.

I hear Aiuppo's back.

- No, the Don's in Italy.

I'm looking after his affairs.

- I hear he's back.

- No, no, it's his brother, Tito.

- The barber? - Yeah.

- Then why don't you got a better haircut?

- Hey!

Get over there!

- [Scarpo] Told you you was dreamin'.

Can't expect girls to appreciate experience

when they haven't had any.

(wailing police sirens)

Pooch?

Pooch!

(suspenseful music) (police sirens)

(police radios)

- You didn't do this, huh?

- I already told you.

I heard gunfire, I came out of the house,

and three guys were running.

I grabbed this guy, and one of his buddies

shot him and took off, alright?

- Hey, we're not done here! - Eh!

- [Policeman] Hey, where you goin'?

- That's my family! - Hey, slow down, hey!

- You should go and ride with him.

- Can't ride in here. - Hey, hey!

This is her husband, she's goin' with him!

- Alright, alright. - Go on, Ma.

- [Paramedic] That's it!

- You talk to me! - I'm goin' to the hospital!

- Not until we're done here.

- Hey, my mother's got a heart condition,

her husband's just been shot.

Now what's wrong with you, that you want to stop me?

- Alright.

I'll take ya.

I'm getting their statements at the hospital.

And what about him?

- I dunno! - You got his blood

all over you, and you don't know who he is?

- [Vinnie] No, I don't.

(car door slams shut) (engine starts)

- Vinsky.

(knocking on door)

- Pooch.

What's up?

- I need to see Albert.

- I'll ask.

(tense music)

- Don't do nothin' Albert,

just pick the room you want to die in.

- What are you doin' in my house?

- Don't talk. - You're gonna kill me,

you better have a good reason. - I got reason.

- You got reason for my son to see

his daddy dead with his brains all over the floor?

- You hit my Don!

You ordered!

Levinsky was one of the buttons!

- Levinsky?

- Levinsky works for you, he's one of your crew.

- He did a few things for us, that's it!

He's not my man!

- I ain't stupid!

- Nobody thinks you're stupid, Pooch.

It wasn't me.

I swear to God on my son.

- Vinsky-- - On my son.

You think so little of me

that I would swear a lie on my son?

- You didn't? - No.

(both breathing heavily)

You wanna snort, Pooch?

Grappa, scotch?

- Yeah, anything.

- Is Aiuppo dead?

- He was still breathing when they put him in the ambulance.

- Where'd this happen?

- The Don's home.

Right in the greenhouse.

In front of his wife and everything.

- Bastards.

Hey.

How do you know Levinsky was one of the buttons?

- He was dead in the alley.

He did work for you, Albert.

- He picked up work!

There were no oaths between me and this guy.

You've gotta know me, Pooch.

Any man who passes judgment on another man

in full view of his home and family,

I feed his heart to the dogs.

(knocking on door) - Albert!

Albert, you alright? - Yeah.

(door opens)

- It's Scar.

- I'm really sorry. - What happened?

- Albert, Ziffo caught a rock.

- Dead?

- Yeah.

- [Albert] Jenny!

Jenny, get dressed. - What?

- Get dressed now!

Hey, now, hey!

C'mon, buddy,

we're gonna go on a little trip, let's go.

- Albert? - Get dressed now, Jenny!

- Daddy? - You're gonna take

a vacation! - What about school?

- Don't you wanna skip a few days of school, huh?

- I can ditch?

- Yeah, sure, just for a few days.

Scar, are you okay to drive?

- Yeah.

- Take Jenny and little Al to Kennedy,

and get on a plane, all of you.

- [Scar] Where?

- Jenny'll tell you where.

You don't need, forget the suitcase.

- I can't!

- No, forget it, there's no time.

- What's going on, Albert?

- Okay.

Scar's gonna take you to the airport, okay?

You, Little Al and Scar, you get on a plane.

First plane to wherever.

From there you go to Tampa,

then to that place on the beach, you remember?

- Ah, Breakers. - Yeah.

Don't say it again, don't even tell Scar.

You go there, get the best suite,

and stay there.

And don't call anybody.

Not even your mother. - Daddy!

- Here.

There's enough cash to take care of everything.

- [Jenny] What about Little Al's school?

- School will be there when you get back.

Let's do it.

(tense music)

- [Guard On Radio] All clear.

- Nice, now let's go. - Albert?

- This is gonna be a great vacation for you, Al.

- [Little Al] Are you going out with us, Daddy?

- [Albert] (chuckles) Daddy's not gonna go in his underwear.

This is a surprise vacation for you and Mama, okay?

I love you, baby. - Albert!

- Love you more. - Okay, take care of Mama.

Okay, go. - Albert?

- Alright, baby.

We got a war.

I gotta survive the night.

I got a see about a weapon and put my pants on.

I need your loyalty. - My loyalty's with Aiuppo.

- Don Aiuppo is dead or dying!

Ziffo's dead.

And I'm the next most likely target in the bloodletting.

Now I need to know where you stand.

I need this now.

- I'm here, Albert!

- Pack the war car.

(dark, dramatic music)

(car engine starts) (tires squeal)

Where's Aiuppo?

- [Nurse] Watch out!

Clear!

- [P.A.] Doctor Barbara to ICU.

- Does your husband have any blood relatives

we could get here quickly?

- No, his brother is in Italy.

(sighs shakily)

- Are you alright, Carlotta?

- Just short of breath.

- You got business here?

- It's alright if I speak with this man?

- Yeah.

Step in here.

There's a mob conflagration happening, Vinnie,

Ziffo was hit tonight, too.

- Thanks. - Are you alright?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

- Your mom?

- I had to check her in for a couple days' observation

because of her heart.

- Aiuppo?

- He's in surgery.

He hasn't got a chance.

He had a rare blood type.

Two million people in Brooklyn

and nobody's home with AB negative.

- Great.

- [Vinnie] My mother's gonna need protection.

- That's done.

And you? - Absolutely not.

Badges around me are just gonna draw attention.

- What about Amber?

- Amber needs protection too.

Police are taking her home now.

I'm gonna have to break things off with her.

Four hours ago I was announcing my engagement,

now I'll probably have to plan a funeral.

- Vince, you can't...

- We checked your mother into 505.

She's sleeping comfortably. (wincing in pain)

Now you have to rest for half an hour.

- Yes. (sighs)

And thank you.

(door shuts)

I don't want you to worry about this.

We can put your family in a safehouse

until this thing blows over.

- I appreciate that, Frank, but this is my problem.

I've been skirting it my whole life,

time's come for me to deal with it.

- What is that supposed to mean?

- Well I'm not gonna do anything rash!

I'm just gonna grab a cab, go home,

take a shower, change my clothes.

- Alright.

- What're you doin'? - Take my car,

it's in the parking, take my car.

Be careful.

- Alright, thanks.

Get some rest, okay?

Drink your juice.

- Is the Don okay? - He's still in surgery.

- [Poochy] Nobody's gonna hurt the Don again.

Nobody!

It's okay, get in.

- I want you to know, Don Aiuppo's

under my protection until the Commission

decides otherwise.

Come on in, it's safe.

(motor turns on)

(tires squeal)

- What! - I gotta do this, alright?

The law, you know?

They listen to everything.

They've got a satellite following this car.

Spent 50-mill to try and listen two guys

who don't amount to nothing, trying to survive the night.

I need to know where you stand.

- Mind telling me where we're going?

- We're going to get to know each other.

I'm not interested in the only common ground between us

being a burial plot.

No, I need to know where you stand.

- I don't give a damn what you need to know!

- Hey, I got problems here! - I'm your problem

if you don't stop yelling at me!

- Maybe you've got this Hamlet thing with your mother.

- What?

- Hamlet.

You get rid of your stepfather,

you get the kingdom.

- Maybe you're Macbeth.

So this is Shakespeare.

Why don't you drop me off, I want to change my clothes.

I'm covered in blood here.

- We can't stop, man, we gotta keep moving.

Ziffo's popped, Aiuppo's popped, we're on a list.

We gotta keep going.

- Sounds like your list to me,

you got the most to gain by it.

- Hey, I got nothin' to do with this.

Tell me what happened at Aiuppo's?

- What, I heard shots!

I ran outside, I saw Rudy was hit.

Three guys run into a car in the alley.

I grab one of 'em, he couldn't get in the car

'cause I had him.

So instead of taking off, instead of just leaving,

the driver shoots the guy.

- Poochy recognized this guy.

Jake Levinsky.

Now Levinsky did a few things for us,

there's some people who think he's my guy.

I'm being set up, Vinnie.

- That's because they're such geniuses, right Albert?

They know that I'm gonna grab your guy.

Specifically, grab Levinsky,

so they can pop him to set you up?

Come on, what are you thinking?

You know what I think?

I think they were all your guys,

and being morons, they panicked

when I grabbed Levinsky.

Now your guys screwed up, so you're running scared.

- Hey, I don't run scared, I run to survive.

And if I wanted Aiuppo whacked I'd do him myself,

and I'd do it right. - Yeah, well what else

are you gonna say?

- This thing going on.

It's like,

it's like they cut the head off the wolf.

Like a wolf doesn't die.

It grows a new head, or two or three.

But it's only one wolf.

So these three heads, they devour each other

'til only one head is left.

In the meantime, the wolf,

it's running wild, without control,

without logic or reason or any state of mind.

That's what we've got here.

This war is gonna devour anybody in its path

and we're as close as it gets.

Now I'm reaching out to you.

I'm asking you to reach back.

I'm asking you to let me know where you stand.

- As long as Rudy's alive I stand with him.

I stand in his place.

So whoever popped Rudy's gotta answer for it.

Now, was that you?

- I already told you, I had nothing to do with this.

And you don't ask a man that question.

- Hey, I ask anybody whatever I want

when my own family's been attacked in their own back yard.

- [Albert] Keep the change.

- He's in recovery, that's all they'll tell me.

- He's got the heart of a warrior.

- Yeah.

- Pooch tried to kill me tonight.

It was real sweet.

This guy who never did anybody,

maybe one guy once, and was sick about it for 20 years,

comes to me for his Don.

I love loyalty.

(engine turns on)

Tryin' to be your friend, Vinnie.

During a crisis, friendship is important.

- Remember Pat the Cap Patrice?

- Yeah.

- He tried to be my friend.

As long as it suited him.

- Which means what?

- Which means greed kills.

You see a guy stumble, you help him out.

Patrice saw a guy stumble, he tried to grind him

into the dirt by turning my friendship against this man.

Patrice, now, he's buried in the Pine Barrens.

And nobody cares.

See, Albert, I love loyalty too.

- You clipped Patrice?

- You don't ask a man that question.

And the answer is no.

I'm gonna clip the guy who shot Aiuppo.

Now who was it, Albert?

- I don't know.

(foreboding music)

See his barge? - Yeah.

- It's only garbage.

It's my garbage. (laughing)

This is my main business, here.

Gonna open up to you in any way I can.

Because it's the proper thing to do

for Don Aiuppa's son.

- So what happens now, Albert?

We survived the night.

- Whoever's making these moves is gonna stop now,

assess the situation, 'cause the crap's gonna hit the fan

once the Commission meets.

- When is that?

- Soon as everybody can be brought together.

Today, probably.

- Well I want in on it.

- That'll have to be put to a vote.

- [Vinnie] Did they vote on killing Aiuppo?

- Not any vote I was in on. - Alright, then to hell

with the voting, I want in on it.

- C'mon, I'll take you to where you wanna go now,

you can clean up.

- Pooch.

- Look at him, Vinnie,

all tangled up in there spaghetti.

It's my fault, I should've been there.

- Pooch, Pooch, it's not your fault, okay?

- Yeah, it is.

He knew this was gonna happen.

See what he got the day he got back?

Two first-class tickets, one-way, to Italy.

- Where did these come from?

- Don asked me to find out.

He had no luck.

Now this.

- Alright, I'll take care of it.

Pooch,

listen to me.

Hey, hey.

Listen to me.

You work for me now.

Until Don Aiuppo recovers, I'm gonna need you.

Y'understand that?

- What d'you want me to do?

- There's a meeting of the Commission today.

I need to know where and when, before it happens.

- That's against the rules!

- Yeah, Pooch, this was against the rules too, huh?

Now you do this for me.

- Don Aiuppo, I don't know what to do!

(key turning in lock)

- [Amber] Vinnie...

- No, no, get off, get off!

- What?

What are ya doin'?

- I'm sorry, I've got this guy's blood all over me.

I'm sorry.

Do me a favor and get a garbage bag, will you?

I'm gonna put this stuff in it.

(shower running)

- How's Rudy? - He's out of surgery.

- And your mom?

- [Vinnie] She's alright.

How're you doin'?

- Huh, I can't touch these things.

- What? - I can't touch

these things!

- Open the bag!

- I'm sorry!

- [Vinnie] I don't blame you.

I'm sorry.

- Is it over now?

Vinnie? - I don't know.

- Fell asleep last night.

I was so exhausted from the horrible thing that happened,

I slept like a rock.

I didn't dream, though.

When I woke up is when the dreaming started.

Seeing Rudy laying there so frail,

and then your mom,

that icy, cold, clinical place...

- Amber,

for your own safety, I can't stay with you now.

- Well you have to.

- Listen, listen to me! - No!

- People are trying to kill me!

It's dangerous for you to be with me now!

- I need you.

I need you!

Hold me.

Hold me.

(passionate romantic music)

(moaning)

- Look at me, look at me!

- Yes, yes, yes!

(knocking on door)

- [Frank] Amber?

(Amber moans)

Amber?

- Okay, Frank!

Just a minute, okay?

(Amber laughing)

- Amber?

Amber!

Amber! - Alright wait a minute!

- You, you disappear on me for 15 hours,

you leave my car, you don't say anything,

I'm having a heart attack! - Frank, Frank!

Cerrico grabbed me out of the hospital,

I had to play it by ear, okay? (breathing heavily)

- Are you alright?

You're very flushed!

- Yeah?

Huh, no I'm fine.

- McPike-us interruptus. - Oh.

Sorry.

- Yeah, the Commission's supposed to meet

because of the hits, could take place any time.

Here.

Don Aiuppo got these when he and Ma got back from Italy.

Here's your car keys, thanks a lot.

So you find out who gave him these,

we could find out who did the hits, you know?

- I'll fax these to D.C.

- You could do that in here.

- Yeah, it's okay, go ahead, Frank! (breathing heavily)

- Listen, they found a bootmark at the scene of the crime.

It was a western style, size 12.

- Anything else? - No.

(beeping)

Yeah, what?

- [Guard] Frank, Aiuppo's driver's comin' up.

- Aiuppo's driver's on the way up.

Is he safe? - Yeah, he's fine.

- Oh wait a minute, you've got my building staked out?

- [Frank] I've had you under surveillance around the clock.

- This does not make me very happy.

(knock on door)

- [Vinnie] Oh, great.

- Listen, I'm really sorry, but you had me scared to death.

- Yeah, I know, I shoulda called you, Frank.

But I haven't stopped moving, you know?

- [Amber] Poochy's here!

- Yeah?

- I got the Commission meeting.

- Where?

- Hotel Georgia.

- When?

- 10 minutes ago.

- Alright, good job, Pooch, thanks.

Commission's meeting now, Hotel Georgia.

- Vince, Vince...

- [Amber] It's like this all the time, isn't it.

- No.

It's McPike, you got airlines tickets faxed.

Now I need to know where they were bought,

who bought them.

I need surveillance around the perimeter

of the Hotel Georgia, our boy's going in

for a Commission meeting.

- You love this, don't you.

- No.

- You lying, macho bastard, yes you do!

You love seeing how close you can get to the Grim Reaper!

Don't you!

- Yes.

And if you love him, you better accept it,

because he won't give it up for you.

I'm ordering protection for you, I'm sorry.

- [Poochy] The meeting's in room 1214.

- How many guys upstairs?

- There two or three outside the door,

and maybe one inside.

- Any of your hitters wear cowboy boots?

- I don't know, why?

- Nothing, doesn't matter.

(elevator ding)

- [Guard] Hey, back off!

(grunts)

- [Alex] This is a friggin' horror show!

Now one of you two morons--

Who the hell are you?

Who the hell is this?

Who the hell lets a guy in here with a gun?

Well at least he ain't got a gun anymore.

Who the hell are you?

- I'm Rudy Aiuppo's son.

- You're supposed to be protecting this room!

- Shut up, Joey!

Get your man cleaned up.

My profound sympathies for the events

of the last 24 hours.

I'm Alex Vechoff.

- They both didn't help, just watched!

- Clean your face. - They just watched, man!

Cericco knew he was coming. - Shut up!

- Don's hanging on? - Yeah.

- You guys know anybody

that does heavy work in cowboy boots?

- You're gonna make a phone call.

- 17 and six.

18, 19, 20, 21, 22,

dammit! (phone ringing)

Yeah!

Clancy!

I got your back in.

- Good! - This is what you do.

Go to Angeletti's.

Pick up 11 pasta dinners to go

and bring 'em to the garage of the Hotel Georgia,

four o'clock sharp.

Park by the elevator, I'll meet you.

- I ain't no delivery boy!

- You ain't much else either, you want your back in,

you do this!

- That was good you came by, kid.

But now we gotta get back to the meeting.

- I wanna say something to the room, is that okay?

- Sure.

But keep it short.

- I'm very direct.

- Hey, let's get back to the table, huh?

- Now one of you gindaloons

popped my father in his own back yard.

One of you assassins conducted business in my mother's face.

- This ain't the proper place! - I get to define propriety.

Now you can't control your business,

so it spills blood in my house.

Why in Rudolfo are you boys here?

I'm taking my rightful seat at this table.

Two

first-class, one-way tickets to the old country.

So.

Who gets the thank you note?

- We got him.

Shawn Clancy, 155 Avenue C.

- You get a seat at this table by deeds.

Longevity.

By election.

We got 50 years of history here we gotta abide by!

- 50 years ago Jews and Serbs weren't allowed

to sit at this table.

Time changes history, and today is one for the books.

- We can't change history during a crisis!

- Crisis is history-changing, what are you talking about?

- Why the hell are you explaining anything to him?

- You got no place here, no right here!

You're not Aiuppo's blood,

you're some south-Jersey junketeer!

You wouldn't be alive in this room for 10 seconds

your momma hadn't married Aiuppo.

- And they wouldn't trust you to carry their coffee

if you didn't marry Ziffo's daughter!

- Hey, hey, hey.

- C'mon, I've seen the act, alright?

Doesn't play.

Now shut up and sit down,

before you embarrass yourself, huh?

- C'mon, get up!

You don't insult my wife!

- You married her.

You insulted her.

- Hey!

I am happy Ziffo is dead!

If he was alive, seeing this would kill him!

And I don't know what business you got here either, Joey.

You can't behave in a proper manner!

- I got food comin'.

I'm gonna go down and wait.

Get some air to cool off.

I still don't think he should be here.

- [Commission Man] You got my linguini, Grosset?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Vinnie, maybe you belong here more then anybody.

But we don't know you.

It's a special process to get a seat here.

I know you think you got a right to Don Aiuppo's place,

but even the Don hasn't sat there for 10, 12, 15 years!

No, I will report everything decided here

to you, personally, myself.

I will serve you as Aiuppo's representative.

But more than that, you got no supporters.

Nobody thinks you belong here yet.

- I do.

This situation is like

they cut the head off a wolf.

- [Frank] Clancy, you're under arrest!

(suspenseful music)

- We got a bad situation here. - And who's fault is that?

- Don't start with me, huh?

Where is he? - Over here! (car door slams)

- Where the food? - Where's the money?

- You should be getting half o'this

for that half-assed job you did.

- That old man took about 12 slugs.

I just kept waving that uzi at him.

- That's not what you do!

You walk up, you put the gun in the back of his head

so when you pull the trigger, you know he's dead!

(gunshot) (sharp, dissonant music)

Like that!

- Hey what about the money you gave him?

- I ain't a thief.

- [Alex] You don't want to card for this,

you don't card, this ain't no lousy share operation.

- My mother

has a heart condition.

- Sorry to hear it, kid.

- Your attempt on my father's life

has caused her to be hospitalized.

I'm going to the hospital now.

But I will be back, like it or not.

- We won't like it.

But it's nothin' personal.

- We should take him out.

- We should welcome him to Don Aiuppo's seat at the table.

- Mister Pompio. - Yeah?

- We need you to join us for questioning

with regards to the death of Mister Anthony Ziffo.

- I had nothing to do with that!

- Pooch, go ahead, it's okay, you'll catch up with me later.

He had nothin' to do with this!

- Yeah, I know, I need you alone for a minute,

it's not easy under the current circumstances.

We named the guy who bought the tickets, Shawn Clancy.

We're watching his apartment.

He works for Tosca Cardes, Vinnie.

- Aright, thanks.

- So what's going on with the meeting?

- Voting on my future.

- You just remember, I'm keeping my eye on you!

- Yeah, yeah...

- We were born out of the need and desire

that brought our grandparents here.

The desire was for the promise of a better life.

The need was for protection while they struggled

for that promise.

So we banded together.

To protect the family.

To pass on, in an orderly fashion,

that which we gained.

It's a tragedy that we've lost that.

These are the things that brought Vinnie to this table.

And this was a brave and noble act.

In his place, how many of us would have the courage

to face this assembly

with the truth we've forgotten?

We've become the connivers of Cesar's senate!

Now Vinnie's coming here has given us the chance

to seize back the foundation of this thing of ours!

Now I don't say this was his intent.

He came here for simple reasons,

reasons we should be ashamed to have lost.

For him,

the value of life is based on the honor

with which it is conducted.

And the respect that demonstrates for family.

This is why we're here.

(Vinnie sighs)

- I don't like those men outside the door.

- Yeah, I know, Ma, but it's better

to leave them there for now.

You understand that.

- They're not your people, Vincenzo!

- I know, I know who they are.

- He ask for you.

- Don Aiuppo.

It's Vinnie.

I'm here.

- Albert speaks very elegantly

about what's best for the family.

About honor.

But what's best for Albert

is exactly what almost happened last night.

My father-in-law dead, God bless his soul.

Aiuppo dead.

Albert's in a position to take center-stage.

But,

things didn't work that way.

Now, I'm not accusing anybody of anything.

I'm just looking at the facts.

Last night, things didn't work out the way they might have,

in Albert's favor.

So now Albert brings in here,

and make no mistake about this, Albert brings in here

an angry man looking for revenge!

Albert's men don't stop him at the door,

they let a loyal guy like Carlo take a beating,

and they do this because Albert says so.

So in comes this angry man

who won't be satisfied 'til he has revenge on us,

and Albert wants to give him a seat at the table!

Now what we should do

is tell this angry man to go away.

And then if he doesn't, then we gotta make him go away.

We're in a crisis here.

We gotta close ranks, not open 'em up!

This is not the time to change the way we do things!

- These times beg for change.

- Then put it to a vote.

Do we let a guy who insults us in here?

Or do we make this angry man go away

in whatever manner is required?

- Tell me. - Tell you what?

- What you know?

- No.

- No.

- Yes.

- Ziffo is dead.

- And?

- Cerrico courts my allegiance.

- Yes.

- Yes.

- The Commission is meeting.

- Danger. - I know.

You should rest.

My mom's not very happy with you.

- And?

- I muscled my way into the Commission

and demanded your seat at the table.

- I should kill you...

- I know.

- No.

- Well, Ma, you should get to bed now.

Everything's safe, I don't want you to worry about it.

(tense music)

(triumphant chord)

(dramatic theme music)

(proud music)