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‘Scarface’ achieves cult status with Al Pacino in starring role

Pacino received more leading roles after his success as Michael Corleone in The Godfather. One of those roles, Tony Montana in Scarface, would rival The Godfather as his most famous performance. Universal Pictures / Photofest
December 20, 2024

When Scarface premiered in 1983, starring Al Pacino as a Cuban drug trafficker in South Florida, the movie was regarded as a flop. That didn’t surprise Pacino. “The whole film was a blatant indictment of the 1980s, and it went against the status quo — the ‘Just Say No’ campaign of Nancy Reagan and the establishment of the time,” he writes in his new memoir, Sonny Boy. “It certainly didn’t fit into the Hollywood mold either.” In the memoir, Pacino calls the movie a “flop — not commercially, but critically. Artistically. Spiritually.” Pacino’s book begins with his difficult upbringing in New York City, where ...

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Harry Anslinger ran the Bureau of Narcotics from its inception in 1930 to 1962. His policies led to strict drug enforcement and harsh penalties. Once describing marijuana as having “its roots in hell,” he was a vocal advocate of criminalizing it, which succeeded in 1937. Library of Congress

Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry Anslinger led America’s crusade against drugs

Harry Anslinger is best known as the first head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), the first in the…

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Before the filming of the now-iconic restaurant scene, Al Pacino and Francis Ford Coppola were on borrowed time with Paramount. The success of this scene convinced studio heads of Pacino’s capabilities.

Al Pacino’s new memoir ‘Sonny Boy’ charts his path to movie stardom

On the set of The Godfather, during the early days of filming, Al Pacino was worried about being fired. Francis…

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Tommaso Buscetta, center, was the first prominent Sicilian Mafia leader to become a government witness. His testimony contributed to the Pizza Connection trial in New York. Associated Press

Sicilian mafioso Tommaso Buscetta broke the sacred oath of omertà 40 years ago

In April 1988, mafioso-turned-informant Tommaso Buscetta testified before the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which was investigating the state…

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International law enforcement agencies work together to fight cybercrime. This now-familiar notice appears whenever they successfully take down a cybercriminal group’s website. This notice is from the 2021 takedown of the ransomware group NetWalker, whose victims included the healthcare industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal Bureau of Investigation

The world’s top 5 cybercrime schemes

Last year a ransomware gang took control of the networks of two major casino corporations in Las Vegas. Caesars Entertainment…

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Eric Dezenhall rates Harry Truman as a leader who “would not have been president without the Mob” for his involvement with the Kansas City political machine, which was heavily influenced by organized crime. In this photo taken in the late 1930s, Senator Truman, right, examines revolvers with then Vice-President John Nance Garner. Library of Congress

Author explores ties between mobsters and U.S. presidents

On a hot summer day in the early 1980s, Eric Dezenhall, then in his 20s and working in President Ronald…

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Charles “Lucky” Luciano, well known by his facial scars and drooping eye, was abducted by assailants who left him for dead. This 1931 mugshot shows the slight disfigurements he received. Cipollini Collection

Charles Luciano survived ‘gang ride’ 95 years ago

With unseasonably warm weather for a mid-October evening, Officer Henry A. Blanke dropped the convertible top of his Ford patrol…

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On March 14, 1891, a lynch mob stormed the Orleans Parish Prison and murdered 11 Italians prisoners held in relation to the assassination of Chief of Police David Hennessy. The outrage that followed from the Italian American community contributed to the first Columbus Day.

Columbus Day and its ‘Mafia’ origins

On July 21, 1892, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed that Friday, October 21st, would be a celebration of the 400th anniversary…

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