‘November 1963’ puts Chicago Outfit at center of JFK assassination
A new feature film about the Kennedy assassination puts the Chicago Outfit at the center of a plot to kill the nation’s 35th president. Directed by Roland Joffé, November 1963 stars John Travolta as mobster Johnny Rosselli, Jefferson White as accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, and Mandy Patinkin as Outfit boss Tony Accardo. It also features Robert Carlyle as Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner with suspected Mob ties who fatally shot Oswald on live TV two days after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The movie, filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is set to debut in theaters on December 4. The official details of ...
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The Top 5 Mob myths: Hollywood’s creative license drives misinformation
From The Godfather to Griselda, the Mob is firmly embedded in pop culture, which comes with a few drawbacks. In…
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The 1863 draft riots and the birth of the New York City Police
On July 13, 1863, during the Civil War, New York City burst into flames when the federal government started a…
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Artifact Spotlight: Frank Calabrese Sr.’s handmade dictionary
“PRISON: IS WARE I AM AT,” reads an entry in the handmade dictionary of Frank Calabrese Sr., former boss of…
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Classic Mob drama ‘The Sopranos’ first aired 25 years ago
When the groundbreaking HBO series The Sopranos debuted in 1999, it was an instant hit and a critical success. It…
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They don’t just kill each other
Innocent victims of Mob violence are one of the most underreported aspects of organized crime. This is due in part…
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The Buffalo Mafia’s ill-advised art thefts
“Art Collection Is Looted; Loss Put at $1.3 million,” read a headline in the August 22, 1968, edition of the…
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Artifact Spotlight: Alternative liquor products from Prohibition
When Prohibition started on January 17, 1920, beer brewers, liquor distillers and winemakers were in a predicament. The 18th Amendment…
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