Gangsters in fedoras and Italian suits with shot-guns and molls: 70 years of fascination with Al Capone

There are no words to explain how brilliant The Godfather is on screen and how many times filmmakers the world over have tried to capture the storytelling. Pacino as the reluctant young lad who takes over his dad’s crime business is peerless.

But then there’s Goodfellas. Ray Liotta spoke for so many of us who were dragging our feet, trying to do the best ‘ middle-class school-going child who would come straight home and would someday settle down in a government job. Just like Liotta’s Henry Hill, I wanted to be a gangster. I did not want pocket money like other kids, I wanted greenbacks, lots of them. And not just money, I was fascinated with machine guns that eliminated enemies. I wanted to have a table of my own in a nightclub that would play smooth jazz, be treated like a movie star with a muscle... But then we settled for studying hard as only Indian kids are supposed to do and pushed our gangster dreams into reading The Godfather again and again...

Why did a kid from a good immigrant family get into a life of crime? Perhaps it was something to do with getting kicked out of school for slapping the teacher across her face. Al Capone joined the gangs in New York and began running alcohol and prostitution rackets after running away to Chicago. Of course, he had many crime boss mentors. It helped that Prohibition was in full force and he was soon running a crime syndicate of his own. Apparently he said, 'To hell with the Sicilians' and destroyed the North Chicago gangs completely. He inspired loyal members and created the gangster stereotype for Hollywood.

During the great depression of the fifties, it was Al Capone who opened the first-ever soup kitchen. So you know somewhere deep inside the cigar chompin, Italian suit wearing persona, there was a heart. He created the ‘family’ myth associated with gangsters because he really did care about his family (had their pictures in the office, and later in life shifted base to Miami with his family)

Speaking of family, Japan also has a great Gangster tradition (forgive me for romanticising the Yakuza, but their code of honour is as amazing as the Samurai bushido) and I am glad I stumbled upon Giri/Haji on Netflix.

The show is what the name of the show says it is: Duty/Shame. Two brothers, two different lifestyles, and the action travels from Tokyo to London. If you understand how immigrants get into trouble, then this show has trouble and then some.

But for a gangster is there any more trouble than a woman who can seduce him with a sideways glance? And there have been great roles played by stunningly beautiful actors as gangster’s molls. In the Tom Hardy movie about Kray Brothers who were real-life gangsters in London, Emily Browning plays the love interest who distracts one brother from crime and puts the business in jeopardy...

Legend, The Godfather, The Irishman (yes, yes, I still think the master of the gangster genre, director Martin Scorcese has made better gangster films even though he brought Pesci back from retirement for the film), Gangster Squad, Gangs of New York, American Hustle, The Ruthless are all on your favourite streaming service. The Indian mafia movies which must include Gangs Of Wasseypur, KGF (watch the Kannada version with subtitles) and even Koodasha (a gangster who has given up and is looking after his daughter when his past catches up with him) can be watched on Amazon Prime Video.

And why are we suddenly watching gangster films? Because it’s Al Capone’s death anniversary on January 25. He suffered greatly when he died, and I was (rather unkindly) - all last year - waiting to hear about the release date of the film on Al Capone’s last years called Fonzo. Tom Hardy plays the gangster who was in prison and hospital, fighting dementia and syphilis. The first look was fascinating, then the film just vanished…

Meanwhile, I’m wondering who bought the green Cadillac owned by Al Capone for more than $300,000. He wore suits imported from Italy (each costing $500 then), diamond pinky rings and loved treating his people with the best of alcohol. But he was not above killing people who opposed him rather viciously. And yes, he was slashed on the face when he was in prison because he could not wait to get his hair cut in the queue and broke the line to get ahead. A prisoner with a shorter fuse than his impatience used a broken pair of scissors on his face. He was careful to keep his family out of the business though. True gangsta he was.

However, the one show that drew me away from gangsters and took me to the gangsta world is the show called Unsolved on Netflix. It is a look into the murder of two amazing music mavericks called Tupac and Biggie Smalls. As I watch them botch up an investigation I remember the words, ‘Can you picture my prophecy? /Stress in the city/ The cops is hot for me...'