Mafia - The History of the Mob in America

Mafia - The History of the Mob in America


Starring:Collector's Choice
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Product Description
Mafia: The History of the Mob in America is a cold-blooded examination of organized crime in the twentieth century. Starting with the prohibition years, this groundbreaking investigation traces the origins of th ethnic gangs that capitalized on criminal activities by turning them into family enterprises. With men like Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Lepke Buchalter at its heart, and bootleging, racketeering, and murder at its soul, this series is a sweeping saga of bloodshed, betrayal, and big business.The Prohibition Years/Birth of the American Mafia: Prohibition spells 100 proof profit for local gangs Until the families arrive from SicilyThe Kennedys and the Mob: The Kennedys' murky past returns to haunt themUnions and the Mob: The Mafia takes on the Communists for control of the unionsEmpire of Crime: The Mob steps on a gold mine in World War II.

Format: DVD MOVIE
Amazon.com
This collection of documentaries produced by A&E presents a broad overview of organized crime in America, beginning with immigrants who formed gangs soon after arriving in the late 19th century. The focus is on Italian-American gangsters, though there are mentions of Irish and Jewish gangs, which at various times cooperated with or competed against the Mafia, and one program in the collection presents interesting skeins of conjecture while seeking to document links between the Mob and the Kennedy political dynasty. The documentaries use vintage newsreel footage as well as clips of Hollywood versions of gang life to illustrate the narration provided by Bill Kurtis. Assorted mob experts appear on camera, and though much of the material they present is entertaining, it's hard to say how credible much of it is. A flamboyant "Mob historian," William Balsamo, speaks Brooklynese from behind sunglasses, and at times his scholarly insights could almost pass for the wisecracking Senate testimony of Willi Cicci in Godfather: Part II. Despite some sensationalistic excess, these programs do tell the generally accepted story of how organized crime boomed during Prohibition, infiltrated labor unions, and eventually found a gold mine in Las Vegas following World War II. --Robert J. McNamara
Mafia - The History of the Mob in America
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Informative, well organized and entertaining
  • Informative, But To Repetitive
  • Terrible at best
  • The Birth of Organized Crime in America
  • Good for all Mafia lovers...
Mafia - The History of the Mob in America
Starring: Collector's Choice
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:
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  3. Gotti
  4. Boss of Bosses
  5. The Iceman - Confessions of a Mafia Hitman

ASIN: B00005AA9C
Release Date: 2001-04-24

Product Description

Mafia: The History of the Mob in America is a cold-blooded examination of organized crime in the twentieth century. Starting with the prohibition years, this groundbreaking investigation traces the origins of th ethnic gangs that capitalized on criminal activities by turning them into family enterprises. With men like Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Lepke Buchalter at its heart, and bootleging, racketeering, and murder at its soul, this series is a sweeping saga of bloodshed, betrayal, and big business.The Prohibition Years/Birth of the American Mafia: Prohibition spells 100 proof profit for local gangs Until the families arrive from SicilyThe Kennedys and the Mob: The Kennedys' murky past returns to haunt themUnions and the Mob: The Mafia takes on the Communists for control of the unionsEmpire of Crime: The Mob steps on a gold mine in World War II.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

This collection of documentaries produced by A&E presents a broad overview of organized crime in America, beginning with immigrants who formed gangs soon after arriving in the late 19th century. The focus is on Italian-American gangsters, though there are mentions of Irish and Jewish gangs, which at various times cooperated with or competed against the Mafia, and one program in the collection presents interesting skeins of conjecture while seeking to document links between the Mob and the Kennedy political dynasty. The documentaries use vintage newsreel footage as well as clips of Hollywood versions of gang life to illustrate the narration provided by Bill Kurtis. Assorted mob experts appear on camera, and though much of the material they present is entertaining, it's hard to say how credible much of it is. A flamboyant "Mob historian," William Balsamo, speaks Brooklynese from behind sunglasses, and at times his scholarly insights could almost pass for the wisecracking Senate testimony of Willi Cicci in Godfather: Part II. Despite some sensationalistic excess, these programs do tell the generally accepted story of how organized crime boomed during Prohibition, infiltrated labor unions, and eventually found a gold mine in Las Vegas following World War II. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Informative, well organized and entertaining.......2006-07-17

This A&E documentary is informative, well organized and entertaining. The section on disc 1 about Joe Kennedy's mob connections from running illegal booze during prohibition and the well documented theory of mafia involvement in the JFK assassination is worth the price of admission. Highly recommended!

1 out of 5 stars Informative, But To Repetitive.......2005-12-29

This movie is historically informing, but the movie constantly repeats itself going from gangster to gangster.

1 out of 5 stars Terrible at best.......2005-12-16

If you're seriously interested in the true history of the Mafia (as in the Sicilian/Italian group), look elsewhere. This film is a joke. To start, the entire basis of the film seems to be that organized crime started with the Italians, and that it started in Prohibition. This is most definitely not the case, and the backing for this can be found elsewhere. Second, their "historians" are a bit shady, with one of their favorites being a "western" looking guy who is constantly wearing aviator's sunglasses. His only credentials are that he's a "Mafia historian".

For those that believe the Hollywood stereotypes, you may enjoy this film because I'm not sure they have any historical references that don't include "directed by", "produced by", or "starring". If I remember correctly, the only clips from an educated historian (or possibly historians) they interviiewed were completely hacked together to only use the parts of a sentence they wanted heard. The editing was even cheaply done, so it wasn't even disguised.

This film is very poorly done, and is a disrespect to any person of Italian descent. It only perpetuates the stereotypes of the Italian people, based off of Hollywood's portrayal of them throughout time.

4 out of 5 stars The Birth of Organized Crime in America.......2004-10-03

Had this documentary been called "The Birth of Organized Crime in America," I would have given it 5 stars because that's all it does (and very well, I might add). I suspect the title "Mafia" was used to appeal to the rookie drug dealer who wants to learn how to improve his business but is too stupid to read a book and as such looks for DVDs with the word "Mafia" in it.

But seriously folks, this DVD tells a good story about the birth of OC in the US of A, but even then does not talk about Murder Inc. (the crew from Brooklyn that traveled around the country assassinating people for the Mafia - 2000 in all), the Gangs of New York (not the cheesy Leonardio De-Faggio version), and the gangster underworld (featuring people like Kid Twist and Mose) that came immediately before the birth of the 5 families.

Bada Beep, Bada Boop, I guess this as much as we can expect from some dudes in the suburbs of LA.






5 out of 5 stars Good for all Mafia lovers..........2003-10-29

This is a terrific DVD to have and watch if you would like to be informative on the Mafia's history. This DVd set will explain everything about movies such as The Godfather that might be confusing, as well as Mafia life in general. Buy this to learn more, but if you are uninterested in the Mafia, it probably isn't such a good idea to get.

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