History Vs. Hollywood: The Untouchables

Most of the information portrayed is historically accurate and the actors play their parts perfectly, accent and all! It does give a prime example of what mob life and civilian life in 1920’s Chicago was

Al Capone supported the citizens of Chicago as much as he could, despite the image he has created of being a violent mobster, he like helping people, and was a very caring person. Capone was funding soup kitchens for the homeless, and regularly visited them to support those who were in need. Furthermore, Capone cared about the city’s some people argued, “Capone was doing more for the poor than the entire use government” . Because of al Capone’s background, coming from an ordinary family and a family of immigrants, of lower class workers, who have been prejudiced throughout the whole of their lives, and related to, as “stupid Sicilians”. Despite the fact, Al Capone wasn’t American, he was still helping homeless children and people in USA in general, the background of the people did not matter to him, as he employed black men and supported musicians with their careers, people of any race and any background.

Eliot Ness, born April 19, 1903, in, Chicago, Illinois, knew little of what he was going to do. When he grew up, he went to the University of Chicago majoring in commerce, and law and political science. Eliot Ness led a law enforcement group, during the Prohibition Era in 1930-1931, called the “Untouchables”. They’re called “The Untouchables” because they couldn’t be bribed unlike other police men.

During the 1920’s gang related crime was a serious issue. The leader of all this violence and corruption was a man named Al “Scarface” Capone (“Al Capone”). This organized crime, dehumanization, and corruption, became the ultimate image of Chicago for people throughout the world. He was largely immersed in things like gambling, prostitution, and the illegal sale of liquor. He was not convicted for any of his crimes, even the St. Valentine's Day massacre of 1929, until he was imprisoned for tax evasion (Horan).

Members of his gang were often called "American Boys" : a group of non-Italian, native born criminals. "(Lantzer). Before prohibition was enforced, many gangs had their hands tied up in illegal gambling and prostitution. Capone and his gang dominated Chicago and cause lots of fear in people. As Witer explained in his work about Capone's ability with his gang, "By the late 1920's, his gang also dominated gambling, labor racketeering, and other Criminal activities and established contacts with gangs."

Gangs began fighting for their territories which led to destruction and death. Violent crime became prominent in the era of prohibition. Capone was one of the major leaders in the violent crime. He organized one of the worst murders during this era, the St. Valentine 's Day Massacre. The St. Valentine Day Massacre is just one example of the numerous murders committed in the mobsters search for territory.

Al Capone’s crime boss “ Torrio” was the one who had mainly influenced Al Capone into the life of crime in the city of chicago and had “Torrio taught Capone the importance of maintaining a respectable front while running a racketeering business” (History) , After some time Torrio had made Al Capone his second, his “right-hand man”. Al Capone had done many different crimes around the city of chicago with had made his name more popular and notorious around the city, mostly including bootlegging, prostitution and gambling. Al Capone was very much aware of gang war over territories in chicago, so he would often negotiate with rival gangs for territory. Later on one day his boss Torrio was returning back from a shopping trip from the market and was ambushed and had got shot several times.

Thorough out the course of cinematic history, countless films have been released about the Italian mafia. Two films in particular have had a significant impact on the way the mafia is perceived through the eyes of American audiences. Those films are Goodfellas and The Godfather (the trilogy). Both movies are widely considered two of the greatest of all time, garnering many Academy Award nominations and wins. Although there is no denying the popularity of both of these films, we have speculated that they may not be the most accurate depictions of how the mafia operates.

Capone 's childhood showed the police how bad kids were and that they also needed to look out for kids. Capone helped people through the tough times right before the great depression, he produced jobs, got his people want they wanted, and influenced women and kids not to do what he did. Al Capone did a lot to influence this

(2015) Organized Crime, Sixth Edition, Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Prentice Hall Sandbrook, D. (2012), How Prohibition backfired and gave America an era of gangsters and speakeasies, The Guardian, information retrieved from:

The book “Al Capone Does My Shirts” is based on a group of kids growing up on Alcatraz Island, which holds a prison full of felons murders and many other convict’s one of the most dangerous prisons of them all. The author Genniffer Choldenko

Torrio showed Capone the significance of keeping up a respectable front, while maintaining a racketeering business. The marginally assembled Torrio spoke to another day break in criminal endeavor, changing a savage unrefined culture into a corporate domain. Capone joined Johnny Torrio 's James Road Young men pack, rising at the end of the Five Focuses Posse. In an energetic rub in a house of ill-repute Cantina, a youthful gangster sliced Capone with a blade or razor over his left cheek, provoking the later epithet

The plan was to get a bootlegger to lure Bugs Moran and his gang to a back alley where Capone 's men would dress like police officers and take the gangs guns then open fire and kill everyone. Just one small hiccup. Bugs Moran saw the Cop car before anyone else and ran away before capone 's men could kill him. Capone being smart planned his vacation and left when this was happening but the police and the media knew it was his planning. This made Capone famous.

Accessed February 12, 2018. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangs_of_New_York . In this article it presents all the information behind the movie, “Gangs of New York”, while naming all the cast members and awards the movie received. This article also includes the production of the movie, a summary of the plot, soundtrack, and a statement on its historical accuracy.

In the 1920’s Al Capone an individual who had strong influence in organized crime also made an impact in Calumet City. Al Capone is one of the most famous American Gangsters (Calumet City History, n.d). During the early 1900’s the population of Calumet City doubled.