Mobsters (1991)

Director:

Michael Karbelnikoff

Writers (WGA):

Michael Mahern (story)
Michael Mahern (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 July 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

They rose from nothing to rule everything.

Plot:

The story of a group of friends in turn of the century New York, from their early days as street hoods to their rise in the world of organized crime...

Plot Keywords:

Death | Revenge | Mafia | Italian American | Betrayal

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Christian Slater	...	Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano
Costas Mandylor	...	Frank Costello
Richard Grieco	...	Bugsy Siegel
Jeremy Schoenberg	...	Crapshooter
Miles Perlich	...	Crapshooter
Alan Charof	...	Rabbi
Patrick Dempsey	...	Meyer Lansky
Anto Nolan	...	Irish Cop
Rodney Eastman	...	Joey
Andy Romano	...	Antonio Luciano
Bianca Rossini	...	Rosalie Luciano
Stevie Restivo	...	Little Brother
Caroline Gillette	...	Little Sister
Robert Z'Dar	...	Rocco
Michael Gambon	...	Don Salvatore Faranzano

Also Known As:

Gangsters (USA) (working title)
The Evil Empire
Das teuflische Imperium (Germany) [de]
Die wahren Bosse (Germany) [de]
El imperio del crimen (Argentina) [es]
El imperio del mal (Spain) [es]
I aftokratoria tou eglimatos (Greece) [el]
Império do Crime (Brazil) [pt]
L'impero del crimine (Italy) [it]
Mafijasi (Serbia) (TV title) [sr]
Mobsters - mot maktens höjder (Sweden) [sv]
O Império do Mal (Portugal) [pt]
Pahuuden valtakunta (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

104 min | Brazil:121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:R (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M (cable rating) | Finland:K-18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

160 San Rafael Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Feature-film debut of commercial director Michael Karbelnikoff, who replaced Luis Mandoki after Mandoki dropped out of the project.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In real life, Benjamin Siegel despised the nickname "Bugsy" to the point of inflicting bodily harm upon anyone calling him by it, yet has no problems being addressed by it several times throughout the movie.

Quotes:

Frank Costello: [after thwarting a fifteenth attempt on Don Joe Masseria's life, he confronts the would-be assassin] ... You enjoyed Charlie gettin' tortured, didn't you?
Faranzano's Sniper: Yeah, but you said all was forgiven.
Frank Costello: It is.
[blows him away; later, as he's about to assassinate Masseria himself]
Frank Costello: ... Joe, this ain't number sixteen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Men Named Milo, Women Named Greta (2000)

Not recommended

This movie never seems to develop enough of its characters or of its plot to even be considered as a quality film. The actors never seem authentic as "mobsters", especially Patrick Dempsey as Meyer Lansky, and to a lesser extent, Christian Slater as Lucky Luciano, a character portrayed much better by Andy Garcia in "Hoodlum." The script is incredibly weak and even classic actors such as Anthony Quinn, Michael Gambon, and F. Murray Abraham are unable to save this horrific movie. However, the film's best performances come from Michael Gambon, Christopher Penn, Costas Mandylor, and surprisingly Richard Grieco as Bugsy Siegel. For better gangster flicks, and better movies period I recommend "Scarface", "Hoodlum", "Carlito's Way", "The Godfather" series, and "Goodfellas", just to name a few.