Are the Five Families still around?

Are the Five Families still around?

As Al Pacino’s mob boss Michael Corleone famously says in THE GODFATHER PART III, “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”

It doesn’t take much to pull this fan back in to watch the “Godfather” films at any time. They are so well-made, each piece of the puzzle like its own work of art, that one is rewarded by multiple viewings.

Last week, I fell into a Mafia rabbit hole watching the “Godfather” movies again, alongside a multi-part Netflix series called The Five Families.

Of course, if you have never seen the “Godfather” trilogy, even if you are not a fan of mob violence, they are well worth your time. As for the documentary series on Netflix, what follows is a brief review.

“American Godfathers: The Five Families” began streaming on Netflix in April, and quickly became one of the top programs on the service. The three-part series, narrated by actor Michael Imperioli, chronicles the rise and fall of New York’s prominent Mafia crime families: the Gambino, Bonanno, Genovese, Colombo, and Lucchese organizations are traced from their beginnings to the present day.

The Gambino crime family, established by Vincent Langano, may be one of the most well-known thanks to the “dapper Don,” John Gotti. It was, at one point, the largest of them all. The Bonanno crime family, founded by Salvatore Maranzano, experienced some dysfunction and were the first family to be kicked out of The Commission, though they later returned to be most powerful. The Genovese crime family, established by Lucky Luciano, is often called the “Ivy League” of the mob, and are powerful and secretive. The Colombo crime family, begun by Joe Profaci, is historically the most volatile, with internal power struggles dominating their other mostly bootleg-related activities. Finally, the Lucchese crime family, established by Gaetano Reina, is known for aggressive leadership and extremely close ties to the world of labor.

This series features some truly insightful material from Selwyn Raab, who passed away a couple of years ago but was a longtime reporter for New York newspapers and magazines. You also see his name in the credits of every episode of “Kojak,” as the character of Theo Kojak is actually based on the real-life experiences of Selwyn Raab.  As documentary talking heads go, his appearance lends gravitas to the proceedings. Raab’s encyclopedic knowledge of the underworld players gives his portions of this series a ‘you are there’ feel.

Claire White is the proprietor of The Mob Museum in Las Vegas. While she may seem a little out of place as a barely-30-year-old organized crime expert, her knowledge of the history of these outfits is astounding. She also provides a lot of interesting tidbits about the peccadilloes of the mobsters themselves.

There are some grisly crime scene photos, of course, especially the hit on Gambino boss Paul Castellano outside a steak restaurant he owned in 1985; Crazy Joe Gallo’s rub-out at a clam house in 1972 just after his wedding; the execution of Carmine Galante in 1979 at a Brooklyn restaurant that left him dead with the burning cigar still in his mouth.

In order to be a “made man,” one must first be Italian (or Sicilian). Despite all the tales of violence, the mob tactics most commonly used have been loan sharking, bootlegging, infiltration of labor unions, and extortion. 

Watching the series, every few minutes we are reminded of the rules of the Five Families that were established by Lucky Luciano in the early 1930s. The rules include “no drugs,” which went out the window in the 1970s as the five families began engaging in cartel-type behavior. Most commonly known, however, is the word “omerta,” which is a code of silence. Nobody broke this code of silence until 1963, when Joseph Valachi testified before Congress and the world first learned about Cosa Nostra and the Five Families.

These days, you don’t hear as much about the Mafia because the RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) seemed to have busted up the mob in the 1990s. A lot of bosses ended up in jail. But the Mafia never went away. In fact, a check of some recent statistics show that there are still hundreds, if not thousands, of wiseguys out there. They have moved into other businesses, other levels of government, and areas where they can operate peacefully. For now.

Michael Bird is an assistant professor of music at Faulkner University.