The Godfather and the Mafia
And The Mafia
History
In The Beginning
• The Mafia’s roots extend as far
back as the Middle Ages; it was
during this period that Europe
was ruled by feudalism, a social
system that granted vassals
safety from the lords they
served in battle. When the lords
were out of town, a society was
formed to protect their estates.
In the centuries to come, this
society founded on protection
would ultimately evolve into
what we know as the Sicilian
Mafia.
A Painting Depicting Life in the Middle Ages
Formation
• The Mafia as we know it began to
take shape during the mid-
nineteenth century. Once feudalism
began to die off in Europe, many
lords vacated their manors in
Sicily, heading toward other
regions and provinces of Italy,
entrusting their estates to young
managers known as gabelloti. In
time, these young men would rise
up and purchase the feudal lands
that they were guarding. It is
believed that the gabelloti were the
A Manor from Medieval Italy
earliest example of Mafia bosses.
Evolution
• The word Mafia was first used in
an Italian musical in the 1860s to
describe the new organization,
which by now had taken on
somewhat of a criminal image.
While it still was meant to protect
the less fortunate, its methods were
sometimes unorthodox. One of the
more vicious groups of the period
was an American offshoot of the
Mafia known as the “Black Hand”
that would extort money by
sending out an envelope stamped
with a black hand. If the recipient
did not pay, he would usually end
up dead.
The Black Hand
An Internal Conflict
• Throughout the next several
decades, the Mafia would
become more influential, even
gaining support of local law
enforcement. Then, in 1922, it
faced a major challenge. Benito
Mussolini had become the new
dictator of Italy. A Fascist,
Mussolini hated the Mafia, and
an internal war soon broke out
between the Mafiosi and the
Fascists; many members of the
Mafia were jailed during
Mussolini’s tenure.
Benito Mussolini
A New Chapter
• For the two and a half decades
that Mussolini ruled in Italy,
many Mafiosi were jailed. Then
in 1945, Italy surrendered
during WWII, Mussolini was
overthrown and killed, and
Allies released several Mafiosi,
believing them to be
Mussolini’s political prisoners.
While Mussolini’s dead body
was hung in public display,
several gangsters were now out
of jail.
Mussolini’s Body (center) on Display in Public
Corruption
• Following their reemergence in the late
’40s, the Mafia took on a dark, new
image. As many of the bosses from the
early days of Mafia died out, they were
succeeded by a younger, white-collar
generation of Dons. They lacked the
experience and morality of their
predecessors, and as a result, the
Mafia’s actions were much more
corrupt; their actions were geared at
protecting the members of each family
rather than the less fortunate. Over the
next two decades, the Mafia would sink
into darkness, forever tarnishing its
image. The Mafia would never be the
same again.
Ruthless Mafioso and Future Kingpin John Gotti
Organization
• Like any culture, the Mafia has a very distinct
social structure. Affectionately known as “La
Cosa Nostra”- another term for the American
Mafia meaning “Our Thing”- the ranking system
of this organization is one of the most intricate and
critical elements of the culture. Here is a
description of each of the different positions in
“La Cosa Nostra” accompanied by movie stills
from The Godfather of characters who hold those
specific positions.
La Cosa Nostra
Boss (Don)
• The highest position in any
crime family is held by the
Boss. He is addressed by the
title “Don” and is treated with
the utmost respect by all in his
family. It is the Boss who
ultimately makes all decisions
regarding his family and all
money that the family makes
will eventually work its way
back to the boss.
Don Vito Corleone
Consigliere
• Many times, the Boss will
have his own personal
aide called a Consigliere.
His main purpose is to act
as a legal counsel to the
boss, and unlike most
positions, the Consigliere
is usually elected by the
family as a whole rather
than being chosen by the
Don.
Tom Hagen
Underboss
• Second in command is the
Underboss. While he does
not hold supreme
authority, the Underboss is
frequently forced to make
several important
decisions on his own. The
Underboss is always being
groomed to step up in
ranks in case the Boss is Santino “Sonny” Corleone
facing prison and/or death.
Caporegimes
• While the Boss commands the
family, it is the Caporegimes
who see that orders are carried
out. There are numerous
“Capos” and each one will
command a certain group of
Pete Clemenza Soldiers as well as control a
certain part of a family’s
territory. The Capos’ main
purpose is to make money; they
get to keep some of the money,
and the rest is given to the Boss.
Sal Tessio
Soldiers
• The lowest rank in La
Cosa Nostra is that of a
Soldier. After a Capo is
given an order by the
Boss, that Capo’s
Soldier(s) are to make sure Luca Brazi
that it is carried out.
Despite being an official
member of the family, the
position of Soldier is one
of very little power and
very small pay.
Paulie Gatto
Associates
• Sometimes, a crime family
will have one or more
Associates. These people
are not directly linked to
the family but simply
work with the Mafia on its
business ventures. The
Associates come from a
wide variety of
occupations, ranging from
Moe Greene lawyers to politicians to
police officers.
Notable Mafiosi
Vito Cascio Ferro
• Don Vito Cascio Ferro is believed to
have contributed more than any
individual to the movement of the
Mafia to America. A brutal man,
Ferro migrated to New York after
establishing an infamous reputation in
Sicily-rather violent for this period.
After a return to Sicily, he began
sending Mafiosi to America to
establish a family and was rumored to
have helped murder a local police
captain. However, Mussolini was able
to have him imprisoned for life. Once
Mussolini was overthrown, he tried to
obtain a pardon but was unsuccessful;
Cascio Ferro died in prison in 1945.
Alphonse Capone
• When Johnny Torrio was arrested as the
Mafia boss in Chicago, he returned to
Sicily and left a young man named
Alphonse Capone in charge of the city.
Nicknamed “Scarface,” Capone became
one of the most (in)famous gangsters of
the period. Unlike the reserved Torrio,
Capone used violence wherever he
went. Capone personally hired a group
of hit men and was responsible for such
violent events as the Valentine’s Day
Massacre. Capone was finally arrested
in 1931 and sentenced to 11 years.
Crippled by syphilis, Capone died alone
in his manor in 1947.
Salvatore Lucania
• Known as “Lucky Luciano” the young
Italian immigrant grew up in poor
circumstances and seemed destined for a life
of crime. Once Prohibition was put into
effect, Luciano and his Jewish partner
Meyer Lansky became bootleggers, selling
liquor all over New York. His boss, Salvator
Maranzano found Luciano to be almost too
dangerous to have in his employ. But the
boss was eventually hunted down by
Lansky’s hit men. When Thomas E. Dewey
became New York’s prosecutor, Luciano
was put in jail. But he was then paroled to
help with the American war effort and then
deported back to Italy following WWII. In
1962, he was killed at an airport, attempting
to return to the U.S.A.
Meyer Lansky
• Born Maier Suchowljansky on July 4,
1902, Lansky was a Jewish immigrant
from Poland and one of the few non-
Sicilians to play an important role in the
Mafia. In New York, Lansky helped his
friend Lucky Luciano eliminate New
York’s leading crime boss. By the 1940s,
Lansky became heavily involved in
gambling and helped have a former
partner executed. Over the next two
decades, he became involved in such
venues as prostitution, drugs, and
pornography. Attempts were made to
arrest him, but he fled to Israel before he
could be brought in. Charges were
eventually dropped due to his ailing
health. When Meyer Lansky died of
cancer in 1983, he was believed to be
worth over $400 million.
Portrayal in the Media
Gangster Movies
• One of the major causes behind the stereotypical
view of the Mafia in today’s world is its portrayal
in the media. Prior to the release of The Godfather
in 1972, the Mafia, as well as the entire
underworld was given a bad name by the gangster
genre. Gangster movies had been popular since
the early days of cinema and peaked in the early
to mid 1930s with such films as The Public
Enemy, Scarface, and Little Caesar. However,
James Cagney while these films are considered classic, their
Edward G. Robinson portrayal of the underworld is outrageously false
as many of the films are simply low budget
“shoot-em-ups” with stereotypical characters that
bear an image similar to Al Capone. Also, another
sign that the gangster movies were unrealistic is
that many actors went on to star in movies that
bear almost no resemblance to the underworld
genre. Humphrey Bogart starred in the 1942
romantic classic Casablanca; James Cagney
played a song-and-dance man in the 1941 musical
Yankee Doodle Dandy, and Edward G. Robinson
was cast as a greedy slave-owner in the 1956
Biblical epic The Ten Commandments.
George Raft Humphrey Bogart
The “Real” Mafia in the Media
• In 1972, Francis Ford Coppola released a
172-minute adaptation of Mario Puzo’s The
Godfather. For the first time, the Mafia was
seen not as ruthless villains but as tragic
heroes. Because of this new realistic
portrayal of the Mafia, The Godfather and
its 1974 sequel rank among the most
critically acclaimed movies of all time. They The Godfather
also paved the way for a new genre of
movies that differed greatly from the
gangster movies of the 1930s. The movies
released during this period (Scarface,
GoodFellas, Casino, A Bronx Tale) have
continued to exhibit this depiction of the
Mafia and have helped to eliminate the
stereotypical views expressed in the old
gangster movies.
GoodFellas Scarface
Works Cited
• “Feudalism.” Dictionary.com. 3 June 2006.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Feudalism.
• Grabianowski, Ed. “How the Mafia Works.” Howstuffworks.com.
2 June, 2006. http://people.howstuffworks.com/mafia.htm.
• "The Italian Mafia." StudyWorld. 9 May, 2006.
http://www.studyworld.com/newsite/ReportEssay/History/
European%5CItalian_Mafia-322057.htm.
• “Lucky Luciano.” The Time 100. 3 June, 2006.
http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/profile/luciano3.html.
• “The Mafia.” Best of Sicily. 3 June, 2006.
http://www.bestofsicily.com/mafia.htm.
• “Vito Cascio Ferro.” 3 June, 2006. http://www.murderinc.com/fam/ferro.html.