Jul 06 2007
Film bio of Lucky Luciano in the works
Taking over with the help of childhood friend Meyer Lansky and strong arm Bugsy Siegel, Luciano set out to restructure organized crime in New York, New Jersey, Chicago and Detroit. He installed a corporate-like board of directors called “the Commission” and started washing illicit mob earnings through legitimate companies.
During his reign, Luciano attended operas with politicians and partied at nightclubs with the Hollywood elite, including Frank Sinatra and George Raft. He was a well-known figure in New York City’s Little Italy, where his word was law, according to John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia, who played one of Phil Leotardo’s crime gang in “The Sopranos” and is talking to Isgro about a role in the Luciano film.
“Luciano lived right here on Mulberry Street when I was growing up,” Ciarcia said in a phone interview from New York. “I remember who he hung out with, what they looked like, how they acted. This project is perfect for Joe. He was just out here in Little Italy, soaking it all up.”
The high life caught up with Luciano in 1936, when he was busted for running a prostitution ring. He was convicted and sentenced to 30 to 50 years behind bars — the longest prison term ever handed out for such an offense.
Power behind bars
Incarceration, however, did not diminish Luciano’s power. During World II, U.S. military leaders sought out the mobster’s assistance while he was behind bars. Under a secret plan called Operation Underworld, Luciano agreed to enlist the Mafia to counter Axis infiltration on U.S. waterfronts and to ensure quick passage for U.S. forces moving through the Italian peninsula.
In return, the government allowed Luciano to run his criminal empire from his prison cell with a promise to parole him in 1946 under the condition that he would return to Italy.
Isgro says his film will follow Luciano’s entire life but is likely to focus more on his later years in jail and in exile. Luciano was a young man, 39, when he was incarcerated, and he lived to be 64 before dying of a heart attack in Naples, Italy, on Jan. 26, 1962. (There is speculation that his death might have been caused by poisoning).
Isgro says the movie will detail the “crucial” role that Luciano played in the U.S. war effort. The film will also show how Luciano was able to build the American syndicate from behind bars and control it later from Cuba and Italy.
“We’re going to show another side of Luciano,” Isgro said. “Did the man deserve to be canonized as a saint? Probably not. But he wasn’t 100% bad either. Nobody is — no matter what the government would lead you to believe.”
Before entering the film world, Isgro was the nation’s most powerful record promoter during the 1980s, pitching songs to radio stations for stars including Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson. He is currently developing a movie about the inner workings of the music business.
Isgro spent the 1990s fending off a 51-count payola and racketeering indictment filed by the Department of Justice. The U.S attorney’s office spent 10 years and $10 million to pursue Isgro, but the case against him was thrown out because of government misconduct. In 1999, the FBI investigated Isgro for possible ties to a Los Angeles-based international prostitution ring but determined that he had no involvement in the operation.
One year later, Isgro was busted for loan sharking in Beverly Hills. Prosecutors alleged that proceeds from a tiny loan sharking operation run by Isgro fed the coffers of the Gambino crime family. The government never proved any mob ties during Isgro’s trial. He was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to 50 months in prison for extortion and loan sharking.
The lesson he learned behind bars, Isgro says, can be summed up in three words: “The food stinks.”
Film bio of Lucky Luciano in the works – From the Los Angeles – By Chuck Philips – Times Staff WriterTimes – July 6, 2007 – http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-luciano6jul06,1,5616941.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews
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New York Post
August 12, 2007–THE life story of Lucky Luciano is finally coming to the big screen. Producer Bob DeBrino – who holds the movie option to “The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano,” by the late Martin Gosch and former N.Y. Times reporter Richard Hammer – is pitching studios a film about the Sicilian-born mob boss who helped the U.S. win World War II from his prison cell by ensuring labor peace on the docks. The crime kingpin, who was freed and exiled in 1946, collaborated with the authors on the condition that the book not be published until a decade after his 1962 death. New interest in Luciano was sparked by Joe Isgro, a former music promoter who in 2000 was sentenced to 50 months in jail for extortion and loan- sharking. Isgro surfaced in Hollywood claiming he had the rights to the Luciano story. “Rights to what?” Hammer sputtered. “There are no rights.” Luciano has no surviving relatives. Isgro created some confusion around Tinseltown, says DeBrino, but he’s pressing on. Being Italian is not a prerequisite for the lead role – DeBrino’s wish list includes George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp.
This is incorrect. There are relatives.
Lucky Luciano has living relatives in Italy and the U.S. Luciano discovered that he had a cousin in Lercara Friddi, Sicily when he was deported in 1946. The cousin’s name was Calcedonia Lucania (male). Calcedonia had a son, Francesco, and Luciano became Francesco’s godfather. Francesco Lucania is still alive, as well as a relative named Giussepe Lucania who both still live in Sicily or Italy. And let’s not forget that Luciano had 4 siblings.
Lucky Luciano arranged the murders of both masseria and marrazzano.This was supposely to rid the mafia of the old ways under masseria and marrazzano.And to improve communications,and maximsed profits within the mob families.At his moment of glory.Lucky then organised the heads of the five new york crime families and around the united states.To all come together and form THE COMMISSION.