True History of The Mafia, The: The GODF

My grandsons wanted a dvd on the godfathers/mafia and of course we couldn't find one at our local library so I checked Amazon where I knew I could find what I wanted. I purchased the Godfathers Collection-The True History of the Mafia and my grandsons watched the dvd's with great interest. I am glad it was not a wasted purchase.

The History Channel has put together a collection of Mafia history concentrating on the Godfathers or crime bosses of the last century or so. Great and thorough job showing the evolution of the chain of command of Mob bosses. Extremely violent, graphic and realistic so be forewarned.

The DVD set is a good source for all "cosa nostra" fans.Starting from the roots back in sicily to the mass-immigration to the U.S and the raise of the american mafia, that doesn`t forget his roots.The documentary goes thru all the stages of this organization, from the past to the present.But the thing that makes this dvd collection amazing is that shows the raise of cosa nostra back in italy as well...thing that most documentaries forget, because yes, there is cosa nostra in the U.S, but it`s even more powerful in Italy and other countries around the world, were they took the place of politicians and presidents...having more power, ruling over everything.If this can help people understand...I saw this documentary two times already.Really well done.Even tho i wish they could make a documentary just about the modern days cosa nostra.A must for all.

GODFATHERS COLLECTION: TRUE HISTORY OF THE MAFIA, is another releasefrom the History channel.This series is a departure from the earlier ones, and althoughvalid, with a fair bit of footage, suffers from its accelerated,lightening speed or "expedited" editing. It also struggles to weavea common thread through 100 years of incidents by some many peoplein so many circumstances. There is a lack of depth, and lack of deepinsight that only a well-read historian can tell, which is the caseon other works.Still, the work's theory that the real powerhouse behind much of theUSA's original mafia was Don Vito, or Vito Cascio Ferro isinteresting.This is the man who nominated first Joe Masseria, and thenMarranzano as his representative gang leader in the USA, before hetraveled himself to the USA and intervened personally at politicalrallies using specially coded words intended for the immigrants inAmerican lands, to back their ethnic leaders to achieve politicalcritical mass, which in reality, was a call for obedience to him andthe underground, replicating what existing in the Old World.Mussolini could not longer tolerate rival powers such as Don Vitoand so, he waterboarded and electrocuted the genitalia of knownmobsters to gain information, eventually getting a list of most, ifnot all of the mob's members in Sicily, forcing an exodus toAmerica, to flee fascism.At the same time, the story of the 2 original New Orleans powerhousefamilies, the Provenzano's and Matranga's is told, the lynching of adozen incarcerated immigrants in detention, the $25k compensationpaid by the president to their families as compensation, and theircontrol over the sensitive dock operations there, for the producemarkets, which they ran as well. Gang strife for control over theprostitution, gambling and other rackets resulted in 40 deaths in 2years in 1891.The film lays out Don Vito's terms: any declined orders will resultin death, and any favors granted are a debt to eventually be repaidby the recipient upon demand at a future date.It goes over the extortion racket, Enrico Caruso's (tenor)cooperation with a NYPD officer, Giuseppe "Joe" Petrosino whoinvestigated the criminal backgrounds of those arriving in New York,the streams of money financing those men and their operations, onlyto be killed. A banker back in Europe, Di Bartolo, handles the moneylaundering operations.With the onset of WWI, the sulfur mines gain a new strategic andeconomic role, for gun powder and explosives, as miners actuallytoil naked inside, from a lack of proper attire, and the heat in theshafts.A segments goes over Colosimo's rubout in Chicago, from declining intaking part in rum-running and booze smuggling, by Joe Torrio,himself in turn almost murdered by the rival North Side Irish gang,turning over then the reigns of power to his right hand man, AlCapone.With the bad publicity over the St Valentine bloodbath, Capone turnsto soup kitchens, attending baseball games with his kid, trying toturn around his image in the papers. suggesting he's a valuableeconomic force in the area.The dynamic duo Meyer Lansky and Sal Luccania (Lucky Lucciano) gainmassive influence through a series of rubouts of their opponents,slicing up New York into territories and assigning them to variousfamilies so as to achieve a co-existence and profitability withoutthe earlier strife.Vallachi, who rolls over, reveals the rituals and hierarchy of hisentire organization and its inner workings. The underground growseven wealthier from the New Deal construction contracts awarded forvarious projects, such as the Hoover Dam, as labor organizing, docksand trucking operations, horse races and bookie businesses,prostitution and protection rackets.The film alleges Al Anastasia arranged to torch the troop carrierLafayette in the NY harbor, later leading to a deal with the Navyspooks to collect information on any German U-Boats on open water,and suspicious individuals hanging around the piers and docks, tothe point of arranging for mob bosses in taking the reigns of powerback again, as Mussolini and the Axis are removed from power inSicily in WW II, supporting the reconquest by Allied forces.A bizarre anarchist, Salvatore Giuliano, with a dream of makingSicily an American territory or State, wreaks havoc and bodies onthe island, agitating various crowds for his own purposes. EnricoMattei has a key role as politician, such as of dismantling AGIP theoil company, but is rubbed out also for antimob beliefs and conduct.Leo Vitale and Tommaso Buscetta area the exception in that theyrolled over, and broke silence on the island.The 1980's are examined, with the rubout of the MD Michele Navarra,who was acting head honcho, by Luciano Liggio, and then in turn bySalvatore (Toto) Riina, the latter using dynamite and explosives ona regular basis, at any time for any reason, against anyone anywherein the city, men, women and children included. Judges, police,military are all targets, with over 150 casualties in the space of 1year alone, including victims Giovanni Falcone (lead prosecutor),his replacement Borsolini, the Italian banker Michele Sindona (moneylaunderer, who made Riini vulnerable from the cashflows beingtraced), Stefano Bontate, etc.From those behaviors, and total anarchy and chaos, mass media frontpage news, the American underworld halts their business associationwith their European counterparts, in America, resulting in thelatter creating their own retail distribution fronted by pizzaparlors for the narcotics product.The work concludes with over 340 ring members convicted for theirparticipation in the underworld.The movie does a decent job of covering so much news on a pair ofDVD.

Every family suppose to have a coppy of this item as a good refference

I found this so disappointing that I actually questioned whether the History Channel had made it. There are many other titles out there that cover this subject & they do it much better that this one. Shop around.

GOOD TRADE SCHOOL

I'm an avid mob historian, and I must say that this is an excellent, high qualiity disc set. Very entertaining, VERY informative and lots of rare footage as the other reviewer said. I defiinately recommend it!