Lansky (film)
Encyclopedia
Lansky is a 1999 American made-for-television crime drama film. Directed by John McNaughton
, it stars Richard Dreyfuss
as the famous gangster Meyer Lansky
, Eric Roberts
as Bugsy Siegel
, and Ryan Merriman
as the young Lansky.
.
Later, as the shtetl
is burning down, his parents hastily pack up their valuables and prepare to flee to America
. Lansky's Grandfather watches sceptically. Meanwhile, his father suggests, "You think I should fight? You stay, and you fight."
The film then changes to the Lower East Side, Manhattan
. After his mother gives him money to go buy challah
for Shabbat
, Lansky comes upon a game of craps
on the street corner. Later, Lansky returns home penniless and deeply ashamed.
Later, Benjamin Siegel and Lansky are eyeing the Irish-American boy who operates the craps game, Lansky makes his bet as he's throwing the dice the owner's friend slides him some dice. Certain that the game is rigged, Lansky shouts that he won the bet. The Irish boy pushes at the young Lansky, Lansky pushes him back then the teenager's friend slides out his knife and cuts Lansky's arm, Benjamin Seigel come into the scene and hits the knife kid with a brick shouting at him telling him to give him the money. As Lansky and Benjamin are walking down the docks they see the Irish kid who bet against them in the alley the Irish kid is shouting Irish word about him being Jewish, Lansky jumps into the sea where the Irish kid is hanging about, Lansky then goes under water and slits the Irish kid's neck.
As the blood is sliding around the water is goes back to Lansky as an old man drinking wine with the Jewish man. The Jewish man goes of to pray in the synagogue. The film goes on showing Lansky owning the crap games as a kid Lansky goes of into an alley to count his money this is where he meets Charles Lucky Luciano
when Charles was telling him to give protection money the gang start to give Lansky a beating. Lansky is saying "Nothing For Nothing" Luciano takes a liking to Lansky's guts, they the work together selling illegal booze, Bugsy, Luciano and Lansky are making their way driving the truck with booze in. They are ambushed by Arnold Rothstein
's associates. Luciano and Lansky make a deal saying they will give them 1 truck full of booze and no one will be shot at, when Lansky, Bugsy and Luciano get into the truck we find out the truck was full of empty suitcases. Impressed, Rothstein invites them to his house for a sit-down. He offers Bugsy and Lansky a job to work for him as he knows Lansky is smart. After Rothstein is taken out Meyer and Bugsy work with Luciano to take over the crime world killing the Italian bosses Joe Masseria
and Salvatore Maranzano
. Luciano then sets up the Commission
and the 5 Italian families can now work freely with Jews. Meyer builds his prestige by running all the casinos in Cuba
and helping Bugsy get a start in Las Vegas. After Bugsy spends more money than the plan and his girlfriend is questioned in taking money, Meyer buys his childhood friend time to turn the venture around. A month after warning Siegel the Flamingo
is not earning money and Lansky can no longer prevent the Commission from taking out Siegel. Years later Lansky is on the run in Israel to avoid tax evasion charges but is extradited back to the U.S. He is lucky to get off on the charges and retires to Miami.
At the climax of the film, Lansky gives an interview to a French journalist. When the journalist asks him what he would do if he could live his life over, Lansky responds, "I wouldn't change a thing."
John McNaughton
John McNaughton is an American film and television director, originally from Chicago, Illinois.-Biography:His first feature film, made in 1986, was Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, a film McNaughton directed, co-wrote, and co-produced. Numerous complications plagued the controversial film,...
, it stars Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
as the famous gangster Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
, Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
as Bugsy Siegel
Bugsy Siegel
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
, and Ryan Merriman
Ryan Merriman
Ryan Earl Merriman is an American actor. He began his acting career as a child actor during the mid-1990s and has appeared in several feature films and television shows.-Background:...
as the young Lansky.
Plot summary
The movie circuits around flashbacks of Lansky's life, the first showing is as Lansky as an old man looking for a rock to put on his grandfather's grave in Jerusalem. Upon seeing soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force, Lansky expresses regret that his Grandfather never lived to see them. As he walks through a tunnel, he catches sight of an old man. He recalls how at the age of 10 years old, he witnessed an elderly Jew being bludgeoned to death with an axe during a pogromPogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
.
Later, as the shtetl
Shtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
is burning down, his parents hastily pack up their valuables and prepare to flee to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Lansky's Grandfather watches sceptically. Meanwhile, his father suggests, "You think I should fight? You stay, and you fight."
The film then changes to the Lower East Side, Manhattan
Lower East Side, Manhattan
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. After his mother gives him money to go buy challah
Challah
Challah also khale ,, berches , barkis , bergis , chałka , vánočka , zopf and kitke , is a special braided bread eaten on...
for Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
, Lansky comes upon a game of craps
Craps
Craps is a dice game in which players place wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other or a bank...
on the street corner. Later, Lansky returns home penniless and deeply ashamed.
Later, Benjamin Siegel and Lansky are eyeing the Irish-American boy who operates the craps game, Lansky makes his bet as he's throwing the dice the owner's friend slides him some dice. Certain that the game is rigged, Lansky shouts that he won the bet. The Irish boy pushes at the young Lansky, Lansky pushes him back then the teenager's friend slides out his knife and cuts Lansky's arm, Benjamin Seigel come into the scene and hits the knife kid with a brick shouting at him telling him to give him the money. As Lansky and Benjamin are walking down the docks they see the Irish kid who bet against them in the alley the Irish kid is shouting Irish word about him being Jewish, Lansky jumps into the sea where the Irish kid is hanging about, Lansky then goes under water and slits the Irish kid's neck.
As the blood is sliding around the water is goes back to Lansky as an old man drinking wine with the Jewish man. The Jewish man goes of to pray in the synagogue. The film goes on showing Lansky owning the crap games as a kid Lansky goes of into an alley to count his money this is where he meets Charles Lucky Luciano
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
when Charles was telling him to give protection money the gang start to give Lansky a beating. Lansky is saying "Nothing For Nothing" Luciano takes a liking to Lansky's guts, they the work together selling illegal booze, Bugsy, Luciano and Lansky are making their way driving the truck with booze in. They are ambushed by Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein , nicknamed "The Brain", was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed...
's associates. Luciano and Lansky make a deal saying they will give them 1 truck full of booze and no one will be shot at, when Lansky, Bugsy and Luciano get into the truck we find out the truck was full of empty suitcases. Impressed, Rothstein invites them to his house for a sit-down. He offers Bugsy and Lansky a job to work for him as he knows Lansky is smart. After Rothstein is taken out Meyer and Bugsy work with Luciano to take over the crime world killing the Italian bosses Joe Masseria
Joe Masseria
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria was an early Mafia don in the United States. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 to 1931.-Early days:...
and Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss in the United States. He instigated the Castellammarese War to seize control of the American Mafia operations, and briefly became the Mafia's "Boss of Bosses"...
. Luciano then sets up the Commission
The Commission (mafia)
The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia. Formed in 1931, the Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title, with a ruling committee, consisting of the New York Five Families bosses and the boss of the Chicago Outfit...
and the 5 Italian families can now work freely with Jews. Meyer builds his prestige by running all the casinos in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and helping Bugsy get a start in Las Vegas. After Bugsy spends more money than the plan and his girlfriend is questioned in taking money, Meyer buys his childhood friend time to turn the venture around. A month after warning Siegel the Flamingo
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Flamingo Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp.. The property offers a casino along with 3,626 hotel rooms...
is not earning money and Lansky can no longer prevent the Commission from taking out Siegel. Years later Lansky is on the run in Israel to avoid tax evasion charges but is extradited back to the U.S. He is lucky to get off on the charges and retires to Miami.
At the climax of the film, Lansky gives an interview to a French journalist. When the journalist asks him what he would do if he could live his life over, Lansky responds, "I wouldn't change a thing."