Many gangster film fans far prefer Martin Scorsese’s later film, Goodfellas, which is actually mainly set in the 1970s. The reason given for the preference is usually the claim that, unlike The Godfather films, this is really what the Mafia was like. And, to a certain degree, this is true. But, still, the film makes use of many urban legends, such as the scenes where Joe Pesci’s Tommy character- a sinister little psychopath, uses his ‘Do you think I’m funny?’ line on the Ray Liotta character, and the scene where he shoots to death the lame cabana boy who sasses him. Neither of these events really happened, but they seem to be realistic, because they fit in so well to the characters, as written. The murder of the cabana boy, as example, was a decades old legend that was first attributed to the rage of Al Capone, the Mob head of Chicago in the 1920s. Yet, over the decades it was also attributed to a dozen or more gangsters, all over the country, before ending up as something that Pesci’s character supposedly did in 1970s New York City.

Another good example of where Goodfellas is totally fictitious is the whole arc that involved Paul Sorvino’s Underboss character. In the film, both Pesci’s and Liotta’s characters (played by teenagers) go to work for Sorvino as youngsters, and both are seen fraternizing with him and other major crime figures. This is utter and pure fiction. The only way such a thing might (and I repeat might) have happened was if either youth was closely related to the Sorvino character, and even then it would be rare. There was a little thing called omerta, and this forbade such flagrant stupidity. Not that this code of silence was ever really rigidly adhered to, but it was given lip service, and the underlings and soldiers would rarely turn state on a don or Capo, much less a Boss or Underboss. However, when it came to fucking over rivals on the way up, there was nothing stopping these fucks from sinking each other, either with words or guns. On the other hand, at least the film is consistent, because, in the end, Sorvino’s stupid character (along with Robert De Niro’s) is eventually sent to prison because of the closeness he allowed Liotta’s character to have, from childhood on; so at least Sorvino’s character ‘pays’ for his stupidity. As I’ve related, that would have never happened in real life, and one of the ways you can tell a bullshitter, at least when young, is when they claim to have Mob ties and ‘personally know’ certain big timers. That’s the giveaway that it’s a bullshitter. No self-respecting guy who wanted to live would make such a claim public, because the guy who was claimed to be known would likely very quickly shut up the claimant.