Goodfellas (1990) is one of the biggest gangster films in history, and there are so many interesting facts we don’t know about the movie that was inspired by Henry Hill’s life. So we thought we’d share 10 of the best with you.
Coffee with Cullotta; Confessions of a Hit-Man; Frank Cullotta discuses being the technical consultant on the 1995 blockbuster 'Casino' starring Robert De Ni. Our Capone movie fact check confirms that by the time he was released from prison on November 16, 1939, Al Capone had paid his $50,000 fine and the $215,000 plus interest in back taxes he owed the government. He was also charged and paid $7,692 in court costs. Was Al Capone faking dementia? The Capone movie's writer/director Josh Trank (Chronicle) isn't the first person to.
Sorry for being away so long guys! Hopefully this review makes up for it but I'm back in the swing of things and I'm already researching my next review. IT ONLY EXISTS BECAUSE THE REAL GUY IT'S BASED ON WAS A BIG DE NIRO FAN. Fact or Fiction: Hollywood’s Casino & Gambling Movies. February 11, 2016. Gambling and casinos have been a mainstay in the film industry nearly as long as the medium itself has been around. The drama and tension that naturally occurs in a gaming environment translates well to the silver screen and filmmakers.
1. The Voice-over
The voice-over of Henry Hill is an integral feature in the movie. In order to tell the story effectively, Ray Liotta got the sound man to sit in front of him in the studio so he could tell it to someone.
2. Improvisation
The dinner scene where Tommy (Joe Pesci) talks to his mother was mostly improvised, including the bit where he talks about the butcher’s knife. Surprising, as it is one of the funniest moments in the film.
3. Scorsese’s Parents
Director Martin Scorses’s parents both starred in Goodfellas. Martin’s mother, Catherine, plays Tommy’s mother; whilst his father played the prisoner who puts too many onions in the tomato sauce. Both appeared on the set every day, and Scorcese asked both of them to press all the gangster shirts as they were the only people who could do it properly.
4. Witness Protection
Henry Hill (pictured above with Ray Liotta) was so proud of the movie and Ray Liotta’s depiction of the character that he boasted it was based on him. He told so many people that the FBI were forced to remove him from witness protection.
5. Fuck
The word “fuck” is used nearly 300 times throughout the film – which is the ninth most in film. Fuck us, that’s a lot of swearing!
6. The Slap
Remember the slap Paulie gives Henry when he leaves prison? Paulie improvised it, so the surprised look on Ray Liotta’s face is real.
7. Funny How?
The iconic ‘Funny How?’ scene was written by Mr Joe Pesci himself, as he once seen a similar incident occur between two drunken gangsters one night in Chicago. Scorsese therefore told Pesci to write the scene, which easily became a fan favourite.
8. Horse’s Head
In homage to The Godfather II, Robert DeNiro and Nancy Sinatra placed a fake horse’s head in Ray Liotta’s dressing room as a way of welcoming him to the Mafia film world.
9. Detailed Performer
To accurately play the role of Jimmy, Robert DeNiro obsessively asked the real-life Henry Hill how the real Jimmy would act, as he wanted to portray him down to the way he held his cigarette or used a ketchup bottle.
10. Get into Character
In order to get into the character of Henry Hill, Ray Liotta would listen to FBI wiretap tapes each day as he drove to the set.
Casino Movie Fact Vs Fiction Books
Have you got a favourite Goodfellas’s moment? Tell us about it. Looking for more movie top 10 lists? Check out 10 Awesome Movie Facts You Have to Read.
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Casino Movie Fact Vs Fiction
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By David Amoruso
Hollywood loves gangsters. Not because film makers condone their crimes, but because their stories make them lots of money. It’s difficult to name any other genre that has so many titles based on a true story. Yet, despite this label, the true story often gets twisted to fit the silver screen. That is why Gangsters Inc. shares its knowledge of the facts and truth behind these blockbuster gangster flicks.
When it comes to epic mob movies director Martin Scorsese outdid himself with Casino. It tells the true story of Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro and how the Chicago Outfit dominated gambling in Las Vegas and is based on the research and eventual book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi.
In the movie the names have been changed. Lefty Rosenthal turned into Sam “Ace” Rothstein while Spilotro was now named Nicky Santoro. Thankfully their actions remained the same and the acting of Robert De Niro as Rothstein and Joe Pesci as Santoro is, as you can expect from these two stars, top notch.
Where Scorsese had shown the gritty streets of New York City mob life in Goodfellas, in Casino he upped the ante and showed us the glamorous lives of the men who controlled a billion dollar industry. And, “how [they] messed it all up.”
The true story of Casino was featured in several Gangsters Inc. stories. Most dealing with the individual players or certain incidents more than with the exact plot of the movie. The men responsible for the Las Vegas skim and the money from the Teamsters were bosses Antonino “Joe Batters” Accardo and Joseph Aiuppa, while capo Joseph “The Clown” Lombardo saw to it their orders were carried out as commanded. We have profiled them all.
Spilotro was sent to Vegas to oversee the skim at the casino. He had made a name for himself back in Chicago after learning the ropes from “Mad Sam” DeStefano, one of the most evil mobsters ever to walk the streets of Chi Town.
All in all the violence portrayed in Casino did a good job at showing the capabilities of the group of stone cold killers the real Chicago Outfit had at its disposal. Like when Chicago boss Antonino Accardo needed to send a message to some guys wo burglarized his home.
In the movie Scorsese even cast real mob killer Frank Cullotta to play, essentially, himself as he shoots his way through the final scenes of the movie.
Casino Movie Fact Vs Fiction Story
More on Casino:
- The 25th Anniversary of Casino: Looking Back with Nicholas Pileggi and Oscar Goodman
- Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta on movie 'Casino', Tony Spilotro, Killing Informants, Cooperating with FBI
- The lucrative and violent years of Las Vegas mobster Tony Spilotro’s infamous Hole in the Wall gang
- The story behind the documentary: Back Home, Years Ago: The Real Casino
Get the latest on organized crime and the Mafia at Gangsters Inc.'s news section.
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