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January 17 marks 125 years since the birth of one of the most notorious gangsters of all time - Al Capone. The boss of the Chicago Outfit has been immortalized in films like "Scarface" or "The Untouchables".
With the 125th anniversary of Al Capone's birth, the American gangster's family remains a topic that intrigues Hollywood producers to this day. Capone, who rose to fame in the roaring 1920s as the co-founder and boss of the Italian-American crime syndicate known as the Chicago Outfit, donated money from his illegal activities to charity. He also distinguished himself from other gangsters by being very much in the public eye, talking to reporters and throwing big parties, all while participating in illegal activities. But like many criminal figures from the past, the charismatic gangster divides opinion. Revered by some, Capone was responsible for "a crime empire" in Chicago that was based on "gambling, prostitution, theft, bribery, drug trafficking, robbery and murder," according to FBI websites.
Who was Al Capone?
Born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Neapolitan immigrants, Alphonse Gabriel Capone came into contact with their crime at an early age. As a teenager, he became a member of the Five Points Gang, a criminal gang based in Lower Manhattan, where he would extort money from people in exchange for not hurting them. However, Capone quickly learned that violence alone will not achieve lasting success. In 1917, gangster Frank Gallucio put a face on Capone's face in a bar after he made a rude comment about Gallucio's sister. This is where the nickname "Scarface" was born and Al Capone later made attacks on his own bodies. Soon after, Capone shot his first man, walked into an Irish gang alert and beat him half to death. Knowing he couldn't be caught anymore, he left New York for Chicago. At his height in Chicago from 1925 to 1929, Capone was known as the most notorious mobster in the union. Al Capone, however, did not see himself as a criminal, but as an entrepreneur, a man who was also known for acts of generosity with the fortune he had made as a Chicago crime boss in the 1920s.
Valentine's Day Massacre
The 1929 Valentine's Day Massacre is described by the FBI as "the peak violence of the Chigo gang era, as family members or their families of the 'Bugs' Moran mob were machine-gunned against a garage wall by rivals posing as police. Al Capone was at his home in Florida at the time, widely believed to have been charged with ordering the massacre. He was not convicted again for the murders, but eventually went to prison simply for the crime of tax evasion, giving ending his stint as a criminal in the 33-year-old enterprise. He served his time at the infamous Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary off the coast of San Francisco before being released in 1939, by which time his mental faculties had further deteriorated Al Capone died in 1947 of a heart attack following a cerebral hemorrhage, at the age of 48.
Al Capone: A fascinating figure
The infamous gangster not only made his mark on the streets of 1920's Chicago, but also on 20th century Hollywood through the many mob movies that inspired his story. The image of a mafioso decked out in a pinstripe suit and republican hat held at his side may conjure up the image of Al Capone. His accent and actions have also inspired beautiful portrayals of gangsters in graphic novels, movies, music, and literature. He features in a segment of Mario Puzo's crime novel The Godfather (1969), which was made into the landmark film by Francis Ford Coppola in 1972. He was the inspiration for Armitage Trail's Scarface (1929). a novel that was also adapted into two films over the years. The Brian De Palma-directed masterpiece The Untouchables is another notable drama inspired by the Capone story. Starring Robert de Niro as the gangster, the film is based on how Treasury agent Eliot Ness, played by Kevin Costner, brought down the notorious Chicago mobster. More recently, the 2020 film Capone, starring Tom Hardy, chronicles the entire life of the man who rules a crime empire. Across 125 articles since his birth, the fascination surrounding Al Capone continues. His American story not only the Dream, the immigrant boy from recovered to wealthy, but also the ambivalence of the American culture during the years of 'Prohibition', an era characterized by both Puritan restraint and excessive consumption. And those contrasting historical features are still part of the country's culture to this day./DW
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