Random Dumbest Things We Believe About The Mob Thanks To Movies (12 items)

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  (#6) Hits Involve Dozens Of Goons

  One of the most memorable mobster moments in movie history is the slaying of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. As an irate Sonny pulls his car into a toll booth, several suited goons with Tommy guns pop out and spray his car with bullets. 

  But former caporegime of the Colombo crime family Michael Franzese doesn't buy it. While 1920s mobsters did use Thompson submachine guns, more modern mafiosos preferred to use shotguns and small-caliber side arms at close range. They also wouldn't bring a whole crew with them because it would attract too much attention. According to Franzese, planning and carrying out a hit like Sonny's would involve "too much work." It also involves 10 times the weapons that could tie people to the crimes, 10 times the potential future informants (including the tollbooth operator), and so on.

  An actual crew would've most likely had one person walk up to the car, fire, and leave. But man does it make for a much cooler scene.
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  (#3) The Undercover Agents Arrest The People Themselves

  At one point in Scarface, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) is supervising some money laundering when two of his associates suddenly whip out firearms and badges and arrest him. It's definitely a dramatic moment - somebody whom Tony trusted is betraying him! - but real undercover FBI agents probably wouldn't act this way. 

  Any undercover cop who reveals themselves in a room full of criminals without backup is probably going to be outnumbered and outgunned. According to Agent McGowan, real-life undercover agents would simply have a large group of their fellow agents waiting outside to make the arrest.
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  (#9) Bosses Are Regularly Gunned Down In Public To 'Send A Message'

  According to mob movies, if you're a prominent member of an organized crime family, simply stepping outside your house can lead to your demise. In The Godfather, Tattaglia hitmen famously approach Vito and Fredo while they shop at a fruit stall and open fire on the Don, who barely survives. In Analyze This, Paul Vitti is almost taken out in a drive-by (and we learn he lost his father in a hit at a restaurant).

  But hits like this are a relic of the past. In more recent years, the mob has dwindled in power and influence. In 1998, a federal law was passed that gave contract hits a life sentence. That's not to say it never happens - mobster Francesco Cali was gunned down outside his home in 2019, for example - but law enforcement described the Cali hit as a crime from a "bygone era."
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  (#2) Local Cops Were Always Hassling Made Guys

  In A Bronx Tale, a young Calogero (Lillo Brancato Jr.) witnesses Sonny (Chazz Palminteri) gun down a guy in the middle of the street. Later, while his father Lorenzo (Robert De Niro) looks on, Calogero lies to NYPD detectives and covers for Sonny. 

  Michael Franzese's main objection to this scene was that local law enforcement was jamming up the local wiseguys. According to Franzese, local law enforcement seldom bothers established, high-ranking members unless they're extremely certain they've been implicated in a crime. In this instance, they suspect Sonny may have shot someone, but are making an awfully big show of things by interrogating him on the street in full view of the public.

  The Sopranos portrays this much more accurately: If a member of law enforcement does put pressure on a boss, it's going to be an FBI agent - and even then it usually only occurs after months or years of building up an impenetrable case against them.
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  (#8) Families Have Regular Massive Sit-Downs Where They All Gather In One Place

  At the end of Analyze This, psychiatrist Paul Sobel (Billy Crystal) attends a large gathering of several families, pretending to be the new consigliere. In The Godfather, the heads of New York's five mafia families meet to hash out problems. This trope makes it seem like mafiosos like to do business by holding regular conferences. 

  But holding big meetings is a huge risk. It makes it easy for law enforcement to scoop up several bosses at once. Meetings like these did take place decades ago, but that ended in 1957 when police nabbed 62 bosses at a summit in Appalachia. The conference in Analyze This is most likely inspired by the Appalachia meeting, even though such events essentially no longer occur. (For the record, it gets infiltrated in the movie as well.)
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  (#5) Anyone Who Rats Is In Mortal Danger For The Rest Of Their Lives

  According to movies and TV shows, a made guy speaking to anyone, especially law enforcement, is a mortal sin. Traditionally, Italian mafiosi operate under omerta, a code of silence punishable by death. Anyone who violates omerta can expect a visit from an assassin. In Goodfellas, for example, Henry Hill's credo is "never rat on your friends, and keep your mouth shut."

  In The Sopranos, Tony Soprano runs into an ex-gangster turned informant living in the rural Northeast while visiting colleges with his daughter. Even though the guy's been off the radar for years, Tony tracks him down and strangles him as payback for turning rat.

  In real life, though, many ex-gangsters live public, open lives. Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, a notorious informant, lives publicly in Arizona. Henry Hill eventually left federal protection and lived publicly in Nebraska. Frank Cullotta, a former hitman, consulted on numerous movies and gave tours in Las Vegas where he spilled family secrets.

  As much as snitching is frowned upon in the mob - with often fatal consequences - families also don't want to take unnecessary risks and invite federal charges and lots of attention upon themselves just to get symbolic revenge on someone who's long ago left the organization.

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