Meyer Lansky - American Roulette
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Meyer Lansky - American Roulette is an American film from 1999 about the American mobster Meyer Lansky . The film is a cinematic adaptation of the biography about Lansky by Dennis Eisenberg, Uri Dan and Eli Landau from 1979, who interviewed Joseph Stacher about this in Israel .
action
Israel
Meyer Lansky, a Jewish mobster , is trying to get a right to stay in Israel, in which he has been for a year, in order to avoid persecution by US authorities. However, his chances are slim, as the Israeli government is dependent on the US government. Ultimately, Lansky is deported from Israel. His last days in Israel form the framework plot well into the film, which is interrupted by biographical flashbacks.
Flashbacks
The film begins with little Meyer Lansky, who experiences a pogrom against Jewish citizens; which leads to the family emigrating to New York City . Already on his first assignment - he was supposed to buy bread for the family - Lansky gambled away the money by illegally playing craps on the street with an Irish youth gang.
Later, with the help of his friend Benny ( Bugsy Siegel ), the young Meyer realizes that the Irish gang is cheating. With the help of this information Meyer can in turn outsmart the swindlers, who refuse to pay out the winnings. Lansky is injured in the arm by a knife, but Benny knocks him out and thus justifies the division of labor between the two: Lansky is the brain, Siegel is the muscle.
But little Meyer can also dish out; When they meet the Irish gang while bathing, he slits the Irish gang leader - who recently insulted him as a Jew - in the neck.
The Italians in the district also notice the crap activity of the two friends and the young Lucky Luciano demands protection money of one US dollar if Lansky and Siegel want to continue their dice activities in the district. Lansky impressed Luciano because, despite his inferiority, he said: "There's nothing for nothing, bring me players, then there's money."
This smart appearance establishes a lifelong friendship; Together, the young bullies get into alcohol smuggling during Prohibition in the United States . Meyer continues to act cleverly: knowing that one of their transports will be robbed, they leave an empty truck to the attackers in a stalemate and thus play Arnold Rothstein off.
He is so impressed that he works with the young gangsters. Lucky Luciano, however, is hampered by his involvement in Italian structures ( War of Castellammare ); Meyer therefore recommends the liquidation of Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano and Luciano becomes the most influential boss in La Cosa Nostra .
The End
Lansky is finally expelled from Israel - as he himself expected. He tries to be accepted in some countries in Latin America, but the Americans repeatedly force his expulsion and Lansky has to return to the USA under pressure. However, there it is not possible to prosecute him legally.
The film ends with an interview with a young French journalist. When he asks him if he would change something in his life if he could live it again, Lansky replies that he would not change anything.
Awards
Cinematographer John A. Alonzo was nominated for the 2001 Emmy in the category “Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Movie”.
Web links
- Meyer Lansky - American Roulette in the Internet Movie Database (English)
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Denis Eisenberg; Uri Dan; Eli Landau: "The King of the Mafia"; 1979; Title original edition "Meyer Lansky - Mogul of the Mob" Playboy Enterprises; ISBN 3-8118-6611-7 ; Germany Moewig Verlag, Munich