Movies - Hoodlum

	Movies - Hoodlum

Hoodlum is a 1997 United Artists film that gives a partially fictional account of the gang war between the Italian/Jewish mafia alliance and the black gangsters of Harlem that took place in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The film concentrated on the illegal activities lives of Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (Laurence Fishburne), Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth), and Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia).

Plot synopsis

After serving time at Sing-Sing prison, black gangster Bumpy Johnson returns to the streets of Harlem to help Madame Queen (Cicely Tyson) defend her numbers empire against Dutch Shultz. Lucky Luciano, the crime syndicate boss, sees to it that everything runs "smoothly" amongst crime families to keep prosecutor Thomas Dewey paid off and happy.

Dutch Shultz became so powerful through his bootleg liquor and numbers empire that he began to make threats against Dewey and cause friction in the undeground crime world that Luciano had to see to it that Dutch met his demise before bringing down the entire illegal underground operation.

In the movie a deal was cut between Bumpy and Lucky to have Shultz "knocked off" and Madame Queen kept her illegal industry running.

Major Historical Innacuracies

The movie has essentially jettisoned all historical accuracy, although this is not outright stated, leaving many believing that the events portrayed in the film are at least partially accurate.

Thomas E. Dewey is portrayed as being corrupt and taking bribes. In reality, Dewey was chosen to go after the New York mobs because of his infamous incorruptability, and his history of bringing up charges against anyone who tried to bribe him.
Dutch Schultz is seen attempting a number of bizarre schemes to try and kill Bumpy Johnson, including sending men to his home with pickaxes. Dutch Schultz was always straightforward in his killings, and had a time tested method of staking out his enemies' homes or hideouts, having them followed, selecting a "hit location," and then sending men there with handguns or carbines.
Dutch Schultz is shown being killed by his own bodyguard, Lulu Rosenkrantz. In reality, Rosenkrantz, along with two other Schultz men, died protecting Schultz during a gunfight with two hitmen from Murder Inc.
Bumpy Johnson is shown striking a deal with Luciano and "winning" the war after Schultz dies. In reality, Bumpy lost the war, and was forced to go to work for Dutch Schultz.

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