The Dumbest Things We Believe About The Mob Thanks To Movies

In one scene from The Departed, Frank Costello's (Jack Nicholson) crew heads to an abandoned warehouse for a meeting with a group of Chinese gangsters to sell them some military computer hardware. Even though it's a simple money handoff, both groups bring around a dozen heavily armed goons. Most likely, it's because they don't trust each other, and they want backup in case something goes wrong. 

But if a meeting like this happened in real life, it would be a huge liability for all involved. According to former undercover FBI agent Mike McGowan, bringing two dozen witnesses to an illicit business gathering just creates two dozen potential informants down the road. It would have been much safer if Frank and the Chinese negotiator had met one-on-one, or in the tightest group possible.

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.

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.

Movie mobsters are portrayed as willing to get rid of anyone who stands in their way, even law enforcement. In The Departed, Frank Costello's henchmen believe they're tracking a potential rat to his meeting with police captain Joe Queenan (Martin Sheen). When they don't find anyone else there, they casually toss Queenan off the roof.

But according to Michael Franzese, families rarely if ever take out law enforcement because it's bad for business. Queenan wasn't the suspected rat or acting undercover - he was a regular, public police captain. The scene shows off the gang's casual ruthlessness, but in reality, taking the life of any police officer, much less a high-ranking one, would have almost certainly sparked a massive manhunt or some law enforcement retaliation that would've severely impacted their business.

Even if the Feds intervened and stopped the local police because of their relationship with Costello, the henchmen probably weren't banking on that, and it still would've attracted at minimum tons of public attention and pressure, if not outright retribution.

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.

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.