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Post by Roquefort Raider on Aug 13, 2023 16:52:25 GMT -5
I don't know if anybody can help me with this... I have a vague memory of watching a TV documentary back in the 1990s that mentioned a Mafia legend or myth from the '40s or '50s about the heads of a number of organised crime families being gathered together at an out of the way restaurant or bar as part of a truce. This gathering was in a pretty out of the way place, like in the desert or something -- could've maybe been Nevada or similar?? Perhaps these were Las Vegas crime bosses? Anyway, the whole thing was a set up orchestrated by a rival Mafia family and while all these dons were gathered together in one place they were murdered in a hail of machine gun bullets. The bodies were quickly disposed of (I think they were buried out in the desert) leaving no evidence whatsoever for the police to find. On the documentary I recall that various experts were trying to decide whether there was any credence to the story at all or whether it was just a Mafia legend. I swear I've heard this story. Does it ring a bell with anybody else? I ask because J. Michael Straczynski used a similar scenario as the background to a Spider-Man story in the early 2000s and when I read it I remember thinking, "oh, that's that Mafia legend that I heard about on that documentary." I just re-read the comic today and decided to look up some info about the myth and I can't find anything online about it at all. Yet I swear this is a "real" piece of Mafia folklore. Wasn't that also in The Godfather part III?
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Post by berkley on Aug 13, 2023 17:16:12 GMT -5
I don't know if anybody can help me with this... I have a vague memory of watching a TV documentary back in the 1990s that mentioned a Mafia legend or myth from the '40s or '50s about the heads of a number of organised crime families being gathered together at an out of the way restaurant or bar as part of a truce. This gathering was in a pretty out of the way place, like in the desert or something -- could've maybe been Nevada or similar?? Perhaps these were Las Vegas crime bosses? Anyway, the whole thing was a set up orchestrated by a rival Mafia family and while all these dons were gathered together in one place they were murdered in a hail of machine gun bullets. The bodies were quickly disposed of (I think they were buried out in the desert) leaving no evidence whatsoever for the police to find. On the documentary I recall that various experts were trying to decide whether there was any credence to the story at all or whether it was just a Mafia legend. I swear I've heard this story. Does it ring a bell with anybody else? I ask because J. Michael Straczynski used a similar scenario as the background to a Spider-Man story in the early 2000s and when I read it I remember thinking, "oh, that's that Mafia legend that I heard about on that documentary." I just re-read the comic today and decided to look up some info about the myth and I can't find anything online about it at all. Yet I swear this is a "real" piece of Mafia folklore. Wasn't that also in The Godfather part III?
It also reminds me of the bit in Goldfinger where the title character convenes a big meeting of US crime bosses and kills the ones who don't want to go along with his scheme, or something like that. I'm thinking of the novel, can't remember how much of that sequence made it into the movie.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,069
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Post by Confessor on Aug 14, 2023 1:14:35 GMT -5
I don't know if anybody can help me with this... I have a vague memory of watching a TV documentary back in the 1990s that mentioned a Mafia legend or myth from the '40s or '50s about the heads of a number of organised crime families being gathered together at an out of the way restaurant or bar as part of a truce. This gathering was in a pretty out of the way place, like in the desert or something -- could've maybe been Nevada or similar?? Perhaps these were Las Vegas crime bosses? Anyway, the whole thing was a set up orchestrated by a rival Mafia family and while all these dons were gathered together in one place they were murdered in a hail of machine gun bullets. The bodies were quickly disposed of (I think they were buried out in the desert) leaving no evidence whatsoever for the police to find. On the documentary I recall that various experts were trying to decide whether there was any credence to the story at all or whether it was just a Mafia legend. I swear I've heard this story. Does it ring a bell with anybody else? I ask because J. Michael Straczynski used a similar scenario as the background to a Spider-Man story in the early 2000s and when I read it I remember thinking, "oh, that's that Mafia legend that I heard about on that documentary." I just re-read the comic today and decided to look up some info about the myth and I can't find anything online about it at all. Yet I swear this is a "real" piece of Mafia folklore. I'm pretty familiar with Mob history and that doesn't ring any bells at all. There were a few instances that feel a little bit like that, but not all that close. The Castellammarese Wars saw a number of bigwigs killed, but that ended in 1931 and there was no big massacre. Albert Anastasia killed both Vincent and Phillip Mangano, but nobody really knows where. After 1931 and the set-up of the Five Family system and the Commission there were really no major wars of the type that had been before that. Thanks for the info, Slam. It doesn't sound promising that you haven't heard of this, although I must stress that this isn't a thoroughly documented fact: it's a rumour or myth that likely has some grounding in truth (if indeed I haven't dreamt the whole thing up). But even so, I'm guessing someone as well read on the history of the mob as you would've likely heard of it. Likewise, the fact that I couldn't find anything out about it online -- and my Google-Fu is pretty damn good, even if I do say so myself -- has me questioning the veracity of my memory now. Wasn't that also in The Godfather part III? God, if it wasn't for the fact that the only Godfather film I've ever seen is the first one, I'd be wondering if I've somehow gotten mixed up and confused something from this movie with a documentary I saw. But like I say, I've never seen The Goddather Part III, so surely that can't be the case???
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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 14, 2023 7:22:45 GMT -5
Yesterday I went with my wife’s family to spread my sister in laws ashes. My wife has a co-worker that owns a boat and lives in Long Island. It was my sister in law’s wish to be in the water. It was a beautiful day and Maybe my wife can begin to heal from her loss. She left behind a 7 year old girl and she was only 44. I hate cancer.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Aug 14, 2023 7:48:47 GMT -5
My condolences again, Icctrombone. Those are very meaningful moments.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,069
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Post by Confessor on Aug 14, 2023 8:42:57 GMT -5
Sorry again to hear about this, Icctrombone, but it sounds like spraeding the ashes was a peaceful and moving moment, and hopedully will provide some measure of comfort and closure for your wife.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 14, 2023 8:43:07 GMT -5
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 14, 2023 9:07:39 GMT -5
I'm pretty familiar with Mob history and that doesn't ring any bells at all. There were a few instances that feel a little bit like that, but not all that close. The Castellammarese Wars saw a number of bigwigs killed, but that ended in 1931 and there was no big massacre. Albert Anastasia killed both Vincent and Phillip Mangano, but nobody really knows where. After 1931 and the set-up of the Five Family system and the Commission there were really no major wars of the type that had been before that. Thanks for the info, Slam. It doesn't sound promising that you haven't heard of this, although I must stress that this isn't a thoroughly documented fact: it's a rumour or myth that likely has some grounding in truth (if indeed I haven't dreamt the whole thing up). But even so, I'm guessing someone as well read on the history of the mob as you would've likely heard of it. Likewise, the fact that I couldn't find anything out about it online -- and my Google-Fu is pretty damn good, even if I do say so myself -- has me questioning the veracity of my memory now. I just can't imagine that if something as big as a bunch of bosses getting whacked happened, even in an outlier area like Kansas City or Tampa that it wouldn't register and resonate.
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Post by berkley on Aug 14, 2023 11:01:57 GMT -5
I don't know if anybody can help me with this... I have a vague memory of watching a TV documentary back in the 1990s that mentioned a Mafia legend or myth from the '40s or '50s about the heads of a number of organised crime families being gathered together at an out of the way restaurant or bar as part of a truce. This gathering was in a pretty out of the way place, like in the desert or something -- could've maybe been Nevada or similar?? Perhaps these were Las Vegas crime bosses? Anyway, the whole thing was a set up orchestrated by a rival Mafia family and while all these dons were gathered together in one place they were murdered in a hail of machine gun bullets. The bodies were quickly disposed of (I think they were buried out in the desert) leaving no evidence whatsoever for the police to find. On the documentary I recall that various experts were trying to decide whether there was any credence to the story at all or whether it was just a Mafia legend. I swear I've heard this story. Does it ring a bell with anybody else? I ask because J. Michael Straczynski used a similar scenario as the background to a Spider-Man story in the early 2000s and when I read it I remember thinking, "oh, that's that Mafia legend that I heard about on that documentary." I just re-read the comic today and decided to look up some info about the myth and I can't find anything online about it at all. Yet I swear this is a "real" piece of Mafia folklore. I'm pretty familiar with Mob history and that doesn't ring any bells at all. There were a few instances that feel a little bit like that, but not all that close. The Castellammarese Wars saw a number of bigwigs killed, but that ended in 1931 and there was no big massacre. Albert Anastasia killed both Vincent and Phillip Mangano, but nobody really knows where. After 1931 and the set-up of the Five Family system and the Commission there were really no major wars of the type that had been before that.
While we're on the subject, is there a single-volume history of the Mafia that you recommend? The ones I've come across in bookstores all seem to get less than unqualified praise when I look them up.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 14, 2023 13:43:45 GMT -5
I'm pretty familiar with Mob history and that doesn't ring any bells at all. There were a few instances that feel a little bit like that, but not all that close. The Castellammarese Wars saw a number of bigwigs killed, but that ended in 1931 and there was no big massacre. Albert Anastasia killed both Vincent and Phillip Mangano, but nobody really knows where. After 1931 and the set-up of the Five Family system and the Commission there were really no major wars of the type that had been before that.
While we're on the subject, is there a single-volume history of the Mafia that you recommend? The ones I've come across in bookstores all seem to get less than unqualified praise when I look them up.
Honestly, no...not in my opinion. The best single volume is probably still Selwyn Raab's "Five Families." It's not without its problems and definitely spends way too much time on the history post-Apalachin versus the earlier time period. But as far as I can tell it's still the best.
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Post by Farrar on Aug 14, 2023 14:37:25 GMT -5
I am so sorry Icctrombone Please accept my condolences.
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Post by commond on Aug 14, 2023 17:46:20 GMT -5
I don't know if anybody can help me with this... I have a vague memory of watching a TV documentary back in the 1990s that mentioned a Mafia legend or myth from the '40s or '50s about the heads of a number of organised crime families being gathered together at an out of the way restaurant or bar as part of a truce. This gathering was in a pretty out of the way place, like in the desert or something -- could've maybe been Nevada or similar?? Perhaps these were Las Vegas crime bosses? Anyway, the whole thing was a set up orchestrated by a rival Mafia family and while all these dons were gathered together in one place they were murdered in a hail of machine gun bullets. The bodies were quickly disposed of (I think they were buried out in the desert) leaving no evidence whatsoever for the police to find. On the documentary I recall that various experts were trying to decide whether there was any credence to the story at all or whether it was just a Mafia legend. I swear I've heard this story. Does it ring a bell with anybody else? I ask because J. Michael Straczynski used a similar scenario as the background to a Spider-Man story in the early 2000s and when I read it I remember thinking, "oh, that's that Mafia legend that I heard about on that documentary." I just re-read the comic today and decided to look up some info about the myth and I can't find anything online about it at all. Yet I swear this is a "real" piece of Mafia folklore. It wasn't part of Martin Short's excellent Crime Inc. series, was it? It's from 1984 but there's a chance you may have seen it in the 90s. It's a bit of a myth that they buried bodies in the desert. They preferred to keep that sort of thing out of Las Vegas hence why Siegel was murdered in Beverly Hills.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,069
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Post by Confessor on Aug 14, 2023 18:21:15 GMT -5
I don't know if anybody can help me with this... I have a vague memory of watching a TV documentary back in the 1990s that mentioned a Mafia legend or myth from the '40s or '50s about the heads of a number of organised crime families being gathered together at an out of the way restaurant or bar as part of a truce. This gathering was in a pretty out of the way place, like in the desert or something -- could've maybe been Nevada or similar?? Perhaps these were Las Vegas crime bosses? Anyway, the whole thing was a set up orchestrated by a rival Mafia family and while all these dons were gathered together in one place they were murdered in a hail of machine gun bullets. The bodies were quickly disposed of (I think they were buried out in the desert) leaving no evidence whatsoever for the police to find. On the documentary I recall that various experts were trying to decide whether there was any credence to the story at all or whether it was just a Mafia legend. I swear I've heard this story. Does it ring a bell with anybody else? I ask because J. Michael Straczynski used a similar scenario as the background to a Spider-Man story in the early 2000s and when I read it I remember thinking, "oh, that's that Mafia legend that I heard about on that documentary." I just re-read the comic today and decided to look up some info about the myth and I can't find anything online about it at all. Yet I swear this is a "real" piece of Mafia folklore. It wasn't part of Martin Short's excellent Crime Inc. series, was it? It's from 1984 but there's a chance you may have seen it in the 90s. It's a bit of a myth that they buried bodies in the desert. They preferred to keep that sort of thing out of Las Vegas hence why Siegel was murdered in Beverly Hills. It might've been, but who knows? I'm beginning to wonder if I just dreamt the whole thing up now. And yet, the memory of hearing about this Mafia legend seems fairly strong, though lacking in fine detail. I see that the whole Crime Inc series is on YouTube, so maybe I'll work my way through it and see if anything fitting my memory crops up. Even if not, I'm sure it'll be a great watch.
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Post by berkley on Aug 14, 2023 21:27:52 GMT -5
While we're on the subject, is there a single-volume history of the Mafia that you recommend? The ones I've come across in bookstores all seem to get less than unqualified praise when I look them up.
Honestly, no...not in my opinion. The best single volume is probably still Selwyn Raab's "Five Families." It's not without its problems and definitely spends way too much time on the history post-Apalachin versus the earlier time period. But as far as I can tell it's still the best. Thanks, I'll take my the obvious follow-up question to the books thread.
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Post by berkley on Aug 14, 2023 21:28:18 GMT -5
All condolences to icctrombone for your loss.
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