The Godfather, Sopranos and Beyond
TheJmon said:
Before Maplewood, in my single cigar smoking days I lived in Jersey City, about five minutes down the road from that Carpet City, with that big lumberjack sign. The opening credit scenes were the best, as anyone who lives in NJ is familiar with that commute. Also, many of the houses were extremely authentic and had that NJ feel because they were. I'm a bit far from NJ now, but I'm betting there are Sopranos tours all the time.
Wilson’s House of Carpet.
Juniemoon said:
If you watched The Sopranos, you've seen a lot of familiar local spots. Maybe not real historical places, but it was fiction anyway. Loved coming out of the Lincoln Tunnel in the opening & knowing another hour of Tony & the gang was ahead of me. And Paterson Falls! If you haven't been, go. Not only for Soprano memories, but for the history of the place. Look up why there's a statue of A. Hamilton there.
I work for a recycling company that uses garbage trucks. One of our trucks was used in a Soprano's episode... the one where they dumped fish on the sidewalk in front of the building where the owner didn't pay his garbage bill.... and the truck was "blown up."
Problem with the shoot... it was a hot summer day. The scene was re-shoot several times and stage hands had to clean up the mess off the sidewalk, put it back in the hopper and do it again and again.
There were times when our customers were late paying. After a month or so, Pete would direct the driver to skip the stop. The customer would call into the office, "Where's my pick-up?"
"You get your pick up when we get the $$ you owe." Because of NJDEP laws, he couldn't call another company to empty our dumpsters because companies were not allowed to touch another company's containers.
The checks would appear in the mail in a day or so... sometimes the check would be hand delivered to our office. .... No need to drop garbage on a sidewalk. Just leave the stuff in the container until it began to stink.
Pete was in a couple of other shoots for programs and movies where garbage trucks were needed. He got an aftra card so he could drive and be in the movie. So..
he's in the movie, Ransom. Directed by Ron Howard, staring Mel Gibson. He is supposed to be loading a can into the back of a garbage truck when Mel speeds around the corner, almost hitting Pete.
Pete's responsibility in this is to jump out of the way of the speeding car and yell ( as a response to almost being hit by the car) "What da f..k?"
This was reshot a couple of times, ending with Ron Howard going up to Pete, "Pete, (hand on Pete's shoulder) Don't quit your day job."
Totally forgot, has anyone listened to Talking Sopranos? I'm about to revisit, as I don't listen to podcasts as much as I used to. I feel like I've become a streaming junkie, and need to break the habit. You know it's bad when you have so many services that you are bored with them all.
I am excited about The Saints of Newark (Sopranos prequel), but, I've gotta tell you, I don't think the original series holds up.
Speaking of David Chase, who's watched Not Fade Away. Far from perfect, but a fun, NJ rock 'n' roll movie.
Splitting hairs discussing The Godfather vs. The Godfather II. Both are masterclasses in movie making.
Goodfellas is classic and (when I had cable) I'd end-up watch it (whole or in part) on what seemed a monthly basis.
Surprised there's been no mention of Once Upon A Time In America. An INCREDIBLE movie about the Jewish mob.
Soul_29 said:
I am excited about The Saints of Newark (Sopranos prequel), but, I've gotta tell you, I don't think the original series holds up.
Speaking of David Chase, who's watched Not Fade Away. Far from perfect, but a fun, NJ rock 'n' roll movie.
Splitting hairs discussing The Godfather vs. The Godfather II. Both are masterclasses in movie making.
Goodfellas is classic and (when I had cable) I'd end-up watch it (whole or in part) on what seemed a monthly basis.
Surprised there's been no mention of Once Upon A Time In America. An INCREDIBLE movie about the Jewish mob.
Once Upon a Time in America is one of my favorite movies. It really deserves more attention. Masterpiece.
One of the things I love about Godfather II is its recreation of Little Italy at the turn of the century. If anything, Once... does that one better in its recreation of the Lower East Side in Manhattan around the same time.
And Morricone's score! Just brilliant.
Soul_29 said:
I am excited about The Saints of Newark (Sopranos prequel), but, I've gotta tell you, I don't think the original series holds up.
Speaking of David Chase, who's watched Not Fade Away. Far from perfect, but a fun, NJ rock 'n' roll movie.
Splitting hairs discussing The Godfather vs. The Godfather II. Both are masterclasses in movie making.
Goodfellas is classic and (when I had cable) I'd end-up watch it (whole or in part) on what seemed a monthly basis.
Surprised there's been no mention of Once Upon A Time In America. An INCREDIBLE movie about the Jewish mob.
Wait, what? The original series does not hold up? We will have to agree to disagree on that one.
Having just watched the first two Godfather movies, I would agree with you on that one. I just like the second one because of young Dinero. I could watch a movie based on Vito Corleone in old NY any day of the week. I will tie this in with Once Upon A Time in America, and say while that is an amazing film, there is one that predates it by about a decade that is way better (let's see if you can guess). No, it's not Gangs of New York, which I found visually well done, but artistic left me a bit empty. Just a personal opinion, because there was some good acting in that.
I'll go easy on you, Harvey Keitel is one of the actors.....
The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
Wilson’s House of Carpet.
YASSS! Thanks, Mr. T!
Did you just say that Mean Streets is better than Once Upon a Time in America?
I watched the filming of Once Upon a Time on my lunch hour. A lot of the street/warehouse scenes were actually filmed in the then desolate area between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges on the Brooklyn side. The area now known as DUMBO and probably some other equally obnoxious name.
There were untouched cobblestone streets then. maybe still.
My godfather story is that there was an older custodian at my prior job location who lent his vintage cars to The Godfather people. Then they just casually asked him to be in the wedding scene. He’s there briefly, smoking a cigar. Anyway he had this scrap book full of memorabilia from his experience. Photos, filming schedules, Polaroids. He even had Marlon Brando’s home phone number.
Most striking to me was that he said he went to the NY premier and was in shock. “ We thought we were making just another gangster movie.”
Mine is this:
I grew up in Bay Shore, on Long Island. Mario Puzo and his family lived there, too. On Manor Lane, if I recall. My brother was friends with his son. One day around 1969 or 70, my mother was in the local public library and saw someone talking to the library director. After, my mother went up to the director and said "who was that guy?' and the director said, some local guy named Puzo; wants us to put his book in the library but I think it's trash. It'll never go anywhere."
No, really? Interesting twist to this thread, though I kind of like it. I had mentioned the book Tough Guys early on in this, if you will recall. In the preface to that book, Rich Cohen talks about his 'Six Degrees of Separation' moment with the Jewish Mafia. He goes on to talk about a whole 'crew' of guys who got together in a deli in LA to talk about that very thing. In many ways, we all perpetuate the reality and myth of these characters with pride. It's why movies and shows like this still exist today, it's why they resonate so much with us (especially here on the East Coast, where it all began).
drummerboy said:
Did you just say that Mean Streets is better than Once Upon a Time in America?
No, I typed it, but just to get a rise out of you. You did make a blanket statement about The Sopranos not holding up, so I reacted (sue me). Not looking to debate opinion with you, man. Both movies stand up well for different reasons. I also like Angels With Dirty Faces, but is it better than any other movie from that time? Nope. I also don't like Mondays.....
TheJmon said:
drummerboy said:
Did you just say that Mean Streets is better than Once Upon a Time in America?
No, I typed it, but just to get a rise out of you. You did make a blanket statement about The Sopranos not holding up, so I reacted (sue me). Not looking to debate opinion with you, man. Both movies stand up well for different reasons. I also like Angels With Dirty Faces, but is it better than any other movie from that time? Nope. I also don't like Mondays.....
That wasn't me who commented about the Sopranos.
drummerboy said:
That wasn't me who commented about the Sopranos.
Yeah, I suck at this. I still got you to perk up and respond, though.
cramer said:
Probably the most famous Jewish mob boss in NJ was Longie Zwillman, who was from Newark. Longie took over Dutch Schultze's NJ operations after Shultze was murdered. Longie made an appearance in Phillip Roth's "The Plot Against America" and his mob actually beat-up Nazi sympathizers or members of the Bund in Newark and Irvington. The FBI approached Meyer Lansky and said they couldn't do anyting about the Nazi sympathizers and asked for his help. Lanksy talked to Zwillman and Zwillman formed the Newark Minutemen, which consisted of other Jewish mobsters and Jewish boxers.
Longie's sister in law was a good friend of my mother in law.
Longie Zwillman was a fascinating character. Here are some more links regarding Longie:
Link to Wikipedia regarding Longie (AKA Abner Zwillman): Abner Zwillman - Wikipedia
Link to Riviera Hotel* website regarding Longie Zwillman: Our History | Welcome to Hotel Riviera (hotelrivieranj.com)
Link to NYT Story regarding Zwillman's Suicide: Zwillman a Suicide In Jersey Mansion; ZWILLMAN FOUND HANGED IN HOME - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Link to report Longie did not Commit Suicide**: Abner Longie Zwillman (oldnewark.com)
Pic below of Longie's West Orange home. My best recollection is that Longie's home was located off Mt. Pleasant Avenue in WO. I believe that there are still existing gates on Mt, Pleasant Avenue (near Greentree Road).
*- Riviera Hotel still exists and is located at the corner of MLK Blvd and Clinton Avenue in Newark and was reputed to be Longie's headquarters. And, allegedly included gambling and other illicit activities.
**- Quote from above link: "While his death was ruled a suicide, the police had found bruises on Zwillman's wrists supporting the theory that he was bound and then hanged."
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Before Maplewood, in my single cigar smoking days I lived in Jersey City, about five minutes down the road from that Carpet City, with that big lumberjack sign. The opening credit scenes were the best, as anyone who lives in NJ is familiar with that commute. Also, many of the houses were extremely authentic and had that NJ feel because they were. I'm a bit far from NJ now, but I'm betting there are Sopranos tours all the time.