In Popular Culture
- In the 1969 novel The Godfather by Mario Puzo, the Corleone family may be based on the Genovese family. Just like Corleone family patriarch Vito Corleone, the Genovese family's original founders came from the village of Corleone as were many of its members. The Corleone family also has a strong presence in areas like Little Italy and the Bronx and is described as the most powerful crime family in the country.
- The 1971 film The French Connection is about smuggling narcotics (heroin) from Marseille, France to New York City. In the real French Connection, the heroin was shipped from Sicily to France, then to New York City. Top members of the Genovese family, and the others four families in New York controlled the heroin trade in the United States.
- In the 1991 film Mobsters, Genovese boss Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was played by Christian Slater. Patrick Dempsey played Meyer Lansky, Costas Mandylor played Frank Costello), and Richard Grieco played Bugsy Siegel). The film was about the formation of the Mafia Commission in the United States.
- In the 1991 film Bugsy, Genovese boss Lucky Luciano was played by actor Bill Graham. Warren Beatty played Bugsy Siegel) and Ben Kingsley played Meyer Lansky.
- In the 1999 film Bonanno: A Godfather's Story, Genovese boss Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was played by actor Vince Corazza and boss Vito Genovese by Emidio Michetti.
- The 2010 to present HBO U.S. television series Boardwalk Empire takes place in 1920s Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mobster Charlie "Lucky" Luciano is played by actor Vincent Piazza.
Read more about this topic: Genovese Crime Family
Famous quotes containing the words popular culture, popular and/or culture:
“Popular culture entered my life as Shirley Temple, who was exactly my age and wrote a letter in the newspapers telling how her mother fixed spinach for her, with lots of butter.... I was impressed by Shirley Temple as a little girl my age who had power: she could write a piece for the newspapers and have it printed in her own handwriting.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“Vodka is our enemy, so let’s finish it off.”
—Russian saying popular in the Soviet period, trans. by Vladimir Ivanovich Shlyakov (1993)
“All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)