I don't know if this has been posted here before (my apologies if it has), but I found this article to be provocative and thought it would make lively debate for this board:

http://dir.salon.com/story/books/feature/2000/07/20/puzo/index.xml

Anyone care to comment?

Well, as much as I don't like to be the first one to reply to my own post, I can't help myself. This popped into my head this morning and I'm sooooo curious:

In that article, the author blames Mario Puzo for forever associating Frank Sinatra with the mafia. (The guy is obviously not a Puzo fan... if he wanted to stir the pot among Puzo readers, his article makes it virtually boil over.)

Now Sinatra's hey day is a bit before my time, but didn't rumours of mafia association dog him even in the 60s? I do recall hearing some gossip that Sinatra had given Marilyn Monroe a poodle and she named it "Maf " (short for "Mafia"), which Sinatra didn't appreciate.

So is Puzo really to blame for cementing the connection in people's minds? Is the name "Frank Sinatra" even in the book? (It's been a long time since I've read it.) Come on people, let's debate!

This is an infamous picture of Sinatra and some of his mobster friends, including Don Carlo Gambino (third from right in the back).

Sinatra was also alledged to have been good friends with Joseph Fishetti of the Chicago outfit. He accompanied Fishetti to Havana Cuba in 1947 for a meet with Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky and some other well known gangsters. Of course it is no secret that Sinatra was very close to Sam Giancana, and asked for Giancana's assistance in helping to get union votes for his personal friend and then Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy.

IMO, for the author of that article to blame Puzo for tying Sinatra to the mob, is ridiculous. Sinatra himself made that reputation way before Puzo's Johnny Fontaine character.

Of course the Fonataine chracter was based on Frank Sinatra, and I also believe that the Band Leader story that Michael tells Kay about at the wedding, where his father used Luca Brasi to get Fontaine out of a contract with a bandleader, was based on a real life incident. In real life Frank Sinatra was under a long term contract to legendary bandleader Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra had begun to hit the big time with Dorsey and wanted to go out on his own. At first Dorsey refused to let him out of the contract. Eventually Dorsey gave in and released Frank from the long term contract. I wonder what made Dorsey change his mind?

But no matter what, he'll always be the Chairman Of he Board.


Welcome to the boards!


Don Cardi

Ah, Don Cardi, that's the kind of post I like to see. And I like it that you also gave your opinion.

Talk about an incriminating photo! I looked up its source ( ganglandnews ) and learned that they also had a contest (back in '98 though) for people to guess the identities of the men in the picture. Did you enter? (Or should I ask, "Did you win?")

And thank you for the welcome. Just one more post and I'll be a "wiseguy." I'm feeling like a regular already.

Standing Left to right: Paul "Big Paul" Castellano, Gregory DePalma, Sinatra, Tommy Marson, Carlo Gambino, Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno, Salvatore Spatola. Sitting: Joseph Gambino, Richard Fusco.


I wasn't aware of the contest.

If you really enjoy this type of stuff than scroll on down to the Real Life Mafia thread.


Don Cardi

The guy who wrote this article shouldn't be knocking Puzo. He's not much of a writer himself.

I got as far as the first paragraph, and found two sentences which made no sense

Julian or Julia Sorrel was a popular -- because they didn't want to be associated with trash.

A popular what? Name, I guess....

now the trashy novelizations are written the movies come out, by writers, like the late Mario Puzo

This is particularly vexing. If he means before the movies come out, then he's dead wrong. I believe that a novelization is written after a movie comes out.

If he means that novelizations are written after the movie comes out, then he's correct in his definition, but waht "novelizations" did Puzo ever write?

All of his books that were turned into movies were novels first, I believe.

Don Cardi, as far as identifying the people in the Sinatra picture, you got them all right ... and I bet you didn't even have to cheat by looking back at the web page (or maybe you have that web page memorized. )

One question, though: Where you name #6 as Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno, the ganglandnews web page shows the name as Aladena Fratianno. I assume they are one and the same?

Aladena sounds like a feminine name ... but I bet no one has ever told Mr. Fratianno that to his face.

Thanks for the reference to the "Organized Crime - Real Life" forum. Although I don't consider myself fascinated with the actual crime lords themselves, I do have my moments of curiosity with the criminal culture as a whole -- which is a natural offshoot from my interest in the GF films. So I can certainly see myself posting there on occasion.

In fact, I just thought of a couple of questions that have intrigued me, so I'll go over there and post them. See you there...

Sinatra also had an ownership interest in the Cal-Nevada Lodge, a hotel-casino near Tahoe. He was forced to give up his ownership after he let his pal, Giancana, stay there despite Giancana's being in the famous "Black Book," a compendium of gangsters prohibited by the Nevada Gaming Commission from even setting foot in casinos.

Don't be so sure. Frattiano, a bigshot in Los Angeles, got his nickname "The Weasel" because he turned "rat" and informed on many other wiseguys. I'm sure he was called a lot worse than Aladena.