I was scanning the forum to find the thread about the book's Carlito's Way & After Hours. I couldn't believe it when i saw that there hadn't been a thread already started about this (am i wrong?? Maybe. I was sure there's a Carlito topic floating 'round the boards)
Anyway... here goes.

If you have not heard of the books by Edwin Torres about fictional Puerto Rican gangster Carlito Brigante, you've at least more then likely caught notice of the Brian DePalma film starring Al Pacino as the eponymous Brigante, but hopefully not the Rise to Power sequal/prequal whatever. Blech. Talk about lack luster. Please dont let that be your introduction
to the saga of Calos Brigante.

Now the original film based on the novels (the movie Carlito's Way is actually based on the second book, After Hours) stars Al Pacino in one of those (it feels like hundreds) awesome roles he just nails; to me, he looks, sounds & acts the way i imagined Carlito in my head. Not everyone liked the movie, & it definitely had its flaws, but IMHO...Pacino is not one of them. A pretty solid supporting cast, Sean Penn, Luis Guzman,
John Leguizamo & Viggo Mortensen amongst others BUT... im not poosting about the movie.

The the novels on which the films are based were authored by Edwin Torres, a man with an interesting career, in so far as he was not a writer by trade. Torres, born 1931 of Puerto Rican descent, was raised in Spanish Harlem, a family of very modest means. None the less, Torres graduated from high school & went on through college & later law school; after passing the bar, he spent some years as an assistant D.A & in criminal
defense.
As an aside, New York in the '50 is kinda notorious for its gang culture, particularly amongst young minority groups. I imagine Torres was exposed to his fair share of tempatation as a young adult, but he was obviously strong enough of character to rise above & flourish.

Since 1980, Torres served as a Judge for the Twelfth Judicial District in New York City. His experiences around criminals & the justice system has given Torres an insider view of the criminal mind, which he harnessed to create the classic New York Puerto Rican gangster of the period, Carlito Brigante.

Carlos Brigante comes up in the '50s, hard-scrabble, & where else but New York? Carlito charges through a life with a fair share of struggles, winning some, losing some, & ultimately serving a few prison bids. But Carlito, as it says on the blurb, has "...too much wit, too much spirit & raw courage..." to ever be held down. Carlito pays his dues, forms some solid connections & raises above the riff-raff, sticking around much longer then anyone would have expected, a few cuts above the average half-assed wiseguy "Po' Rican".

One of the apects i loved about the novels was Torres obvious knowledge of mob workings & customs; of course, a crime novel set in New York during the'50s makes it an obvious reference. Carlito spends his criminal careers in the shadow of the mob, conceding to their power but not their authority (he's no Eye-Talian, why should he care what these old mutts think of him?) Nonetheless, through a connection he made in prison with the nephew of a boss, Carlito is known to be stand-up by them, & have offered him jobs at times. Although he never actually throws in his lot with them, he is seen by some as "being with the wops". His charisma & criminal pedigree make him the defacto leader of a small crew of Puerto Rican thugs, some of Carlito's innumerable friends & connections from the old neighbourhood.

Carlito is a criminal, but he is not a bad guy. Thats part of what makes this books such a good read for me; sure he's a thug but you cant help rooting for him & laughing at some
of his jokes. Torres charts Carlito's whole life & crimal world so exacting & floridly: just another great book. Check it out. Seriously.

Sorry, sorry. Long, long possst.

A link to an article on Torres:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/0...cles-el-barrio/

Torres is a bright and witty guy. He's a local Judicial legend here in the Bronx. I've actually seen him a few local restaurants, but not lately. I think he may have retired from the bench. Both of his Carlito Brigante novels were well written, with great dialogue. They're out of print and hard to find, but I'm sure you can pick them up online.

He also wrote the novel "Q&A," which was adapted into a pretty good film, directed by the great Sidney Lumet back in 1990. Timothy Hutton and Nick Nolte were both pretty good, and Armand Assante had a pretty good turn as a Puerto Rican gangster. But Puerto Rican or Italian, Assante's gangsters seem almost all the same to me. It seems as if he's just playing Armand Assante. That's not really a bad thing, it just doesn't show much range on his part.

I have both the books in a 2 in 1 book format. Excellent work!

Thanks for this. I'm going to see what I can find out about Torres. Sounds interesting to me.

I saw Armand play Napoleon on TV when I was young. I can't ever see him as anything other than Napoleon.

He was in American Gangster phoning in another performance as an organized crime figure.

Even before I discovered this board, I heard raves about his turn as Gotti. One day I will watch it in its entirety.

In Carlito's Way, Carlito ask Lalin(?) if the Italians he's referring to are from Pleasant Ave. What is it about Pleasant Ave. that he would ask that?

Pleasant Avenue is a north-south street in the East Harlem neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It begins at E. 114th Street and ends at E. 120th Street.
Pleasant Avenue was one of the last remaining streets in Italian Harlem, which existed in the eastern part of Harlem from the late 1890s to the 1970s. The neighborhood shrunk over the years, and the small remaining Italian population resides on Pleasant Avenue. The street is the site of one of the few remaining Italian restaurants in the area, Rao's, at 114th Street.
Both in real life and in the movies, Pleasant Avenue has long been associated with the Mafia. The street was the headquarters of Anthony Salerno, head of the Genovese crime family, prior to his incarceration for racketeering in 1986. It was also the home of the Purple Gang and a lot of the 5 families members grew up there.

Grazie.

Pleasant Avenue (@118th Street) was also where Sonny beat up Carlo in the street.

That's right, SC. My parents were married in 1958 right around the corner at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. You would LOVE their wedding pictures. That was my father's Parish as a kid, and my grandmother, who may have been the last Italian born woman on the block, worshipped there every day until the day she died in 1991.

"making of carlito's way" featurette

author, director, etc speak about the story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZtJlOUMvfM

Great books. Always wish they did a prequel. When I bought it and read the back that Edwin was a judge it surprised me.
Highly recommend these two. Picked them up about twelve years ago at a used book store on Chapel St in New Haven that unfortunately is no longer there. Now it's a fuckin Shake Shack. My city is no longer my city and it's sad. I remember in the late 80s and early 90s you only went "down town" if u knew someone that lived there, or knew what time it was and kept to your own business. Now all fuckin hipsters.

Sry for the rant

Smack and the fact that it took place in e harlem

Thanks for this amigo

I saw Carlito's way. I liked the music and some of the story but, Al Pacino does not look Puerto Rican, or talk in a PR dialect/accent.

Luv this film one of the best Sean penn did an amazing job

In an early scene we see Carlito and his cousin walking down the middle of the street where everyone is dressed in shirts. However, Carlito is wearing a long leather coat. Must of been hot for Pacino.

Armand's Assante to me is a very undersrated actor. He is also a really good guy.

He spent some time in the mayflower hotel. I had a place there he was promoting I the Jury back then.

I was doing my thing tried to sell him a piece of art. He liked it, but he was afraid of buying anything or doing anything that might be illegal.

He was getting girls like crazy. He had a long affair with the girl I foget her name who was in the mambo kings with him she was also in raging bull.

I said this before about assante in Gotti he was like the real thing. What was the last Ganster movie where you saw the ganster bounce when he walked. In those days they all did that even when they got old if they could walk the walked fast and they bounced when they walked. At least when they were outside.

I mentioned this before also Assante in looking for an echo is a fun movie to watch.

He makes every actor in a movie with him better.

That's a good story about your mom pizza. No one is going to buy this but my grand daughter Mia and My newest grand daughter Sophia there experiences with religion and the church has been so good. Plus their Msgn is a real cool guy.

I am actually considering attending mass with my wife on Sunday's just to watch the interaction that goes on between my grand daughter and the rest of the kids at the family mass.

I don't believe in a god but the service is nice and it's fun to watch.

Which family was the actor who played TONY T with ?

When he was with the mob, seen him in a documentary before