19 Wild and Hidden Details From Classic Mobster Movies

Carly Tennes Published 07/28/2024 in wow

We'll make you an offer you can't refuse. After a long day of scrolling, we'll give you all the wildest details from your favorite mafia films — blink-and-you-'ll-miss-it moments from Casino, Goodfellas, and more — for a few flicks of your thumb. Capisce? Capisce.

From the history behind Scarface's "Little Friend" to how James Caan nearly landed himself in hot water with the authorities while filming The Godfather, here are 20 insane details from classic mobster movies.

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1. "Casino" (1995)
2.
"In Casino (1995) while Artie Piscano is complaining about overseeing the skim operation, his mother can be seen pocketing some of the skim money for herself."
3.
“The hitman at the end of Casino (1995) is played by Frank Cullotta, a real-life mobster whose career in the Chicago/Las Vegas mob gave inspiration to the film. The informant his character kills towards the end in Costa Rica is based on an actual murder that Frank Cullotta himself actually committed.”
4.
“In ‘Casino’ (1995), right before the car explodes in the opening scene, you can see [Robert] De Niro get replaced with a dummy.”
5.
“At the end of Casino when all the houses are being raided, there's tv screen with a Hitler on it in the home of Nicky who regularly makes anti Semitic slurs toward Sam throughout the movie”
6.
“In Casino (1996) the lawyer who defends Frank Rosenthal in his gaming license court appearance, Oscar Goodman, is played by Oscar Goodman himself, the actual mob lawyer who would later become mayor of Las Vegas.”
7. "Scarface" (1983)
8.
“In both the original Scarface (1932) and the remake (1983), Tony admires a travel company's message: "The World Is Yours." And both films end by panning up from Tony's corpse to the same message. (the remake then shows a dedication to the original film's director & writer)”
9.
“The blond girl, who distracts Manny in the movie Scarface, vanished shortly after filming, and has never been seen or heard from since.”
10.
“Oliver Stone named the protagonist of Scarface (1983) after his favorite football player - Joe Montana.”
11.
“In Scarface, when Tony meets Sosa, he’s the only one who eats the lemon from the finger bowl. This shows his unfamiliarity with it from his low-class background.”
12.
“Scarface's 'My Little Friend' was a custom built Grenade Launcher as the CM203 Flare Launcher wasn't available then - and is the exact same prop used by Schwarzenegger in Predator.”
13. "The Godfather" (1972)
14.
“In The Godfather (1972), the horse head discovered in the bed of a ruthless movie producer wasn’t a prop: it was a real horse’s head from a dog food plant in New Jersey.”
15.
“In The Godfather, cinematographer, Gordon Willis thought Vito Corleone would seem more sinister if we couldn't see his eyes while conducting Family business.”
16.
“Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi in "The Godfather" (1972), was an actual mafia enforcer sent by the Colombo family to oversee the filming. Coppola cast him, but Montana was too nervous about acting with Brando and kept forgetting his lines, which was later included as a character trait.”
17.
“When James Caan broke an FBI photographer’s camera then threw money on the ground in ‘The Godfather’ (1972), that was improvised.”
18.
“TIL During production of The Godfather, James Caan was known to hang out with Carmine Persico, aka "The Snake", a notorious mafioso and later head of the Colombo crime family. Government agents briefly mistook Caan, who was relatively unknown at the time, as an aspiring mobster.”
19. "Goodfellas" (1990)
20.
“In Goodfellas (1990), Robert De Niro didn’t like how fake money felt in his hand and insisted using real money. So the prop master withdrew several thousand dollars of his own money to use. At the end of each take, no one was allowed to leave the set until all the money was returned & counted.”
21.
“In Goodfellas (1990) that is U.S. Attorney Edward McDonald, reenacting his conversation he had with the real Henry and Karen after they flipped. He volunteered himself for the role after Scorsese scouted his office for a possible filming location and won it after a screen test.”
22.
“In Goodfellas (1990) the "Funny how" scene between Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci was based on a real incident that Pesci had with an actual mobsters when he was working as a waiter. It also wasn't in the shooting script, so all the others actor's reactions were genuine.”
23.
“Goodfellas (1990). During the continuous shot introducing Mafia members “Fat Andy” is introduced. “Fat Andy” is played by NYPD Detective Louis Eppolito. Eppolito besides being a cop was also a hit man for the mob. In 2006 he was convicted of 8 counts of murder (amongst a bevy of other charges).”
24.
“In Goodfellas (1990), during the scene where all the mobsters are introduced, one of them is Mike Franzese. Franzese is an actual mobster who served the Colombo crime family and is now a motivational speaker and writer.”

1. "Casino" (1995)
2.
"In Casino (1995) while Artie Piscano is complaining about overseeing the skim operation, his mother can be seen pocketing some of the skim money for herself."
3.
“The hitman at the end of Casino (1995) is played by Frank Cullotta, a real-life mobster whose career in the Chicago/Las Vegas mob gave inspiration to the film. The informant his character kills towards the end in Costa Rica is based on an actual murder that Frank Cullotta himself actually committed.”
4.
“In ‘Casino’ (1995), right before the car explodes in the opening scene, you can see [Robert] De Niro get replaced with a dummy.”
5.
“At the end of Casino when all the houses are being raided, there's tv screen with a Hitler on it in the home of Nicky who regularly makes anti Semitic slurs toward Sam throughout the movie”
6.
“In Casino (1996) the lawyer who defends Frank Rosenthal in his gaming license court appearance, Oscar Goodman, is played by Oscar Goodman himself, the actual mob lawyer who would later become mayor of Las Vegas.”
7. "Scarface" (1983)
8.
“In both the original Scarface (1932) and the remake (1983), Tony admires a travel company's message: "The World Is Yours." And both films end by panning up from Tony's corpse to the same message. (the remake then shows a dedication to the original film's director & writer)”
9.
“The blond girl, who distracts Manny in the movie Scarface, vanished shortly after filming, and has never been seen or heard from since.”
10.
“Oliver Stone named the protagonist of Scarface (1983) after his favorite football player - Joe Montana.”
11.
“In Scarface, when Tony meets Sosa, he’s the only one who eats the lemon from the finger bowl. This shows his unfamiliarity with it from his low-class background.”
12.
“Scarface's 'My Little Friend' was a custom built Grenade Launcher as the CM203 Flare Launcher wasn't available then - and is the exact same prop used by Schwarzenegger in Predator.”
13. "The Godfather" (1972)
14.
“In The Godfather (1972), the horse head discovered in the bed of a ruthless movie producer wasn’t a prop: it was a real horse’s head from a dog food plant in New Jersey.”
15.
“In The Godfather, cinematographer, Gordon Willis thought Vito Corleone would seem more sinister if we couldn't see his eyes while conducting Family business.”
16.
“Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi in "The Godfather" (1972), was an actual mafia enforcer sent by the Colombo family to oversee the filming. Coppola cast him, but Montana was too nervous about acting with Brando and kept forgetting his lines, which was later included as a character trait.”
17.
“When James Caan broke an FBI photographer’s camera then threw money on the ground in ‘The Godfather’ (1972), that was improvised.”
18.
“TIL During production of The Godfather, James Caan was known to hang out with Carmine Persico, aka "The Snake", a notorious mafioso and later head of the Colombo crime family. Government agents briefly mistook Caan, who was relatively unknown at the time, as an aspiring mobster.”
19. "Goodfellas" (1990)
20.
“In Goodfellas (1990), Robert De Niro didn’t like how fake money felt in his hand and insisted using real money. So the prop master withdrew several thousand dollars of his own money to use. At the end of each take, no one was allowed to leave the set until all the money was returned & counted.”
21.
“In Goodfellas (1990) that is U.S. Attorney Edward McDonald, reenacting his conversation he had with the real Henry and Karen after they flipped. He volunteered himself for the role after Scorsese scouted his office for a possible filming location and won it after a screen test.”
22.
“In Goodfellas (1990) the "Funny how" scene between Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci was based on a real incident that Pesci had with an actual mobsters when he was working as a waiter. It also wasn't in the shooting script, so all the others actor's reactions were genuine.”
23.
“Goodfellas (1990). During the continuous shot introducing Mafia members “Fat Andy” is introduced. “Fat Andy” is played by NYPD Detective Louis Eppolito. Eppolito besides being a cop was also a hit man for the mob. In 2006 he was convicted of 8 counts of murder (amongst a bevy of other charges).”
24.
“In Goodfellas (1990), during the scene where all the mobsters are introduced, one of them is Mike Franzese. Franzese is an actual mobster who served the Colombo crime family and is now a motivational speaker and writer.”

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Tags: mafia_movies scarface casino goodfellas scarface

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1. "Casino" (1995)

2. "In Casino (1995) while Artie Piscano is complaining about overseeing the skim operation, his mother can be seen pocketing some of the skim money for herself."

4. “In ‘Casino’ (1995), right before the car explodes in the opening scene, you can see [Robert] De Niro get replaced with a dummy.”

5. “At the end of Casino when all the houses are being raided, there's tv screen with a Hitler on it in the home of Nicky who regularly makes anti Semitic slurs toward Sam throughout the movie”

6. “In Casino (1996) the lawyer who defends Frank Rosenthal in his gaming license court appearance, Oscar Goodman, is played by Oscar Goodman himself, the actual mob lawyer who would later become mayor of Las Vegas.”

7. "Scarface" (1983)

8. “In both the original Scarface (1932) and the remake (1983), Tony admires a travel company's message: "The World Is Yours." And both films end by panning up from Tony's corpse to the same message. (the remake then shows a dedication to the original film's director & writer)”

9. “The blond girl, who distracts Manny in the movie Scarface, vanished shortly after filming, and has never been seen or heard from since.”

10. “Oliver Stone named the protagonist of Scarface (1983) after his favorite football player - Joe Montana.”

11. “In Scarface, when Tony meets Sosa, he’s the only one who eats the lemon from the finger bowl. This shows his unfamiliarity with it from his low-class background.”

12. “Scarface's 'My Little Friend' was a custom built Grenade Launcher as the CM203 Flare Launcher wasn't available then - and is the exact same prop used by Schwarzenegger in Predator.”

13. "The Godfather" (1972)

14. “In The Godfather (1972), the horse head discovered in the bed of a ruthless movie producer wasn’t a prop: it was a real horse’s head from a dog food plant in New Jersey.”

15. “In The Godfather, cinematographer, Gordon Willis thought Vito Corleone would seem more sinister if we couldn't see his eyes while conducting Family business.”

17. “When James Caan broke an FBI photographer’s camera then threw money on the ground in ‘The Godfather’ (1972), that was improvised.”

18. “TIL During production of The Godfather, James Caan was known to hang out with Carmine Persico, aka "The Snake", a notorious mafioso and later head of the Colombo crime family. Government agents briefly mistook Caan, who was relatively unknown at the time, as an aspiring mobster.”

19. "Goodfellas" (1990)

21. “In Goodfellas (1990) that is U.S. Attorney Edward McDonald, reenacting his conversation he had with the real Henry and Karen after they flipped. He volunteered himself for the role after Scorsese scouted his office for a possible filming location and won it after a screen test.”

22. “In Goodfellas (1990) the "Funny how" scene between Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci was based on a real incident that Pesci had with an actual mobsters when he was working as a waiter. It also wasn't in the shooting script, so all the others actor's reactions were genuine.”

24. “In Goodfellas (1990), during the scene where all the mobsters are introduced, one of them is Mike Franzese. Franzese is an actual mobster who served the Colombo crime family and is now a motivational speaker and writer.”

1. "Casino" (1995)

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. "Scarface" (1983)

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13. "The Godfather" (1972)

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19. "Goodfellas" (1990)

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

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eBaum's Picks

2.
"In Casino (1995) while Artie Piscano is complaining about overseeing the skim operation, his mother can be seen pocketing some of the skim money for herself."

4.
“In ‘Casino’ (1995), right before the car explodes in the opening scene, you can see [Robert] De Niro get replaced with a dummy.”

5.
“At the end of Casino when all the houses are being raided, there's tv screen with a Hitler on it in the home of Nicky who regularly makes anti Semitic slurs toward Sam throughout the movie”

6.
“In Casino (1996) the lawyer who defends Frank Rosenthal in his gaming license court appearance, Oscar Goodman, is played by Oscar Goodman himself, the actual mob lawyer who would later become mayor of Las Vegas.”

8.
“In both the original Scarface (1932) and the remake (1983), Tony admires a travel company's message: "The World Is Yours." And both films end by panning up from Tony's corpse to the same message. (the remake then shows a dedication to the original film's director & writer)”

9.
“The blond girl, who distracts Manny in the movie Scarface, vanished shortly after filming, and has never been seen or heard from since.”

10.
“Oliver Stone named the protagonist of Scarface (1983) after his favorite football player - Joe Montana.”

11.
“In Scarface, when Tony meets Sosa, he’s the only one who eats the lemon from the finger bowl. This shows his unfamiliarity with it from his low-class background.”

12.
“Scarface's 'My Little Friend' was a custom built Grenade Launcher as the CM203 Flare Launcher wasn't available then - and is the exact same prop used by Schwarzenegger in Predator.”

14.
“In The Godfather (1972), the horse head discovered in the bed of a ruthless movie producer wasn’t a prop: it was a real horse’s head from a dog food plant in New Jersey.”

15.
“In The Godfather, cinematographer, Gordon Willis thought Vito Corleone would seem more sinister if we couldn't see his eyes while conducting Family business.”

17.
“When James Caan broke an FBI photographer’s camera then threw money on the ground in ‘The Godfather’ (1972), that was improvised.”

18.
“TIL During production of The Godfather, James Caan was known to hang out with Carmine Persico, aka "The Snake", a notorious mafioso and later head of the Colombo crime family. Government agents briefly mistook Caan, who was relatively unknown at the time, as an aspiring mobster.”

21.
“In Goodfellas (1990) that is U.S. Attorney Edward McDonald, reenacting his conversation he had with the real Henry and Karen after they flipped. He volunteered himself for the role after Scorsese scouted his office for a possible filming location and won it after a screen test.”

22.
“In Goodfellas (1990) the "Funny how" scene between Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci was based on a real incident that Pesci had with an actual mobsters when he was working as a waiter. It also wasn't in the shooting script, so all the others actor's reactions were genuine.”

24.
“In Goodfellas (1990), during the scene where all the mobsters are introduced, one of them is Mike Franzese. Franzese is an actual mobster who served the Colombo crime family and is now a motivational speaker and writer.”