Product: Biography - Lucky Luciano: Chairman of the Mob (2005)
Rating: 3.0
A Good Documentary
Lucky Luciano was one of the most powerful men in Organized Crime and to this day, his influence over the gangster activity in the USA still exists. He was the first person to challenge the "old Mafia" by breaking through ethnic barriers and creating a network of gangs, which, made up the national crime syndicate controlled organized crime long past his death. Luciano's name is synonymous with the American Mafia, Gangsters, Money and Murder. A&E;'s award-winning series BIOGRAPHY profiles the life of the infamous gangster who changed the face of Organized Crime forever. Learn more about his childhood, the Prohibition, his friendship with Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel, the Castellammarese War, the formation of Murder INC, his deportation to Italy, and so much more.The idea behind this episode of BIOGRAPHY is great, after all there isn't many documentaries dedicated to the life of Lucky Luciano. As usual the narrator and people interviewed are great, and the show is very well researched. Just don't expect to learn anything new if, like me, you read plenty of books about the history of Organized Crime. This documentary is informative and Luciano is an interesting character, but in my opinion this documentary is not the kind that you'll want to watch over and over again. 50 minutes to cover such an important and complex figure as Luciano is ridiculous, this documentary should have been at least 100 minutes long ( 2 episodes ). A little amount of time is spent on very important and very interesting events like the Castellammarese War or Lucky's rise to power, after watching this episode I felt like something was missing and I wanted more information. I guess I was expecting a lot more, sadly this is a "typical" episode of BIOGRAPHY, one lacking creativity. If you really enjoy watching this type of documentaries then go ahead, this is still a good addition to a collection, after all this is basically the only documentary entirely dedicated to Luciano. If you can find a copy of this DVD for less than 10$ then go for it. However if you want to watch something a lot more interesting and something you'll want to watch over and over again then I highly recommend two series: CRIME INC ( 1984 ) and LORDS OF THE MAFIA ( hosted by Robert Stack ). These series not only covers the life of Luciano and events related to him, but also the history of Organized Crime and Drug Cartels in America and all over the world. :)Here is the Scene Index and the time for each chapter:1. Prohibition [8:17]2. The Commission [7:48]3. Thomas E. Dewey [9:28]4. Deported to Italy [8:43]5. The California [7:22]6. His Legacy [2:38]