godfather

When it was released 50 years ago, The Godfather won a swag of Oscars and hailed director Francis Ford Coppola as the voice of a new auteur. But timing is, as they say, everything. The story of an ageing Mafia Don and his family in New York City from 1945 to 1955, The Godfather is a sweeping saga of the trials and tribulations of running a criminal organization. There are two timelines that need to be looked at when watching The Godfather: when it was set, and when it was made. They are inextricably linked, yet polar opposites of the moral, cultural and social fabric of the United States. Post-war optimism Coming out of the devastating destruction and loss of life of the second world war, Americans had a newfound sense of optimism that the worst was behind them. After years of uncertai...

Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson was known as a murderous policy numbers baron in Harlem during the 1930's, but he was, in fact, the conduit between the Italian Mob and the Harlem rackets for almost three decades. Ellsworth Johnson was born in Charleston, South Carolina on October 31, 1905. He got the nickname "Bumpy" because he had a huge dump on the back of his head. Johnson was said to be a brilliant child, and by the time he was eight years old, he had already skipped two grades. When Johnson was ten years old, his brother Willie was accused of killing a white man. Afraid of a lynch mob for Willie, Johnson's parents sent Willie to live up north. Bumpy Johnson was a proud black man, who was defiant of the segregation and violence perpetrated on the blacks in the deep south. Johnson's paren...

Tag: godfather

Happy 50th Birthday Godfather: Set Among The American Mafia Of The 40s, Coppola’s Film The Godfather Is Unmistakably A Film Of The Disillusioned 70s

Mobsters in America – Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson – The Godfather of Harlem