The Making of the Mob : New York | The Education of Lucky Luciano (S01-E01)

The Making of the Mob is 2015-2016 American television docu-series detailing the emergence of organized crime in 20th-century America. It is produced by Stephen David and narrated by actor Ray Liotta. The series also features intercuts within each episode of archival footage and interviews with historians, authors, actors, law enforcement personnel, and family members.Show more

The Making of the Mob: New York is the first season and it follows notorious New York gangster Lucky Luciano and his rise in the New York City crime mob, alongside Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, Bugsy Siegel, and Vito Genovese.

Each episode features several interviews from celebrities, authors, historians and political figures: Rudy Giuliani (former mayor of New York City), Selwyn Raab (author, Five Families), David Pietrusza (author, Rothstein), Meyer Lansky II (grandson of Meyer Lansky), Michael Green (historian, University of Nevada Las Vegas), Rich Cohen (author, Tough Jews), Vincent Pastore (actor, The Sopranos), Alexander Hortis (author, The Mob and the City), Gay Talese (author, Honor Thy Father), Richard Hammer (author, The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano), Joe Mantegna (actor, The Godfather Part III), Salvatore Polisi (former Mafia associate), Chazz Palminteri (actor, A Bronx Tale), Sonny Grosso (retired New York City Police Department detective), Frank Vincent (actor, Goodfellas), Thomas Dewey III (grandson of Thomas Dewey), Frankie Valli (singer, The Four Seasons), Oscar Goodman (former mayor of Las Vegas), Ellen Poulsen (author, The Case Against Lucky Luciano), Drea de Matteo (actress, The Sopranos), Edward McDonald (federal prosecutor), Edwin Torres (New York Supreme Court judge), H.W. Brands (historian, University of Texas at Austin).

Episode 1: In 1931, "Lucky" Luciano calls the most powerful gangsters in the country to a hotel in Chicago for a meeting that will change the face of American organized crime. He gets rid of the "boss of all bosses" with a board of directors and creates the Five Families, giving birth to the modern mafia. It all started in 1906 with a 9-year-old Charles Luciano, a Sicilian immigrant who comes to America with his family in hope of a better life. But while living in a cramped tenement in New York City, it's not what they expect. By 1912, having to scrape by, 15-year-old Luciano tries to make an honest living, but soon turns to a life of crime and joins one of the dozens of gangs in the neighborhood. Instead of sticking with an Italian gang he joins a Jewish one, teaming up with Russian immigrant Meyer Lansky and Ben "Bugsy" Siegel, a brash Jewish kid from Brooklyn. As criminal kingpin Joe Masseria takes over the Lower East Side, Luciano and his childhood friends rise through the ranks as low-level gangster Frank Costello's recruits running gambling rackets until 1919 when they meet enforcer Vito Genovese. On August 11, 1922, at age 25, Luciano commits his first murder on the orders of "Joe the Boss" when he guns down Umberto Valenti in the street. Even though his debt is paid, he is now under Masseria's control and gets into selling heroin. After Luciano serves a six months sentence in prison for dealing, Lansky sets up a meeting with gambler and racketeer Arnold Rothstein who teaches Luciano how to be a businessman. During Prohibition, they make a fortune with their bootlegging business. However, they must give Masseria a cut of their profits, causing Luciano to plan a hit on him.