you know we always called each other goodfellas, like you'd say to somebody
you're gonna like this guy, he's all right he's a good fella, he's one of us.
Director Martin Scorsese's acclaimed decades-spanning mob saga Goodfellas
is often hailed as one of the greatest cinematic experiences in history. Based on the non-fiction
book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi and filled with outrageous moments of criminal behavior,
Goodfellas has prompted film buffs and historians to question how faithful the movie is to reality,
and what might have been fabricated to create such an all-time classic motion picture. Get
the best seat in the house and find out what the [ __ ] really happened to this movie! At the time,
celebrated filmmaker Martin Scorsese initially didn't want to make a hardcore mob movie, but once
he read Pileggi's riveting biography of gangster Henry Hill he enthusiastically beamed, I've been
looking for this book for years. I said well I've been waiting for this phone call all my life! With
a preternatural understanding of these character types from his time growing up in Little Italy
New York, Scorsese wanted to treat the material with tremendous respect and the utmost fidelity,
even using real mobsters as extras for several scenes. The primary characters in Goodfellas are
based on real people and all of the major events truly happened. The half-Irish half-Sicilian
Henry Hill began his life of organized crime in the Italian mafia in 1955 at the age of 11,
and he spent the next 30 years climbing the ranks of the Lucchese crime family before turning
state's evidence and joining the federal witness protection program. Hill's on-screen counterpart
Ray Liotta isn't exactly a spitting image at 11 years younger and three inches taller than the
real life gangster. Still after seeing Liotta in Jonathan Demme's Something Wild, Scorsese
felt the actor had an explosive energy that was perfect for the park. While Liotta plays Henry
as a charmer with sexual magnetism, in reality Hill was nowhere near as charismatic or confident.
The character of Jimmy Conway, played by Robert De Niro, is based on Irish mobster James "Jimmy the
Gent" Burke. De Niro's size also didn't match the real Jimmy, a hulking figure at six foot
five and around 250 pounds. Still, De Niro was determined to accurately portray Burke's behavior,
using real money on set and telephoning the real Henry Hill several times a day
to confirm how Burke carried himself, held a cigarette and even applied ketchup. As one of
the Lucchese crime family's most ruthless henchmen and brilliant masterminds, Burke's violent nature
is actually toned down for the film. According to all accounts Jimmy the Gent was much more
brutal in real life. Tommy Devito, played to the tune of an Oscar victory by Joe Pesci
is modeled after gangster Thomas Desimone, who was nicknamed Two Gun Tommy from carrying a pair
of pistols in a paper bag. There's a significant age disparity with the character - Pesci was 46
years old when he played the role but the real Tommy disappeared at age 28. While they're shown
growing up together in the film, Hill was actually seven years older than Tommy and spent his early
years running with Paulie's son Lenny Vario, who is not in the film at all. Additionally the real
Desimone was an imposing six foot two and 225 pounds, quite a divergence from Pesci's stature.
And believe it or not Tommy's volatile nature was actually downplayed in the film. Even still,
the real Henry Hill has gone on record that Pesci's portrayal and attitude are at least 90%
accurate. Size difference notwithstanding, Pesci seemed to have proficiently channeled Desimone's
menacing mad dog aura and aggressive demeanor. Speaking of which, that memorable restaurant scene
that features some of the most quoted dialogue in cinematic history? I'm funny how I mean funny like
I'm a clown I amuse you I make you laugh? This was also based on an actual experience, but it was Joe
Pesci's and not Henry Hill's. As a young waiter, Pesci had once told a mob connected customer he
was funny and received a similarly unexpected response. When he mentioned this interaction
to Scorsese and Liotta, the script was altered to include the now famous exchange. But none of the
other actors in the scene were made aware so the director captured their genuine surprise at the
terrifying tirade. What the [ __ ] is so funny about me! Paul Cicero, played by Paul Sorvino,
is patterned after the real-life Lucchese crime capo Paul Vario. While the physical likeness is
quite accurate, the temperament of the character differs drastically. In the film Paulie is a
composed gentleman of refinement and taste, depicted as quietly intimidating. In reality,
Vario was known for his vicious and unpredictable temper, once ordering his men to bludgeon a waiter
who accidentally spilled wine on his wife's dress. Beginning in 1955, the film opens with the iconic
line: as far back as i can remember i always wanted to be a gangster. Henry Hill's teenage
years reinforce that very sentiment as he eagerly participates in illegal activity on behalf of
the Italian mob. However in reality Hill did show signs of reluctance towards mafia life during his
teenage years and made several attempts to leave it behind. His real father did disapprove of the
criminal lifestyle but after his first arrest at age 16 for stolen credit cards, Hill enlisted in
the army a year later. Despite being unable to read until his 20s Hill served three years in
the 82nd airborne division before returning to a life of organized crime in New York. Likely in
the interest of time and narrative focus, this part of Hill's life is left out of the film.
Henry's Jewish girlfriend Karen, played by Lorraine Bracco, was based on Karen Friedman,
who did get hitched to Henry in 1965. And by all accounts Hill did truly convert to Judaism
to demonstrate his commitment to her. In the film the couple is shown to have two daughters,
although in reality they had a daughter and a son. In 1967 the real Henry Hill and Tommy Desimone
did pull off the Air France heist shown in the film. But the movie shows them gaining access
to the depot after being given a key by airline employee Robert "Frenchy" Mcmahon. In reality,
while Mcmahon did tip off the mobsters to the $420,000 in cash, the entry key was
held safely by a different guard who couldn't be bribed. After weeks of surveilling this guard,
Henry and Tommy arranged to get the man drunk and hired a prostitute to seduce him at a motel,
during which they stole the key, duplicated it in a hurry, replaced it and got away scot-free.
These story details were compressed to maintain the bullet-like pace that Scorsese envisioned.
One of the more harrowing scenes in the movie comes when Tommy impulsively guns down Spider
during a poker game in the basement of Jimmy's club Robert's Lounge. According to Hill, this
fatal sequence is nearly identical to what really happened to Michael "Spider" Gianco. Tommy did
shoot Spider in the foot after the barman forgot to serve him, and a week later Spider told Tommy
after being taunted again. Jimmy then gave Spider a wad of cash for standing up for himself,
with Tommy responding by rapidly blasting him with a .45. What is not depicted according to Hill is
that Spider's corpse was hacked into pieces and buried beneath Robert's Lounge. Similarly the
gruesome fate of Billy Batts really did occur in 1970. In the film Batts is murdered in Henry's
club The Suite during his welcome home party from the clink. After Batts makes disparaging remarks
to Jimmy and Tommy the grisly murder is presented as more of an immediate emotional response as
Tommy pistol whips Batts while Jimmy stomps away. This happened, but two weeks after Batts returned
home and insulted both men. Additionally the real Billy Batts Bentvena, who was a legitimate made
man in the powerful Gambino crime family, had demanded that Jimmy hand over his loan shark
racket, which also contributed to the greedy Burke planning his elimination. As depicted in the film,
Bentvena really did survive the initial attack and began pounding the trunk of the car as the
men drove to dispose of him, and they did detour to the home of Tommy's mother to collect supplies.
But according to Hill, Batts was never shot to death but rather beaten with a shovel and a
tire iron and was stabbed 30 or 40 times. Also as shown, Bentvena's fetid corpse had to be exhumed
months later when the property was sold to real estate developers. Not included was how according
to Hill, Bentvena's body was then squashed in a car crusher in a New Jersey junkyard. Hill
admitted to having nightmares for years over the butchering of Billy Batts. In 1974 Jimmy and Henry
are pinched by the feds upon return from Florida and sent to the slammer. now take me to jail.
While in prison the mafiosos appear to own the joint and live like kings by bribing the guards.
Although this feels exaggerated for the film, the way the gangsters are seen living was
quite honest. According to Scorsese, we give the impression of it being breezier than it was to add
to the irony of it, with the music that's playing and that sort of thing, and getting lobsters,
but this was we had guards who told us this is the reality too, I mean it was all there,
it's all there, I mean there's certain people who were privileged. The film also presents the famed
Lufthansa airline heist with relative accuracy. It was the biggest cash robbery in North America
at the time, nearly 6 million dollars which would be around 23 million today, stolen from
the Lufthansa terminal at JFK airport on December 11, 1978. The event is depicted close to fact,
including the introduction of the scam by bookie Martin Krugman, renamed Morrie Kessler in the
film, along with Jimmy's avaricious and paranoid descent into homicide once it was completed.
After scoring all that cash, the real Jimmy's dimwitted subordinates began buying flashy
items like Cadillacs and mink furs. Incensed by the careless spending and afraid he'd be
arrested at the drop of a dime, Burke genuinely orchestrated the massacre shown in the film.
If you're part of a crew nobody ever tells you that they're going to kill you,
doesn't happen that way. It starts with stoned getaway driver Stacks Edwards, based on real
criminal Parnell Stephen Edwards, who was indeed shot to death after illegally parking the getaway
van instead of getting rid of the evidence. And in reality, Tommy was promised to officially
become a made man for executing Edwards. Frankie Carbone is found hanging in a frozen meat truck,
although the character is said to be a composite of two different men involved in the heist,
Angelo Sepe and Richard Eaton. While the film shows Morrie getting whacked by Tommy with an
ice pick to the back of the skull, in reality Martin Krugman's body was never found. As for
Frenchy Mcmahon, his corpse is seen dumped in a garbage truck, but in reality his dead
body was found in a parked car with a bullet in his head five months after the heist. A major
fatality in the film that differs from the real case is that of Tommy Desimone himself. We see
Tommy getting shot in the back of the head by the Gambinos in retaliation for Billy Batts,
so his mother couldn't give him an open coffin at the funeral. In reality, some claim it was John
Gotti himself who pulled the trigger on Tommy out of revenge for killing a protege of his in 1974.
And another theory suggests that Paul Vario had Tommy murdered for attempting to sexually assault
Karen, with whom Vario was allegedly having an affair while Henry was in jail. Whatever the case,
Desimone disappeared at age 28 and details of his murder remain a mystery. Human bones found
beneath Robert's Lounge in 1980 were unidentified but believed to be what was left of Desimone
and bookie Martin Krugman. By the time 1980 comes around in the film Henry's chaotic drug
addiction and surreptitious salesmanship were also accurately presented. In real life he and
Jimmy profited handsomely from the sale of drugs right under Paulie's nose for years. The same
goes for Hill's extramarital affairs, with Janice Rossi standing in for a real-life mistress Linda,
and Sandy inspired by another girlfriend named Robin Cooperman. Henry's narcotics trafficking
ultimately led to his arrest by the feds in 1980, similar to what we see on screen.
Certain that Henry would inform on them, Jimmy and Paulie attempted to have him killed. And so
Hill became what he always despised, a big stinking rat who turned state's evidence on
his close mafia cohorts. Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.
And now it's all over. He entered the federal witness protection program,
living the rest of his days like a schnook and an average nobody. In an extra dose of realism,
Scorsese cast federal prosecutor Ed Mcdonald, the same agent who handled Hill's criminal case in
real life. According to Mcdonald, their discussion was simplified for the movie but in reality
Henry showed up with his wife and two kids, his wife's parents, and two of his girlfriends,
trying to get them all into witness protection - which went about as smoothly as you might imagine.
Mcdonald described the situation as bedlam. It's worth noting that one of the biggest crimes of
Henry Hill's life was excluded from the film entirely. In 1978 and 79 Hill was involved in a
scandalous college basketball point-shaving crime. At Jimmy Burke's request, Henry helped convince
a group of basketball players to illegally manipulate the point spread in certain games
to cover the betting line and make large sums of money. This incident was part of the evidence used
against the real Burke in Hill's testimony, when he accidentally mentioned it in passing,
apparently unaware that point shaving was unlawful. Another crime omitted from the film
was Hill purportedly wooing cosmetics tycoon Estee Lauder while his goons ransacked her glitzy
Manhattan apartment for around 1 million worth of valuables. Scorsese decided that these crimes
and others like them were unnecessary to tell Henry Hill's story in the film, already an epic
of illicit activity as it was. As the end of the film updates the audience that Hill was still in
witness protection in 1990, it also notes his 1987 arrest on narcotics conspiracy charges in Seattle.
This also happened to Hill in real life, leading to a downward spiral of booze and drugs that would
persist for decades, including multiple arrests, despite the movie claiming he had been clean since
1987. In 1989 Henry and Karen legitimately ended their marriage of 25 years. In 1990 Henry Hill
was kicked out of the witness protection program after publicly revealing his identity upon the
theatrical release of Goodfellas. Attempting to capitalize on his celebrity, he would spend the
next two decades peddling memorabilia and making public appearances, earning whatever meager living
he could by recounting his days in the mafia on talk shows and other exploitative TV programs.
On June 12, 2012, one day after his 69th birthday, Henry Hill passed away from issues related to
heart disease. Karen, now 75, remains in witness protection. As for Jimmy Burke, he died of cancer
in 1996 while serving a 20 to life murder sentence in a New York penitentiary. Paul Vario died in
prison in 1988. As you can tell, Martin Scorsese took a few liberties with Goodfellas but made
considerable efforts to tell the real story of a mid-level mob man as authentically as possible.
And at the same time he helped define gangster movies and true crime cinema as we know it.
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