BLOG 20 - Major Research Essay (Final Version)

Carlos Feliciano
ENGL 103-2682
Dr. Vasileiou
May 31, 2011

“Once Upon a Time in America: The Portrayal of Realism in Film”

Popular films usually start off in a place familiar to many. New York City is the backdrop to many movies due to its large population, scenery and rich history. “Once Upon a Time in America” is a film that takes place in three different eras in the 1920s, 1930s and 1960’s. The film is relevant to the time periods that it portrays, even though it was filmed in 1984. Factors such as prohibition, organized crime, and the economic boom and depression are all portrayed in the film. Even though the film was fictional, it gives the viewer the sense of chasing the American dream that many immigrants hoped for during the 1920’s.

In order to understand the way of life in New York during a historical period, it is essential to understand the economic situation of the city. During 1920s and 1930s, the average annual salary in New York was $1,200 (Fourteenth Census, 78). The average bread cost in the New York at this time period was 12 cents (per pound) (Fourteenth Census, 86). The average cost of buying a house or an apartment ranged from $2000s - $5000s (Fourteenth Census, 112). It is important to note that the 1920s were an economic boom for the United States. This period was quite often referred to as the “Roaring 20s”. On the other hand, the 1930s marked a time of economic depression for the United States. This specific time period began to be known as the “Great Depression”. It is important to understand the difference between these two time periods and their economic situations in order to better understand the characters and their motivation for their actions throughout the film.

In the 1920s New York had almost 6 million residents due to the large amounts of immigrants entering by boat and many immigrants from the south to the northern cities. Many of the immigrants that populated New York City during this time were Jewish people. Similar to other minority groups such as African Americans, Jews were discriminated and not employed as fairly as Anglo-Saxon Americans. Due to these circumstances, there began a movement of “Jewish Gangsters” in New York City. Jewish gangsters were simply first generation Americans that were pressured by their parents to achieve success by any means because Jewish people were discriminated in Europe, and the United States was the hypothetical place where success is achievable by any person who is willing to go out and get it (Berrol, 23).

Some notable Jewish Gangsters were: Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Longy Zwillman, Moe Dalitz (Fried, 229). During the 1930s, Jewish prosecution in Europe was prominent. The ideals of Anti-Semitism quickly travelled to the United States, and many Jewish people began to experience the same types of discrimination in the states. When Neo-Nazi Americans organized Nazi Rallies in Manhattan, Mayer Lansky was asked by the mayor of New York City to stop the rallies without murdering any of the protestors (Fried, 230). Instantly, Lansky began to eliminate every Nazi rally in New York City. The protestors would often end up with broken bones, however, no one was murdered (Fried, 230).

New York was the center of manufacturing, commerce and culture. By 1923, New York produced 1/12th of all manufacturing in the nation (Updegraff, 24). Most of the travelling at this time period was done via boats and ships. New York City served as the departure and arrival site of major ships. During the Great Depression (1930s), New York City began to build its skyscrapers (Jackson, 28). This became to be known as New York’s landmark feature that made it recognizable around the world. At some time during the 1930s, New York City overtook London as the most popular city in the world.

In 1919, legislatures of the States approved The 18th Amendment to the Federal Constitution, enabling national Prohibition within one year of approval (Olewniczak, 33). During Prohibition, manufacturing, transportation, import/export, and sale of alcoholic beverages were limited or illegal. Women played a large role in bringing Prohibition to the United States of America, believing it would protect women and children from the effects of alcohol abuse. Prohibition began officially on January 16, 1920, when the eighteenth amendment took effect and police were in charge of enforcing the law (Olewniczak, 36).

As anything that becomes banned or illegal, alcohol became available underground at places called speakeasies (Olewniczak, 37). Alcohol was smuggled in large quantities from nearby Canada. On top of the smuggling of alcohol, states owned shipping lines exploited a 3 mile limit in the water where alcohol consumption wasn’t illegal (Olewniczak, 39). Similarly to marijuana today in states like California, Whiskey was prescribed to patients by medical doctors for medicinal purposes. Doctors freely wrote out prescriptions and drug stores did not question the patients. As a result, the number of patients increased dramatically, many of them faking their need for the alcohol.

Bootlegging of alcohol was a lucrative business for criminals. One of the most famous gangsters was Al Capone who built his criminal empire on the profits made by importing and exporting alcoholic drinks (Olewniczak, 43). The bootlegging industry that spread out throughout the United States, primarily in New York and New Jersey, created one of the most significant eras for organized crime.

In 1933, the legislatures of the states approved the Twenty-first Amendment, which revoked the eighteenth Amendment and prohibited only the violations of laws that individual states had in regard to "intoxicating liquors (Olewniczak, 52)". The United States government realized that by prohibiting alcohol, violence only increased. In other words, even though Prohibition was meant to protect families against abuse, the organized crime that developed as a result of the Prohibition, only created more violence.

The Film “Once Upon A Time in America” was directed by Sergio Leone, which was the last film that he ever directed. He was most known for his spaghetti westerns in the 1960s (Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), which made actor Clint Eastwood famous. “Once Upon A Time in America” was based on a novel called “The Hoods” written by Harry Grey. Leone decided to focus more on fictional characters rather than on the real mobsters mentioned in the book.

The film’s plot is based on a group of Jewish gangsters in New York’s Lower East Side in 1920s from early childhood, to the early 1930s in the last years of Prohibition through their glory years, and into the late 1960s when they meet again. The film is told in a series of flashbacks, from the perspective of Noodles, a character played by Robert De Niro as an adult. Noodles hanged out with a crew for most part of his childhood and young adulthood. Noodles and his crew were soon introduced to Max, who was a Jewish Gangster.

The recurrent theme in the movie revolves around the chase for the American Dream. Noodles, his crush Deborah and his partner in crime, Max, all want to achieve great success. Noodles and Max want to achieve success through crime, while Deborah wants to achieve it through being a movie star. The concept of the American Dream symbolizes the mentality of immigrants during this era in the United States. Countries around the world heard rumors that “anything is possible in America”, therefore immigrants would tell their children that success is a must. Due to this enormous pressure on first generation Americans, many turned to crime when legal opportunities for riches were limited.

Prohibition played a significant role in the film. Due to the ban of alcohol, Noodles came up with the idea to pitch to a local Italian mobster, named Capuano, to save the illegal goods he would normally have to dispose of overboard. Capuano agreed with Noodle’s proposition and this earned Noodles and his crew 10 percent of the earnings from the recovered merchandise. As a result, Noodle’s and his crew began to accumulate a lot of wealth. In addition, the crime brought on by Prohibition was displayed accurately in the film. The United States government predicted that Prohibition would result in less crime and violence in the country, however this theory backfired, and just the opposite occurred.

The film in my opinion paid close attention to detail on the cities landscape. Most films today are not filmed on location because it’s usually cheaper to film somewhere else. However, this movie stood true to the city and was mostly filmed in New York City. There’s even a scene where Noodle’s is released from prison that was filmed nearby on Court Square in Long Island City. Large parts of the film were shot at the setting that they portrayed, except for a shot that was filmed in Paris that was suppose to resemble the old Grand Central Station which in 1980s looked similar to the location back in the 20s/30s.

The lower eastside neighborhood that was recreated in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has that look that the 20s was known for with the brick floors on the streets, the vendors selling fruit outside and even the police walking outside twirling there knight stick. In one of the scenes the actors were indoors of an apartment building and you could see the people bathing with the oversized bathtub in the living room and how everyone shared a community bathroom. The prices in the film were also accurate, where a corn beef sandwich cost one cent. Since a pound of bread was approximately 11 cents, the price of the corn beef sandwich is reasonable.

Another accurate aspect of “Once Upon a Time in America” is the portrayal of Jewish gangsters. As stated earlier in the paper, organized Jewish crime in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s was prevalent. The pressure to achieve success by any means pushed this idea to first generation American Jews, and due to the limited opportunities to make a living through fairways, some Jews decided to gain success the corrupt way. Notorious Jewish gangsters, such as Meyer Lansky, could have been portrayed in the film by Noodles or Max.

The next factor that was accurately portrayed in the film is the rise of Hollywood. Noodle’s crush, Deborah, constantly sought out a career in acting. During the 1920s, filmmaking began to be a popular commodity in the United States and many Americans began to try to pursue a career in acting. Deborah, just like most of the characters in the movie, uses her acting career as a means to gain success as a first generation American. The film industry, back then and even now, is representative as an entrance to the “American Dream”. Once Deborah achieved prominence in the film industry, she was approximately making as much as Noodles and Max made from their crimes. This illustrates the fact that there are loopholes in the system that permits even minorities to become successful legally.

However, there were some elements in the film that were of course in consistent with reality. The film illustrated Jewish mobsters from a very young age. This, however, is not proved anywhere. For the large part, most of the Jewish mobsters that lived in the New York City area during that time period were middle aged man.

“Once Upon a Time in America” is a tremendously directed film that is a fair portrayal of New York City in the “roaring 20s” and “The Great Depression” eras. The director of the film achieved an accurate atmosphere for the viewer by deciding to film the movie in the actual spots that the film portrayed. In addition, the film did a good job by showing the viewers the hardships that first generation Americans had in achieving the success that their parents were telling them that they had to accomplish throughout their life time.







Sources:
1) United States. "Fourteenth United States Census." (1930): 1-1000. Print.
2) Berrol, Selma C. "THE JEWISH WEST SIDE OF NEW YORK CITY." Journal of Ethnic Studies 13.4 (1986): 21-45. Print.
3) Fried, Albert. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America. New York: Columbia University, 1993. Print.
4) Dunbar, David S., and Kenneth T. Jackson. Empire City: New York through the Centuries. New York: Columbia UP, 2005. Print.
5) Olewniczak, Timothy. "Giggle Water on the Mighty Niagara: Rum-Runners, Homebrewers, Redistillers, and the Changing Social Fabric of Drinking Culture during Alcohol Prohibition in Buffalo, N.Y., 1920-1933." Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 78.1 (2011): 33-61. Print.