He was the greatest boss in Mafia history, aside from Joe "Bananas""
His only mistake was giving Paul the power of boss.
Paul had it coming when it came to etting whacked, bu Gotti has no respect for the rules which hold the cosa Nostra.
Also the opening and closing dialouge made Gotti seem smart, in reality he talked like a moron.
I don't think you can completely say that making Paul the boss was a mistake. Paul did have the vision to make the family seem more legitimate and the smarts to get the family to make more money. However, Paul's failings were mainly due to his greed and the fact that he couldn't and didn't want to relate to the street level people and just thought of them as huge risks that were going to be the downfall of the family. If somehow, Carlo could have named both Neil and Paul as boss, then who knows what would have happened.
shareCarlo Gambino was one cunning sob. He was on top of an $500 million dollar criminal enterprise for over 25 years. That's long for a Crime Boss.
Jesus christ, he had over a thousand guys working for him.
Carlo Gambino was definitely the most succesful ever. Joe Bonnano's was rich, and I mean super rich, but evantually he was passed over. Fortunaly for him he was that damn smart too go legit in Arizona and make a lot of money there.
He only lasted that long in power because there were no RICO laws at the time so he never could be prosecuted for anything
shareBut, that's exactly the thing! Paul Castellano was probably a shrewd businessman, but that's not 100% what he was into. As the head of the most powerful crime family in America he went off and tried to make the Gambino family more legitamate, but at the same time he alienated his caporegimes in doing so.
shareNeil could not have been made boss anyways. Something not shown in the movies was that neil had an affair with a made guys wife. It was worked out, and neils price was to not be allowed boss. Carlo, Neil, Pinie, and Paul all came up together. Paul was always the one with the business smarts. If you watch the godfather old man corleone portrayed bonano, and michael was modeled after Paulie.
shareHow could Michael have been modeled after Paul Castellano? The Godfather was out before Castellano was head of the Gambinos.
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Tommy Lucchese is definitely the second greatest boss.
shareI wouldn't call him the greatest boss, but he is in the top 3. I would have to say it goes like this:
1) Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo of the Chicago Outfit. He was the boss for nearly 50 years, and never served a day in jail and died peacefully without a conviction at 86. His empire stretched over 3/4 of the country.
2) Carlo Gambino
3) Tommy Luchese
Carlo had a touch choice between Castellano and Delacroce. Delacroce would have had a better handle on everyone in the family. Soldiers were religiously respectful of him, and he was very, very strict on the rules. He would have told his family not to do drugs and they would have listened but he was too well known to the feds because of his record, and would have been an easier target for prosecution, especially with the blue collar rackets he ran. Castellano was more business savy, and had the mob in more legitimate businesses but he did not have a strong connection to the street soldiers, and they didn't respect him. The Gotti movie got that right about how the family was splitting. That would never have happened under Delacroce.
I don't even know how Joe "Bananas" was even in the same mention as greatest boss. He was one of the worst. Though being a multi-millionaire, he was kicked off the commission, wrote a book about his memoirs (something a mafia boss is never supposed to do), his family was kicked off the commission for selling drugs, then to the greatest embarrasment of any family, allowed an FBI agent (Brasco) to infiltrate and nearly get made.
Hi TruthPredator, here's my list:
1. Charlie Lucky
2. Carlo Gambino
Number three is debateable, and to tell the truth, who wants to be number three anyway?
Carlo used to travel back to Italy to meet with Lucky Luciano. Luciano helped make Carlo who he ultimately became. But in terms of underworld influence, changing history, and sheer deadliness, Charlie Lucky far outranked Carlo IMHO.
I admit, I liked Lucky's style, and he was a great organizer..I can see your point with Lucky...The three I chose are based on different things..Such as avoiding any prosecution, having the empire grow large, and staying out of the public.
shareI admit, I liked Lucky's style, and he was a great organizer..I can see your point with Lucky...The three I chose are based on different things..Such as avoiding any prosecution, having the empire grow large, and staying out of the public.
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Hi Predator, no two people seem to agree on everything. But I will say this:
Yes Carlo never went to jail, but....if he had gone to jail, he wouldn't have been able to win a pardon and extradition back to Italy. Lucky Luciano had all kinds of juice.
As far as growing the empire larger....first Lucky organizes the Commission in the United States.....then he organizes the Sicilian Mafia back in Sicily into the Cupola, which is the Sicilian version of a Commission. Moreover, once Lucky got back to Italy/Sicily, supposedly he went huge into Heroin like never before playing a key role in sending heroin to the United States. Lucky was a whale, totally out of control and two steps ahead of the law. He bascially went back to Sicily on his own and practically took the place over, evaded American and Italian law enforcement, Was dealing with Sicilian mafia, American mafia, Corsicans, Turks, and somehow managed to never get shot. Crazy.
On top of all of that, I think Carlo couldn't become the big boss in America unless Lucky Luciano ok'ed it. Lucky's task was probably to find the main point main in America for his heroin pipeline, and he chose Carlo. That's my theory on it.
Gambino being the greatest Mafia boss is a matter of opinion. In Joe Bonanno's autobiography, Bonanno referred to Gambino as a weak, cringing kind of man. It's been a while since I read Charlie Luciano's autobiography, but I think Lucky was not an admirer of Carlo's either.
Next to Bonanno and Joe Profachi, Gambino served as a boss the longest, but I have never heard him referred to as the "greatest." I've heard Luciano sometimes called the greatest boss, althouhg he didn't last that long, as he was convicted and sent to prison about 6 years after becoming a boss in the 1930s. Luciano was alos admired by other bosses and underbosses, such as Albert Anastasia and Frank Costello.
He certainly lasted the longest out of all the bosses. Probably because he was always two steps ahead of the police, never got caught on wire taps/bugs discussing family business and lived quite modestly with his wife. What's interesting is the fact that one of his son's chose school over Mafia, which apparently pleased Carlo tremendously.
shareYeah making paul boss was a mistake but everbody makes mistakes. Besides he was dying anyway and Gotti took it all over. Who destroy the family in the end.
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