The Alto Knights

-Norvel. -Good evening, Mr. Costello.

This one's for you, Frank.

This one's for you, Frank.

Mr. Costello! Mr. Costello!

I'm calling an ambulance.

I should've been paying more attention

instead of taking bows at the Copa.

Till I got shot in the head,

I don't think people even realized I was a rackets guy.

I didn't carry a gun. I had no bodyguards. I took cabs.

I was married to the same woman for 38 years.

And whenever I was mentioned in the papers

for some charity or political thing,

I was usually referred to as a professional gambler.

A Damon Runyon type of guy.

Guys and Dolls and all that sort of stuff.

They're on the last song.

Good.

But then years later, my best friend,

he betrayed me.

Vito, the show's almost over.

Vito and me, we grew up together.

You wouldn't know it, but back then

we were very good friends and very close.

And we quit our regular school the ninth grade,

not because we were dumb, but because we were ambitious.

And the Alto Knights Social Club

was where we hung out.

It was our home.

We weren't gonna go dig ditches like our fathers

and live upstairs in a cold-water tenement

for the rest of our lives. No, sir, not us.

We lived in America. America was the land of opportunity.

Yankee Doodle Dandy and all that.

But when Lucky

got into politics,

everything changed.

Especially after Tammany saw those immigrants

who never bothered to vote,

that they were election day gold.

Vito and I just told everybody in Italian,

"Vote for the donkey."

I remember one time telling Vito,

"Hey, maybe we can open a restaurant or a bar.

What do you think?" He said, "Nah. Not interested."

-Gotta consider this. -Listen--

-I'm not joking. -I take out. I don't put in.

And that was the first time I realized,

"We don't think the same."

Take a bow.

At first I wasn't too sure

about taking bows and all that stuff.

It wasn't for me.

After a while, I gotta say, I liked it.

Commissioner! Right here. Right here!

Mr. Hawley, as head

of the Fifth Avenue Businessmen's Association,

how do you find working with Frank Costello?

All I know is that I would hope to have

Frank Costello's support

in every one of our charity events.

You go ahead with Gene and Lois,

I'll meet youse at the restaurant.

I gotta do some stuff at the apartment.

Okay. Honey, don't-- don't be long.

It was a lovely affair,

and I've never met so many judges in all my life.

I won't be long.

It's not like they're a barrel of monkeys.

You'll be all right.

Sometimes I would forget I wasn't running

a regular billion-dollar business.

In fact, I was even thinking of getting out, but...

I didn't see this coming.

Doctor Roberts, call extension 16.

Doctor Roberts, please call extension 16.

Mr. Costello, you're a lucky man.

The bullet pierced your scalp just behind your right ear,

and then instead of penetrating your skull,

it miraculously curved round the back of your head

until exiting near your left ear.

You'll have headaches and be forgetful for a few days,

but you should be fine.

Uh, thanks, Doc.

I didn't want you to come here.

I don't always do what you want.

I know, I know--

You heard him. I'm gonna be fine, it's all right.

What happens now?

Nothing.

I got the message.

That's it.

I'm done. I'm done.

You're done?

I know what to do.

What does-- What does that mean?

I don't understand what you're saying.

Go home. I'll see you at home, okay?

Okay, baby.

All right.

Orderlies,

please report to the business lounge.

Could orderlies please report to the business lounge?

Come on. Inside.

Mr. Costello, I'm Detective Salerno.

This is Detective Jim Mullins.

You must have seen who shot you.

Called out your name, Frank.

Okay, yeah, no. He did, you're right. But I turned around.

And when I turned around, I was shot and I went down.

I hit the floor, and when I--

By the time I saw who it was, the guy was out the door.

What happened?

You walked away.

All you had to do was that, and you walked away.

No. That's not what happened.

Then what did happen?

All you had to do was finish him off.

You're supposed to finish what you started doing.

That's what you're supposed to do. Vincent.

I did finish. I was two feet away.

The fucking bullet bounced off his head.

You know this isn't over. These guys are gonna

come back for you. You know that, right?

Well, I don't know...

I don't have enemies, as far as I know.

I got a pretty good-- I know that

-you might not believe me. -I wish I could say that.

You had to use a fucking pop gun. A peashooter.

-What's the matter with you? -I didn't wanna make noise.

Noise? It's a fucking gun. What are you talking about?

-But I was close to him. - It's a fucking gun.

It's supposed to make noise. Are you stupid or what?

I yelled out his name to be sure.

Called his name? So what? What does that mean?

What's this, Frank?

-What is that? You just put-- -This is dated just last week.

It says, "Gross casino wins. Less markers. $434,000."

-That's a lot of money. -Frank, you have a casino?

Where's the casino? Is it in Las Vegas?

I don't know what you're talking about or what that is.

...shoot somebody in the head, you'd think that they're dead.

You don't think they're dead. You shot oogatz.

You see them go down? Does that mean they're dead? No.

You gotta go see if they're dead.

You gotta shoot 'em again, again, again.

You shoot and you ask questions later,

-but you make sure he's dead. -I thought he was dead.

He's not dead. He's not dead. Guess what. He's not dead.

I mean, I didn't know it was legal for you guys to just--

Without a warrant--

Just go and pick something out of my pocket like that.

You didn't see I picked it up off the floor?

-Must've fell on the floor. -I didn't see that.

-Frank... -Is that what happened?

...you might as well tell us what it is.

What's going on here, Frank?

You know and I know you know who did this.

If you guys know, then go after those people

because I don't know who they are.

It was co-- It was coming out of his head.

It's supposed to come out of his head.

When you shoot a person in the head, you think he's dead.

Gotta shoot 'em again.

-Come on. -Fuck.

Well, obviously, we need a witness, right?

You're the victim. You were shot in the head.

Frank, you had to see him. All we need is a name, Frank.

The elevator door was gonna-- was gonna open, and I--

There was a lot of blood.

How did I know what was gonna happen?

You gotta get outta here now. You gotta take off.

Get lost for a while. You know what to do.

Make yourself scarce.

Fellas, I would like to help you,

but I cannot do that because I don't know who--

I didn't see anything.

I didn't see who it w-- I saw a blur.

I just don't have any more informa-- I'm sorry, you know?

I don't know what to tell you.

You don't want me to go to the hospital?

-Come on. Come on. -Shoot him again?

Stop being a fucking jerk.

I can't believe I just heard him say

that he fucking wants to shoot him now at the hospital.

What's the matter with this kid?

What, we gotta give him a fucking bazooka next time?

-I don't understand. -Who cares?

He did all that practice. Who gives a fuck?

He was practicing upstate doing all this shit.

He was telling me, "I'm practicing, shooting--"

The fuck? You didn't do nothing.

I mean, I'd like to call my lawyer if I could.

Yeah, go ahead. Be my guest.

All right.

Frank Costello, the city's reputed rackets boss

and a political powerhouse, known around town as

"the Prime Minister" of the underworld...

-How did it go wrong? -...survived a murder attempt

as he entered his luxury Central Park West apartment.