Mobsters (1991)

Christian Slater: Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano

Photos 

Quotes 

• Bugsy : [to "No-Nose Tony" and the other Faranzano mobsters who've been jumping Rothstein's bootleg-shipments]  ... Try this again and I will kill your mothers, fuck your sisters, and turn your brothers into eunuchs!

  Lucky : I think you've made your point, Benny. Let's go.

  Meyer Lansky : [Then, after Bugsy guns down No-Nose]  ... You wanna start a war?

  Bugsy : I don't mind.

  Meyer Lansky : Well, I do. Sometimes you're so stupid I can't stand it.

• Arnold Rothstein : Mr. Luciano, you're walking down the street. Suddenly you realize you're being followed. It's a hit. Walking towards you is a second gunman. You have time to fire at only one of them. Which one do...

  Lucky : [cutting him off]  I don't accept the question. To live, I gotta kill 'em both.

• Don Salvatore Faranzano : [as Lucky and Company are preparing to execute him]  ... Why are you doing this? 'Cause I tortured you? 'Cause I set you all up?

  Lucky : No, it's what you did 15 years ago.

  Don Salvatore Faranzano : You want revenge after *fifteen years*?

  Lucky : I've been busy.

  Don Salvatore Faranzano : At least tell me what I did 15 years ago.

  Lucky : ...You destroyed my father!

  Don Salvatore Faranzano : I don't even *remember* your father!

  Lucky : Exactly.

• Lucky : I don't have a wife, because emotion is dangerous.

  Arnold Rothstein : Aren't you human?

  Lucky : Would it help?

• Lucky : [to the fledgeling Mafia Commission, at a meeting hosted by a young Al Capone]  ... You all know how I got this scar. Maybe Joe Profaci, here...

  Joe Profaci : Wait a minute. What're you saying?

  Lucky : Don't worry, Joe. Maybe you knew it was gonna happen to me, maybe you didn't. But by the old way of doin' things... If I became boss now, I'd have to hit you in case you knew. And all of you shrug, except some of you are friends of Joe's. And one day I might do something that upsets you, so then you'll hit me. And then YOU'LL become boss. My friends, they'll hate you for that. Then somebody else becomes boss, and so on, and on... You know what I call that? Stupid. Very stupid... We're all bosses here.

  Joe Profaci : What then, Charlie? We're gonna vote on everything?

  Lucky : That's right. Everybody here... is equal.

  Meyer Lansky : Corporations have a board of directors, a Commission. So will we.

  Lucky : Now, I have friends. They're not from Palermo, they're not from Sicily... They're not even Italians. They're Jewish. But they're still my friends. And I trust 'em.

  Al Capone : You say there's gonna be no boss, but you're startin' to talk like one.

  Lucky : I've learned. Every organization needs somebody standin' out front. Call it a figurehead, a leader, a headman, a kingpin, a president, whatever. It doesn't much matter to me who does it.

  Joe Profaci : I say we make Charlie Luciano head of our National Commission. Who agrees?

  [Everybody at the table raises his hand... with the exception of Capone, who sits at the head of the table opposite Lucky] 

  Lucky : You want it, Al? It's yours.

  Al Capone : No, I want you to do it. It's just that Julius Caesar never took no vote.

  Lucky : That's why Julius Caesar ended up dead in the street.

  [Capone raises his hand at last] 

  Lucky : ... Any other business?

• Don Salvatore Faranzano : [supposedly, Lucky offers his services to Faranzano as a mole against Don Masseria]  I hope you can appreciate some facts, Charlie. Conditions have changed. Some people have gotten too powerful... I want you to take care of Don Masseria personally, do it yourself. That's not all, though. Lansky and Siegel. I know you've always gotten along, but Jews, they're different. You cross 'em once, fight with 'em once, and they're gone. I know this. I've heard they're a different race... Jews. You and I take Communion. They don't even believe in sin. They'll betray you, just like they betrayed Jesus H. Christ Himself. You join my family, they die. No one will even know you approved.

  Lucky : Looks like I don't have a choice, do I? Either I agree to kill my friends, or you kill me.

  Don Salvatore Faranzano : That's right.

• Lucky : [to his father]  What are you sayin, Pop? That because I'm a greasy immigrant, all I can do is clean fish? That ain't enough! I got a right to find work that uses my brain!

• Arnold Rothstein : I have ships and distilleries in Scotland. I need distribution in New York.

  Lucky : Masseria? Faranzano?

  Arnold Rothstein : Either of them would kill me.

  Lucky : And I wouldn't because...?

  Arnold Rothstein : You have Jewish partners.

  Lucky : Maybe I kill them too.

  Arnold Rothstein : You can't afford to; you're in the squeeze. Either Masseria or Faranzano realize you exist, they squash you like an ant...

  Lucky : [the penny drops for him]  ... Unless I get a powerful friend, right?

  Arnold Rothstein : [indicates himself]  Exactly.

• Frank Costello : [as the Big Four consider Faranzano's offer]  ... Fifteen percent off the top from Faranzano's operation, huh? You know how much money that is? Well, I don't either. But it's a hell of a lot.

  Meyer Lansky : But as soon as we sold to Faranzano, he'd knock you off because you're Sicilian; one day, you might wanna be boss. If he iced you now, there'd be a stink all right. But if you're working for Faranzano, who's gonna come after him except the three of us? And then we'd all be history.

  Lucky : That's why we're in partnership with these Jews, Frankie.

• Lucky : [after being set up by Don Faranzano and surviving]  ... When Tommy Reina went with Faranzano, Don Masseria made Tommy pay a price: me.

  [to Lansky] 

  Lucky : ... Meyer, from now on, you and me gotta agree. So if I start getting a swelled head, just shoot me. It'd be a lot less painful.

• Tommy Reina : ...Charlie, you know who hit Rothstein. And I know you're Joe's number-two man. But if you're gonna take down Rothstein's killer... get a price from Faranzano first.

  Lucky : Tommy, I always thought your loyalty was to Joe.

  [Don Joe Masseria, that is] 

  Tommy Reina : I love Joe, but this is business and Faranzano's gonna win. You rub out the guy who smoked Rothstein, and you can write your own ticket.

• Lucky : [to Don Faranzano]  ... I don't bend over. It's too hard to stand straight again.

• Don Giuseppe 'Joe the Boss' Masseria : ...Charlie, you're a swell guy. But from now on, if you look the wrong way... if you even fart in the wrong direction, then you end up like Rothstein.

  Lucky : Joe, you're always complaining I don't eat. If I don't eat, how am I gonna fart?

• Arnold Rothstein : ...When war comes, the winner will be the one who gets his enemy to trust him.

  Lucky : How do I do that?

  Arnold Rothstein : You save his life.

• Frank Costello : ...In 24 hours, Faranzano comes after us for killing No-Nose Tommy. We can't fight him; we ain't got the guns for it.

  Meyer Lansky : Masseria does.

  Frank Costello : So we're goin' with Masseria?

  Lucky : He ain't so bad.

  Frank Costello : He's a fat, stupid fuck! Other than that, I guess he's swell.

  Lucky : Right now, this fat stupid fuck can save our lives. Remember, it's only temporary.

• Lucky : [talking business]  ... We have a problem.

  Mad Dog Coll : Name him. He's dead!

  Lucky : Our problem is *you*.

• Lucky : [after Don Faranzano's alleged execution by Lucky]  ... Tell me something, Joe. What do you love?

  Don Giuseppe 'Joe the Boss' Masseria : ...I love food. I love pussy, you know, young pussy. But most of all, I love to destroy people.

  Lucky : Anybody?

  Don Giuseppe 'Joe the Boss' Masseria : The bigger the better. But... yes, anybody. Makes me feel... good.

• Lucky : The law of the street was take or be taken.