- I THINK WHEN PEOPLE HEAR THE NAME AL CAPONE, THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO MIND IS TOMMY GUNS, BODIES FALLING, BLOOD SPILLING FROM CORPSES.

- HE WAS ON THE COVER OF TIME MAGAZINE AS MAN OF THE YEAR.

- HE WAS AS BIG A CELEBRITY IN HIS FIELD AS BABE RUTH WAS IN BASEBALL.

[gunshots] - THERE'S PROBABLY KIDS TODAY GROWING UP WHO COULDN'T NAME THE LAST THREE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES BUT WHO KNOW THE NAME AL CAPONE.

- HE PERSONIFIES THE GANGSTER IN AMERICAN LIFE.

female announcer: THIS PROGRAM IS MN PART music] - WITHOUT A DOUBT, AL CAPONE IS AN AMERICAN ICON.

HE REALLY COMES TO DEFINE OUR CULTURE IN MANY WAYS.

THE IMMIGRANT STORY, HEAVY ON THE MACHINE GUNS IN THIS CASE.

NEVERTHELESS, IT'S A STORY OF SOMEBODY COMING UP FROM NOTHING AND MAKING HIMSELF INTO SOMETHING-- IN THIS CASE, SOMETHING NOTORIOUS.

- I AM DEIRDRE MARIE CAPONE.

AL CAPONE WAS MY GRANDUNCLE.

WAS AL CAPONE A MOBSTER?

YES, HE WAS.

WAS AL CAPONE A MONSTER?

NO, HE WAS NOT.

- WELL, I WAS A CAREER COP IN CHICAGO, WHERE I ENDED UP AS COMMANDER OF DETECTIVES.

I COME FROM THE SOUTH SIDE OF THAT GREAT CITY.

I PROBABLY HEARD AL CAPONE'S NAME BEFORE I COULD WALK.

HE WAS THE MOST FAMOUS GANGSTER.

EVERYBODY KNEW WHO HE WAS.

EVERYBODY KNEW THE LEGENDS OF AL CAPONE.

- I THINK AL CAPONE IS THE MOST FAMOUS REAL-LIFE GANGSTER OF ALL.

MY NAME IS VINCE GILLIGAN.

I CREATED THE TELEVISION SERIES BREAKING BAD.

I THINK AMERICA IS INTERESTED IN ANTIHEROES AND CRIMINALS, GANGSTERS.

IT'S AN INTERESTING CULTURAL PHENOMENON THAT WE CELEBRATE OUTLAWS LIKE JESSE JAMES AND BILLY THE KID.

CRIMINALS THAT LIVE A BIGGER-THAN-LIFE KIND OF EXISTENCE SEEM TO LIVE ON IN LEGEND.

male narrator: BY THE START OF 1929, LOUIS ARMSTRONG HAS MADE HIS 78 RECORDING OF WEST END BLUES, NBC HAS SET UP ITS PERMANENT COAST-TO-COAST RADIO NETWORK, NOTRE DAME HAS FINALLY LOST A FOOTBALL GAME AFTER 25 YEARS, AND AL CAPONE IS THE UNDISPUTED CRIME BOSS, NOT ONLY IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO BUT THE WHOLE OF THE UNITED STATES.

BUT EVEN THIS IS NOT ENOUGH FOR CAPONE.

- IT'S FEBRUARY 14, 1929, AND IN CHICAGO IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A DAY FOR LOVE.

I'M MICHAEL GREEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, UNLV.

ON CLARK IN CHICAGO THERE'S A WAREHOUSE.

SEVERAL MEMBERS OF BUGS MORAN'S NORTH SIDE GANG WERE IN THIS WAREHOUSE.

THEY WERE TOLD ABOUT A SHIPMENT OF ILLEGAL ALCOHOL.

THEY ENDED UP BEING GREETED THERE BY A BUNCH OF GUYS IN POLICE UNIFORMS.

BUGS MORAN WAS ARRIVING.

HE SAW THE POLICE CAR.

HE KEPT GOING.

- THE GANGSTERS THOUGHT IT WAS JUST COPS, SOMEONE TO HARASS THEM AND MAYBE TRY TO GET SOME MONEY.

THEY SAID, "YOU GUYS ARE GONNA BE TRANSFERRED FOR THIS."

- A LOT OF TIMES THEY DID THAT AS SHOW, LAW ENFORCEMENT.

SO, YOU KNOW, THEY HAD TO SHOW THAT THEY ARRESTED EVERYBODY, BUT NATURALLY THEY GOT OFF LATER ON.

BUT THEY WOULD PUBLICIZE THE ARREST.

MY NAME IS FRANK CALABRESE, JR.

I WAS BORN AND RAISED INTO THE CHICAGO MOB.

IN CHICAGO WE CALL IT THE CHICAGO OUTFIT.

MY FATHER WAS A BOSS IN THE OUTFIT, WHICH ORIGINALLY WAS STARTED BY AL CAPONE.

SO THESE GUYS ARE IN THERE THINKING IT'S NOTHING.

THEY LINE 'EM UP AGAINST THE WALL.

- ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE POLICE OPEN FIRE.

[gunfire] - THEY MOWED SEVEN MEN DOWN.

PUT SEVEN MEN AGAINST THE WALL AND MOWED 'EM DOWN.

- AND THEY GET BACK IN THE CARS, AND THEY TAKE OFF.

- WHO'S BEHIND THE MASSACRE?

WHO DONE IT?

AS USUAL WITH THE MOB, IT'S HARD TO FIGURE IT OUT.

THERE ARE THOSE WHO THINK THE POLICE WERE ACTUALLY REAL POLICE AND NOT JUST PEOPLE FROM THE MOB WHO HAD GOTTEN UNIFORMS.

THERE'S THE THEORY, YES, OBVIOUSLY CAPONE IS CENTRAL TO IT.

- CAPONE WAS IN FLORIDA THE TIME OF THE VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, AND WHEN BUGS MORAN HEARD ABOUT THE KILLING, THE SAID, "THE ONLY PERSON WHO KILLS LIKE THIS IS CAPONE."

- THERE'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE A LOT OF THEORIES, BECAUSE A GUY LIKE AL CAPONE COULD CREATE A LOT OF THEORIES.

- I DON'T THINK THE HIT COULD HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT BY ANYBODY BUT CAPONE.

CAPONE MANAGED AT THE TIME OF THE KILLING TO BE IN FLORIDA IN THE OFFICE OF THE LOCAL STATE'S ATTORNEY, THE PROSECUTOR, CHATTING WITH HIM.

HE COULDN'T HAVE A BETTER WITNESS.

- THE BIGGEST THING THAT GETS ME IS THE FACT THAT AL CAPONE WAS VERY VISIBLE IN MIAMI.

EVERYTHING I'VE SEEN IN THAT WOULD BE STUFF THAT WE WOULD DO.

JUST THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, HE HAD A SMIRK ON HIS FACE, SITTING DOWN IN MIAMI, LIKE, "NO, THAT WASN'T ME."

THERE'S PEOPLE THAT WILL BELIEVE THAT.

- IF CAPONE WANTED TO KILL MORAN, HE WOULD HAVE KNOWN HOW TO DO IT.

TO GO INTO A GARAGE AND KILL SEVEN PEOPLE IN PURSUIT OF A GANG LEADER WHO ISN'T EVEN IN THAT GARAGE DOES NOT SOUND LIKE AL CAPONE'S WORK.

CAPONE WAS NEVER CHARGED.

HE WAS NEVER EVEN QUESTIONED BECAUSE POLICE DIDN'T THINK HE HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT.

- TO THIS DAY, NOBODY KNOWS FOR CERTAIN.

ALL WE KNOW, IT'S PRETTY DEVASTATING TO BUGS MORAN'S GANG.

IT'S ALSO GOING TO END UP BEING DEVASTATING TO AL CAPONE'S GANG.

narrator: THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE WOULD BE A DARK TURNING POINT IN THE STORY OF AL CAPONE.

A STORY WHICH, UNTIL THAT DAY, HAS BEEN ONE OF TRIUMPH AND FAME, THAT HAS ITS BEGINNINGS IN ITALY.

- HIS FAMILY WERE PASTA MAKERS IN THIS SMALL TOWN.

MOVED TO THE UNITED STATES AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY; HIS FATHER COMING OVER FIRST AND SETTING UP SHOP AS A BARBER.

HUGE WAVES OF IMMIGRANTS ARRIVING THE UNITED STATES IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, AND CAPONE'S FAMILY, LIKE SO MANY, SETTLED IN ONE OF THE POOREST NEIGHBORHOODS THEY COULD FIND WHERE HOUSING WAS AFFORDABLE.

narrator: GABRIEL CAPONE, WIFE TERESINA, AND THEIR TWO SONS MOVE IN TO A SQUALID BROOKLYN TENEMENT NEAR THE NAVY SHIPYARD, WHERE ALPHONSE GABRIEL CAPONE WAS BORN ON JANUARY 17, 1899.

- ONE OF NINE CHILDREN FROM A VERY POOR FAMILY AND WAS FORCED TO FIND HIS WAY TO HUSTLE ON THE STREETS TO HELP SUPPORT HIS FAMILY FROM A VERY EARLY AGE.

- BROOKLYN HAD JUST BECOME PART OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

MY NAME IS TIM WEINER.

I'VE WON THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR JOURNALISM, AND I WAS A REPORTER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES FOR MANY YEARS, IN WHICH I COVERED WAR, CHAOS, CONFLICT, AND OTHER FUN SUBJECTS.

AL CAPONE IS AN AMERICAN ICON BECAUSE HE STILL SYMBOLIZES TODAY, 80 YEARS LATER, THE POWER OF CRIMINALS TO CORRUPT POLITICIANS AND POLICEMEN.

BROOKLYN WAS A CITY OF IMMIGRANTS.

IT WAS A CITY OF IMMENSELY WEALTHY PEOPLE AND DESPERATELY POOR PEOPLE.

IT WAS A CITY WHERE YOU COULD MAKE A LIVING DOING ALMOST ANYTHING AND THERE WERE A NUMBER OF ORGANIZED CRIME RACKETS, OPERATING MOSTLY IN THE BUSINESS OF PROSTITUTION AND GAMBLING.

- THIS ENORMOUS AMBITION THAT'S PART OF GROWING UP AS AN IMMIGRANT, AND OFTENTIMES, YOU KNOW, FOR SOME KIDS IT TURNED TO A LIFE OF CRIME, BECAUSE THEY LEARNED ON THE STREETS HOW TO HUSTLE.

- AND HE WENT TO WORK AS A PETTY THIEF FOR SMALL-TIME CRIMINAL OUTFITS.

- AL CAPONE WAS BREAKING BAD FROM ABOUT AGE 14 ON, AND MAYBE EARLIER THAN THAT.

BUT HE GOT KICKED OUT OF HIS GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR PUNCHING HIS TEACHER IN THE FACE.

HE AS A MEMBER OF A GREAT MANY STREET GANGS.

- HE DID WELL ENOUGH SO THAT HE BECAME ONE OF THE FIVE POINTS GANG, THE BIGGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN NEW YORK.

- CAPONE WENT TO WORK AS A DISHWASHER AT THE HARVARD INN ON CONEY ISLAND, WHICH IS A PLACE RUN BY FRANKIE YALE.

HE WAS A GANGSTER AND A RACKETEER.

RAN THE ICE RACKETS.

IF YOU WANTED TO SELL ICE ANYWHERE IN BROOKLYN, YOU HAD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH FRANKIE; PAY HIM A PIECE OF IT.

IF YOU DIDN'T PAY HIM, YOU'D END UP WITH AN ICE PICK IN YOUR BACK OR IN YOUR KNEE.

SO HE WAS A VERY POWERFUL GUY.

HE SAT AT A CORNER BY THE WINDOW AT THE HARVARD INN AND PEOPLE WOULD COME SIT DOWN WITH HIM, AND IF YOU WANTED SOMEBODY KILLED, YOU WANTED SOMEBODY'S ANKLES BROKEN, YOU TALKED TO FRANKIE.

YOU'D PAY HIM; HE'D TAKE CARE OF THAT FOR YOU.

SO CAPONE GOT TO KNOW SOME VERY DANGEROUS AND POWERFUL CHARACTERS, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS ONLY A DISHWASHER.

HE EVENTUALLY WORKED HIS WAY UP TO BARTENDER, AND THAT SUGGESTS THAT HE WAS GETTING FAMILIAR AND PEOPLE WERE TAKING A LIKING TO HIM.

IT WAS ALSO AT THE HARVARD INN THAT HE ACQUIRED THE SCARS THAT WOULD EARN HIM THE NICKNAME SCARFACE.

[indistinct chatter] - CAPONE WAS WORKING ONE NIGHT AT A PARTY AS THE BARTENDER.

MY NAME IS SCOTT F. STODDART.

I AM A PROFESSOR OF CINEMA STUDIES AND THE DEAN OF LIBERAL ARTS AT THE FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.

RUMOR HAS IT, HE SAW A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ACROSS THE ROOM AND SIDLED UP TO HER AND WHISPERED SOMETHING PRETTY OBNOXIOUS INTO HER EAR.

- THE GIRL SAID, "GET LOST."

CAPONE DIDN'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER, KEPT HITTING ON THIS GIRL, AND THE GIRL FINALLY TOLD HER BROTHER, "THIS GUY WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE."

narrator: THE WOMAN'S BROTHER, FRANK GALLUCCIO, IS ALSO A MOBSTER.

- LIKE EVERYBODY AT THE HARVARD INN, YOU BETTER KNOW HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

- WHEN CAPONE STRUCK BACK AT HIM, THE GUY PULLED A KNIFE.

- TRIED TO SLASH HIS THROAT, MISSED BY A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE HE WAS DRUNK, AND SLASHED CAPONE ACROSS THE CHEEK.

- LEAVING TWO SMALLER SCARS AND ONE VERY PRONOUNCED JAGGED SCAR RIGHT ACROSS HIS CHEEK, RUNNING FROM HIS EAR RIGHT DOWN TO HIS MOUTH.

- IN A FUNNY SORT OF WAY, IT'S BENEFICIAL TO CAPONE IN THE LONG RUN.

IT GIVES HIM A GREAT NICKNAME OF SCARFACE.

AT THE SAME TIME IT MEANS THAT HE ALWAYS KIND OF TURNS AT A PROFILE SO THAT YOU CAN'T SEE EXACTLY WHERE THE SCAR IS.

narrator: CAPONE WOULD CLAIM HE RECEIVED THE SCARS WHILE FIGHTING IN FRANCE DURING WORLD WAR I.

HOWEVER, HE WAS NEVER IN THE ARMY.

IN TRUTH, THE SCARS ON HIS RIGHT CHEEK WOULD BECOME JUST AS ICONIC AND SIGNIFICANT AS THE MAN HIMSELF.

- I REMEMBER VIVIDLY SITTING ON HIS LAP ONE TIME AND REACHING UP AND FEELING THE SCAR ON HIS FACE AND SAID, "DOES THAT BOO-BOO HURT?"

narrator: IN 1919, THE AMBITIOUS AL CAPONE IS FORCED TO LEAVE NEW YORK.

- AL CAPONE MADE A MISTAKE.

HE BEAT SOMEBODY UP WHO'S OF SIGNIFICANT PROMINENCE IN THE NEW YORK UNDERWORLD, AND HE WAS HOT AS A CONSEQUENCE.

SO HOT THAT FRANKIE YALE SHIPPED HIM OFF TO CHICAGO TO A GUY NAMED JOHNNY TORRIO, WHO IS ONE OF THE HEADS OF ONE OF THE BIGGEST GANGS IN CHICAGO.

narrator: FOR CAPONE, HE COULDN'T HAVE PICKED A BETTER TIME TO COME TO THE WINDY CITY, FOR THE RAPID RISE OF AL CAPONE BEGINS AT THE START OF PROHIBITION AND A SUDDEN CREATION OF A LUCRATIVE BLACK MARKET.

- IF IT WEREN'T FOR PROHIBITION, WE WOULDN'T BE TALKING ABOUT AL CAPONE TODAY.

NOBODY WOULD HAVE EVER HEARD OF HIM.

HE WOULD HAVE BEEN A TWO-BIT CRIMINAL.

PROHIBITION MADE AL CAPONE.

WITHOUT PROHIBITION, THERE IS NO AL CAPONE.

- OUTLAWING ALCOHOL WAS SEEN AS "THIS IS GOING TO PURIFY AMERICA."

DEMON LIQUOR WAS POISONING THE YOUTH CULTURE, AND SO THE GREAT EXPERIMENT OF WHETHER THEY COULD SORT OF LEGALIZE MORALITY, IN A SENSE, BEGAN.

- THEORETICALLY, DISPENSING LIQUOR WAS ILLEGAL, BUT STILL THE PUBLIC DID NOT BELIEVE SELLING LIQUOR WAS A BAD CRIME.

- WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT PEOPLE DRANK A HELL OF A LOT.

PEOPLE OPENLY DISOBEYED PROHIBITION, THEY LAUGHED AT THE LAW, BECAUSE THE LAW WAS REGARDED AS A JOKE.

narrator: ENTRY INTO A SPEAKEASY BECOMES A NATIONAL RITUAL.

- THEY WERE NIGHTCLUBS.

THEY WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL NIGHTCLUBS.

IT BECAME FASHIONABLE TO BREAK THE LAW.

- WHEN CAPONE GOT TO CHICAGO, HE WAS 22, AND BEAR IN MIND, 22 THEN WAS NOT LIKE 22 TODAY.

HE'S BEEN ON THE STREETS, AND HE'S HAD THE BOUNCER'S JOB, AND HE'D BEEN CONNECTED TO GUYS BACK EAST, AND YOU HAD TO GROW UP FAST BACK THEN, ESPECIALLY IN IMMIGRANT NEIGHBORHOODS WITH A LOT OF POVERTY AND A LOT OF TOUGH KIDS RUNNING AROUND.

SO WHEN CAPONE GETS TO CHICAGO AND WE SAY, "OH, HE'S ONLY 22," HE'S AN OLD 22.

- AL CAPONE WHEN HE STARTED OUT WAS A TWO-BIT HUSTLER.

HE WAS WORKING IN BARS, WORKING AS A BOUNCER.

HE HAD NOTHING.

WHEN CAPONE ARRIVED IN CHICAGO, HE WENT TO WORK AT A PLACE CALLED THE FOUR DEUCES ON SOUTH WABASH, AND THAT WAS A PRETTY TYPICAL SPEAKEASY IN ITS DAY.

EVERYBODY KNEW IT WAS THERE.

THE WOMEN WERE UPSTAIRS.

THE BEER WAS DOWNSTAIRS.

THERE WAS OFTEN A BAND PLAYING IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM.

CAPONE STOOD OUT IN FRONT OF THIS PLACE AND SAID, "COME ON IN.

WE GOT BEER.

WE GOT GIRLS."

THAT WAS HIS FIRST JOB, WAS JUST TO STAND OUT IN THE COLD, IN THE CHICAGO WINTER, AND TRY TO GET CUSTOMERS TO COME IN OFF THE STREETS.

- PROHIBITION BROUGHT UNTOLD RICHES THAT THOSE FELLOWS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAD WITH THEIR HOUSES OF PROSTITUTION OR THEIR GAMBLING.

- THERE ARE BASICALLY TWO RIVAL GANGS IN CHICAGO.

TORRIO IS THE LEADER OF ONE, AND AL CAPONE IMPRESSES HIM SO MUCH THAT WITHIN A YEAR, HE'S HIS NUMBER TWO GUY.

narrator: WHEN AN ATTEMPTED GANGLAND MURDER OF CAPONE'S BOSS JOHNNY TORRIO FAILS, TORRIO MOVES TO ITALY AND SEEDS THE ENTIRE OPERATION TO AL CAPONE.

- AL CAPONE IS NOW THE SOLE CRIME BOSS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO.

narrator: WHILE PROHIBITION CLASHES RAGE AROUND THE COUNTRY AND NEWSPAPERS CHRONICLE THESE WILD STORIES OF BOOTLEGGERS AND G-MEN, THE GANGSTERS BECOME LEGENDS.

WITH THE RAPID GROWTH OF RADIO, NEWSREELS, AND MOVIES, COMES THE BIRTH OF POPULAR CULTURE AND A SEEMINGLY UNQUENCHABLE PUBLIC THIRST FOR NEW CELEBRITIES, AND AL CAPONE IS ONLY TOO HAPPY TO STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT.

- IN THE '20s, CELEBRITIES WERE IN DEMAND.

THE NEWSPAPERS WANTED TO BUILD PEOPLE UP.

AL CAPONE WAS THE CELEBRITY OF CRIME.

THE PEOPLE WHO PRECEDED HIM GENERALLY TRIED TO AVOID PUBLICITY.

UNLIKE A LOT OF GANGSTERS, HE LIKED TO MAINTAIN A HIGH PROFILE.

- YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF, "HOW DID SOMEBODY LIKE THAT BECOME SO FAMOUS?"

BABE RUTH, HE WAS FAMOUS BECAUSE HE WAS ON THE MOVIE REELS AND BECAUSE HE WAS PLAYING IN THE WORLD SERIES EVERY YEAR.

LUCKY LINDBERG OR AMELIA EARHART BECAME FAMOUS BECAUSE THEY WERE PERFORMING THESE ASTOUNDING FEATS.

CAPONE BECAME FAMOUS BECAUSE CHICAGO WAS THE MURDER CAPITAL, AND HE WAS THE MOST FAMOUS GANGSTER IN THE WORLD, AND HE GAVE THESE INTERVIEWS.

- HE WOULD SPEAK TO REPORTERS AT ANY TIME.

- CAPONE HAD A BRAZEN QUALITY TO THE WAY HE HANDLED THE PRESS.

HE WOULD OPENLY BRAG ABOUT THIS POLITICIAN AND THAT POLITICIAN WERE IN HIS POCKET.

THE PRESS WAS FEEDING OFF OF THIS SO THAT ULTIMATELY THE GANGSTER BECOMES THIS KIND OF INTRIGUING, DARE I SAY, ADORED FIGURE.

narrator: THE TABLOIDS ARE EMERGING AND PROSPERING, THANKS TO MEDIA FIGURES LIKE AL CAPONE.

- THE TABLOIDS ARE A LOT SPLASHIER THAN THE TRADITIONAL BROADSHEETS.

THEY'RE THE NEWCOMERS.

THEY'RE TRYING TO GET MORE ATTENTION.

- HOLLYWOOD WAS ALSO AT THAT TIME RIDDEN WITH SCANDAL, AND THE SCANDALS WERE BECOMING NEWS.

SO YOU HAVE THE FATTY ARBUCKLE SCANDAL WHERE HE SUPPOSEDLY CRUSHED A WOMAN TO DEATH WHILE HE WAS RAPING HER.

YOU HAVE GLORIA SWANSON RUNNING AROUND, MARRYING EVERYBODY.

- AND THEN ALL THIS IS GREAT FOR THE TABLOIDS.

THEY LOVE THESE SENSATIONAL STORIES.

THEY DON'T TAKE THEMSELVES QUITE AS SERIOUSLY, AND THE GANGSTERS ARE A HUGE SOURCE OF NEWS FOR THESE GUYS.

THE TABLOIDS LOVE THE GANGSTERS, AND THEY WANT TO MAKE THEM EVEN BIGGER CELEBRITIES.

- YOU COULD CHOOSE AL CAPONE OR ALBERT EINSTEIN.

ALBERT EINSTEIN ISN'T GONNA HAVE THE MAGAZINE FLYING OFF THE STANDS.

EVERYBODY KNOWS AL CAPONE.

EVERYBODY WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT AL CAPONE.

- AND CAPONE IS A GREAT STORY, AND HE KNOWS IT, AND HE'S GOOD WITH THE MEDIA, AND HE KNOWS IT.

MAYBE THE BEST WAY TO EXPLAIN IT FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN COVERING IT, THE NEW YORK TIMES WAS THEN CONSIDERED THE STODGIEST PAPER IN THE WORLD, AND THE PUBLISHER WAS ASKED, "WHY ARE YOU COVERING THIS MURDER TRIAL THAT WAS GOING ON?"

HE SAID, "WELL, WHEN THE TABLOIDS PUBLISH IT, "IT'S SMUT.

WHEN WE PUBLISH IT, IT'S SOCIOLOGY."

AL CAPONE WAS A DREAM FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN SMUT OR IN SOCIOLOGY.

narrator: OVER TIME, OTHER CRIMINALS WILL IMITATE AL CAPONE'S QUEST FOR CELEBRITY.

- PEOPLE CERTAINLY WANTED TO EMULATE HIM.

CERTAINLY OTHER CRIMINALS EMULATED HIM, AND CERTAINLY HIS LEGACY AS A CRIMINAL IS WHAT PERVADES AMERICAN FILM AND POPULAR CULTURE NOW.

- AL CAPONE DID SOMETHING THAT FRANKLY PROVIDED A LESSON TO FUTURE MOBSTERS.

HE BECAME A CELEBRITY.

I MEAN, IF YOU WANT TO CITE MOBSTERS WHO FOLLOWED IN CAPONE'S FOOTSTEPS, JOHN GOTTI'S AN EXAMPLE, THE DAPPER DON.

IT HAPPENED IN LAS VEGAS.

FRANK "LEFTY" ROSENTHAL OUT OF CHICAGO WAS RUNNING THE STARDUST ON SOME OTHER HOTEL CASINOS.

HE WAS DOING NEWSPAPER COLUMNS AND HOSTING A TV SHOW.

- YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE A CRIMINAL, YOU SHOULD TRY TO KEEP A LOW PROFILE.

YOU SHOULDN'T GO AROUND BRAGGING THAT YOU'RE A CRIMINAL.

BUT CAPONE DIDN'T SEE IT THAT WAY.

HE REALLY THOUGHT THAT THE PUBLIC VIEW WAS ON HIS SIDE.

[gunfire] [tires squealing] narrator: THE POPULARITY OF CRIME LORDS LIKE AL CAPONE WAS THE DRIVING FORCE THAT LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND ENFORCEMENT OF MOTION PICTURE PRODUCTION CODES.

- THE GANGSTER PICTURE REALLY BEGINS TO BECOME SORT OF A HOLLYWOOD GENRE IN EARLY 1930 WITH THE PRODUCTION OF PUBLIC ENEMY, OF LITTLE CESAR, OF SCARFACE IN 1932.

THE GANGSTER FILM SORT OF SOLIDIFIES THIS NOTION OF THE--SORT OF THE MYTHICAL HERO WORSHIP, IF YOU WERE, OF THE ANTIHERO, DRESSING A LOT LIKE AL CAPONE IN DOUBLE-BREASTED SUITS, BIG FEDORAS, SHINY SHOES, FLASHING JEWELRY.

- HOLLYWOOD, THEY GLAMORIZED THE GANGSTER, AND ACTUALLY WE USED TO BE ABLE TO USE THAT TO OUR ADVANTAGE, BECAUSE WE'D MAKE YOU THINK, "OH, GANGSTERS ARE NICE.

"GANGSTERS ARE GOOD.

GANGSTERS ARE GONNA HAVE YOUR BACK."

- AND SO THE GANGSTER PICTURE GROWS OUT OF THAT MYTHOLOGY OF AN ANTIHERO, A MAN WHO'S REALLY TRYING TO DO SOMETHING GOOD BUT JUST CAN'T GET THE GOODNESS TO GO RIGHT, SO HE TURNS TO A LIFE OF CRIME.

narrator: BUT THERE WERE THOSE WHO DIDN'T BUY INTO THE IDEA OF THE IDOLIZATION OF GANGSTERS.

FROM THE TIME OF SILENT FILMS, MANY AMERICANS FELT THAT THE MOVIE INDUSTRY WAS MORALLY QUESTIONABLE, AND GLAMORIZING CRIMINALS ONLY ADDED FUEL TO THE FIRE.

[gunshots] - AND AL CAPONE WAS THE EPITOME OF THE GANGSTER.

IN THE MOVIES OF THE EARLY TALKIES OF 1930, 1931, 1932, THE GANGSTER IS OFTEN THE HERO.

STARTING IN 1933 WITH THE WAR ON CRIME BEGUN BY THE ROOSEVELT ADMINISTRATION AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF SOMETHING CALLED THE HAYS CODE IN HOLLYWOOD, WHICH SAID THE GANGSTER CAN'T WIN; THE GANGSTER'S GOT TO LOSE.

IT'S NOT THE GANGSTER WHO CAN BE THE HERO OR EVEN THE ANTIHERO ANYMORE.

HE'S GOT TO BE THE G-MAN, THE GOVERNMENT MAN.

[gunshots] THE GANGSTER CAN NO LONGER TRIUMPH IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.

HE'S GOT TO DIE.

narrator: THE HAYS CODE WOULD STAND UNTIL THE LATE 1960s, AND THE FILMS AFTER THAT WOULD ONCE AGAIN ELEVATE THE GANGSTER TO LEGENDARY ANTIHERO STATUS.

- WE ALL GET THIS VISCERAL THRILL FROM STORIES ABOUT GANGSTERS, BE THEY FICTIONAL GANGSTERS OR REAL-LIFE ONES.

- YOU WANT TO ROOT FOR THEM EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO.

AND I THINK THAT'S WHY THE GANGSTER FILM HAS CONTINUED TO THIS DAY TO BE SORT OF A POPULAR MAINSTAY.

narrator: HOWEVER, CAPONE IS NOT A MOVIE STAR.

BACK IN THE REAL WORLD, WHILE HE IS EARNING MILLIONS RUNNING HIS CRIMINAL EMPIRE, HE IS EQUALLY CONCERNED ABOUT CREATING AN IMAGE AS A MODERN DAY ROBIN HOOD.

- AND HE OF COURSE WAS A MASTER AT BUILDING A REPUTATION BY GIVING TO CHARITIES AND HELPING PEOPLE WHO WERE POOR AND NEEDY.

MY NAME IS CHARLES B. STROZIER, AND I'M A PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT CITY UNIVERSITY AND A PRACTICING PSYCHOANALYST.

I DON'T THINK THERE WAS REALLY MUCH GOODNESS IN THE HEART OF AL CAPONE.

- HE'S ALWAYS SEEN AS SOMEONE WHO, YES, HE TAKES MONEY FOR ALCOHOL AND OTHER ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES, BUT HE'S ALSO GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY.

- CAPONE, ALWAYS CONCERNED WITH HIS PUBLIC IMAGE AND AWARE THAT PRESIDENT HOOVER WAS TRYING TO GET HIM, WAS TRYING TO MAKE HIM A SCAPEGOAT FOR THE NATION'S CRIME PROBLEMS; SORT OF LAUNCHED A COUNTERATTACK AND OPENS AT LEAST ONE SOUP KITCHEN TO FEED SOME OF THESE POOR HUNGRY PEOPLE AND WANTED TO BE SEEN AS SOMEBODY WHO CARED ABOUT THE WORKING MAN.

- NOW PUBLICLY, AL CAPONE IS CULTIVATING A ROBIN HOOD IMAGE.

HE'S ROBBING FROM THE RICH TO GIVE TO THE POOR, IF HE IS GIVING TO ANYBODY.

- I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD GET CARRIED AWAY TALKING ABOUT THIS SOUP KITCHEN AND SUGGESTING THAT CAPONE WAS SOMEHOW A GREAT PHILANTHROPIST, BECAUSE WE DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY HE PUT INTO IT OR HOW LONG IT REMAINED OPEN.

IT WAS ONE SOUP KITCHEN, AND IT WAS ONE BRIEF PERIOD WHERE IT ATTRACTED SOME MEDIA ATTENTION.

THERE'S NO EVIDENCE THAT THIS THING STAYED OPEN FOR MONTHS OR YEARS.

THERE'S NO EVIDENCE THAT CAPONE WAS SINGLEHANDEDLY FUNDING IT.

- IN HIS HEYDAY, HE WAS MAKING $100 MILLION A YEAR.

THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY.

YOU CAN AFFORD--IT'S LIKE, THAT'S YOUR PUBLIC RELATIONS.

YOU CAN AFFORD A COUPLE MILLION FOR CHARITIES IN ORDER TO KEEP YOUR REPUTATION UP.

- IN PRIVATE, CAPONE IS AN OPERATOR.

YOU DON'T GET TO WHERE HE GOT WITHOUT HAVING CERTAIN ABILITIES, CERTAIN FINESSE.

SO THAT I THINK THAT HE'S OPERATING ON MULTIPLE LEVELS, ACCORDING TO WHERE HE IS AND WHO HE'S DEALING WITH.

narrator: BY THE MID-20s, AL CAPONE IS SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD.

HE CONTROLS THE CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD IN CHICAGO AND IS RAPIDLY BECOMING A LIVING LEGEND.

- HE'S BECOME THIS ICONIC FIGURE.

HE PERSONIFIES THE GANGSTER IN AMERICAN LIFE.

narrator: PROHIBITION IS NOT STOPPING THE '20s FROM ROARING.

- THE 1920s WERE A WHOLE-NEW AGE IN AMERICA.

EVERYTHING CHANGED.

YOU KNOW, THE WAR HAD JUST ENDED AND WE WERE CELEBRATING, THE ECONOMY WAS ROARING AGAIN, AND WOMEN WERE FINDING A LITTLE BIT MORE FREEDOM.

THERE WAS SMOKING.

THERE WAS DRINKING.

THERE WAS MORE RACIAL MIXING.

THERE WERE CLUBS WHERE YOU COULD GO AND HEAR BLACK MUSIC FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND WHITES AND BLACKS WERE MINGLING.

IT WAS A SENSE THAT THE COUNTRY WAS REALLY COMING ALIVE.

- JAZZ WAS BEING RECORDED FOR THE FIRST TIME.

YOU CAN BUY A RECORD OF JAZZ MUSIC.

narrator: PROHIBITION BECOMES A TIME WHEN THE ARTS COME ALIVE.

- I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LEGACIES OF PROHIBITION.

MY NAME IS CASSANDRA WILSON, AND I AM A MUSICIAN.

I FIRST HEARD THE NAME AL CAPONE FROM MY FATHER.

MY FATHER WAS BORN IN CHICAGO HEIGHTS IN 1919, SO HE CAME OF AGE DURING THE PROHIBITION YEAR.

- AS PROHIBITION, WHICH WAS MEANT TO SORT OF TAMP DOWN ALL THIS ENTHUSIASM TO MAKE US A MORE SOBER COUNTRY REALLY HAD THE OPPOSITE EFFECT.

IT MADE US ALL MORE DARING, AND WE ALL WANTED TO GO OUT AND BREAK THESE LAWS.

EVERYBODY STILL WANTED TO DRINK, AND NOW DRINKING WAS ILLEGAL.

IT WAS SEXIER THAN EVER.

narrator: FROM ALL OVER THE MIDWEST, THIRSTY CITIZENS ARE FLOCKING TO AL CAPONE'S CHICAGO SPEAKEASIES FOR THE ALCOHOL, THE WOMEN, AND THE MUSIC.

- IF HADN'T BEEN FOR AL CAPONE, I DON'T THINK JAZZ WOULD HAVE FLOURISHED THE WAY THAT IT DID IN CHICAGO.

THAT'S A PIVOTAL MOMENT IN THE EVOLUTION OF JAZZ, WHEN MUSICIANS LIKE LOUIS ARMSTRONG GO TO CHICAGO AND THEY HAVE THESE SPEAKEASIES TO PLAY IN, AND THEY HAVE A PROTECTOR, THEY HAVE A PATRON IN AL CAPONE.

BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE THAT ENVIRONMENT TO GROW IN, THEN THE MUSIC JUST GOES AWAY.

narrator: AL CAPONE IS PROVIDING AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSICIANS OPPORTUNITIES IN HIS CLUBS THAT ARE NOT AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE.

- THE SPEAKEASIES WERE THE PLACE WHERE JAZZ IS ABLE TO BLOOM, IS ABLE TO BLOSSOM INSIDE OF THIS ENVIRONMENT.

IT'S NOT PLAYED ANYWHERE ELSE IN POLITE SOCIETY.

SO PEOPLE IN ORDER TO HEAR THE MUSIC HAVE TO COME TO THE SPEAKEASIES.

narrator: THE CHICAGO SPEAKEASIES HELPED LAUNCH THE CAREERS OF LEGENDARY SINGERS LIKE HELEN WARD, ANITA O'DAY, AND BILLIE HOLIDAY.

- THERE WERE SO MANY NEW CLUBS.

THERE WAS SO MUCH MONEY GOING AROUND THAT GUYS LIKE CAPONE COULD EMPLOY FANTASTIC MUSICIANS.

THEY DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE OLD CODES.

THEY DIDN'T CARE ABOUT MIXING OF THE RACES.

SO I THINK THAT THE MUSIC FLOURISHED IN A LOT OF THESE CLUBS THAT WERE OPERATED BY GUYS LIKE CAPONE.

narrator: CAPONE IS NOT JUST A PATRON OF JAZZ; HE IS ITS GUARDIAN.

- LOUIS ARMSTRONG WAS PLAYING ONE OF THE SPEAKEASIES, AND HE LEFT THE BANDSTAND.

SOMEONE TOOK HIS TRUMPET.

NOW, IF YOU CAN IMAGINE, THAT'S THE WORST THING THAT CAN HAPPEN.

YOU KNOW, THIS IS LIKE A PRIZED POSSESSION, A PRIZED INSTRUMENT.

SO THE WORD GOT AROUND, AND IT GOT TO AL CAPONE, AND THE NEXT DAY, THE INSTRUMENT WAS RETURNED.

narrator: AN ENDURING TRADEMARK FOR AL CAPONE IS THE WAY HE DRESSED.

EVEN 70 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH, PEOPLE STILL TALK OF AL CAPONE AS THE MOST STYLISH GANGSTER OF ALL TIME.

- CAPONE SPENT LAVISHLY.

HE DRESSED IMMACULATELY, BOUGHT THE FINEST CLOTHES THAT MONEY COULD BUY.

CUSTOM-MADE SUITS IN THESE RIDICULOUS COLORS, BECAUSE HE WANTED PEOPLE TO NOTICE HIM.

- CAPONE'S FASHION SENSE IS VERY SCRIPTED.

IT'S VERY CONSCIOUS.

CAPONE, BECAUSE OF HIS HEIGHT, FANCIED DOUBLE-BREASTED SUITS THAT MADE HIM LOOK TALLER AND THINNER.

- HE WANTED TO DRESS LIKE A BANKER, BUT HE DID IT PLUS.

- HE IS NOT TRYING TO SIMPLY OBSCURE THE FACT THAT HE WAS A CRIMINAL ELEMENT.

THIS WAS A GENUINE EFFORT TO BE PERCEIVED AS A LEGITIMATE BUSINESSMAN.

narrator: CAPONE'S FLAMBOYANT FASHION STYLE HAS BEEN IN POPULAR CULTURE FOR DECADES.

- PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO ALWAYS TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE STYLISH FEDORA THAT CAPONE BEGINS TO WEAR IN PUBLIC.

WHY WAS IT THAT CAPONE WORE THAT WHITE HAT?

IT GOES BACK TO THE MOVIES.

IT GOES BACK TO HIS PASSION FOR WATCHING WESTERNS.

- IN CHICAGO, YOU COULD GET ARRESTED FOR WEARING A WHITE HAT, BECAUSE ALL THE GANGSTERS IMITATED CAPONE.

SO IN THE OLD DAYS, THE DETECTIVE BUREAU SQUADS, THIS IS THE '20s AND '30s, USED TO CRUISE THE STREETS.

IF THEY SAW A COUPLE OF FELLOWS IN WHITE HATS, THEY WOULD PULL THEM OVER.

- THE FEDORA'S A POWERFUL SYMBOL.

IT'S A SYMBOL OF MANHOOD.

IT'S A SYMBOL OF SUCCESS.

IT'S A SYMBOL OF BEING SLICK.

[laughs] IT'S A SYMBOL OF A GOOD PARTYING MAN.

YOU KNOW, IF HE'S WEARING A FEDORA, YOU KNOW YOU'RE GONNA GET A GOOD TIME.

A LADY'S GONNA HAVE A GOOD TIME WITH A MAN WHO WEARS A FEDORA.

narrator: AS THE ROARING '20s COME TO A CLOSE, AL CAPONE'S REMARKABLE RISE TO THE TOP IS COMPLETE.

HE'S THE UNDISPUTED CRIME BOSS OF CHICAGO, IF NOT THE REST OF THE UNITED STATES.

- AL CAPONE CONTROLS A NETWORK OF BOOTLEGGING, SPEAKEASIES, BROTHELS, GAMBLING OPERATIONS, INCLUDING GAMBLING ON HORSES, EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE NO RACETRACKS IN CHICAGO.

IT'S AT THIS POINT HIS-- THAT INCOME IS ESTIMATED IN THE... $100 MILLION RANGE.

- HE WAS A SELF-MADE MAN.

FINDS HIS NICHE, EXPLOITS IT, AND BECOMES A HUGE SUCCESS, ONE OF THE RICHEST MEN IN CHICAGO, ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS MEN IN THE WORLD.

- AL CAPONE WAS THE CELEBRITY OF CRIME IN AMERICA.

narrator: HOWEVER, CAPONE IS NOW THROWING CAUTION TO THE WIND.

HE BOLDLY CHALLENGES THE LAW WHENEVER HE CAN.

HE BECOMES RECKLESS; HIS EGO OUT OF CONTROL.

- AS HIS EMPIRE GREW BIGGER AND BIGGER, HE SEEMED TO BECOME MORE BRAZEN AND LESS AFRAID OF AUTHORITY, ALTHOUGH, YOU KNOW, IT'S HARD TO SAY IF HE EVER REALLY WAS AFRAID OF AUTHORITY.

narrator: BUT THE TIMES ARE CHANGING, AND AS THE ROARING '20s COME TO A CLOSE, CAPONE'S WORLD IS ABOUT TO CHANGE AS WELL.

narrator: FEBRUARY 14, 1929.

ST. VALENTINE'S DAY.

10:30 A.M. AL CAPONE IS ON A TRIP TO MIAMI, WHILE IN CHICAGO, SEVEN MOB ASSOCIATES TAKE A TRIP TO THE MORGUE.

[gunshots] THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE IS ALLEGEDLY PLANNED AND CARRIED OUT BY THE CAPONE MOB, BUT THIS HAS NEVER BEEN PROVEN.

- ONE OF THEM WAS WOUNDED ABOUT 14 TIMES AND SOMEHOW SURVIVED FOR A BIT, FRANK GUSENBERG, AND HE WON'T TALK, WHICH WAS THE CODE IN THE MOB.

YOU'RE NOT GONNA GIVE AWAY THESE THINGS.

narrator: BUT EVEN IF CAPONE IS INNOCENT IN PLANNING THE HIT, IT BECOMES A PUBLIC RELATIONS NIGHTMARE.

- THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THIS WERE BRUTAL.

[camera shutters clicking] THE GUYS WERE LINED UP IN THE GARAGE AND JUST SAVAGELY MACHINE-GUNNED.

[gunfire] - THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, MAYBE THE FIRST TIME THE PUBLIC HAS SEEN THIS MUCH BLOOD, THIS MUCH DEATH, IN ONE PLACE, EVEN MATHEW'S BRADY'S CIVIL WAR PHOTOS DON'T BRING YOU WHAT THAT MASSACRE SHOWED YOU, AND THAT IS BOUND TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON PUBLIC OPINION.

- PEOPLE SICKENED AT IT, AND I THINK FOR THE FIRST TIME COULD REALLY LOOK AT IT AND SAY, "THIS ISN'T RIGHT.

THIS ISN'T AMERICAN."

- EVEN THOUGH THEY NEVER PINNED IT ON CAPONE, AND EVIDENCE SUGGESTS HE PROBABLY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, HE WAS SEEN AS THE LEADER OF THIS OPERATION.

HE WAS A BIG SYMBOL OF THE WHOLE AGE, AND HE WAS BLAMED FOR IT, JUST SORT OF BY ASSOCIATION.

narrator: ONCE AGAIN, CAPONE CAPTURES THE IMAGINATION OF THE PRESS, BUT NOT IN THE WAY HE'S ACCUSTOMED TO.

- THE BUSINESSPEOPLE OF CHICAGO GOT TIRED OF AL CAPONE, AND THEY FELT LIKE HE WAS HURTING THE LOCAL ECONOMY.

THE BUSINESSES WERE NOT INTERESTED IN LOCATING IN CHICAGO.

THE TOURISTS WERE LESS LIKELY TO COME TO CHICAGO BECAUSE OF THE IMAGE THAT CAPONE WAS GIVING THEM, SO THEY TRIED TO THINK OF WAYS THEY COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

THEY CREATED A LIST OF PUBLIC ENEMIES, AND THEY SOUGHT PUBLICITY BY CREATING THIS LIST AND PUTTING AL CAPONE AT THE TOP OF IT-- PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE, THE MOST WANTED MAN IN CHICAGO-- AND DISTRIBUTING THIS TO THE NEWSPAPERS MADE GREAT HEADLINES.

- IT STARTED OUT AS A PUBLICITY STUNT FOR THE CRIME COMMISSION, BUT THEN PEOPLE LIKED IT.

- AFTER 1929, AFTER THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, YOU SEE A REAL TURN IN THE WAY THAT CAPONE IS COVERED IN BOTH THE NEWSREEL FOOTAGE AND IN THE PRESS AT THAT TIME.

HE ALL OF A SUDDEN BECOMES KIND OF DIRTY.

HE ALL OF A SUDDEN IS THE MASTERMIND OF A CRIMINAL ELEMENT.

HE'S NOT SEEN AS THE GOOD SAMARITAN ANYMORE.

THIS IS A MAN WHO EXPLOITED THE AMERICAN DREAM, WHO YOU MIGHT REMEMBER THAT YOU LIKED, BUT NOW LOOK AT HIM; NOW HE COMES OFF AS HE'S EXPLOITED YOU.

- WHEN THEY TAG YOU "PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE," YOU'RE HALFWAY TO PRISON.

narrator: IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE KILLINGS, CAPONE LEAVES CHICAGO.

- THE EASTERN MOBSTERS TOLD HIM THAT HE'D BETTER MAKE THE HEAT DISAPPEAR FROM THE VALENTINE MASSACRE, SO AL WENT TO PHILADELPHIA AND WAS CARRYING A GUN.

BOSSES DIDN'T CARRY GUNS.

THEIR BODYGUARDS DID.

AND LO AND BEHOLD, SOME DETECTIVE SPOTTED HIM WITH THAT GUN.

AL WAS ARRESTED.

NORMALLY A BIG BOSS WOULD HAVE SEVEN LAWYERS DEFENDING HIM AND THE CASE WOULD DRAG ON.

AL PLEADED GUILTY IMMEDIATELY AND WENT INTO JAIL IN PHILADELPHIA FOR A YEAR.

HE THOUGHT THAT WOULD PROBABLY GET THE HEAT OFF, BUT IT DID NOT.

THE VALENTINE MASSACRE HAD SUCH AN ENORMOUS IMPACT ON THE UNITED STATES.

narrator: CHICAGO'S BUSINESS ELITE CONTINUES TO PUT THE HEAT ON CAPONE BY TURNING TO WASHINGTON FOR HELP.

- ONE THING THEY DID WAS, THEY HIRED A LOBBYIST TO GO TO WASHINGTON AND TO TRY TO PUSH THE GOVERNMENT TO TRY TO TAKE DOWN CAPONE.

narrator: THEIR TIMING IS IMPECCABLE.

- LESS THAN THREE WEEKS AFTER THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, HERBERT HOOVER TAKES OFFICE AS PRESIDENT.

HE REALLY IS UPSET ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN CHICAGO.

- WHEN HERBERT HOOVER WAS RUNNING FOR OFFICE, THE ECONOMY WAS GOING GREAT.

IT WAS REALLY AN AMAZING ERA OF PROSPERITY, SO HE PICKED ON LAW ENFORCEMENT AS ONE OF THE BIG ISSUES OF HIS CAMPAIGN.

BECAUSE CAPONE WAS THE MOST FAMOUS CRIMINAL IN AMERICA, HE BECAME AN EASY TARGET FOR HOOVER.

- AL CAPONE WAS NEVER PROSECUTED DURING THE 1920s, BECAUSE AL CAPONE WAS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE LAW.

HE WAS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE CHICAGO COPS.

HE WAS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE COOK COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.

- IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO SEND A MESSAGE THAT WE'RE GETTING TOUGH ON CRIME, CAPONE MADE HIMSELF THE OBVIOUS CHOICE.

- NOW, THE IRONY OF THAT IS THAT CAPONE IS IN HIS OWN WAY AT THE TIME STILL A FOLK HERO, HE'S STILL A ROBIN HOOD, SO HE HAS A DEGREE OF POPULARITY, AND YET POLITICALLY SPEAKING, THE PUBLIC VOTED AGAINST WHAT CAPONE WAS DOING.

narrator: PRESIDENT HOOVER WILL PROVIDE THE FEDERAL RESOURCES TO GET CAPONE, YET IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BUILD A CASE TO CONVICT THE GANGSTER OF ANY OF THE NOTORIOUS CRIMES NOW WIDELY ATTRIBUTED TO HIM: BOOTLEGGING, RACKETEERING, PROSTITUTION, GAMBLING, MURDER.

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT CAPONE IS A CRIMINAL, BUT NO ONE CAN PROVE IT.

- AL CAPONE COULD NOT BE BROUGHT DOWN BY CONVENTIONAL LAW BECAUSE HE WAS TOO INSULATED, TOO HIGH UP, SO YOU WOULD HAVE HAD TO MAKE A CASE FROM A GUNMAN TO HIS BOSS, TO HIS BOSS, TO HIS BOSS, TO HIS BOSS.

THOSE WERE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE.

- I MEAN, THE UNITED STATES HAS BARELY BECOME 48 STATES.

THERE ARE VERY FEW LAWS THAT CONGRESS HAS ENACTED THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS ABLE TO ENFORCE.

THEY COULDN'T SEND THE FBI INTO CHICAGO TO GET AL CAPONE, BECAUSE PROHIBITION WAS THE TREASURY AGENT'S JOB.

narrator: THE GOVERNMENT'S HUNT FOR THE SMOKING GUN IS LED BY ELIOT NESS.

- NESS WAS A PROHIBITION AGENT WORKING ON THE CASE, TRYING TO COME UP WITH EVIDENCE THAT THE PROSECUTORS COULD USE TO PUT CAPONE AWAY.

THE MYTHS ABOUT ELIOT NESS HAVE BEEN WILDLY EXAGGERATED.

NESS IN FACT HAD REALLY VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH PUTTING CAPONE AWAY.

HE DID DISRUPT CAPONE'S OPERATIONS A LITTLE BIT.

HE DID BREAK UP SOME OF THE BUSINESS, BROKE UP SOME BROTHELS, SOME STILLS, HURT CAPONE'S CASH FLOW, BUT HIS WORK REALLY HAD VERY LITTLE IMPACT ON CAPONE, AND I'M NOT SURE CAPONE EVEN KNEW WHO ELIOT NESS WAS.

BUT THE MEDIA PICKED UP ON THIS STORY OF ELIOT NESS, BECAUSE HE'S A COLLEGE GUY.

HE WAS A UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO GRADUATE.

HE WAS SMART.

HE WAS VERY QUOTABLE.

AND HE TOLD THE STORY OF TRYING TO BUILD A TEAM THAT WAS UNTOUCHABLE, A TEAM THAT COULDN'T BE BRIBED.

IN FACT, SOME OF HIS GUYS WERE BRIBED, BUT NEVERTHELESS, THE MEDIA LOVED THIS NOTION OF A TEAM OF TRULY UNTOUCHABLE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENTS.

- IT'S NICE TO THINK OF ROBERT STACK, IF YOU PREFER THE TV SHOW, OR KEVIN COSTNER, IF YOU PREFER THE MOVIE, AS THE GOOD SQUARE-JAWED ELIOT NESS WHO WAS REFUSING TO PUT UP WITH THIS.

BUT ULTIMATELY, ELIOT NESS ISN'T THE ONE WHO BRINGS DOWN CAPONE, BUT HE'S GOT THE IMAGE.

WELL, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, IT IS HARDER FOR TV, FOR HOLLYWOOD, TO DEPICT GUYS CAREFULLY READING OVER TAX RETURNS AND LOOKING AT MONEY THAN IT IS TO SHOW ELIOT NESS COMING IN WITH A BASEBALL BAT, OR WHATEVER HE DID OR DID NOT DO.

narrator: WITH NESS UNABLE TO PIN ANY MAJOR CRIMES ON CAPONE, THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT KNOWS THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE GANGSTER IS TO FOLLOW THE MONEY.

- INCOME TAX HAD JUST BEEN INTRODUCED INTO THIS COUNTRY JUST BEFORE THE START OF WORLD WAR I.

SOMETIMES PEOPLE DIDN'T PAY IT.

ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T PAY IT WAS AL CAPONE.

narrator: AL CAPONE IN 1929 MAY HAVE BEEN WORTH MILLIONS, BUT NO INCOME TAX RETURN HAS EVER BEEN FILED IN HIS NAME.

- A SMALL GROUP OF VERY DEDICATED AND BRAVE TREASURY DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATORS GO LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE THAT CAN PUT AL CAPONE AWAY FOR EVADING TAXES.

- THERE WAS TALK ABOUT SENDING THE MARINES INTO CHICAGO TO SUPPRESS THE CAPONE GANG.

FINALLY THEY SENT A FEDERAL TASK FORCE, WIELDING A MUCH MORE POWERFUL WEAPON THAN THE MARINES COULD HAVE EVER WIELDED: THE INCOME TAX LAWS.

- SO IN THE END, HOW THE MOB IS BROUGHT DOWN, IN CAPONE'S TIME AND THEN IN THE FUTURE, OFTEN REALLY IS LESS EXCITING THAN WE WANT IT TO BE.

narrator: IN 1931, AFTER YEARS OF FALSE TRAILS AND DEAD-END LEADS, A MILD-MANNERED ACCOUNTANT NAMED FRANK WILSON FINDS THE SMOKING GUN, THE ONE MISTAKE, THE ONE PIECE OF EVIDENCE, THE PROVES AL CAPONE HAS INCOME.

- IT'S NEVER BEEN REVEALED PRECISELY HOW FRANK WILSON OF THE IRS'S SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT FOUND THIS LEDGER, BUT HE FOUND AN ACCOUNT'S BOOK THAT SHOWED THE INCOME FROM AN ILLEGAL GAMBLING OPERATION, AND IT HAD AL CAPONE'S NAME ON IT.

THIS WAS PROOF, LEGAL PROOF, THAT AL CAPONE HAD INCOME, AND IT LED TO HIS CRIMINAL INDICTMENT.

- THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO GRAB CAPONE FOR MURDER OR BOOTLEGGING BECAUSE THOSE WERE HARD CASES TO MAKE, AND CAPONE WAS CAREFUL NOT TO GET HIS HANDS DIRTY.

THEY HAD TO MAKE THE TAX CASE.

THAT WAS THE BEST THEY COULD DO, BECAUSE THEY--THEY REALLY WANTED HIM OFF THE STREETS, AND THE GOVERNMENT DEBATED THAT.

IN INTERNAL LETTERS THAT I FOUND IN THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, THEY DISCUSSED, YOU KNOW, "IS THIS GONNA MAKE US LOOK WEAK?

"IS IT GONNA MAKE US LOOK LIKE PANSIES, "THAT THE BEST WE CAN DO IS TAKE THIS BIG NOTORIOUS GANGSTER "WHO ADMITS THAT HE'S A BOOTLEGGER, THE BEST WE CAN DO IS AN INCOME TAX CHARGE?"

BUT ULTIMATELY THEY DECIDED THAT THE IMPORTANT THING WAS TO SHUT IT DOWN.

narrator: ON JUNE 5, 1931, ALPHONSE GABRIEL CAPONE IS INDICTED FOR TAX EVASION IN HIS TAX FILING FROM 1925 THROUGH 1929.

THE GOVERNMENT CHARGES THAT CAPONE OWES OVER $215,000 IN TAXES OVER HIS GAMBLING PROFITS.

- WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE SMOKING GUN THAT GOT AL CAPONE WOULD BE A TAX FORM?

narrator: IT DOES NOT GO UNNOTICED BY THE PUBLIC AND PRESS THAT THE FEDERAL INDICTMENT FAILS TO MENTION ANY OF THE WORSE CRIMES COMMONLY ATTRIBUTED TO AL CAPONE.

FOR CAPONE AND HIS LEGAL TEAM, THIS CASE APPEARS TO BE NO MORE THAN A FLIMSY SHAKEDOWN THAT COULD EASILY FALL APART.

- THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO MAKE THE CASE VERY CAREFULLY, NOT JUST BECAUSE IT'S FINANCIAL AND IT'S THE IRS, BUT BECAUSE THEY CAN'T PROVE ANYTHING ABOUT DEAD BODIES.

- HE WASN'T BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ANY OF THE OTHER THINGS.

IT WAS REALLY ABOUT, "YOUR BUSINESSES ARE NOT AS LEGITIMATE AS YOU SAY."

- THE GOVERNMENT KNEW HOW POWERFUL THE TAX WEAPON WAS.

THE DEFENSE WASN'T ENTIRELY SURE, AND THEY EXPECTED, HEY, THE WORST THAN CAN HAPPEN IS A TWO-YEAR SENTENCE.

- CAPONE THINKS HE'S GONNA GAME THE SYSTEM, THAT HE'LL PLEAD GUILTY, PLEAD DOWN, TO A YEAR, MAYBE TWO YEARS.

HE CAN DO THAT STANDING ON HIS HEAD.

narrator: THE PRESIDING FEDERAL JUDGE JAMES H. WILKERSON REJECTS THE PLEA DEAL.

- HE WON'T ACCEPT THE GUILTY PLEA, AND HE ORDERS A TRIAL.

narrator: CAPONE'S TRIAL OPENS ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 5, 1932, AT THE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO.

- THEN ONCE THE JURY POOL IS SELECTED, CAPONE TRIES TO BRIBE THE JURY.

- IF YOU CAN BUY THE MAYOR AND THE D.A., YOU CERTAINLY CAN GET 1 OF 12 PEOPLE GOOD AND TRUE TO ROLL OVER.

- THE FEDS LEARNED ABOUT HIM BRIBING THE JURY.

THEY HAD A SPY IN CAPONE'S CAMP.

AND THE JUDGE SWITCHED JURIES WITH ANOTHER JUDGE.

SO... [chuckles] AN UN-BRIBED JURY APPEARED.

narrator: THE TRIAL INSTANTLY BECOMES A MEDIA SENSATION.

- HERE YOU HAVE THIS TRIAL, THE WHOLE OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST THIS ONE MOBSTER.

- WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT TRIALS IN THE '20s WERE REALLY UNIQUE.

WE HAD THE FIRST BIG TRIAL WITH THE SCOPES TRIAL IN '24, AND THAT'S, LIKE, THE FIRST TIME THAT A COURT TRIAL SORT OF GATHERS A LOT OF MOMENTUM FOR THE PRESS.

AND THEN YOU HAVE CAPONE'S FINALLY COMING TO JUSTICE, AND IT WAS REALLY SHOWCASED AS, "THIS IS NOW GOING TO END ALL OF THIS CRIME."

AND OF COURSE ALL IT DID WAS GO UNDERGROUND.

narrator: WITH THE PRESS IN ATTENDANCE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND THE PUBLIC OVERFLOWING ONTO THE STREETS OF CHICAGO, THE CAPONE TRIAL SETS THE STAGE FOR FUTURE SENSATIONAL MOBSTER TRIALS, SUCH AS THE ONE FOR CHARLIE "LUCKY" LUCIANO AND JOHN GOTTI.

- CAPONE'S TRIAL WAS A MEDIA CIRCUS.

THEY WANTED HIM TO GRANDSTAND, AND OF COURSE HIS LAWYER'S TELLING HIM TO SHUT UP.

THE TRANSCRIPTS WERE PRINTED IN THE PAPER EVERY DAY BECAUSE THEY WERE SO SENSATIONAL.

narrator: CAPONE'S PUBLIC IMAGE IS IN RUINS.

TO THE BLUE-COLLAR WORKING CLASS, HE IS NO LONGER ONE OF THEM, AN AVERAGE JOE STRUGGLING TO EARN A PIECE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM.

- BY THE TIME CAPONE WAS IN TROUBLE AND THE IRS WAS BREATHING DOWN HIS NECK, THIS LAVISH SPENDING OF HIS WAS NO LONGER GLAMOROUS THE WAY IT HAD BEEN IN THE '20s WHEN THE ECONOMY WAS ROARING.

FOR HIM TO SPEND, YOU KNOW, $12 ON A PAIR OF SILK UNDERWEAR MAY HAVE BEEN EQUAL IN OF A WEEK'S INCOME FOR SOMEBODY, AND CERTAINLY FOR A FAMILY ON RELIEF IT WAS, YOU KNOW, IT WAS A FORTUNE.

THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO FEED THEIR FAMILY FOR A MONTH ON WHAT CAPONE WAS SPENDING ON SOCKS.

- PEOPLE DIDN'T THINK THESE COLORFUL GUYS WERE MUCH ANYMORE.

THEY WAS ALL RIGHT WHEN EVERYBODY WAS HAPPY, EVERYBODY WAS MAKING MONEY, EVERYBODY WAS DRINKING, IN THE '20s, BUT IN THE '30s WHEN PEOPLE WERE STANDING IN JOB LINES AND SOUP KITCHENS, THESE ROGUES DIDN'T LOOK SO GOOD.

- SO IT REFLECTED BADLY ON HIM.

HE WAS KIND OF CLUELESS TO IT, BECAUSE HE'D BEEN LIVING THAT WAY ALL ALONG, AND I DON'T THINK HE REALIZED HOW IT WAS GOING TO AFFECT POTENTIAL JURORS IN HIS TRIAL, BUT THEN AGAIN, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE THINK ABOUT WHEN THEY'RE CLOTHES SHOPPING.

narrator: THE GOVERNMENT'S CASE AGAINST CAPONE IS INCREDIBLY WEAK.

- THEY HAD A VERY DIFFICULT TIME PROVING THAT HE HAD ANY INCOME.

THEY WERE FINALLY ABLE TO GET A BOOKKEEPER TO AGREE TO TESTIFY AT GREAT PERSONAL RISK.

- THE ACCOUNTANT WAS A SURPRISE WITNESS.

SOON IT WAS UNVEILED UNDER GREAT DRAMA.

- CAPONE WAS INDEED RECEIVING LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, BUT EVEN THEN, THAT'S, YOU KNOW, WORD OF MOUTH.

THEY COULD NEVER FIND ANY PROOF.

THEY COULD NEVER FIND ANY CHECKS SHOWING CAPONE DEPOSITING MONEY.

SO THEY REALLY RELIED ON PROOF THAT HE WAS SPENDING HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY AND ASKING THE JURORS TO BELIEVE THAT IF HE WAS SPENDING GREAT AMOUNTS OF MONEY, HE MUST HAVE BEEN EARNING GREAT AMOUNTS OF MONEY, AND THAT WAS THEIR WHOLE CASE.

narrator: AT 2:42 P.M. ON OCTOBER 18TH, THE JURY LEAVES THE COURTROOM TO BEGIN ITS DELIBERATIONS.

THEY FILE BACK INTO THE COURTROOM EIGHT HOURS LATER WITH A GUILTY VERDICT.

- SO MANY PEOPLE GO DOWN BECAUSE OF SOMETHING ELSE THAT SOMEBODY ELSE WAS DOING THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW.

SO HERE'S AN ACCOUNTANT.

HE PROBABLY--AL CAPONE PROBABLY TOLD HIM A MILLION TIMES TO BE CAREFUL.

"DON'T KEEP A RECORD OF THIS, "KEEP A RECORD OF THAT, BE CAREFUL; THEY MAY COME AFTER YOU."

AND MIGHT HAVE PILES AND PILES OF PAPER, BUT JUST ONE LITTLE PIECE OF PAPER IS ALL IT TAKES.

narrator: SIX DAYS LATER, JUDGE JAMES H. WILKERSON DISPENSES CAPONE'S PRISON SENTENCE.

- NOW, NORMALLY PEOPLE WHO WERE CONVICTED OF INCOME TAX EVASION MIGHT GET 18 MONTHS OR 2 YEARS, BUT THE JUDGE GAVE AL 11 YEARS.

- HE WAS ORIGINALLY HELD IN COOK COUNTY, WHERE HIS MOTHER WAS ALLOWED TO VISIT HIM AND BRING HIM BAKED GOODS.

THEN HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE ATLANTA FEDERAL PENITENTIARY, WHICH IS ONE OF THE TOUGHEST IN THE COUNTRY.

narrator: YET FOR CAPONE, HIS TIME BEHIND BARS IN ATLANTA IS MORE LIKE A VACATION.

- HIS CELL ENDED UP BEING PRETTY MUCH THE EQUIVALENT OF A 5-STAR HOTEL ROOM.

HE WAS ABLE TO GET ALL KINDS OF BEDDING AND THINGS THAT HE WANTED, TO THE POINT THAT PEOPLE WERE COMING TO HIS CELL TO LISTEN TO THE RADIO.

[baseball bat cracks] [cheers and applause] IN A SENSE, PRISON WAS GOING TOO WELL FOR AL CAPONE.

FEDERAL OFFICIALS SAID, "WE JUST CAN'T HAVE THIS," AND THEY SENT HIM TO THE ROCK.

narrator: ALCATRAZ, THE SMALL ISLAND IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY, WAS ORIGINALLY A MILITARY PRISON DURING THE CIVIL WAR.

IT BECOMES A FEDERAL PRISON IN 1933.

- IT'S NOT A PLACE WHERE AL CAPONE IS GOING TO FIND THAT HE'S GOING TO HAVE A SOFT MATTRESS.

- THEY TOOK MY UNCLE OUT OF ATLANTA, PUT HIM ONTO A TRAIN CAR.

THE TRAIN CAR TRAVELED TO OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, AND WHAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW IS, WHEN THE TRAIN CAR WOULD PASS THROUGH CERTAIN CITIES, THE PEOPLE WOULD COME TO THE STATION JUST TO SEE AL CAPONE AND TO WAVE TO HIM.

- YOU MIGHT SAY TO YOURSELF, "WHY WOULD THEY NEED TO SEND AN INCOME TAX EVADER TO ALCATRAZ?"

AND THE REASON IS THAT IT WAS A PUBLICITY STUNT FOR THE GOVERNMENT.

THEY WERE OPENING THIS BRAND-NEW PRISON.

IT WAS MEANT TO BE THE TOUGHEST PRISON IN THE WORLD, A PLACE THAT WOULD SCARE CRIMINALS.

AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO GET PUBLICITY FOR THIS BRAND-NEW MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON THAN BY SENDING AL CAPONE THERE?

THAT WAS SURE TO GET LOTS OF HEADLINES.

- AND WHEN HE GETS TO ALCATRAZ, HE THINKS HE'S GOING TO DO EXACTLY WHAT HE DID ELSEWHERE.

AND THE WARDEN, JAMES JOHNSTON, WOULDN'T PUT UP WITH IT.

SO FOR MORE THAN FOUR YEARS ON ALCATRAZ, HE'S JUST ANOTHER PRISONER.

- ALCATRAZ MUST HAVE BEEN VERY ROUGH, BECAUSE IT WAS ROUGH FOR EVERYBODY ELSE.

THE GUYS WHO WENT THERE WERE SUPPOSEDLY THE BADDEST OF THE BAD.

narrator: FOR CAPONE, DOING HARD TIME ON THE ROCK IS ABOUT TO GET EVEN WORSE.

- CAPONE PROBABLY CONTRACTED SYPHILIS WHEN HE WAS STILL A TEENAGER.

IT HAD NEVER BEEN TREATED IN HIS YOUTH.

HE COULD HAVE BEEN TREATED.

THERE WAS TREATMENT AVAILABLE THAT LIKELY WOULD HAVE STEMMED THE COURSE OF THE DISEASE, BUT HE DID NOT SEEK IT.

- SYPHILIS CAN CAUSE DEMENTIA BY ATTACKING YOUR BRAIN CELLS.

ONCE IT WAS PROPERLY DIAGNOSED, HE SPENT HIS DAYS AT A PRISON HOSPITAL.

narrator: NOW SUFFERING FROM THE DISEASE, ON JANUARY 6, 1939, CAPONE IS TRANSFERRED TO THE FEDERAL CORRECTION INSTITUTION AT TERMINAL ISLAND IN CALIFORNIA.

HE IS PAROLED ON NOVEMBER 6, 1939, AND RETURNS TO HIS HOME IN PALM ISLAND, FLORIDA.

- HE DIDN'T HAVE TO SERVE THE WHOLE 11 YEARS.

SERVED ABOUT 2/3 OF IT.

THERE WAS AN EVALUATION DONE THAT SHOWED THAT HE HAD THE MENTAL CAPACITY OF A 12-YEAR-OLD.

WELL, 12-YEAR-OLDS CAN BE BRIGHT, BUT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT QUITE A COMEDOWN, QUITE A DECLINE, FOR A GUY WHO'D ESSENTIALLY RUN THE CHICAGO MOB.

SO THAT BEING RELEASED FROM PRISON, HE IS STILL A PRISONER.

narrator: UNABLE TO RESUME HIS CRIMINAL CAREER, CAPONE SPENDS THE LAST DAYS OF HIS LIFE AT HIS FLORIDA MANSION.

- HE SPENT HIS LAST COUPLE YEARS SURROUNDED BY HIS FAMILY, RANTING AND RAVING ABOUT BUG MORAN, YOU KNOW?

IMAGINED ENEMIES ARE UNDER EVERY ROCK.

- SOME OF THE OLD GROUP CAME TO SEE HIM, BUT ONLY OUT OF COURTESY.

HE HAD NO POWER IN ORGANIZED CRIME, AND HE DIDN'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON.

narrator: ON JANUARY 25, 1947, AL CAPONE DIES OF A STROKE IN PALM ISLAND, FLORIDA, AT THE AGE OF 48.

- AL CAPONE WAS A FIGURE CREATED BY HIS TIME AND PERISHED WITH HIS TIME.

- IT'S INTERESTING HOW AL CAPONE HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME, HOW HE STILL REMAINS FAMOUS.

67 YEARS AFTER CAPONE'S DEATH, THERE'S PROBABLY KIDS TODAY GROWING UP WHO COULDN'T NAME THE LAST THREE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES BUT WHO KNOW THE NAME AL CAPONE.

IT'S A STRANGE THING HOW WE CELEBRATE OUR OUTSIZED CRIMINALS AND WE REMEMBER THEM FOR DECADES AFTER THEY'RE GONE.

- AMERICA LOVES AL CAPONE, IS STILL FASCINATED BY AL CAPONE.

WE STILL HAVE AL CAPONE PIZZA RESTAURANTS AND PASTA SAUCES.

I THINK IT'S BECAUSE WE ARE A COUNTRY THAT HAS FASHIONED ITSELF VERY MUCH IN HIS IMAGE.

- THE CAPONE LEGACY HAS HAD A REAL EFFECT ON THE WAY THAT WE UNDERSTAND ORGANIZED CRIME IN AMERICA, AND CERTAINLY THE WAY THAT WE CONSUME ORGANIZED CRIME.

- WE'VE GOT CAGNEY IN PUBLIC ENEMY.

LITTLE CAESAR, OF COURSE.

EDWARD G. ROBINSON.

TONY MONTANA, PLAYED BY AL PACINO, IN SCARFACE.

OF COURSE WE HAVE THE PAUL MUNI VERSION OF SCARFACE THAT IT WAS BASED ON.

- [yells] - THE LAST EPISODE OF BREAKING BAD, WHICH I WROTE AND DIRECTED, HAS IN IT SOMETHING OF A MODERN DAY VERSION OF THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE.

[gunfire] MAYBE I WAS CHANNELING THAT LITTLE BIT OF NASTY HISTORY IN SOME LEVEL IN MY BRAIN.

- I THINK YOU'RE GONNA KEEP SEEING MOVIES BEING MADE, BEING MADE, AND BEING MADE ABOUT IT, THAT IT'LL JUST GET BIGGER AND BIGGER AND BIGGER AND BIGGER.

IT'LL NEVER GO AWAY.

IT'S A PIECE OF HISTORY OF CHICAGO THAT'LL NEVER GO AWAY, AND IT'S A PIECE OF HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY.

IT'S BECOMING ALMOST LIKE A FOLKTALE, AND IT GETS STRONGER AS IT GOES ON.

- I DON'T THINK THAT CAPONE IS SOMEONE WE SHOULD IDOLIZE.

I THINK HE'S SOMEONE WE SHOULD STUDY TO APPRECIATE HOW HE CHANGED OUR COUNTRY AND HE HOW HE AFFECTED OUR CULTURE.

- AL CAPONE DIED IN HIS LATE 40s, BUT IN A SENSE HE NEVER DIED.

HE BECOMES A MAJOR CULTURAL FIGURE-- BOOKS, TV, MOVIES.

HIS EXPLOITS WERE LEGENDARY.

RISING AS HE DID, BECOMING THE BOSS IN CHICAGO, AND THEN HIS DOWNFALL, IT'S TRULY SHAKESPEAREAN IN A LOT OF WAYS, AND THERE'S THE OLD LINE FROM THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, THE LEGEND OUTRAN THE MAN.