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| Robert DeNiro & Joe
Pesci (AP) |
Another interesting comparison involved Thomas DeSimone. Played
by Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, for which he received the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, DeSimone was portrayed as
a psychopathic murderer who helped beat and stomp to death
“Billy Batts” (Frank Vincent) and killed the teenager,
“Spider” (Michael Imperioli, now Christopher in The
Sopranos). In reality, Joe Pesci represented two characters in
his Goodfellas role. Several of the incidents Henry Hill
discussed in his book Wiseguy were carried out with Paul
Vario’s son, Lenny. Since Lenny Vario is alive, the
screenwriters decided to combine Vario and DeSimone into one
on-screen character.
One has to wonder how Tommy’s real life widow, Cookie
DeSimone, must have felt seeing her husband portrayed as a
heartless mob hitman and an immoral womanizer in Goodfellas,
then to see him as an almost clownish mob wannabe in The Big
Heist. In real life Thomas DeSimone fell somewhere in between.
The most glaring mistake in The Big Heist was the role
of Paul Vario as a member of the Gambino Family. One can only
assume that the screenwriters did this to glorify the role of John
Gotti in the movie. Imagine that -- someone wanting to glorify
John Gotti. Vario was a ranking capo and highly visible member of
the Lucchese Family. John Gotti’s role in the robbery was
minimal and will be discussed later. Paul Castellano deserved no
part in the movie whatsoever.
As far as the string of murders following the theft were
portrayed, Goodfellas showed the graphic brutality of the
killings, although inaccurately and out of sequence. The Big
Heist, while basically a made-for-TV movie, mercifully left
out the graphicness, had most of the killings and disappearances
out of sequence, and completely left out the role of two key gang
members who were eliminated in a cold double-murder.
In addition to the bad guys, none of the roles of the good guys
were accurately portrayed. The screenwriters in The Big Heist
decided to focus on one fictional police officer and two FBI
agents.
Other inaccuracies about the film included Burke and “Stax”
Edwards participating in the actual robbery. Neither was there.
Also, the roles of Louis Werner and Peter Gruenwald, Lufthansa
employees, were minimized. Burke was given credit as the
mastermind behind the robbery. However, it was Werner and
Gruenwald’s idea to rob the airline cargo terminal. Werner, as
was incorrectly depicted in the movie, was not present during the
robbery.
Henry Hill was portrayed more accurately in The Big Heist
than in Goodfellas. In real life, Hill was not the
charming, likable character played by Ray Liota. Heavily into
alcohol and drug abuse most of his adult life, Hill continued to
live the life of a misfit even after he was given a second chance
in the Witness Protection Program. Only recently has he seemed to
have gotten his act together. Hill was the recent subject of an
Arts & Entertainment Biography production and has
created a website called “goodfellahenry.com.
With information from The Heist and Wiseguy: Life in
a Mafia Family, and using newspaper accounts of the robbery
and the ensuing murders and disappearances, here is a more
accurate picture of the infamous Lufthansa robbery.
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