The Real GoodFella
Encyclopedia
The Real GoodFella is a programme that aired on British TV in April 2006. It was made by Class Films and is narrated by Richard Dillane
.
The show features Henry Hill
, Martin Scorsese
(director of Goodfellas
), Nicholas Pileggi
(writer of Wiseguy and co-writer of Goodfellas), Gus Russo (author of Gangsters and GoodFellas), Marie Jones (Henry Hill's boss), Alfie McNeil (former U.S. Marshal), FBI agent Edward McDonald, and Joe Hill (Henry Hill's brother).
It shows surveillance footage of mob capo
Paul Vario
's crew
and photographs of Jimmy Burke and Paul Vario.
The programme gives Henry Hill's personal opinion on what happened, as well as the testimonies of eyewitnesses. It also features an excerpt of a 1978 news report on the famed Lufthansa heist
and footage of a newspaper column printed at the same time.
The show details information about Henry Hill's life as a chef at an Italian restaurant in the Midwest. It tells of how he was smuggled onto the set of Goodfellas in 1990. He speaks about phone calls from Robert De Niro
and his most recent criminal act, the smuggling of drugs through an airport terminal. He also tells of the cultural clash which he is still experiencing in the Midwest, even 25 years after he left New York City
.
Richard Dillane
Richard Dillane is an English actor. He appeared as Merv, the husband of Margaret Humphreys in Jim Loach's fact-based movie Oranges and Sunshine, as Wernher von Braun in the BBC television docudrama Space Race, as Nero in Howard Brenton's play Paul at the National Theatre of GB and as Stephen...
.
The show features Henry Hill
Henry Hill (mobster)
Henry Hill is a former American mobster, Lucchese crime family associate, and FBI informant whose life story was documented in the book Wiseguy, written by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi, and in the 1990 Martin Scorsese film, Goodfellas, in which Hill was played by Ray Liotta.-Early life:Henry...
, Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
(director of Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
), Nicholas Pileggi
Nicholas Pileggi
Nicholas Pileggi is an Italian-American author and screenwriter.-Career:Pileggi is best known for writing the book Wiseguy, which he adapted into the movie Goodfellas, and for writing the book and screenplay Casino. The movie versions of both were co-written and directed by Martin Scorsese...
(writer of Wiseguy and co-writer of Goodfellas), Gus Russo (author of Gangsters and GoodFellas), Marie Jones (Henry Hill's boss), Alfie McNeil (former U.S. Marshal), FBI agent Edward McDonald, and Joe Hill (Henry Hill's brother).
It shows surveillance footage of mob capo
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
Paul Vario
Paul Vario
Paul Vario was a caporegime of a crew in the Lucchese crime family. In the 1970s Vario held the position of consigliere in the family but later resigned. In 1980, longtime associate Henry Hill became a government witness and testified against Vario and members of his crew...
's crew
The Vario Crew
The Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was once controlled by powerful Capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario and Jimmy Burke were betrayed by Henry Hill. Hill betrayed the crew by testifying against many members and his life-story...
and photographs of Jimmy Burke and Paul Vario.
The programme gives Henry Hill's personal opinion on what happened, as well as the testimonies of eyewitnesses. It also features an excerpt of a 1978 news report on the famed Lufthansa heist
Lufthansa heist
The Lufthansa heist was a robbery at John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 11, 1978. An estimated $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewels were stolen, at the time making it the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil...
and footage of a newspaper column printed at the same time.
The show details information about Henry Hill's life as a chef at an Italian restaurant in the Midwest. It tells of how he was smuggled onto the set of Goodfellas in 1990. He speaks about phone calls from Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
and his most recent criminal act, the smuggling of drugs through an airport terminal. He also tells of the cultural clash which he is still experiencing in the Midwest, even 25 years after he left New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.