Billy Bathgate
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, Steven Hill, Loren Dean, Bruce Willis
Billy Behan is a poor teenage boy from the Bronx. One day he catches the attention of gangster Dutch Schultz. Changing his last name to Bathgate, after a local street, he goes to work for Schultz's organization, serving mostly as a gopher for Schultz. Billy is present when Schultz murders his former partner Bo Weinberg, who Schultz believes betrayed him. Schultz then begins a relationship with Weinberg's beautiful, married, girlfriend, Drew Preston.
|
Having beaten the rap in court, Dutch is indicted again on federal tax evasion charges. He wants to have federal prosecutor Thomas Dewey murdered, but his request is rejected by the Mafia Commission. Schultz sends Billy to another gangster with some bribe money, but the effort is rejected. When Billy returns with the bad news, he and Schultz have a falling out and Billy is fired by Schult'z associate Otto, who lets him keep the bribe money as a severance package. As Billy leaves, he is abducted and beaten by gangsters working for Lucky Luciano. The men storm Dutch's hideout and kill everyone inside. Billy is taken before Luciano, who warns him that he knows where Billy's family lives, before letting him go.