History UsefulNotes / AlCapone

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' had a story where Frank goes back in time and works for Capone, eradicating rival gang members with his usual level of violence. This leads to Frank being a participant in the dinner mentioned under BatterUp (where the others were there for betraying Capone, [[ShootTheDangerousMinion Frank was a]] [[OverzealousUnderling dangerous loose end]]), where he escapes from his bonds and kills Capone, ensuring organized crime never takes off in the U.S, meaning there's no Mafia shootout in Central Park decades later, meaning his family is still alive... and then he wakes up. The story's title is found at the very end: "When Frank sleeps".

* ArsonMurderAnds ultimately arrested, not for any of his gangster activities, but for not paying his taxes.

* BigBad: From 1925 to 1931, Capone was ''the'' crime lord of Chicago. He was so powerful, he had politicians, judges, and even the police in his pocket. Many of the gangland killings and racketeering was perpetuated by Capone.

'''Not''' a member of TheMafia (the Mafia was restricted to those of Sicilian descent and Capone, as previously mentioned, was of Neapolitan descent), although his organization, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Outfit Chicago Outfit]], as well as Capone himself, sat on The Commission. Within a few years of his rise to power, the ethnic divisions in the American mob effectively became meaningless.

* DragonInChief: For his predecessor Johnny Torrio, who usually opted for diplomacy to prevent {{Mob War}}s, especially with the North Side gang. After Torrio almost got wacked, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he fled Chicago]] and left Capone in charge, who was more willing to resort to violence to get his way. The gangland killings and ruthlessness associated with organized crime quickly followed.

* DragonInChief: For his predecessor Johnny Torrio, who usually opted for diplomacy to prevent {{MobWar}}s, especially with the North Side gang. After Torrio almost got wacked, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he fled Chicago]] and left Capone in charge, who was more willing to resort to violence to get his way. The gangland killings and ruthlessness associated with organized crime quickly followed.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Capone understood there were benefits in cajoling the favor of the public, and would openly provide public services, like soup kitchens during the Great Depression or ensuring expiration dates on food and milk. This all went down the drain after the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and everyone started to recognize Capone's involvement in the MobWar with the North Side gang.

* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'': Portrayed by StephenGraham in this show, he first appears as a young thug trying to expand his share in the business. Over the course of five seasons, we see him becoming the crime boss of Chicago.

Capone finally went to trial in 1931 and though he was able to avoid being tried for myriad crimes, the courts [[JusticeByOtherLegalMeans ultimately convicted him for something he didn't see coming]] - [[IntimidatingRevenueService tax evasion]]. He couldn't fix ''that'' jury, and he was imprisoned at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. During his imprisonment, a latent case of syphilis he had developed finally hit the tertiary stage, and the damage to his nervous system completely destroyed him. He was released in 1939; too ill to resume command of the Chicago Outfit, he retired to Palm Island, Florida with his family and died eight years later.

* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: Capone is probably the trope codifier for this. The government couldn't make the case that Capone was a crime kingpin, but they ''could'' point to his lifestyle and spending habits and say he was earning money he hadn't paid taxes on. It was pointed out at the time that the government was consciously ignoring how Capone had earned the money (which they couldn't prove) and instead focusing on the fact that he had the money and owed taxes on it. It's also necessary to consider that when charged with other sorts of crimes, Capone usually got a "not guilty" verdict from the jury by having his men bribe or intimidate them. To make extra sure that he couldn't weasel his way out of the tax evasion charges, the non-corrupt judge, who anticipated that Capone would bribe the jury pool, switched the jury pool for his case at the last minute, and the trial was started before the jurors could be coerced.
* LandslideElection: Capone was behind the Pineapple Primary, wherein he ordered a man on his payroll named James Belcastro to Belcastro to carry out a bombing campaign against the opponents of Capone ally and Chicago Mayor William Hale Thompson. He primarily attacked voting stations in Chicago wards where opinion was thought to oppose Thompson, killing at least 15 people.

* ''Film/{{Scarface 1932}}'', the original B&W film from 1932, in which the protagonist, Tony Camonte, [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed was inspired]] by Al Capone. The first [[FilmOfTheBook adaptation of the novel]] ''Scarface''.

** Bud once borrowed money from a loan shark named Vito Capone ("no relation").

Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) was one of the first iconic American gangsters of the 20th century. He was the fourth son of first-generation Neapolitan immigrants. Born in New York City on January 17, 1899, Al dropped out of school and let himself be caught up in street gangs. During his teen years, Capone received his famous facial scars during an altercation with a man whose sister he insulted. His brawling behavior as an adult brought himself to the attention of racketeers Frankie Yale and Johnny Torrio.

%%!!Tropes as portrayed in fiction:

Capone finally went to trial in 1931 and though he was able to avoid being tried for myriad crimes, the courts [[JusticeByOtherLegalMeans ultimately convicted him for something he didn't see coming]] - [[IntimidatingRevenueService tax evasion]]. He couldn't fix ''that'' jury, and he was imprisoned at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. During his imprisonment, a latent case of syphilis he had developed finally hit the tertiary stage, and the damage to his nervous system completely destroyed him. He was released in 1939; too ill to resume command of the Chicago Outfit, he retired to Palm Beach, Florida with his family and died eight years later.

Capone brought things under control with the murder of O'Banion's successor, Hymie Weiss, and set about establishing himself in the establishment of Chicago. While he occasionally encountered resistance from other gangland rivals, like George "Bugs" Moran (who inherited O'Banion and Weiss's North Side Gang) and his former mentor Frankie Yale (whom Capone's henchmen assassinated in New York in July 1928), by 1928 he largely dominated Chicago's rackets and began expanding his influence into other cities as well.

More than his contemporaries, Capone also cultivated a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity public reputation]] as a "businessman" who merely answered a public need by providing alcohol; his friendliness wit the media and associations with various athletes and celebrities in Chicago didn't hurt. Capone often [[NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters hosted soup kitchens for the poor]], and paid the hospital bills of bystanders, [[PetTheDog especially children]], who were wounded in gangland disputes. (His affection for children, at least, appears to have been sincere, considering that he was a doting father to his only son, Albert Francis "Sonny" Capone.) He also established ties with Chicago politicians, including the corrupt Mayor, William "Big Bill" Thompson, which prevented his prosecution by local authorities.

Torrio and Capone established a monopoly for illegal activities in the nearby town of Cicero, but still were caught up in a mild turf war against Irish-American bootlegger Dion O'Banion. When O'Banion was murdered, all hell broke loose amongst the gangs in Chicago and a MobWar began as his subordinates sought revenge and Torrio, a pacifist who narrowly survived an assassination attempt during the events, opted to abandon Chicago and leave all his operations to Capone.

Capone brought things under control with the murder of O'Banion's successor, Hymie Weiss, and set about establishing himself in the establishment of Chicago. While he occasionally encountered resistance from other gangland rivals, like George "Bugs" Moran (who inherited what remained of O'Banion and Weiss's gang) and his former mentor Frankie Yale (whom Capone's henchmen assassinated in July 1928), by 1927 he had largely established dominance over Chicago's rackets and began expanding his influence into other cities as well.

More than his contemporaries, Capone also cultivated a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity public reputation]] as a "businessman" who merely answered a public need by providing alcohol; his associations with various athletes and celebrities in Chicago didn't hurt. Capone often [[NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters hosted soup kitchens for the poor]], and paid the hospital bills of bystanders, [[PetTheDog especially children]], who were wounded in gangland disputes. (His affection for children, at least, appears to have been sincere, considering that he was a doting father to his only son, Albert Francis "Sonny" Capone, who was deaf.) He also established ties with Chicago politicians, including the corrupt Mayor, William "Big Bill" Thompson, which prevented his prosecution by local authorities.

Things started going downhill again when Capone had seven rival gangsters killed in the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, bringing him unwanted national attention. While there is some speculation that he was innocent of that particular crime, or that the killing was engineered by his subordinates without Capone's knowledge, a number of his henchmen (among them "Machine Gun" Jack [=McGurn=], Fred "Killer Burke" and John Scalise) were soon connected to the killing. Regardless, the brutality of the killings shocked the nation and Capone's reputation with the press, public and even in much of Chicago, immediately nosedived.

At this point, the Federal government finally stepped in. The FBI arrested Capone in March 1929 for failing to testify in a grand jury investigation. Though he was soon released, the incident showed that Capone was no longer immune from prosecution, and he found himself increasingly unwelcome anywhere outside of Chicago. The Treasury Department, which directly oversaw Prohibition enforcement, assigned Eliot Ness to do some damage against Capone with his handpicked team of incorruptible agents nicknamed ''The Untouchables'', while IRS investigations into his massive secret income for the purpose of tax evasion charges were underway.

Capone finally went to trial in 1931 and though he was able to avoid being tried for myriad crimes, the courts [[JusticeByOtherLegalMeans ultimately convicted him for something he didn't see coming]] - [[IntimidatingRevenueService tax evasion]]. He couldn't fix ''that'' jury, and he was imprisoned at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. During his imprisonment, a latent case of syphilis he had developed finally hit the tertiary stage, and the damage to his nervous system completely destroyed him. He was released in 1939 and died eight years later.

'''Not''' a member of TheMafia (The Mafia was restricted to those of Sicilian descent and Capone, as previously mentioned, was of Neapolitan descent), although his organization, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Outfit Chicago Outfit]], as well as Capone himself, sat on The Commission. Within a few years of his rise to power, the ethnic divisions in the American mob effectively became meaningless.

Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) was one of the first iconic American gangsters of the 20th century. He was the fourth son of first-generation Neapolitan immigrants. Born in New York City on January 17, 1899, Al dropped out of school and let himself be caught up in street gangs, and as an adult brought himself to the attention of racketeers Frankie Yale and Johnny Torrio. Torrio subsequently invited Capone to join him as a partner when he took over the businesses of Chicago crime lord "Big Jim" Colosimo and expanded his operations to take advantage of the lucrative career of bootlegging created by the passing of 18th Amendment in the United States, banning the manufacture, importation, and sale of alcoholic drinks.

Capone brought things under control with the murder of O'Banion's successor, Hymie Weiss, and set about establishing himself in the establishment of Chicago.

Things started going downhill again when Capone had seven rival gangsters killed in the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, bringing him unwanted national attention (though, that said, there is some speculation that he was innocent of that particular crime). The Federal government finally stepped in, assigning Prohibition enforcer Eliot Ness to do some damage against Capone with his handpicked team of incorruptible agents nicknamed ''The Untouchables'', while investigations into his massive secret income for the purpose of tax evasion charges were underway.

Capone finally went to trial in 1931 and though he was able to avoid being tried for myriad crimes, the courts [[JusticeByOtherLegalMeans ultimately convicted him for something he didn't see coming]] - [[IntimidatingRevenueService tax evasion]]. He couldn't fix ''that'' jury, and he was imprisoned at Alcatraz Island in San Francisico. During his imprisonment, a latent case of syphilis he had developed finally hit the tertiary stage, and the damage to his nervous system completely destroyed him. He was released in 1939 and died eight years later.

'''Not''' a member of TheMafia (TheMafia was restricted to those of Sicilian descent and Capone, as previously mentioned, was of Neapolitan descent), although his organization, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Outfit Chicago Outfit]], as well as Capone himself, sat on The Commission. Within a few years of his rise to power, the ethnic divisions in the American mob effectively became meaningless.

* An episode of WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons had him [[https://youtu.be/Zf70ihqbDdw?t=9 dancing the Charleston]] [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext on top of a flagpole]] in a CutawayGag.