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Synopsis
The story is
divided among three distinct time periods: the early 1920s,
the early 1930s and the year 1968. The story is also jumps
back and forth between these times and is summarized chronologically
here.
In 1968, David
"Noodles" Aaronson (Robert De Niro), returns to
the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NY following a prolonged
absence. He has been called back to his old neighborhood
under mysterious circumstances; he's received a notice from
a local rabbi telling him that the cemetery in his old neighborhood
is being closed and the remains of those buried there are
being moved. He sets himself up in with a room in a bar
owned by an old friend, Fat Moe (Larry Rapp), and begins
to investigate the summons he received. Noodles is suspicious
of the letter, thinking he's been called back to see to
the reburial of his old friends, Patrick "Patsy"
Goldberg (James Hayden), Philip "Cockeye" Stein
(William Forsythe), and Max Bercovic (James Woods), who
he used to be in a gang with. Noodles believes someone is
seeking revenge against him.
In the earliest
time period, the early 1920s, the boys grow up in poverty
in a Jewish neighborhood of the Lower East Side. They ostensibly
work for a young local gangster named Bugsy, however, Noodles
and his friends Patsy, Cockeye, and Dominic, have ambitions
to strike out on their own. One day, while attempting to
roll a drunk, they are foiled in their plot by Max, who
is just moving into the neighborhood with his mother. He
keeps the drunk's pocket watch and leaves the boys to be
harassed by a policeman, Whitey (whom the boys call "Fartface")
who constantly bullies them. Noodles finds Max later and
demands the watch back. Whitey happens by and takes the
watch for himself. Noodles and Max come to admire each others
resolve and decide to be friends. Though Noodles and Max
share the leadership of the gang, it is Max who is the more
charismatic and makes most of the decisions for them.
One day Patsy
spies Whitey walking along the rooftops of the neighborhood
and follows him. Patsy immediately realizes that Whitey
is going to see their pre-teen (and physically matured)
friend, Peggy, who prostitutes herself. The boys catch Whitey
in the act and photograph him; Patsy quickly disappears
with the film plate. Whitey acquiesces to their demands
that, as the new gang in the area, he pay them as much in
tribute as he does Bugsy and that he do some enforcement
work for them. They also get their watch back from him and
make him pay for Noodles and Max to have sex with Peggy.
Noodles has long
desired to be romantically involved with a girl, Deborah
(Jennifer Connelly), who lives in his building and whose
father owns the local kosher restaurant in the neighborhood.
While using the men's room in the restaurant, David often
spies on Deborah through a small hole in the wall while
she practices her ballet steps. Deborah, however, mostly
ignores his advances, with the exception of an intimate
moment they share when the restaurant's closed during Passover.
The boys become
something of a success in their neighborhood, thieving houses
and stores and rolling more drunks and other weaker types
for small earnings that are substantial for themselves.
When Bugsy hears that there's another gang that isn't under
his control, he and his thugs horribly beat Noodles and
Max . Undaunted, the boys meet with a local Italian mobster,
Capuano, and show him an invention of Noodles' that will
allow Capuano to keep all the imported cargo he illegally
deals even after his ships crews are forced to throw it
overboard by harbor customs agents. The first time the boys
use Noodles invention, it works perfectly and the boys are
overjoyed at the cargo that floats to the surface. Max falls
overboard and doesn't surface for a seemingly long amount
of time. Worried that his friend has drowned, Noodles looks
for him and is perturbed when Max finally appears.
The invention
is a success and the boys become very wealthy, receiving
10% of Capuano's earnings. They rent a train station locker
and stash their cash earnings in a leather briefcase, promising
that they will only withdraw or deposit funds from the locker
when they are all present and that the key will be kept
by Fat Moe. On their way back from the station, they're
attacked by Bugsy, who this time carries a pistol. Dominic
is the only member of the gang who is shot by Bugsy (being
the smallest, he is unable to run for cover as fast as his
companions) and dies in Noodles' arms. Noodles retaliates
and stabs Bugsy with a switchblade several times before
a policeman tries to stop him. Noodles, still in a fit of
rage about Dominic, stabs the cop and is arrested. He is
sentenced to 12 years. His friends turn out to see him delivered
to the juvenile reformatory.
In the early
1930s, Noodles is released from prison and is picked up
by Max. Max explains that he and the rest of the gang have
set themselves up in an undertaking business. However, the
mortician's parlor is a front for their real business, bootlegging
liquor, which has made them rich. According to Max, they
run the most popular speakeasy in the city; they hide the
scotch they serve in the building's steam heating system.
A party is held for Noodles on his return and Max introduces
him to some new associates, Frankie Manoldi (Joe Pesci)
and his partner Joe (Burt Young). Frankie and Joe want the
gang to rob a diamond broker's they own in Detroit. During
the heist, Noodles hits and rapes a woman, Carol (Tuesday
Weld), who works there; she's a masochist who provokes Noodles
into beating her; Noodles also does so despite a stern warning
from Joe himself not to abuse her. The gang meets with Joe
to give him the diamonds and kill him and his men on Frankie's
orders. Noodles, unaware of the deal that Max made with
Frankie to murder Joe, is quite angry with Max; his reasoning
is that their gang should not be liable to anyone like Frankie
and should operate independently. Also, Noodles is concerned
that one day Frankie may want Noodles or Max to eliminate
the other. Max assures Noodles it will never happen. As
they drive away from the scene, Noodles foolhardily drives
their car off a long pier into the bay. (A restored scene
shows everyone except Noodles escaping the car and surfacing.
After a few minutes, the guys are worried that Noodles may
have been killed by a nearby dredging machine but he appears
soon after, a reflection of Max tricking him when they were
teenagers.)
The gang then
begins to aid a local union leader, Jimmy "Clean Hands"
O'Donnell (Treat Williams), who has made a career of standing
up to corrupt labor leaders, particularly a man named Crowning.
After rescuing Jimmy from Crowning's thug, Chicken Joe,
who is about to burn him alive, the gang offers their assistance
to Jimmy, who initially refuses their help, not wanting
to deal with men who operate in bootlegging, drugs or prostitution.
The gang turns
their attention to a local labor strike being engineered
by a celebrity police captain, Vincent Aiello (Danny Aiello).
Aiello is being manipulated by the factory owners into allowing
his officers to protect the scab workers the owners have
allowed into their factory. The gang concocts a brilliant
and diabolical scheme to switch Aiello's newborn son (his
family's only boy after four girls) at the hospital: Noodles
calls him just after he discovers the switch (the gang switched
his boy for a girl in the nursery) and tells him to call
off his officers and let the workers and management work
out the strike. However, when Patsy tries to remember which
baby they switched Aiello's boy for, he can't; he's lost
the switch list with the child's number on it. The mix-up
doesn't faze the gang, however, and they agree to simply
give Aiello the number of a random boy from the ward, coldly
laughing over the fates of some of the children they'd mixed
up.
During the time
that the gang is expanding their business dealings, Noodles
rekindles his romance with Deborah (now played by Elizabeth
McGovern). He arranges for a lavish vacation for them both
at a posh resort that is closed for the season. Noodles
reveals his love for Deborah, however, she is still as reluctant
to get romantically involved with him, and plans to leave
for California to study acting. On their return trip in
their limousine, Noodles rapes Deborah. Ashamed, he orders
the driver to take her home. Some time later, Deborah boards
a train to California; Noodles, from a distance in the station,
watches her leave; she closes the compartment blind when
she spots him.
While calling
Max and Noodles for assistance, Jimmy is nearly killed on
the street by Chicken Joe. The gang retaliates, shooting
at Crowning outside his club, killing his bodyguards, including
Chicken Joe. With a wounded leg, Jimmy is crippled for life
but is able to continue his career. While they celebrate
with Jimmy in the hospital, Jimmy's attorney, Shark, tells
the gang that Prohibition may soon end and they should think
about entering legitimate business with their large fleet
of bootlegging trucks, with Jimmy acting as their front.
Max seems to like the idea, however, Noodles is unconvinced,
still adhering to his old mantra of not working for anyone
but themselves. Max suggests that Noodles' idea of business
is too archaic and that they need to expand to make more
money, but Noodles still adheres steadfastly to his street
code.
In late 1933,
Prohibition approaches its end, and the gang find themselves
out of work. Not wanting to go into legitimate work, Max
reveals an audacious plan to rob the Federal Reserve bank
in Manhattan. Noodles thinks the plan is too outrageous,
knowing that it almost certainly would get him and the rest
of the gang killed. By this time, the woman Noodles sexually
assaulted in Detroit, Carol, has joined the brothel that
Peggy runs (in conjunction with the gang's speakeasy) and
has become Max's girlfriend. She tries to convince Noodles
to get Max to abandon his plan or tip the police to get
Max arrested to give him time to think over the scheme's
absurdity. Noodles plans to alert the police about a liquor
exchange Max has planned with Cockeye and Patsy, which is
set to take place a short time after the gang's party in
celebration of the end of Prohibition. Noodles does so and,
when Max joins him in the office, provokes Max into a fight
by suggesting his friend is crazy; it is a vulnerable fact
of Max's life that his father was mentally unbalanced and
died in a sanitarium. Noodles shows up at the site of the
liquor buy and sees that Patsy and Cockeye have been killed
and it appears Max has been burned beyond recognition. After
returning to Fat Moe's bar and finding his girlfriend Eve
murdered and Moe horribly beaten (depicted in the first
scenes of the film), he retrieves the key to the locker
at the train station. At the station, he finds that the
money has been replaced with newspapers. Puzzled, Noodles
buys a one-way bus ticket to Buffalo and leaves.
During his sleuthing
in 1968, Noodles finds out that his friends were moved to
a different cemetery and an elaborate mausoleum was constructed
for them. He finds the key to the train station locker on
a plaque inside that states Noodles himself put the plaque
and key there to honor his friends. He goes to the locker
and finds the same leather case and more money inside. A
note inside the case says "Advance payment for your
next job". According to news reports, a senator named
Chris Bailey is under investigation for corruption; several
witnesses set to testify against Bailey have all died under
mysterious circumstances. Noodles suspects a connection
between Bailey and the money left to him. Before visiting
the senator's house under invitation, he talks to Carol
who tells him that Deborah is once again living in the New
York City area and is now a famous stage actress. Noodles
visits her and the two have a lengthy conversation. Deborah's
most important revelation is that she and Senator Bailey
are together and have a grown-up son, also named David,
who very closely resembles Max when he was younger.
Noodles goes
to Bailey's Long Island mansion and meets directly with
the Senator, who reveals himself to be Max. Max had faked
his own death during the liquor exchange where he was "killed"
and has, for the past 30 years, created the Bailey persona
as a disguise. With the impending investigation for corruption,
Max tells Noodles that he wants to be assassinated and that
Noodles is the only person to do it (hence the money in
the suitcase as an "advance for the next job").
Noodles refuses, saying that he feels betrayed and has felt
guilty for the entire span Max was gone, which is punishment
enough. He leaves through a secret passage; on the street
outside Bailey's estate, he catches a glimpse of Bailey
standing by the road. A garbage truck drives by, the augers
in the back clearly visible, suggesting but not concluding
for certain that Bailey has thrown himself into them to
his death.
The film ends
in the 1930s, with Noodles in a Chinese opium den. Laying
down after a few puffs from an opium pipe, he smiles as
the closing credits roll.
[It has been
suggested by fans, critics and some film historians that
the 1968 sequences were all part of an opium-induced dream
experienced by Noodles.]
(See
here)
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