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The Gangster Chronicles

  • TV Mini Series
  • 1981–
  • 1h
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
318
YOUR RATING
The Gangster Chronicles (1981)
BiographyCrimeDrama

The series follows the lives of the three main characters from their youth into becoming major criminal figures in 1920's America.The series follows the lives of the three main characters from their youth into becoming major criminal figures in 1920's America.The series follows the lives of the three main characters from their youth into becoming major criminal figures in 1920's America.

  • Stars
    • Michael Nouri
    • Joe Penny
    • Brian Benben
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.1/10
    318
    YOUR RATING
    • Stars
      • Michael Nouri
      • Joe Penny
      • Brian Benben
    • 11User reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Primetime Emmy
      • 1 win & 2 nominations total

    Episodes15

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated1 season1981

    Photos1

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    Top cast50

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    Michael Nouri
    Michael Nouri
    • Charles 'Lucky' Luciano
    • 1981
    Joe Penny
    Joe Penny
    • Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel
    • 1981
    Brian Benben
    Brian Benben
    • Michael Lasker
    • 1981
    Kathleen Lloyd
    Kathleen Lloyd
    • Stella Siegel
    • 1981
    Madeleine Stowe
    Madeleine Stowe
    • Ruth Lasker
    • 1981
    Chad Redding
    • Joy Osler
    • 1981
    Markie Post
    Markie Post
    • Chris Brennan
    • 1981
    Allan Arbus
    Allan Arbus
    • Goodman
    • 1981
    Louis Giambalvo
    Louis Giambalvo
    • Al Capone
    • 1981
    James Andronica
    • Frank Costello
    • 1981
    Robert Davi
    Robert Davi
    • Vito Genovese
    • 1981
    Joseph Mascolo
    Joseph Mascolo
    • Salvatore Maranzano
    • 1981
    David Patrick Wilson
    David Patrick Wilson
    • Vincent 'Mad Dog' Coll
    • 1981
    Kenneth Tigar
    Kenneth Tigar
    • Thomas E. Dewey
    • 1981
    Richard S. Castellano
    Richard S. Castellano
    • Giuseppe 'Joe the Boss' Masseria
    • 1981
    Jon Polito
    Jon Polito
    • Thomas 'Three Finger Brown' Lucchese
    • 1981
    Jonathan Banks
    Jonathan Banks
    • Dutch Schultz
    • 1981
    E.G. Marshall
    E.G. Marshall
    • Narrator
    • 1981
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews11

    8.1318
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    Featured reviews

    10shermanj-2

    Gangster Chronicles

    I own a VHS of the Gangster Chronicles from the mini series but I think I may be missing some episodes. I have about 5 hrs without commercials.

    I just bought the Gangster Wars on DVD but its condensed to about 2 hrs.

    The Godfather was great( at least 1 & 2) but The Gangster Chronicles is better in my opinion as they were real characters. I mean who really is Vito Corleone? Is it Luciano or Genovese or Anastasia?

    My father got me interested in Gangster movies when I was a young kid as my father was born and raised in Brownsville,NY. My Grandfather was even involved in a shootout with Murder Inc.

    I wish I could go back to the 20s and I would have ran sh*t
    10starchile57

    the best yet and i have seen many

    superbly written and acted. easy to follow and engaging. i am a fan of the godfather trilogy but i like this better!!!! the only miniseries that i stopped what i was doing or rushed home to watch. michael nouri and brian benben were outstanding. basically you are drawn to the charators.
    10frank-ravlen

    Superb series, but did it finish without a proper ending??

    Whether it was the TV company scheduling (or mis-scheduling!) but it seemed to me to stop in mid- action. Did you feel this? Just like 'Amazon' did! This was my first sight of both Joe Penny and Michael Nouri and I have followed with interest their careers from then to date. As an avid reader of all things Mafia styled this was the most authentic portrayal of that lifestyle until the more recent Sopranos and Goodfellas.Why have the TV companies never repeated this series? It would be a welcome change from some of the current dross that is being shown. The epithet 'Lucky' was given to Luciano after he survived a severe beating and left for dead in a wooded area, not as some say due to his gambling luck.
    9dgjones-62258

    Absolutely Brilliant

    Can anyone please tell me where I can find this show? The DVD depicted for The Gangster Chronicles is a documentary and not the drama that I saw back in the 1980s.

    I have been trying to find it for years.

    I will revisit this page so please leave a message if you know where I can get it.

    Before I saw this show I had heard of Al Capone but never heard of Charlie Luciano and how he was the biggest mobster of them all.

    (An interesting fact - he was responsible for getting the alies into Italy in the second world war).

    The cast in the show are superb and it was the first time I had seen Jonathan Banks, who later found fame in Breaking Bad.
    10hhalukkilic

    The Best

    I watched this series when I was 13. I remembered I watched them all in one weekend and it was beta video tape format and guess around 12 tapes. As I have personal interest in Mafia movies and series I can easily say this is one of the best mafia series I have ever watched. Micheal Nouri , Joe Panny and Brian Benben was great and espeacially Johnathan Banks as Dutch Shultz was extraordinary. It was a true story of orginise crime in New York from 1900 to 1930's and foundation of orginise crime in USA. The hit of Joe Masseria in Coney Island restaurant and hit of Dutch Shultz in a phonebox was unforgettable scenes. You can not compare this series with now a days phenomenon Sopranos because yes Sopranos is really great however it is fiction but Gangster Chronichles based on a true story and events. I would be really happy to watch it again but there is no DVD or VHS format of the series is available anywhere.

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    Related interests

    Ben Kingsley, Rohini Hattangadi, and Geraldine James in Gandhi (1982)
    Biography
    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The character of Michael Lasker was based on Meyer Lansky. The name was changed because Lansky was still living at the time.
    • Connections
      Edited into Gangster Wars (1981)

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    FAQ17

    • How many seasons does The Gangster Chronicles have?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 12, 1981 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Gangsterkriget
    • Filming locations
      • Capitola, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Universal Television
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h(60 min)

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