Alphonse Capone: Prohibition’s Robin Hood

Alphonse Capone: Prohibition’s Robin Hood

Photo: Chicago Bureau (Federal Bureau of Investigation) - Wide World Photos

The 18th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which effectively established prohibition, had done more to advance the organized criminal underworld than any legislation enacted to stop it. Prohibition itself had created the massive criminal underworld—Alphonse “Al” Capone ruled over it.

The banning of all alcoholic beverages in the United States had taken effect on January 17, 1920 and was upheld until it was repealed on December 5, 1933. Americans’ desire for alcoholic libations propelled gangsters and mob bosses into roles as pseudo-Robin Hood figures. Even Capone, the notorious gangster, who according to the Chicago Daily Tribune was responsible for the deaths of 33 people, was sharply aware of creating a Robin Hood-type persona. As an example, he fed the hungry with a free soup kitchen, serving over 5,000 men, women, and children on Thanksgiving Day in 1931.

Photo: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Although Capone, also known as Scarface, the Big Fellow, Al Brown and assorted other names, understood the power of positive public relations and how it helped smooth and elevate his image, the 1929 Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre of gang rivals, which ultimately killed seven men, damaged Capone’s reputation.  It is widely believed the attack was planned by the Capone organization to eliminate rival gang boss George “Bugs” Moran.  Moreover, gangsters in broad daylight firing high-powered weapons, including Thompson submachine guns, marred the image of Chicago—still to this day it is seen as dangerous land where gangsters flourish, albeit no longer dominated by the Italian and Irish gangs of the 1930s.

The rise of gangster mythology surrounding those such as Capone also came about because novels, magazines and movies began to be written from the gangster’s perspective. For example, consider the closing minutes of the film “Little Cesar” (1931), when the gangster Rico phones the police station to yell at the cop who lied and challenged his masculinity in the newspapers. The scene shows the criminal (Rico’s) perspective and how the lawmen have the upper hand, tracing his phone call, and subsequently executing him as he lies in wait (gun in hand) behind a billboard near an old flophouse.  “Little Cesar,” which was written in 1929 and filmed in 1930, was the first crime film written from the criminal’s own perspective. Many subsequent gangster sagas in film and novels imitated the movie’s plot. It was a plot that worked well, pitting the criminal versus the powerful man, and in turn colored the view of the urban gangster.

The 1932 film “Scarface,” a film adapted from the 1929 novel “Armitage Trail” and loosely based on the life of Al Capone (whose nickname was Scarface) depicted gang warfare and police intervention, in a world of gangs fighting for control over the city. Maurice Coon, who spent a lot of time immersed in the Chicago gangland’s underworld, befriending Sicilian gangsters, wrote the book with censorship in mind. There were numerous passages where he placates the censors, in an effort to balance criticism that the book’s aim was to glorify the gangster. But censorship didn’t stop Al Capone from liking the movie so much he owned a print of it.

“Scarface” was one of the most violent films of the 1930s. It was the first film where the gangster used a machine gun. The movie was filmed in 1930 but was not released until 1932 because of the Hays Office, a government movie censorship agency, which called for the cutting of violent scenes, such as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and a title change to “Scarface: The Shame of a Nation.”  Insomuch as the Hays Office endeavored to battle the glamorization of gangsters and mobs, J. Edgar Hoover too insisted on condemnation of criminals deemed moral rogues, who destroyed the honest fabric of wholesome American society. Co-producer Howard Hughes eventually gave way to the Hays Office pressure, adding a prologue and scenes that would counter the romantic images of the gangster with images of the condemnation and thrashing of gangland evil.

Capone understood the power of an appealing public image. Crowds cheered when he appeared at baseball games.  He made donations to many charities, thus furthering his status as the Robin Hood of his time. Capone was visible and embraced his celebrity status, and many saw him as an opportunist, or common man, who began as the son of poor Italian immigrants and became a successful business entrepreneur, albeit a criminal mastermind. Capone often spoke with the press. As one of the most notorious American urban gangsters of the twentieth century, numerous books, films, articles and songs are written about his life. The blue pinstriped suit and tilted fedora that has become the stereotypical attire of the Prohibition gagster is based on photos of Capone.

Although a murderous criminal, Capone enjoyed a favorable reputation as a Robin Hood-type character. However, his life of celebrity and embellishments would take a fast personal turn on May of 1932, when at thirty-three he began his stretch in prison, and the arduous life of dealing with complications from syphilis and gonorrhea. Upon his release in 1939, Capone received treatment for paresis caused by late-stage syphilis. He spent his last days in his mansion on Palm Island, Florida. By 1946, his physician concluded he had the mentality of a 12-year-old child. Shortly thereafter, on January 21, 1947, Capone suffered a stroke and subsequently contracted pneumonia. On January 25, 1947, Al Capone, 48, went into cardiac arrest and died.  

It is now 100 years since Prohibition began in the United States, and 72 years since Al Capone died. However, he is still undeniably cemented in popular culture as a quintessential Robin Hood figure. Few criminals ever reach such status.