MOB TOWN
US, 2019, 88 minutes, Colour.
David Arquette, Danny A. Abeckaser, PJ Byrne, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Jennifer Esposito, Gino Cafarelli, Robert Davi.
Directed by Danny A. Abeckaser.
The event portrayed in this brief film is significant in the history of the Mafia and the role of the FBI and the American government. It focuses on the deaths of Mafia chiefs in the mid-1950s, the predominance of Vito Genovese the, the idea of summoning many of the Mafia heads to a gathering in upstate New York, the town of Appalachin. Genovese is portrayed by Robert Davi.
The film is brief and must have had a small budget – especially evident in the quick resolution of the meeting, the role of the police and the FBI, the Mafia chiefs scattering through the woods, driving off, held up by roadblocks but shown in only a minute or two.
The emphasis is on Ed Croswell, a police officer who had been involved in cases in 1942 but fallen foul of authorities are not promoted. Here he is played by David Arquette. The film shows his earnestness, his suspicions of the Mafia, his pulling up a Mafia driver who is quickly released from custody by a New York judge’s warrant. He becomes suspicious of one of the Mafia types in the town, Joseph Barbara (played by the film’s director, Danny Aberkaser. The film shows his perseverance, his chief not initially believing him, his less than competent partner who goes to sleep on the job, his stakeouts, discovering what was going on, especially when food in the town is being brought up by Barbara. He is actually seen by one of the Mafia wives as he jots down the numberplates of the cars outside the house – which leads to the group fleeing.
There is a subplot of a romance with the local widow of a former policeman. And, at the end, there is a phone call from the president praising him for his intervention and what it led to. There is a lot of final information about the group the gathering, arrests, charges, and the overturning of verdicts. However, it shows Ed Croswell’s later career and the significance of this event and the confrontation of government and Mafia.
