Crime Inc.

When Crime Inc., a British documentary series, was produced by Thames Television and released on UK television in 1984, I can't say that I was greatly interested in organized crime in the US, or anywhere else for that matter: I'd seen The Godfather & The Godfather: Part II and that was enough for me. However, after watching Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno interviewed in this series and all the attendant surveillance footage from the FBI etc., I must say I found it pretty riveting stuff. When they talk about organized crime in the US, they really mean it: large-scale crime is organized there on an almost corporate basis and it is interesting to foreigners such as myself of the how and why large-scale organized crime has thrived in America for so long. As such, Crime Inc. is an excellent documentary series and it contains many interesting facts, recorded anecdotally and otherwise, about the Mafia in the US.

The British, it seems to me, actually make the best documentaries for t.v. and film generally and make the best documentaries on America and American subjects more particularly, and why this should be so, I cannot say; however, before I am accused of being excessively anglophile, I will say that I make such a statement with complete and unabashed bias, as I am English-born. No doubt many Americans will choose to differ: but it does seem that British documentary-makers filming documentaries in the US about the US are perhaps not weighed down with a lot of the local cultural baggage, preconceived notions, and locally biased views that some American documentary-makers have about subjects in their own country, and as such British documentaries on US subjects tend to be more, well, objective, as an outsider's view often is. That may well be why documentaries or documentary series for film or t.v. such as Crime Inc., produced 24 years ago now, worked, and still work so well.

A British documentary on the uniquely American phenomena that is, or was, the Mafia. It really shouldn't be this good but with a host of interviews with Mafia insiders, most of whom are in hiding, law enforcement officials both local and federal and journalists it manages to fill its seven episodes with a concise and detailed account of the organisation and its history. This uniquely British viewpoint adds a real sense of quality on a subject that in other documentaries has come across as rather sensational. There are no tacky reconstructions or broadly accented voice overs from 'gangster flick' celebs to spoil the subject matter. Co-incidentally the series was made at a time when the Mafia in the US was about to undergo a huge change as the rise and subsequent fall of John Gotti brought an end to the glamorous 'Godfather' image that the organisation had until then. Made in 1984 this series examines the organisation as it was, from prohibition until the early eighties and details the important events and players that made this iconic criminal enterprise such a problem for society. Detailed but never dull it is one of the best documentary series I have seen on any subject and probably the definitive work on the Mafia.

Until 1984. rare interviews with pentitos and lots of historical research make this documentary a one in a Million find

I rediscovered this documentary recently among some old VHS recordings and i have to say; if anything it gained in quality over the years. Now thats not because todays documentaries are worse, its because the retro picture quality for some reason enhances the feel for the subject.

Crime Inc. is about the early organized Crime in the USA from the 1920 to ~1980 and consists of (highly edited) Interviews and News-segments of the respective time periods; narrated by Martin Short. The documentary itself has a clear narrative and, when i first watched it, felt quite construed - but now that the presentation and picture quality seems so old fashioned it unwillingly provides some distance from the scandalous and shocking subject. It never registered as something that actually happened for me. Now, since the newly gained distance allows me to judge whatever is portrayed rationally and with a grain of salt, it does.

Wile the music, editing and commentary are superb it has to be said this series only gains if u ignore the (old fashioned) attempts to dramatize and shock - and focus on the interviews and news-segments. The interviews alone should be enough to leave you pondering crime-culture and how men can (post-)rationalize just about anything.

Since i remember this feeling like a movie back when it originally aired (and therefore fictional - good for entertainment, not that good for a documentary) 8/10. Only gained with time.

The subject has been beaten to death by anyone/everyone these days. That said, this documentary series is the best I've personally seen on the topic of OC. Taken at the time when the mafia was at its high watermark (so to speak) and before it was inundated with bad scripts and people that lived on the periphery trying to cash in. Really well done.