Synopsis

After serving time at Sing Sing, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson returns to Harlem and finds Dutch Schultz moving against the neighborhood's numbers racket. As Bumpy rebuilds his influence and protects Madame Queen's operation, he becomes entangled in a widening conflict involving Schultz, Lucky Luciano, rival gangsters, and the corrupting reach of organized crime.

Factoids & Trivia

• Although it uses real figures such as Bumpy Johnson, Dutch Schultz, Lucky Luciano, and Stephanie St. Clair, the film is a fictionalized account and takes considerable liberties with historical events.

• The story is set in Harlem, but most of the production was filmed in Chicago. Locations included the Museum of Science and Industry, LaSalle Street, Michigan Avenue, and the Francis J. Dewes Mansion.

• Filming took place from June 19 through September 1, 1996.

• Andy Garcia was allowed to wear Lucky Luciano's pinkie ring for one scene after an old friend of the real Luciano made it available.

• The film's visual portrayal of Luciano includes his partly closed right eye, reflecting the real gangster's appearance after a 1929 abduction left him with facial injuries.

• The movie's depiction of prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey accepting bribes was criticized as historically inaccurate. The production is best understood as a stylized gangster drama rather than a faithful reconstruction.

• Elmer Bernstein composed the orchestral score, while a separate soundtrack album focused on hip-hop and R&B inspired by the film. The album reached the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

• Released theatrically in 1997, the film earned roughly $23.5 million in domestic box-office receipts against a reported $30 million budget.