Lansky (film)
Lansky is a 1999 American made-for-television crime drama film. Directed by John McNaughton, it stars Richard Dreyfuss as the famous gangster Meyer Lansky, Eric Roberts as Bugsy Siegel, and Ryan Merriman as the young Lansky.
Plot summary
The movie circuits around flashbacks of Lansky's life, the first showing is as Lansky as an old man looking for a rock to put on his grandfather's grave in Jerusalem. Upon seeing soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force, Lansky expresses regret that his grandfather never lived to see them. As he walks through a tunnel, he catches sight of an old man. He recalls how at the age of 10 years, he witnessed an elderly Jew being bludgeoned to death with an axe during a pogrom.
Later, as the shtetl is burning down, his parents hastily pack up their valuables and prepare to flee to America. Lansky's grandfather watches sceptically. Meanwhile, his father suggests, "You think I should fight? You stay, and you fight."
The film then changes to the Lower East Side, Manhattan. After his mother gives him money to go buy challah for Shabbat, Lansky comes upon a game of craps on the street corner. Later, Lansky returns home penniless and deeply ashamed.
