Daily Dialogue — April 24, 2015

Donnie Brasco: You think I’m a rat…?
Lefty: If you’re a rat… (jams pistol against his own head)… then I’m the biggest mutt in the history of the Mafia.

— Donnie Brasco (1997), screenplay by Paul Attanasio, book by Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Betrayal.

Trivia: The movie ends with the implication that Lefty was killed after being “sent for”. In real life, the FBI intercepted Lefty on the way to being killed, and arrested him. Sonny Black was “sent for” and murdered; his body was found on Staten Island a year later. Joe Massino, who orchestrated his murder, was convicted in 2005. Lefty was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, and running an illegal gambling operation. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but received early parole in 1992 after it he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He died in 1994.

Dialogue On Dialogue: It’s one thing to betray somebody on the low-down. It’s another thing to betray them face-to-face.

If you have a suggestion for this week’s theme, please post in comments.