The True Story Behind The Alto Knights, and the Feud Between Frank Costello and Vito Genovese

ROBERT DE NIRO might be more or less synonymous with gangsters on film, but he’s doing double duty in The Alto Knights, which is now playing in theaters. De Niro plays two mobsters at once in the movie, directed by Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Bugsy, Wag the Dog) and written by noted Martin Scorsese accomplice Nicholas Pileggi (he wrote the book Wiseguy, which served as the source material for Goodfellas; he then co-wrote the film adaptation).

Here, De Niro is both Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, among the most notorious New York City crime bosses to ever live. Once friends, envy and betrayal put them at odds, escalating to a vicious struggle over control of the lucrative tri-state Mafia business. And yes, a hit was put out.

But what were the real Costello and Genovese actually up to? We break it down here. If you want De Niro once again doing killer New York Italian accents, however, you really need to watch the movie for yourself.

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What is an Alto Knight?

Great question. The semi-obscure title The Alto Knights refers to the once-prominent Manhattan social club of the same name, run by the Genovese crime family. Around the turn of the 20th century, these clubs became important meeting spots for the who’s who of mobsters to get to know each other and arrange business (or, ostensibly, kill each other).

So what was the beef between Frank Costello and Vito Genovese?

The animosity depicted in The Alto Knights comes down to its central (real-life) characters. On the one hand, there is Frank Costello, who was born Francesco Castiglia on January 26, 1891, in coastal Calabria, Italy, per the Mob Museum. (He would later change his name.) After immigrating to Manhattan in 1895, Costello quickly worked his way up as an operator in the mob scene, earning money from the illegal sale of alcohol during Prohibition.

Some of Costello’s associates include Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, Vito Genovese, Tommy Lucchese, Meyer Lansky, Arnold Rothstein, Bill Dwyer, Dutch Schultz, and Lucky Luciano. (Boardwalk Empire fans are at a great advantage in recognizing these names.)

Costello and Luciano collaborated in the bootlegging and racketeering business headed up by Joe “The Boss” Masseria in 1922. But Costello also worked with rum-running Irish gangsters, including Bill Dwyer, which led him to change his last name to the more Irish-sounding Costello. Things got rocky when Costello and Dwyer were indicted for importing liquor. A jury dropped charges against Costello, while Dwyer was convicted of bribing a Coast Guard official. All of which is to say, Costello took over their joint bootlegging business, which caused friction with Dwyer’s lieutenants. Still, Costello’s profile grew, and he formed crucial alliances with Luciano, Lansky, Siegel, and Johnny Torrio of Chicago.

Among other fun facts about Costello, he was known as The Prime Minister and Uncle Frank in criminal circles. And while we can’t verify that the very real mob boss was the inspiration for the truly mean Uncle Frank in Home Alone, we can’t rule it out.

And what about Genovese? How did they fall out?

Born in November 1897 in Risigliano, Italy, Vito Genovese was initially an ally to Costello as they came up in organized crime. But things went south.

In 1929, Joe “The Boss” Masseria waged a war with another mobster named Salvatore Maranzano over control of the New York liquor, gambling, and prostitution rackets. Costello and Luciano worked both sides in the so-called Castallammarese War. Maranzano won the war, titling himself Boss of All Bosses. Perhaps not surprisingly, he was then assassinated in 1931 with help from Luciano’s men. Luciano became “chairman of the board” of the Five Families known as “the Commission,” with Vito Genovese as top deputy (“underboss”) and Costello as his powerful “consigliere,” or top adviser, again according to Mob Museum.

Costello reportedly helped the Luciano family grow its empire, establishing revenue via slot machines in Louisiana and further gambling operations in Florida and Cuba. Meanwhile, in 1936, kingpin Luciano went to prison for prostitution charges. Genovese took the reins of the crime family, but faced his own indictment a year later on murder charges. Having fled to Italy, Genovese essentially gave the top spot to Costello, who pushed ahead on prostitution and gambling rackets, but was not so keen on the drugs.

So what was Genovese doing in Italy?

The self-exiled Genovese got cozy with the fascist leadership in Italy, making friends with Mussolini’s son-in-law. And he is said to have ordered the killing of an Italian anti-fascist publisher back in New York. Naturally, when the Allies in World War II won, Genovese switched teams.

But the past went on to haunt Genovese, who faced charges for a previous murder of yet another mob boss, leading to his return to New York for prosecution. During the trial two government witnesses were murdered. Genovese was released in 1946 and sought to reclaim his throne in the crime family Costello was now heading up.

Costello had his own fumbles: He made an awkward public appearance in 1951 before the U.S. Senate’s Kefauver Committee avoiding questions while anxiously twisting his hands. And he was humiliated when the fact that he consulted a psychiatrist came to light. (He was so ahead of The Sopranos.)

Costello was convicted of walking out of that Senate hearing in 1952, which amounted to 14 months of incarceration. Things got worse: He was sentenced to five years for tax evasion in 1954, though the conviction was eventually overturned.

So what about this hit put out on Costello?

On the other side of this Costello-Genovese coin: Genovese, hungry for power, gathered support for an overthrow of his once-pal. In May 1957, the hitman Vincent “The Chin” Gigante was hired by Genovese to kill Costello. And Gigante did indeed shoot Costello in the head.

Except it ended up being a superficial scrape. Nevertheless, knowing what’s what, Costello retired and gave the Luciano family over to Genovese. Still, he managed to squirrel away more profits from the gambling enterprises. And despite having his citizenship revoked, he lived out his days in New York. ultimately dying of natural causes in 1973. (Genovese had already died of a heart attack on February 14, 1969.)

So, what you can say about Costello or Genovese is: Dude lived a life.