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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 30 general entries.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 American Gangster
| In exchange for a lighter prison sentence, who did Frank Lucas agree to surrender evidence against? | American Gangster
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The NYPD. Frank actually did business with Nickey Barnes. Richie Roberts hinted to Frank that Dominic Cattano was willing to testify against Frank. For much of the movie the police were taking lots of money from the drug dealers in exchange for looking the other way. Once Frank realized he was out of options, he decided that for his cooperation with authorities he was going to do cops. The cops that took money out of his pocket. Frank's cooperation led to the arrest of over 100 police officers.
At a church. As the NYPD served warrants for the arrest of all of Frank's brothers and associates, Frank was in church with his mother. As they exited the church, Richie was standing at the bottom of the steps with a pair of handcuffs, waiting.
| Eventually we discovered exactly how Frank Lucas smuggled the drugs into the the U.S. Where in the military transport planes were the drugs stashed? | American Gangster
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In the cases carrying the dead soldiers. Despite tracking and searching the military plane that they were tipped off about, Richie and his men could not find the drugs. They decided to follow the vehicles taking the dead bodies away. After the bodies were transferred out of the metal cases used during flight, it was then Frank's crew came in and removed the drugs stored inside the cases. Richie's team witnessed the men transferring bags of what they believed were the drugs into delivery vans.
| One of Richie's softball friends appeared to be a criminal of sorts. At one point this friend offered Richie a gift in exchange for leaving Frank Lucas alone. What was the gift? | American Gangster
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A cabin at a Colorado Ski Resort. The offer was subtle, yet not. The friend was showing Richie a picture of his cabin in Colorado, and then so slightly uttered to Richie, "It's your place.", and then implored Richie to leave Frank Lucas alone. Richie then left his friend's after refusing the deal.
| Who did Frank Lucas know was in Vietnam, and eventually enlisted his help to get to the people who made the drugs Frank wanted to sell back in the U.S.? | American Gangster
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His cousin. Two friends of Frank returned from Vietnam, and told Frank about his cousin serving over there. They told Frank that in addition to serving in the military, his cousin also ran a club in Southeast Asia. It was through the cousin that Frank eventually got back into the jungle and made a direct deal with the man who manufactured the drugs.
| What annual tradition did Frank Lucas continue after Bumpy Johnson's death? | American Gangster
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Giving away turkeys at Thanksgiving. At the beginning of the movie we see Bumpy tossing turkeys to a crowd from the back of a truck as Frank looked on in the background. Later in the movie the same scenes were played out, but it was Frank standing in the truck tossing the turkeys that time.
| When we saw Eva (Frank's wife, played by Lymari Nadal) for the first time, she was on the arm of what famous athlete? | American Gangster
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Joe Louis. The Brown Bomber was a guest at Frank's night club, where the public address announcer introduced him to the crowd. Frank was immediately drawn to Eva the moment he saw her. At one point during the evening at the club Eva and Frank met. Nothing more was mentioned about what happened to Joe Louis. Wilt Chamberlain was observed in front of Frank's night club later in the movie when some of Richie Robbin's men were staking it out.
| Police Officer Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) studied for, and passed what exam? | American Gangster
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The Bar Exam. Richie attended night school, and eventually took the exam. Richie received the letter saying he passed the Bar Exam, and he taped it to the lamp on his desk. He stayed on to work the investigation that brought Frank Lucas to justice. He eventually assisted in the prosecution of Frank, and even took him on as a client.
| What war was the United States involved in when "American Gangster" was set? | American Gangster
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The Vietnam War. It was the news reports coming in from Vietnam that gave Frank Lucas the idea of buying his drugs direct from those people who produced them. By cutting out the extra cost of going through middle men, Frank was able to sell his drugs at a lower price than his competitors.
| Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington)started out working for a gangster named Bumpy Johnson(Clarence Williams III). What was the job title he was often credited with? | American Gangster
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Driver. Several people in the movie referred to Frank as Bumpy's driver. After Bumpy died, a gangster named Tango offered Frank the job of being his driver. Frank Lucas was with Bumpy every day he worked for him, and learned a lot of the business traits that would help him succeed after Bumpy died.
Who can afford to sell stuff twice as good for half the price?. One team member posed as a buyer to purchase some Blue Magic. As Richie and the team examined it, they were amazed at how pure it was compared to the other heroin on the streets (twice as pure, as one cop claimed). By the time most heroin reached the street, it was cut up and other chemicals were added to it. The most amazing thing for Richie's guys was the cheap price they paid for it. It begged the question from Richie, "Who can afford to sell stuff twice as good for half the price?"
so he could be dishonest about everything else. It was in the very last court appearance for custody that Richie's ex-wife went off on him after he asked her not to hurt him by taking his son away. She went on about his womanizing, being an absent father, and how he thought he was better than everybody else because he was an honest cop. She vehemently disagreed, and implied to him that the reason he did not take money was so that he could be dishonest about everything else in his life.
posed as a photographer at the fight. As his team was watching the pre-fight stuff on the TV at their office, Richie decided to grab a camera and head down to Madison Square Garden. He took lots of pictures of some of the known crime bosses who were in attendance. However, it was at this fight that Richie took the very first picture of Frank Lucas (up until then, Frank was a nobody to the cops). Frank had very good seats in the second row - better seats than the other crime bosses, and he sat next to Joe Louis.
The Special Narcotics Bureau. His supervisor, Lou, offered Richie a chance to join the Special Narcotics Bureau that was going to work under the US Attorney's office. Richie got to pick his own team to work with him. He did not have to answer to any local jurisdiction. Richie and his team went after the suppliers, and left the street level guys for the local police to bother with.
falsify a police report. Richie was told over the phone that his partner was made by some low level drug dealer, and he had to kill him. Richie arrived at the project apartment, and there was an angry mob who had gathered after hearing the gun shot. Richie helped to get his partner, two EMTs, and himself away from the mob. Richie quickly deduced that his partner had tried to rob this drug dealer, and even went so far as to accuse his partner of being a junkie. His partner was certain that if Richie wrote the police report like he wanted, then there would be no problems. Richie was very upset about being an "accessory after the fact", and refused to cooperate with his partner.
Las Vegas. Throughout the movie, Richie was in and out of court battling his ex-wife over their son. While Richie and his ex walked through a park, she told Richie that she wanted to move to Las Vegas because she had a sister who lived there. This of course did not go over well with Richie. The last time Richie showed up in court was to inform the judge he would not contest her request to move with their son.
Overdosed. Not long after Frank Lucas' Blue Magic hit the streets, Richie got a call late one night to go see the coroner. The coroner informed Richie that it was an overdose. When he got to the office, he saw his partner on the slab. Among his partner's possessions was a little blue envelope of Blue Magic.
The two of them would be black balled by the other cops.. Richie's partner said that the other police believe "A cop who turns in money turns in cops who take money", and "Cops do not trust cops who turn in money." Despite his concerns, Richie turned the money in. As Richie and his partner were counting the money, the other cops in the station stared at them. As Richie was leaving the police station after counting and logging the money, a voice could be heard calling Richie a "boy scout". Richie would have a hard time finding cops who would work with him. Richie's partner would go on to to have trouble in his job as well.
| The first bit of police work we saw Richie and his partner (played by John Ortiz) perform was serving a warrant. What happened to Richie's hand as he tried to toss the paper through the open door into the apartment? | "American Gangster": Richie Roberts
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It got bit by a person.. His partner assured him it would be an easy service, and that Richie only had to toss the paperwork into the apartment. However, things went bad, and as Richie tried to keep the guy from slamming the door shut, he used his arm to wedge it open. It was then the guy in the apartment bit Richie's hand.
Jimmy Zee. The cops could only hope for a lucky break to get inside of Frank's organization. They got that break when cops staking out his cousin, Jimmy Zee, were witnesses to Jimmy and his lady having a domestic dispute. Jimmy fired his gun, which prompted the police to intervene, and take him into custody. Jimmy reluctantly agreed to wear a wire for the cops, and he helped to give the cops the information on which planes Frank was smuggling his drugs into the country with. This information led to a big shootout as the cops raided Frank's operation the next morning. Frank's operation was shut down soon after, and he was arrested.
a bedroom vanity. Frank purchased a large home for he and his mother. In one scene Frank brought his mother into a room and showed her a custom bedroom vanity. He told her he had it made from memory. She was surprised he remembered it so well because she recalled Frank being very young when the original was taken away.
| After the attempt on his life, an angry Frank met again with the Italian gangster Dominic Cattano. Dominic went through the various types of people who may have taken the shot at Frank. Dominic told Frank something about success. According to Dominic Cattano, what does "Success" have? | "American Gangster": Frank Lucas
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enemies. Frank was upset that somebody had tried to kill him and his wife. Dominic told Frank that it might have been a rival trying to make a name for himself. Dominic also mentioned that it might have been somebody Frank slighted without even knowing it. "Success has enemies" was how Dominic concluded his assessment of what happened to Frank.
| One year at Christmas time, an attempt was made on Frank's life. One night he and his wife were going out to eat when a car raced by and sprayed gunfire at he and his wife. What kind of food were Frank and his wife going to have the night they were shot at? | "American Gangster": Frank Lucas
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Chinese food. At first, Frank and his wife were going to go into the restaurant, but she changed her mind. Frank's driver ended up going in to get their food while they waited. She wanted to wait in the car, and wanted the heater on. Frank had to go get the keys from his driver. As Frank's driver, and later Frank himself, made their way on foot towards the restaurant, you could see that it was a Chinese place. There was a neon sign in the window that clearly said Chinese at the bottom.
made them work naked. When Frank took his brothers to see his operation, they walked into a large apartment where lots of naked women were packaging the heroin. The wide eyed brothers were surprised at what they saw. Frank was asked why they were all naked, and he said it was to keep them from stealing.
| After his operation was raided, Frank Lucas was arrested. This was the first time he had met the man that had been investigating him, Richie Roberts (played by Russell Crowe). During an interrogation, Richie told Frank that he had messed up the natural order of things, and that his competitors were willing to testify against him. With Frank out of the way, things would return to normal, because Frank's competitors were afraid of what he represented. What did Richie Roberts say Frank represented? | "American Gangster": Frank Lucas
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progress. According to Richie, Frank represented progress. A black businessman with his own drug operation was a threat to the old guard of Italians and other traditional owners of the drug trade. Frank's success was seen as the trend that could put a lot of these other guys out of business, and that was why Richie believed they were lining up to testify against Frank. With Frank out of the way, the old establishment could go back to controlling it the way they wanted.
Small's. It was never made clear in the movie why Frank owned a night club. It was at this club that he met the lady who would become his wife. She asked him if it was his club, and why he named it Small's instead of Frank's. Joe Louis had been a guest at the club and later in the film one cop saw Wilt Chamberlain walking out of the club.
| Frank had a few cousins and nephews. One nephew, Stevie (played by T.I.), had a very special natural talent. What did Stevie do better than the average man? | "American Gangster": Frank Lucas
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throw a baseball . When we first saw Stevie it was at a Thanksgiving dinner at Frank's home. One of Frank's brothers told him about his son's amazing arm, and that he could be a pitcher in the big leagues. Later in the movie, Stevie was set up with an interview with a scout from the New York Yankees. However, Stevie became so impressed with Frank's drug organization, that he lost all interest in playing baseball. He wanted what his uncle Frank had.
| Soon after Blue Magic hit the streets, Frank was putting a lot of his competitors out of business. He agreed to meet with an Italian gangster named Dominc Cattano (played by Armand Assante) to discuss a business proposition. Dominic used a certain group of farmers, in an analogy, as an example to make his case to Frank. What kind of farmer was Dominic asking Frank to think about? | "American Gangster": Frank Lucas
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dairy farmers. Dominic tried to persuade Frank to sell some of his Blue Magic to other suppliers in order to help his competitors. Dominic used the example of milk, and how the price of the milk did not reflect the actual cost of the product. After his brief diatribe about milk prices, Dominic asked Frank if he thought about the dairy farmers at all. Frank responded by telling Dominic he thought about them as often as they thought about him. However, it must have worked, because Frank agreed to sell his Blue Magic to Dominic and his network of suppliers in exchange for future considerations and protection from potential threats.
| While Frank was having a meal with his brothers in a Harlem cafe, he left the cafe to confront another dealer, named Tango (played by Idris Elba), he spotted across the street. How did the confrontation between Frank and Tango end? | "American Gangster": Frank Lucas
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Frank shot Tango. . By the time Frank's brothers arrived from North Carolina, his Blue Magic heroin was being sold all over New York. Tango had been given Blue Magic to sell on his turf and owed Frank a percentage of the sales. This was an issue earlier in the film when Tango wanted his percentage from Frank. However, after Frank came back from Asia with the more popular Blue Magic, Tango became the buyer and then owed Frank. Tango scoffed at giving Frank his 20%, and that prompted Frank to pull out a gun and point it at Tango's head (despite being in a large crowd on the street). Before Tango could finish asking Frank what he planned on doing with the gun, Frank pulled the trigger and shot Tango at point blank range. Tango was killed instantly. The crowd scattered, and Frank calmly took money from Tango's pocket. He then returned to the cafe to finish his meal with his brothers.
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