A Friend of Yours - Part I, "Donnie Brasco" Quiz

Answer: Joseph Pistone.

Organized crime was rampant in this area of Brooklyn, and the FBI needed to put in a mole. Mafia "turncoats" were not able to provide them with enough incriminating evidence to put these criminals away. They needed someone on the inside, someone who would win the trust and respect of the bosses. Agent Pistone was the man chosen. Only no one, least of all Pistone himself, realized how close to it he would get.

Answer: Mike Newel. British.

This wonderfully diversified, British-born director traveled throughout Brooklyn during the filming of this movie. He frequented well known gangland hangouts to pick up pointers for this masterpiece on the workings of organized crime.

Answer: a Cadillac and a Lincoln Continental.

Lefty was a gambler and was in debt to loan sharks for large sums of money. Anyone who owed out large sums in gambling debts did not get the respect of the other men in their group. They therefore, overlooked this aging wiseguy, and regarded him as a loser.

He hung out with them, and argued points on unimportant subjects like women and cars. When it came to important plans of action, he was left out. The men would tease him but while they did this, they overlooked one important thing - the fabric that Lefty was made of.

He was from the old school of mob thinking. The one that was about loyalty and respect, and that is what he was all about. Donnie Brasco came into his life at his most vulnerable time...he needed a friend and he found one.

Answer: Huge, amber tinted eyeglasses.

This fantastic method actor cannot be outdone in his "feel" for the character and its portrayal. Al Pacino became Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero. As in his portrayal of "Tony Montana", the opposing forces of bravado vs. senitivity, endears this character. Al Pacino is a master of his craft, no question about it. He showed this contradiction in the character of Tony Montana. Bravo!

Answer: Don the Jeweler.

Donnie Brasco infiltrated the inner circle of gangsters, masquerading as a jeweler. Lefty immediately put his expertise to the test by trying to sell him a diamond ring that he'd received in payment for a loan. Donnie told him it was a fake and then Lefty tested him once again. He took Donnie along to confront the debtor with the truth.

Answer: rodeo

Lefty now had a guy he could teach. All his life he was a follower, always in the background, never noticed nor given any accommodation. Now he felt like Donnie, the new guy was his friend. He could take him under his wing and maybe finally be a "somebody" to someone.

He brought him in, and he would school him in the ways that "wise guys" acted. He had never made it big in anyone's eyes. This was his boy. They made plans to meet again; to hook up.

Answer: Coq au Vin.

As far as Lefty knew, Donnie Brasco was an orphan with a girlfriend in California. Lefty didn't want anyone to be alone on Christmas. In reality there were a wife and three daughters waiting for him to come home in New Jersey, with Christmas dinner waiting.

He didn't get home for it. The stop at Lefty's apartment, made that impossible - he was now Lefty's guest for Christmas dinner. And so it went throughout Donnie's involvement with these men; his wife and daughters were kept waiting and longing, as if they did not exist.

In this new world in which he now lived, they didn't. For their own protection and his, they couldn't.

Answer: The big boss was killed.

This was how things worked. Sometimes, you were "sent for". One minute you were here, and the next you were not. Your best friend was usually was the one who did it, and then sent the largest floral arrangement. The big boss was dead and Sonny B. got "upped". Sonny B. sent for Lefty and gave him a gift of a live lion to celebrate his new position. Sonny B. knew Lefty loved animals. Lefty had 26 hits under his belt and he got a lion, while Sonny B. gets "upped".

He complained to Donnie, who listened as any friend would, to the aging wise guy who was fast becoming his probable source of promotion within the FBI.

But he was also becoming a friend.

Answer: the wood

Lefty felt that Donnie was trying to make a good impression on Sonny "Black", by bringing up business opportunities in Florida, because he said he'd originated from there. Donnie said he was just stating the facts way he saw them. They had friendly arguments about it, while driving around in the car. Lefty felt completely responsible for anything Donnie did. Now Lefty was his sponsor, because he brought Donnie into the fold. Accomplishments as well as mistakes, which Lefty was concerned about, would come down on him before on Donnie.

Answer: "This is a friend of ours".

Donnie Brasco had to report to the Bureau, to tell them of his progress, and give them the tapes that he had recorded so far. He kept his recorder in his boot. The agent in charge of the operation, told Donnie that the Bureau requested he shave his mustache. They laughed together as Donnie told him that Lefty, requested he do the same.

Answer: False

Those words were never used.

Answer: Rusty.

Now that Sonny Black was under Rusty, he had to answer to him each week to the tune of $50,000, no excuses. The pressure was on for his boys to start earning heavy. Sonny Black was very eager to hear Donnie's suggestion about Florida, maybe it was a new frontier for them.

Answer: Remove their shoes.

Donnie's kept his tape recorder in the top of his boot. Had he removed his shoes, at this restaurant, his cover would have been blown. He thought quickly and used the excuse of his father being killed by Japanese during the war. What followed was the terrible beating of the Maitre D'. He witnessed it and it made him sick but he could not intervene.

Answer: King's Court.

Lefty went along with Donnie to investigate this club, and discovered himself dreaming out loud about finally being able to have a "warm piece of the sidewalk", so he could reap the rewards of his past with the mob. He was always there, for everyone, but was realizing that he was never considered to be anything valuable to any of them. Donnie was his only true friend.

He loved him. Maybe they could swing this, together, just the two of them.

Answer: Santo Trafficante.

Donnie was able to get a boat that was used by the FBI in a sting operation involving Middle Eastern criminals. During their party, on "The Left Hand", Lefty realized that he was really cast on the side, not being invited to any of the meetings that were taking place with Trafficante and Sonny Black. He also suspected that Donnie turned on him and told Sonny B. about the King's Court.