Nicky Santoro vs. Tommy Devito: The fight for supremacy

Menacing guys to say the least... Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (left) and Casino (right).

When George Carlin selects a baseball-bat-wielding Joe Pesci  ahead of God as the man to solve his problems, you know he's talking about balls. The job will be done. You can count on it. In fact, you can count the bodies. Joe Pesci gets it done. He sure did the job with two of my favourite cinema psychos: Martin Scorsese's Nicky Santoro and Tommy DeVito - the representations of the man Carlin is talking about, at least in part. There is a question brewing: what if, the two characters cross paths. What then?

Santoro and DeVito are no non-sense, no half measures characters, hardened killers and bullies. They are both psychos. Any confrontation between them, say in the spirit of let's see 'who's the better gangster' mano a mano, would probably end up in either one of them being stabbed like a hundred times and shot more than once or with someone having to spend time in the hospital for sustaining injuries from the act of beating the shit out of the other guy. There is just too much charge and impulsiveness in both to play them against each other on a physical level. It would finish in a about a second.

How about then if there are other forces at play. If, say, the Lucchese crime family has an interest in Vegas and makes a move there after somehow receiving the go ahead from the other families and especially the Chicago outfit. The peace is set in stone by the bosses. And DeVito and Jimmy Conway's crew move to Vegas. What then?

In both Casino and Goodfellas, both characters operated on the fringes of their respective Italian-American mafia families, Chicago outfit, for Santoro, and the Lucchesse family for DeVito, but in contrast to the real-life character Antony Splitoro on whom Santoro was based, Santoro was a 'made man'. That alone would make Santoro pretty much outside of the reach of guys like Tommy DeVito, who are just associates in the mafia ranks. They would have to ask for permission before they are able to move for Santoro.

This would make for an interesting predicament in the hypothetical case of meeting Tommy DeVito with Nicky Santoro, say in Las Vegas. Santoro would be the man to take the initiative since he is well settled in Vegas and with immunity. Santoro's downfall was his rebelliousness against his own Chicago Outfit, his on the side criminal activities which drew attention to what was really important for the bosses - the casinos. But if DeVito and the other associates from Goodfellas would be to populate Vegas in attempt to expand their enterprises, there would be a high chance they will meet a somewhat violent response from Santoro and his crew.

Conway and DeVito would continue their truck raiding business and also rob the airport occasionally. They would gladly muscle their way into the tobacco and alcohol contraband business in Vegas. Henry Hill would continue to trade with drugs surreptitiously. Santoro wouldn't be too happy with the extra heat this brings as this would obstruct his Hole in the Wall gang's activities. With him being pretty much the Man in Vegas, a sudden disappearance of Conway or DeVito would point the eyes of the bosses at him, so he would be pretty much bound to peaceful means of resolution - either step back and allow them to do their business or put the fear in them. He would probably chose the latter as, even in the movie, he was set to go against his own bosses - the reason he was murdered.

So, I make it seem like Conway and Devito are the hunted ones here. And it's about right. Santoro's got a bigger crew, with more men. The character on which he was based was associated with no less than 28 people, among which enforcers, ex-policemen, and thieves, while Conway and his crew would comprise of around 10 people.

There are differences in the nature of their operations also. Santoro's method is more forceful and daring, but also deeper layered. His crew would dare to go through walls if they needed to. He would also run a restaurant and a shop with which he would launder the spoils. While Conway's crew is more cautious, doing mostly small hits, with the exception of the multi-million Lufthansa heist, which was executed with more acumen rather than brute force. Even though Conway did have businesses to help him launder his money, he was still cautious and afraid of the spoils after the heist, revealing a more wild-gringo side to him compared to an already set way of dealing with the success. DeVito being merely a part of this crew doesn't help boost his chances against Santoro.

I am talking about different levels of organisations here. Let's take Santoro's development in Casino. When he arrived in Vegas he was already a made man, already a muscle for the Chicago Oufit. He was the man to protect Ace Rothstein and the bosses interests in Vegas. He was already a well-framed and battle-hardened bulldog. He only grew more and more daring as the film progressed, becoming more independent of his crime family in Chicago - and that was ultimately the reason why he was whacked in the end. But he rose from a mid-ranking mafioso to one that would dare call himself the boss of bosses in Vegas.

Compare that to Tommy DeVito, who worked under capo Paul Vario all his life, was not made, hence held aspiration to be 'made' - the very thing that was used against him in the end. DeSimone, who was the real person on which Pesci's character was based on, was a called by Henry Hill a 'pure psychopath'. And no wonder with scenes like shooting Spider for talking back, or when real DeSimone shot a random person on the street just to test his weapon (according to Wikipedia). The level of insanity is staggering here. But DeVito lacks that layer of forward thinking that Santoro possesses. He seems to be more the kind of a guy that would require direction, rather than be someone that can stand on their own for too long. DeVito cannot be a boss while Santoro has it in him to be one.

And the winner is...No wonder, with that stare..

There is no question who the bigger mafioso is. Nicky Santoro is like the big brother of Tommy DeVito. But they would both 'solve' your problems...Just don't, whatever you do, call them 'funny'.