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| The Entertainment Review |
| By: Gus Russo Publisher: Bloomsbury |
Sidney Korshak was given one of the best all time gangland nicknames ever to work its way into the mob scene, The
Fixer. His nickname was one that fit the man perfectly because of his role in the mob and what he was able to
accomplish for them. Born to immigrant parents, Korshak put all of his time and effort into a career in law and was
able to get his start by representing members of the mob against criminal charges, with the help of his connections
with several mentors from the underworld. However, his real value to the Chicago Outfit, as the inheritors of Al
Capone’s criminal empire came to be known as, was as a labor consultant and negotiator.
With Sidney Korshak in the foreground of the book, Gus Russo’s “Supermob” tells the story of how a close knit
group of mostly Russian Ashkenazi Jews made their way up the social ladder, from the rough and tumble rackets to
seats of power and influence in several Fortune 500 companies. In their heyday, around the year 1960, the gang
had a strong hold in Hollywood, controlled an interest in the Hilton hotel chain and had a lot of sway with ally Jimmy
Hoffa’s Teamster union. This is to say that nothing of their outright, yet well hidden, ownership of several Las Vegas
casinos, including the Desert Inn, the high roller’s hangout where Frank Sinatra made his debut in the city of sin.
The main objective of organized crime is to make money go in to certain people dirty and come out clean, unable to
be traced to any foul play of any type. This is done through investments in legitimate businesses and organizations.
When it came to the idea of laundering money, the Supermob was second to none at completing this task. Their
most sophisticated scheme involved buying property that the Japanese-Americans were forced to sell during World
War II. Korshak, along with his cronies and their man working inside the Roosevelt administration’s Office of Alien
Property, turned this land grab into a extremely useful cashing laundering machine. Their efforts were so diabolically
intertwined with legal maneuvers that the exact details of how they were able to complete these tasks have eluded
two generations of investigators.
The complete story as to how these men were able to clean all of the money that they did clean, the author admits, is
still unknown to this day. This complex trail is also difficult to follow, and although it is extremely important to the book
as a whole, it makes for some very slow paced reading.
When he wasn't breaking apart a union or arranging a loan, Korshak’s activities were much more entertaining. He
was able to hustle Dean Martin out of Chicago in one piece after Dino's roving eye locked on the girls of one of the
Outfit's boys. Korshak also hot-wired a hotel room filled with prostitutes with an infrared camera, blackmailing a
Senate investigator into going easy on his Chi-town pals.
"Supermob" is filled with anecdotes like these. The gangland gossip and Hollywood rumors ultimately outweigh
Russo's dissection of Byzantine financier, and in the end, the book adds up to an exhaustive directory of the dark
players of 20th century America.
Fixer. His nickname was one that fit the man perfectly because of his role in the mob and what he was able to
accomplish for them. Born to immigrant parents, Korshak put all of his time and effort into a career in law and was
able to get his start by representing members of the mob against criminal charges, with the help of his connections
with several mentors from the underworld. However, his real value to the Chicago Outfit, as the inheritors of Al
Capone’s criminal empire came to be known as, was as a labor consultant and negotiator.
With Sidney Korshak in the foreground of the book, Gus Russo’s “Supermob” tells the story of how a close knit
group of mostly Russian Ashkenazi Jews made their way up the social ladder, from the rough and tumble rackets to
seats of power and influence in several Fortune 500 companies. In their heyday, around the year 1960, the gang
had a strong hold in Hollywood, controlled an interest in the Hilton hotel chain and had a lot of sway with ally Jimmy
Hoffa’s Teamster union. This is to say that nothing of their outright, yet well hidden, ownership of several Las Vegas
casinos, including the Desert Inn, the high roller’s hangout where Frank Sinatra made his debut in the city of sin.
The main objective of organized crime is to make money go in to certain people dirty and come out clean, unable to
be traced to any foul play of any type. This is done through investments in legitimate businesses and organizations.
When it came to the idea of laundering money, the Supermob was second to none at completing this task. Their
most sophisticated scheme involved buying property that the Japanese-Americans were forced to sell during World
War II. Korshak, along with his cronies and their man working inside the Roosevelt administration’s Office of Alien
Property, turned this land grab into a extremely useful cashing laundering machine. Their efforts were so diabolically
intertwined with legal maneuvers that the exact details of how they were able to complete these tasks have eluded
two generations of investigators.
The complete story as to how these men were able to clean all of the money that they did clean, the author admits, is
still unknown to this day. This complex trail is also difficult to follow, and although it is extremely important to the book
as a whole, it makes for some very slow paced reading.
When he wasn't breaking apart a union or arranging a loan, Korshak’s activities were much more entertaining. He
was able to hustle Dean Martin out of Chicago in one piece after Dino's roving eye locked on the girls of one of the
Outfit's boys. Korshak also hot-wired a hotel room filled with prostitutes with an infrared camera, blackmailing a
Senate investigator into going easy on his Chi-town pals.
"Supermob" is filled with anecdotes like these. The gangland gossip and Hollywood rumors ultimately outweigh
Russo's dissection of Byzantine financier, and in the end, the book adds up to an exhaustive directory of the dark
players of 20th century America.
