Goodfellas tells the story of Henry Hill and parts of the story of his wife, Karen Hill, but there’s one important part of Karen’s story that the movie left out but referenced very subtly. The gangster genre has seen some of the best and most successful movies in film history, and one name that stands out in the genre is Martin Scorsese. Although Scorsese has made some of the most memorable gangster movies in history, the one that is considered his best (not only of the genre but in general) is Goodfellas, released in 1990 and based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi.
Goodfellas chronicles the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), an associate of the Lucchese family whose involvement with the mob started when he ran errands for Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his crew when he was a teenager and later got fully involved with them, but his time as a gangster came to an end when he turned against them and became an FBI informant. Along with Henry’s work for Paul’s crew and meeting some of the most notable gangsters at the time, such as Jimmy “The Gent” Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), Goodfellas also covered Henry’s marriage to Karen (Lorraine Bracco), who went through hell and back during their time together.
Although Karen was initially troubled by Henry’s criminal activities, she was eventually drawn into the glamorous lifestyle that came with being a mobster’s wife and even got involved in some of Henry’s shady drug businesses towards the end of Goodfellas. However, there’s one important part of Karen Hill’s real story that wasn’t included in Goodfellas but was subtly referenced: her affair with Paul Vario (Cicero in the movie).
Why Goodfellas Left Out Parts Of Karen Hill's True Story
According to Henry Hill himself in his memoir Gangsters and Goodfellas, while he was in jail after being sentenced for extortion in 1974, Tommy DeSimone (DeVito in Goodfellas) beat up and attempted to rape Karen, but at the time, Karen was having an affair with Paul Vario. After learning about what Tommy tried to do to Karen, Paul reportedly had Tommy killed by telling the Gambino crime family that Tommy was the one who killed Billy Batts. While Karen and Paulie’s affair wasn’t included nor mentioned in Goodfellas, it was subtly referenced in the scene where Paulie and Jimmy confront Henry about him cheating on Karen after she told them about it. Paulie told Henry he was going to talk to her, saying he knows “how to talk to her, especially her”, which is seen as a subtle reference to the real-life affair between them.
The reason why this part of Karen Hill’s story was left out of Goodfellas could be simply because this is the story of Henry, not her, and if she was given the spotlight at certain points, it was more for context about the crew’s lifestyle and how they are gradually seduced by it, and also as a complement to Henry’s story. Karen’s affair with Paulie wouldn’t have really helped or added to the plot of Goodfellas, and it would have taken away the mystery and speculation around Tommy’s death, which continues to be an unsolved case in real-life. Karen Hill filed for divorce in 1990 and it was finalized in 2002, and she has since lived her life as far from the spotlight as possible, while Henry Hill passed away in 2012.