Goodfellas tells the story of Henry Hill, and while it included some of the biggest and most important moments of his life and work with the mob, there were others that were left out. Martin Scorsese has explored various genres throughout his career as a filmmaker, but he continues to be best known for his gangster films, and the one often regarded as his best is Goodfellas, released in 1990.
Based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas chronicles the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his days as a teenager fascinated by the mafia presence in his Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, to his involvement with the crime family of Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his decision to become an FBI informant. During his time working for the mob, he met some big names in the mafia, as were Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), with whom he got involved in different types of businesses and crimes.
The movie paid special attention to the Lufthansa heist, a robbery at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in December 1978. Although Henry wasn’t involved in it, he did play an important part in the planning process as he heard about the currency flying in to the Lufthansa cargo terminal through an insider and later shared that information with Jimmy. This, of course, wasn’t Henry’s only big crime, as he was involved in many others that were worth including in the movie, but were ultimately left behind (for reasons that could go from screen time to them simply not fitting Scorsese’s narrative). Here are the biggest things Goodfellas left out about Henry Hill.
Henry Hill Wanted Out Multiple Times
Contrary to what Goodfellas showed, Henry Hill wasn’t always comfortable working for the mob and tried to get out of it various times, but he always ended up back in it. He began running errands for patrons of Paul Vario’s (Cicero in Goodfellas) storefront shoeshine, pizzeria, and cabstand in his early teens, and when he was 13 he served drinks and sandwiches at a card game, where he learned of Jimmy “the Gent” Burke's (Conaway in the movie) open-handed tipping habit. Henry was first arrested when he was 16 and refused to give away any information about him and who he worked for, which caught the attention of Jimmy, earning his and Vario’s trust. However, when he was around 17 years old, he joined the United States Army, as there was an FBI investigation into organized crime, which resulted in the publication of a list of thousands of names of members and associates of the five major crime families. Vario’s name wasn’t on the list, so Hill continued his hustle during his three-year enlistment.
Following the Air France robbery (briefly seen in Goodfellas), Henry used his share to purchase a restaurant called “The Suite”, with the purpose of running it as a legitimate business and thus provide some distance between himself and his mob associates. However, the place ended up becoming another mob hangout, with members of the Lucchese and Gambino families often visiting. In the end, Henry decided to become an FBI informant and entered the U.S. Witness Protection Program in 1980, and that was his ticket out of the mob.
The 1978-1979 Boston College Basketball Point-Shaving Scandal
The 1978-1979 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal was a scheme in which members of the mafia recruited and bribed players from the Boston College Eagle men’s basketball team to ensure they wouldn’t win by the required margin, thus allowing gamblers to place wagers against that team and win. The minds behind the scheme were Rocco Perla and his brother Anthony, two small-time gamblers who saw the Eagles’ basketball season as the perfect opportunity to make a lot of money. To achieve their goal, they needed an insider, so they set their eyes on Rick Kuhn, Rocco’s high-school friend who was starting his senior year at Boston College and was expected to be a key member of the Eagles team. The basis of the scheme was that they, along with Kuhn, would pick certain basketball games where the projected point spread separating Boston College from its opponent was expected to be significant. Kuhn’s role was ensuring by his play on the court that his team fell short of the point spread.
The Perla brothers then mobilized a betting syndicate to maximize their potential gain from the scheme, so they contacted Paul Mazzei, a local friend who had connections with New York gambling circles. It was through them that the Perla brothers met Henry Hill, who befriended Mazzei while they were both serving sentences in federal prison. Hill was expected to bring Jimmy in so he could finance the payments to the players and set up a network of bookmakers who were in on the scheme. After getting the approval of Paul Vario, Henry and Jimmy joined the scheme. More players were brought in after a test run for the plan failed, and so the scheme eventually proved to be successful (and very profitable).
Henry Hill was arrested in 1980 on a narcotics-trafficking charge, and he turned state’s evidence in exchange for avoiding prison and possible retaliation from Jimmy and the rest of the Lucchese family, which basically meant getting killed. While being questioned, FBI agents inadvertently mentioned Henry’s frequent trips to Boston around the time of the Lufthansa heist, so he revealed his involvement in the point-shaving scheme. Hill told them everything, in exchange for full immunity. Ultimately, Jimmy, Mazzei, Kuhn, and the Perla brothers were indicted, and Henry was listed as a co-conspirator.
The Esteé Lauder Ransack
This part of Henry Hill’s life is as strange as it sounds. In the book The Lufthansa Heist, by Daniel Simone in collaboration with Henry Hill, the latter shared what’s perhaps one of the weirdest events in his long list of crimes. In 1978, Henry and his men “bound and gagged Esteé Lauder and her staff” and ransacked her house, stealing around $1 million from the cosmetics queen. Simone told Page Six in 2014 that, according to Henry, Esteé Lauder was “terrified and was convulsing”, so Henry felt bad and took her out for a cup of coffee, promising to bring her back when his crew was finished robbing her place. Coffee ended up being cocktails at PJ Clarke’s, and Esteé Lauder began to “warm to him”, even giving Henry her personal phone number. Before dropping her off, Henry asked her not to call the police until half an hour after they left, which she did. While it’s understandable why Martin Scorsese would leave this particular event out of Goodfellas, as it doesn’t quite fit the vibe of the movie, it’s one worth noting when talking about Henry Hill’s life, as it says a lot about what he and his crew did, as well as how he presented himself to others.