Capone

Capone killed Jim Colosimo in the back of a restaurant to remove a roadblock to Johnny Torrio's bootlegging plans. Colosimo was an old-school boss who resisted the shift to Prohibition-era alcohol smuggling, so Torrio and Capone orchestrated his elimination so they could move forward with their more profitable criminal enterprise.

The decision to recruit Capone to Chicago was specifically to enforce the bootlegging operation that Colosimo opposed.

Iris Crawford was a dancer and barmaid who was romantically involved with Capone and helped him rise in the Chicago underworld. She was killed during a Moran attack on Capone's bistro on February 7, 1929. Her death devastated Capone and intensified his resolve to destroy Moran's organization, leading directly to the warehouse massacre shortly after.

Iris had been a key figure in Torrio and Capone's operations since the early bootlegging days.

Capone was convicted of multiple federal tax evasion charges in 1931, not for the murders or bootlegging he was known for. Federal authorities couldn't build cases on his criminal activities due to widespread corruption, so they prosecuted him for failing to pay taxes on his illegal income. He received an eleven-year sentence and was sent to Alcatraz, marking the end of his dominance in Chicago.

Throughout the film, Capone boasted he was untouchable as long as corruption protected him.

Johnny Torrio decided to leave America for Italy after surviving an ambush shooting in January 1925. With Capone's heat growing and constant threats targeting the organization, Torrio chose to step away rather than continue living under constant danger. He handed control of the Chicago Outfit to Capone, who then consolidated power as the new leader.

Torrio had been shot at before and faced mounting pressure from rival gangs and law enforcement.

On February 14, 1929, Capone's men dressed as police officers and executed seven members of Bugs Moran's North Side gang at a warehouse on Chicago's North Side, including the Gusenberg brothers. This brutal attack was Capone's retaliation for Moran's escalating feud and Iris Crawford's death. The massacre marked the pinnacle of Capone's ruthlessness and ultimately provided the evidence authorities needed to pursue him more aggressively.

The feud had been building since O'Banion's death and Moran's challenges to Capone's authority.

Hymie Weiss was killed in a rooftop shooting on September 20, 1926, ordered by Capone as retaliation for a drive-by shooting on Capone's hotel. Weiss had been a key rival and his death represented a major escalation in the gang wars. After the attempted drive-by, Capone responded with the hit that eliminated Weiss and his men, cementing Capone's dominance over Chicago's underworld.

Weiss had been a persistent threat since the early territorial disputes following the Joliet ambush.

The feud between Capone and Bugs Moran began after the death of Dion O'Banion, who Moran had allied with. As Capone consolidated power, Moran emerged as the primary challenger for control of Chicago's North Side. The conflict escalated with mutual attacks, culminating in Moran's role in Iris Crawford's death and Capone's subsequent warehouse massacre that decimated Moran's organization.

The territorial divisions established after the Joliet ambush created lasting rivalries.

Capone maintained that he was untouchable as long as he could buy off politicians and law enforcement. He cultivated relationships with corrupt officials, including District Attorney Robert E. Crowe, whom he repeatedly humiliated by hinting at exposing his corruption. This network of bribery and political protection allowed him to operate openly despite numerous crimes, until federal tax evasion charges finally circumvented local corruption.

Multiple scenes show Capone taunting authorities with his immunity from local prosecution.

Capone contracted syphilis earlier in his life, and by the late 1930s while imprisoned in Alcatraz, doctors confirmed the disease had progressed and would erode his mind. The diagnosis explained his deteriorating mental state, memory loss, and behavioral changes. By the time he reached Palm Island for his final decline, his health had completely deteriorated due to the untreated illness.

The film depicts Capone's increasing mental confusion in the final chapters.

Joe Aiello refused to work with Capone and instead allied with Bugs Moran against the Chicago Outfit. Nitti, Capone's trusted enforcer, planted a car bomb that killed Aiello on September 21, 1926. This eliminated another rival and reinforced Nitti's role as Capone's most loyal and ruthless lieutenant in the ongoing war for control of Chicago's criminal empire.

Nitti had already proven his loyalty through multiple crucial operations for Capone.