Just watched *Goodfellas *last night for the first time in its entirety and unedited (for television) since right after it came out. Great great film that more than holds up. It definitely deserves it’s mentions among the great films of all time.
There was a throwaway moment that I had a question about but can’t seem to find the answer by Googling. There is a scene in a bar later in the movie when Samuel L. Jackson, as Stack Edwards, first shows up in the film. Right before he comes over to talk to some of the wiseguys, he is shown with a woman on the other end of the bar dumping two tumblers of green liquor into stemmed glasses that look like they have a white wine or champagne in them.
Is this a real drink? If so, what is it? I was thinking the green liquor was likely midori, but I don’t know. Anyone know the answer?
PS: The film looks pretty incredible on blu-ray. They did a great job with the transfer.
Since your thread is going to attract the attention of Goodfellas mavens (and those who think they are ;)), do you mind if I add a question that has bothered me for years. Okay? Thanks, I appreciate it.
Question(s):
Why did Henry and Jimmy not have to answer for helping Tommy kill Billy Batts? And maybe more to the heart of my question is: why, after Tommy was bumped off, did Henry and Jimmy not even seem worried that they were going to be next?
Thanks!
P.S. If the OP’er or a mod feels that I’ve crossed a line by this hijack, i.e. by adding my question, can they please delete this post. Thank you.
It’s made clear in the source novel Wiseguy that Tommy was responsible for several other unauthorized murders, including one of John Gotti’s best friends, which was the primary reason he got whacked. Nobody had reason to suspect that Henry & Jimmy were complicit in Batts’ disappearance, since there were no witnesses and no body was ever found. Also, Henry & Jimmy were both solid earners who rarely stepped out of line, whereas Tommy was a loose cannon.
I can’t picture the scene…it’s one of my favorite movies, but I only watch it once every few years. Was the bartender pouring it over something? Could it have been absinthe?
BTW, if you google (without quotes) “goodfellas green drink” you’ll get several hits including Appletinis (wihcih doesn’t make sense to me based on the time period) to absinthe to Midori (which would be my guess).
Anyway several people in the bar that night saw Tommy go apeshit when Billy was making fun of him. So it would have made sense that he specifically was held responsible when Billy disappeared shortly thereafter.
Thanks, what you said makes sense although I would disagree on one point, i.e.
Well, lots of people (probably Mob connected people, at that) saw that Henry and Jimmy were with Batts the night he disappeared. In particular, the last person to leave the bar would know that he left Billy Batts with Tommy, Henry, and Jimmy. Still, your answer makes a lotta sense especially with that extra bit of info from novel. Thanks!
EDIT: had not seen joebuck20’s post when I made mine. “and a lot of other things” also helps clarify. Thanks.
Not a novel, but rather a biography, though Hill shouldn’t be considered a 100% reliable narrator.
According to Hill, the real Tommy DeSimone was specifically fingered by Paul Vario ( “Paulie”, their capo) for attempting to rape Hill’s wife who was or had been having an affair with Vario. So Vario gave him up, but not Hill or Burke. It was Jimmy Burke who in RL was probably the major instigator of the murder, as he had taken over one of William “Billy Batts” Devino’s operations when Batts was in prison and Batts was bitching up a storm trying to reclaim it. And nobody took money away from “Jimmy the Gent” Burke.
Many naturally-colored varieties of absinthe have a yellow-green or green hue, though maybe some have been artificially colored to look more interesting/legit. A common nickname for it used to be “the green fairy/la fée verte.”
If the scene in Goodfellas had something neon/brilliant green, I’d go with the appletini/Midori explanation. I googled “Midori champagne” and it turned up a bunch of recipes for Midori Champagne/Midori Fizz/etc. drinks.
It was a pretty brilliant green. It was two or three fingers of the green liquor in a tumbler glass that he poured into a wine glass that looked like it had champagne in it.
I found a few mentions online that Mark Roesler is the creator of the appletini but no idea when he did so. He was born in '55 though so it was likely late 70s at the earliest.
That said, these didn’t look to be any kind of martini as it was served in a wine glass and the liquor was mixed into what was already in the wine glass.
I’m going to re-watch the scene tonight and see if I can garner any more details, or figure out a way to get a screenshot.
Per the Wiki article, Midori was invented in 1978 and debuted in New York with a Studio 54 party, so it hit the US in a big way. I wonder if there were any other super-bright-green liqueurs in the US during whatever time this was supposed to be. If it’s after Henry gets out of prison, the movie’s Wiki says that was 1978, so Midori would work for that timing assuming it was exported to the US right after its creation.
And as someone with a bottle of it, I can confirm it’s bright green in the bottle and looks nearly neon green when diluted somewhat. (Every now and then, I would mix up a Long Island Iced Tea that includes Midori, called a Three Mile Island Iced Tea, and that color is a big part of the effect.)
Checking the manufacturer’s website for the liqueur (may redirect due to age check upon entering the website), it says it “was launched in the United States in 1978.” So it definitely could work, as could green chartreuse.
Allow me to possibly veer into slightly racist territory… Are any of the green possibilities known to be popular among young blacks around that time? Stacks and his girl are the only ones with this type of drink.
