The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault is a one-time live American television special broadcast in syndication in April 1986 hosted by Geraldo Rivera. The program was centered around the opening of a secret vault once owned by noted gangster Al Capone. The program is now perhaps best-known for the vault being ultimately empty except for debris.

Contents 1 History 2 Program 3 In popular culture 4 References

[edit] History

Al Capone was a Neapolitan born to immigrant parents in New York City who eventually moved to Chicago, Illinois. There he grew to become a notable criminal figure and gangster in American history. He played large parts in gambling, alcohol, and prostitution rackets and in 1925 Capone took control of the Chicago Outfit for which he had served as the second in command, after an assassination attempt on former head Johnny Torrio. He was listed on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list, sold alcohol during the Prohibition era, planned the St. Valentine's Day massacre, and was eventually indicted and convicted of income tax evasion in 1931.

[edit] Program

Capone had previously housed his headquarters at the nearby Metropole Hotel, but in July 1928 moved to a suite at the Lexington Hotel. Capone ran his various enterprises from this hotel until his arrest in 1931. A construction company in the 1980s planned a renovation of the Lexington Hotel and while surveying the building discovered a shooting range and a series of secret tunnels including one hidden behind Capone's medicine cabinet. These tunnels connected taverns and whorehouses to provide an elaborate potential escape route in case of a police raid. These discoveries led to further investigation of the hotel, notably by researcher Harold Rubin. Rumors said Capone had kept a very secret vault beneath the hotel to hold some of his wealth and Rubin uncovered a previously unknown vault.

Geraldo Rivera had been fired in 1985 after criticizing ABC for cancelling his report on an alleged relationship between John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. He hosted the special, The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault, which was broadcast live on April 21, 1986. The two hour special (including commercials) was greatly hyped as potentially revealing great riches or bodies on live television. This included the presence of a medical examiner should bodies be found and agents from the Internal Revenue Service to collect any of Capone's money that may be discovered. When the vault was finally opened the only things found inside were dirt and several empty bottles including one Geraldo claimed was for moonshine bathtub gin. Despite the ending the special became the most-watched syndicated television special with an estimated audience of 30,000,000. Rivera later wrote of the event in his 1991 autobiography Exposing Myself that "My career was not over, I knew, but had just begun. And all because of a silly, high-concept stunt that failed to deliver on its titillating promise." The term "Al Capone's vault" has become slang for a heavily expected event with disappointing results.

[edit] In popular culture

• In The Simpsons episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", Homer attempts to compose a song reflective of the spirit of the mid-1980s. His initial attempt runs "There was nothing in Al Capone's vault, but it wasn't Geraldo's fault".
• In the movie UHF, a commercial announces "marvel as he unravels the secrets of Al Capone's glove compartment," to which "Weird Al" Yankovic exclaims "Road maps!"
• In the movie Titanic, after Bill Paxton's character Brock Lovett opens the safe on deck only to reveal nothing inside but grime and the drawing when they were expecting the Heart of the Ocean, Lewis Abernathy's character Lewis Bodine makes the comment, "You know, boss, the same thing happened to Geraldo, and his career never recovered."
• The Colbert Report referenced the vault on its August 14, 2006 episode, when Colbert quipped, "Why are you closing yourself off from Geraldo? He came to unlock the vault of your heart and when he opened it, it was empty. An empty vault. And he had a camera crew. It was very embarrassing." [1]
• A Time Magazine Culture Complex article refers to James Cameron's Tomb of Jesus promotion as having "a showbizzy, Al Capone's vault feel [...]" Ponieozik, J. (2007). Hollywood vs. Jesus. Time Magazine. 169 (11) p. 57.

[edit] References