The rollicking adventures of a real life mobster-turned-actor who helped make The Godfather a reality.
Gianni Russo was a handsome 25-year-old mobster with no acting experience when he walked onto the set of The Godfather and entered Hollywood history. He played Carlo Rizzi, the husband of Connie Corleone, who set her brother Sonny- played by James Caan - up for the hit that created an indelible cinematic moment.
But Russo didn't have to act. He knew the Mob inside and out: from his childhood in Little Italy, where mafia legend Frank Costello took him under his wing, acting as messenger for New Orleans Mob boss Carlos Marcello during the Kennedy assassination, to being forced on the lam after shooting a member of Pablo Escobar's Colombian drug cartel in his Vegas club.
Along the way, Russo befriended Frank Sinatra - who became his son's godfather - and Marlon Brando, had passionate affairs with Marilyn Monroe, Liza Minnelli and scores of other stars, all while walking the tightrope between Hollywood glamour and working for the Mob.
In the tradition of The Wolf of Wall Street and Catch Me If You Can, this is a no-holds-barred rollercoaster ride of life lived on the edge: shocking, thoroughly entertaining, full of glamour, sex, violence, cheek - and fun.