Hollywood adapted another infamous mob story from real history with The Alto Knights. Directed by Barry Levinson, the movie The Alto Knights shows Robert De Niro playing mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, whose friendship fades as they wage a brutal war with each other for greater control of the Mafia. The film opens with a title card that reads, “Based on true events,” though this implies that not everything seen in the film is 100% historically accurate.
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Like most biopics, 2025’s The Alto Knights took some creative liberties when adapting Vito and Frank’s life stories for the big screen to tell a more engaging and structured story. Despite some changes, much of what is seen in The Alto Knights presents an accurate account of the duo’s notorious lives and the pivotal events that altered them and American history forever.
You are watching: The Alto Knights True Story: Fact Checking 6 Moments In Vito Genovese & Frank Costello’s Life
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Frank Costello Surviving A Hit From Vito
Frank Miraculously Survived A Shot To The Head In The Alto Knights
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The Alto Knights begins with Vito sending one of his enforcers, Vincent Gigante, to kill Frank. This culminates in the latter getting shot in the lobby of his apartment just before he takes the elevator. Though Vincent shoots Frank in the head, the film reveals that the bullet hit Frank’s scalp and curved around his skull without penetrating it, sparing him from death.
This attempt on his life did happen to the real Frank Costello, and the scene of the crime and injury he sustained are reported to be accurate (via The New York Times). Just like with the real Frank, Robert De Niro’s character in the film decides he should retire from the Mafia following this assassination attempt from his childhood friend.
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Frank Marrying Bobbie Costello In The Alto Knights
Frank Marries A Fictional Character In The Movie
Actor Debra Messing appears in The Alto Knights as Frank’s wife, Bobbie Costello. While Frank Costello was married to someone in real life, it wasn’t Bobbie Costello. Instead, Frank married a woman named Lauretta Geigerman. While it seems the film’s writers changed Lauretta’s name in The Alto Knights, the history between Frank and Lauretta is similar to their cinematic counterparts. For instance, Frank also married Lauretta the same year he was incarcerated for carrying a gun, with Frank saying in the film that he spent his honeymoon in prison.
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Anna Genovese vs. Vito Genovese
Anna and Vito’s Court Case Was A Major Turning Point In The Alto Knights
As shown in the film, Vito had been married to Anna Genovese, a popular drag club owner, in real life. Though the two of them started out well together in the movie, they had a falling out and battled each other in court, just like the actual Vito and Anna Genovese. Just like in real-world history, this court revealed a lot of dark secrets about Vito and his criminal associates in the movie.
The Alto Knights shows Anna testifying before a judge that Vito was actually an extremely wealthy man who was involved in several illegal activities. She also revealed to the court that Frank Costello was also involved in the mob. This bombshell statement tarnished Frank’s public image and sowed the seeds of Vito’s discontent with his friend/partner-in-crime.
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Albert’s Barbershop Murder
One of The Alto Knight’s Most Brutal Deaths Actually Happened
Albert Anastasia’s death in The Alto Knights is undoubtedly one of the film’s most gruesome moments. The scene shows Alberto sitting in the barber’s chair with a towel over his face, with the barber looking at him like he’s preparing to slit his throat. This suspenseful setup proves to be a misdirection as a couple of men appear and open fire on Albert from behind, killing him. This is how Albert was killed in real life, with the mobster reportedly crashing into the mirror after taking the first round of bullets, thinking that the shooters’ reflections were actually them (via The New York Times).
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The Apalachin Meeting
The Film Presented One Of The Biggest Scandals In Mafia History
The climax of The Alto Knights depicts the police cornering dozens of mob bosses from all across America attending a mob summit at a house in the New York countryside. After the cops are seen spying on the mobsters in the film, they all panic and flee in their cars and even into the woods.
Despite the mobsters’ sudden mass exodus, the police set up roadblocks during their escape and got all of their license plate numbers. Known as the “Apalachin Meeting,” this real-life incident culminated in exposing the Mafia as a nationwide crime syndicate. It also led to Vito’s imprisonment for breaking federal narcotics laws, causing him to spend the rest of his life in jail.
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There have been multiple theories regarding the Apalachin Meeting. While this theory hasn’t been confirmed, The Alto Knights suggests that Frank was the one who told the police about the mob summit, as he was the only one who wasn’t at the party by the time everyone fled. Frank did try to make a stop on the way to the house, and he seemed almost unfazed when he saw the police investigating the mob boss. Thus, the film implies that he knew the police would be there and was trying to remain hidden as they helped him remove Vito from power.
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Frank’s Imprisonment For Tax Evasion
The Alto Knight Changes Aspects of Frank’s Jail Time
Warner Bros. Pictures
Though The Alto Knights implied that Frank had taken down Vito’s criminal empire by tipping off the police, he is forced to spend time in jail as well. In the film, Frank tells the audience that he was sentenced to prison for tax evasion after the Apalachin Meeting. It even shows him sharing a cell with Vito so the two mob bosses can keep an eye on each other.
Though the actual Frank Costello was incarcerated for tax evasion in the 1950s, this sentence began many years before the Apalachin Meeting, which doesn’t match the timeline in the movie. There’s also no evidence that Frank and Vito shared a prison cell together after the ill-fated mob summit. This plot point was likely added to The Alto Knights so these two enemies could have a moment of reconciliation and become friends again.
Source: The New York Times
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The Alto Knights
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Crime
Drama
5/10
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Release Date
April 21, 2025
Runtime
120 Minutes
Director
Barry Levinson
Writers
Nicholas Pileggi
Producers
Irwin Winkler, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler, David Winkler, Mike Drake, Barry Levinson
Cast
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Robert De Niro
Vito Genovese / Frank Costello
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Debra Messing
Bobbie Costello
Character(s)
Vito Genovese / Frank Costello, Bobbie Costello, Anna Genovese, Vincent Gigante, Frankie Boy, LT. Trooper, Carlo Gambino, Victor Riesel, Rudolph Halley
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Category: Entertainment