Pay Or Die

Director Wilson had just come off a hit movie, CAPONE, for Allied Artists and went right back to the same Italian gangster territory for this film about the man who headed the "Italian Squad" for the New York Police Department. PAY OR DIE covers three years in the life of Joe Petrosino, the cop who tried to show the link between the Sicilian Mafia and its American counterpart. His story was also told in the MGM picture THE BLACK HAND, which starred J. Carrol Naish. Although neither film adheres strictly to the facts, both do a fine job of presenting the tale. The setting is New York's "Little Italy," later the backdrop for MEAN STREETS and several other films. Borg...