See the Movie, Visit the Mob Museum

The Mob Museum, named by National Geographic as one of the “Top Ten Things to do in Las Vegas,” has attracted a lot of attention since opening in 2012. the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, provides a world-class journey through true stories—from the birth of the Mob to today’s headlines. Recently, the Mob Museum and Danny A. Abeckaser hosted an invitation-only, VIP premiere for a film based on a real-life event drawn from Mob history: Saban Films’ feature-length production, “Mob Town.”

The screening was attended by “Mob Town” stars David Arquette (Ed Croswell), Danny A. Abeckaser (Joe Barbara), P.J. Byrne (Vincent Vasisko), Kyle Stefanski (Joe Gallo), Jon Carlo (Agent Ruston), Stevie Guttman (Bartolo Guccia), George V. Andreakos (Frankie) and Diana Madison (Maria).

“Mob Town” will open in theaters on December 13. The movie was inspired by an ill-fated Mafia summit meeting in 1957 in the small town of Apalachin, New York. State Trooper Edgar Croswell, researching the license numbers of luxury cars coming into town, became suspicious that mobsters were gathering at the rural estate of Joseph Barbara. Croswell called in reinforcements and set up a roadblock. The mobsters, including prominent New York bosses Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joe Profaci and Joe Bonanno panicked, trying to flee the scene either by car or on foot. The event revealed once and for all that the Mafia existed in America, forcing once-skeptical FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to ramp up his agency’s efforts to fight organized crime.

Visit the Museum

The Mob Museum offers a provocative, contemporary look at these topics through hundreds of artifacts and immersive storylines. Numerous interactive exhibits include a Crime Lab, Firearm Training Simulator and Organized Crime Today exhibit, as well as The Underground, a basement-level Prohibition history exhibition featuring a speakeasy and distillery sponsored by Zappos. The Museum is open daily; visit the website for ticket prices and up-to-date operating hours.

Photos courtesy Saban Films/Mob Museum