"Godfather" Theme Played for Philly Mobsters at Celebratory Dinner

From Big Trial : It was mood music for a corporate takeover.

A few hours after a rowdy shareholders meeting formalized what federal authorities allege was Salvatore Pelullo's secret takeover of FirstPlus Financial, Pelullo hosted a celebratory dinner for company officers and members of the board of directors at a posh steakhouse in Dallas.

As he sat at the head of a long table in a private dining room at DelFrisco's on that night in October 2007, a violinist serenaded Pelullo repeatedly with the same song, said Robert O'Neal, then chairman of the board and president of FirstPlus.

O'Neal, testifying for the prosecution at the racketeering trial of Pelullo, mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo and five other defendants, said the song was all too familiar and somewhat ominous.


"It was the theme from The Godfather," he said in response to a question from Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Small.


PS: At another celebratory dinner held in New York in the 1970s, shortly after the film "The Godfather" was released in theaters, some genius had the idea to hire a band to play the theme music from the classic gangster film for the man being honored at the dinner.

The honoree was Carlo Gambino.

He supposedly whispered into the ear of whoever was seated next to him and asked: "What's this music that they are playing?"

Or words to that effect.

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