The Black Hand is a 1973 Mafia film set in New York during The Gay '90s. Mike Placido plays a young Sicilian immigrant called Tony, and Lionel Stander plays Joe Petrosino, a tough Knight Templar cop trying to bust the early Mafia protection rackets.
A remake is in the works, with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Joe.
Tropes include:
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil: For Tony It's Personal when Joe slaps him in the face.
- Big Bad: Fat Bastard Don Gaetano is an Expy of The Godfather, as played by Marlon Brando.
- Black-and-Grey Morality: Cowboy Cop Joe uses some very underhand methods against the gangsters he pursues.
- Being Good Sucks: Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist Joe's attempts to help his fellow Italians is met with a wall of silence and suspicion, while the gangsters get money and respect.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Tony's Toxic Friend Influence The Professor turns him into a killer.
- Cool Car: The Mafia boss travels in a black horse drawn carriage.
- Cruel Mercy: Joe prefers to put criminals in jail rather than kill them, so they have time to reflect upon their crimes.
- Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: The Professor introduces Tony to tailored suits, cigars, drink, women and billiards.
- The Dragon: The professor (Philip Leroy) is an underboss to the local godfather.
- Dirty Cop: One of the prison guards works for the Mafia, and tells The Don that the Professor will betray him.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Tony tells his wife Angela to get an abortion rather than have their son grow up to be a gangster like him.
- Enemy Mine: Between Joe and the Professor when the Mafia fail to help the latter avoid the death sentence.
- Ethnic Menial Labor: Tony works at a cement plant, alongside Irish and Italian immigrants.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Tony refuses to let the Mafia sell the girl into prostitution because he believes Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil and Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil.
- Good Is Not Nice: Hardboiled Detective Joe is willing to beat confessions out of gang members, if it means sending a murderer to prison to protect the Italian community.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: The gangsters are recognisable by their moustaches.
- Heel–Face Turn: The Professor when he turns informant. Unfortunately for him, Redemption Equals Death.
- Human Traffickers: The gangsters bring over young girls from Italy and sell them into prostitution
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Knight in Sour Armor Joe is rude and abrasive, but also motivated by desire to protect law abiding Italian-Americans from the criminal gangs.
- Kick the Dog: Joe strikes Tony when the latter is too afraid to identify the murderer who killed the pizza chef.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Joe's methods alienate many immigrants like Tony and result in them looking to the gangs for protection and respect.
- Older Hero Versus Younger Villain: As in real life, Lead Detective Joe is approaching retirement age. Tony is a young immigrant in his 20s.
- Old-Fashioned Copper: Joe is uncorruptable, but will resort to Police Brutality against any Asshole Victim that protects murderers.
- Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: The Affably Evil, well dressed Professor and the low-born, violent Smith of the Yard Joe.
- Start of Darkness: Tony sells insurance for the Mafia, then moves on to pimping, and finally becomes a killer.
- Rabid Cop: Pragmatic Hero Joe starts to show signs of this out of frustration at the Italian witnesses' reluctance to denounce the gangsters.
- Thanatos Gambit: With help from Da Chief and his Republican allies, Joe pretends to resign from the force and travels to Italy to bring down the Mafia bosses. If he puts them in jail they will testify against their friends, if he kills them they will no longer terrorise ordinary Italians, and if they kill him the people will lose confidence in the Tammany Hall Democrats.
- The Irish Mob: Tony gets into a fight with a gang of Irish laborers at the brothel.
- Villain Team-Up: The Democrat senator and the Mafia bosses do each other favors to stay in power.
- Villainous Rescue: The Mafia save Tony from the Irish thugs.
- Wretched Hive: The city is a dirty, violent place as in Gangs Of New York.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Professor is poisoned in jail to prevent him testifying against Gaetano.
- You Have Failed Me: When Tony loses his nerve and fails to kill Joe, he is shot by a Mafia hitman.
