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Crime Inc. is a documentary series about the Mafia, produced in the mid-1980s by Thames Television. It's fascinating to observe how the intervening years have led the issuing company of this complete release of all seven episodes down the road of the cheapest and nastiest sensationalism: "MEET THE REAL GOODFELLAS" yells the front cover of the two-disc set at its presumably dumbed-down target market, while the back cover shows a string of silly press quotes. The irony is that, for anyone interested in the history of organised crime or in any aspect of the dark undercurrents which pervade American and European society, such lowbrow tactics are completely unnecessary. For Crime Inc. is a good, solid, properly budgeted and carefully researched series, dating from when such things were what viewers could expect as a matter of course.

Much of the fascination of the series stems from the fact that the producers have used as much primary source material as possible, including original archive footage and interviews (many presumably conducted in jail) with defectors from the cause. The most startling revelation, oddly enough, has nothing to do with the secrecy, extortion and torture employed by the organisation--after all, there are plenty of legitimised governments throughout the world who routinely use the same tactics--rather, it's the statement, made very early on, that until informants started going public US police forces would simply deny the fact that the Mafia even existed. Remarkable stuff. 

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