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Paul Sorvino slicing garlic with a razor blade in Goodfellas was the most mobster scene of them all

Forget The Godfather ’s horse’s head in the bed, or the pistol behind the cistern. Forget mob bosses getting whacked to "House of the Rising Sun" in Casino , or Robert De Niro’s Al Capone delivering an ode to baseball in The Untouchables . Forget, even, the FBI agents discussing the meaning of ‘fuggedaboutit in Donny Brasco . If you're looking for an iconic mafia movie scene, one that encapsulates everything that is great about the genre and why we love it, none holds a candle  – or, for that matter, a razor blade – to Goodfella ’s prison dinner scene. On the off chance the scene isn’t etched in your memory, let’s recap. About halfway through the 1995 classic, our narrator Henry Hill is sentenced to ten years inside for various criminal undertakings. No matter, though, because a number of his mob associates are also doing time, and as Hill explains, they ‘own the joint’. They own it to such a degree, in fact, that they live in separate quarters from the other inmates, dress in Adidas tracksuits and smuggle in everything from joints of beef to bottles of J&B scotch (as well as, apparently, the furnishings of a professional kitchen).

“In prison, dinner was always a big thing,” the late, great Ray Liotta explains in voice-over, while in close-up, we watch the (also) late, great Paul Sorvino delicately slices a bulb of garlic with a razor blade (it may be disputed as an actual cooking method , but food prep has never looked cooler). The rest of the scene is almost as memorable: a pasta course, followed by a main (meat or fish is preferable), a tomato sauce with veal, beef and pork meatballs, and steaks cooked in pans (for lack of a broiler). There are lobsters on ice, fresh bread, peppers, salami and onions, and different types of cheeses. Red and white wine. Cigars and smoking jackets. A basil plant sits as the table centrepiece. It’s completely absurd and utterly mouthwatering; it's also a microcosm of cinematic mob life in which every ingredient of why we love the genre is present. 

From The Godfather ’s improvised “leave the gun, take the cannoli” line to The Sopranos crew’s obsession with cured meats, Italian food has always played an integral role for our on-screen mobsters. For these men, eating represents heritage, family and a shared experience that ties them together. And just like the code of omertà that – in theory at least – helps keep them out of jail, food preparation is ritualistic and follows strict rules. 

That’s why the razor blade is so memorable: it represents discipline, care and the correct way of doing things. “Paulie did the prep-work," Hill tells us, "and he had this wonderful system for doing the garlic. He used a razor. And he used to slice it so thin that it used to liquify in the pan with just a little oil. It’s a very good system.” Or to put it another way: it's a sign of respect.

There is a great contrast to the scene in Goodfella 's final act when Hill unravels over the course of a manic, paranoid day in which he tries to not just offload stolen silencers, pick up his brother and cut some drugs but timing the preparation of an intricate family meal. Unlike Paulie, Hill isn't disciplined and doesn’t stick to the rules and it leads to his undoing (well, that and the helicopter).

The prisoners as a family unit are also important. These aren’t just guys who work together, they’re famiglia. While the other non-mob prisoners are doing time “all mixed together like pigs”, our Goodfellas live alone, together. They care about each other and express that through food. “How do you like your steak?” Johnny Dio asks Vinny (played by real-life New York restauranteur Frank Pellegrino Sr). “Medium rare, hmm. An aristocrat,” Dio muses. Elsewhere in Goodfellas , Paul Sorvino’s Paulie is shown cooking up the best-looking sausages ever committed to film. But let’s not forget we’re dealing with killers here. Breaking bread and breaking balls are important, but so is breaking heads. This is the final reason the razor blade is a masterstroke of symbolism: it lends what is essentially a wholesome family dinner scene a vague undercurrent of menace. It's a tool which could just as easily be directed to someone’s throat, and we’re reminded that, even in jail, Paulie is the boss of the crew who has the power to end their lives in his hands.  The razor blade scene has spawned a hundred think pieces on garlic preparation: does slicing it with a razor really make a difference? Is slicing preferable to crushing or mincing? Is it possible for garlic to liquify? How long would it take? All questions fans of the film have contemplated in their own kitchens. Ultimately, the Goodfellas prison dinner scene isn’t just shorthand for mob movies themselves but one of the coolest moments in cinema history full stop. That's why, even 27 years later, we can never look at garlic the same way again. 

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Goodfellas: 15 most iconic scenes, ranked.

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Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas , his breakneck-paced biopic of mobster Henry Hill, is arguably his finest and most memorable film . Scorsese’s goal with the movie was to make it feel like a two-and-a-half-hour trailer — jumping all over the story’s timeline with unparalleled manic energy —  using Jules and Jim ’s opening montage as a guide .

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The way Scorsese saw it, this was the only way to capture the recklessness of the mafia lifestyle on film. As a result of every scene being distilled to its essential components, the movie has a ton of unforgettable moments. So, here are Goodfellas ’ most iconic scenes.

Updated on May 12th, 2021: Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas remains a timeless classic and one of the most rewatchable movies of all time. Like all the best movies, there isn’t a single scene in Goodfellas that drags on or feels out of place. This tightly edited masterpiece is jam-packed with iconic moments, from the Copacabana tracking shot to the murder of Billy Batts. Since there are countless memorable scenes in this beloved movie, we’ve updated this list with a few new entries.

Jimmy Decides To Kill Morrie

All throughout Goodfellas , Robert De Niro’s Jimmy Conway butts heads with Morrie, the wig shop owner who wants a cut of their loot for coming up with the idea for their biggest score. After finding out Morrie spent the money he owed Jimmy on a commercial for his store, Jimmy strangles him and makes his wig fall off.

When Jimmy overhears Morrie idly singing “Danny Boy” to himself in a bar, he decides to kill him. Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” kicks in on the soundtrack as Jimmy smokes a cigarette in the bar and realizes he could just kill everybody and keep all the money for himself.

Henry In Court

Throughout the entire movie, Henry is told that ratting on his friends is the worst possible thing he could do. After Henry is arrested and becomes a federal witness, he’s seen in court, turning in all his closest associates. Ray Liotta delivers a powerful monologue directly to the camera that sums up the thesis of the movie.

Having showered the soundtrack with pop hits when Henry was a happy-go-lucky mobster, Scorsese creates a stark contrast with the silence of his post-arrest scenes.

Late-Night Dinner At Tommy’s Mother’s House

Goodfellas opens in the middle of the story, with Henry, Tommy, and Jimmy driving Billy Batts’ corpse out to the woods to bury it. They stop off at Tommy’s mother’s house to pick up a couple of things and they accidentally wake her.

She insists on feeding them, so they end up sitting down for a meal with her — all while Billy is bleeding out in the trunk. Tommy’s mother is played by Martin Scorsese’s own mother, who cameoed in many of his films .

Jimmy Finds Out Tommy Is Dead

Jimmy is standing outside a diner, talking on a payphone, when he learns that Tommy — one of his protégés and his closest friends — has been shot in the back of the head.

He breaks down and starts slamming the phone against the wall of the phone box. Then, he starts kicking the phone booth and the whole thing comes crashing down. It’s unconfirmed if this was improvised, but De Niro briefly looks surprised when the booth falls over.

The “Layla” Montage

One of the most memorable uses of music in Goodfellas is the second half of Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla,” beginning with the soft piano riff. It plays over a montage of all the bodies being discovered.

The massacre that eventually brings down Jimmy’s criminal enterprise begins to unfold as corpses show up in places like garbage trucks and xindustrial freezers.

At the end of Goodfellas , Henry Hill avoids jail by selling out all of his friends and going into witness protection with his family. In his voiceover narration, as the camera pans across an average suburban neighborhood to his new house, Henry explains that, while he’s not in prison, he still feels imprisoned, because he’s become just like everybody else. The glamour of the mobster lifestyle is gone.

Then, we see a shot of Tommy firing a gun at the camera against a black background, à la The Great Train Robbery, symbolizing the target on Henry’s back. It was an unforgettable ending.

Tommy kills Spider

Tommy’s rivalry with Spider led to some really intense scenes, like the moment when Tommy ended up shooting Spider in the foot. In their follow-up meeting, Tommy made fun of Spider for wearing a cast. When Spider told Tommy, “Go f*ck yourself,” he sealed his fate. The other guys thought it was funny, but Tommy just opened fire.

Michael Imperioli played Spider and would go on to become an icon with his role as Christopher in HBO’s The Sopranos . He was one of many actors from the cast of Goodfellas that David Chase recruited for the series , having been heavily influenced by the film.

The pistol whip

The first instance of Karen being enraptured by Henry’s criminal lifestyle comes when one of her neighbors attacks her and she calls Henry to pick her up. Henry asks her to identify which guy did it and then walks over to his driveway to confront him.

At first, the guy acts cool, saying, “What do you want, f*cko?” but then Henry takes out his pistol and repeatedly smacks it into the guy’s face. Then, he tells him, “I swear on my mother, if you touch her again, you’re dead!” He walks back over to Karen’s house and gives her the blood-spattered pistol to hide.

Billy busts Tommy’s chops

The bar scene in which Billy Batts gives Tommy DeVito a hard time starts off funny, but it quickly becomes tense when Tommy’s offense begins to show. Billy doubles down on insulting Tommy: “Hey, Tommy, if I was gonna break your balls, I'd tell ya to go home and get your shine box.” The scene ends with the brutal murder of Billy at the hands of Tommy, Jimmy, and Henry.

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Tommy starts kicking him to death, and Jimmy and Henry join in to support their friend. This ends up landing them in huge trouble because Billy is a made man and killing made men is strictly prohibited.

Henry wakes up to Karen pointing a gun at his face

Rather than vindicate Henry Hill’s domestic violence and extramarital affairs, Goodfellas sympathizes with his wife Karen. Just like we are, as viewers throughout the film, Karen was seduced by Henry’s lifestyle, only to find that the reality of it isn’t very glamorous. In one scene, Henry wakes up to the sight of Karen holding a gun in his face.

It’s a tense moment, and as Henry talks Karen down and eventually overpowers her, we feel even worse for her. During one of the takes for this scene, the gun apparently flew out of Lorraine Bracco’s hand and hit cinematographer Michael Ballhaus in the head.

“As far back as I can remember...”

In the opening scene of Goodfellas , Henry, Jimmy, and Tommy drive out into the countryside in the middle of the night with Billy Batts’ body in the trunk. Billy turns out to be alive, and Tommy stabs him with his mother’s kitchen knife until he isn’t.

Illuminated by the car’s red lights, Henry looks down at the bloody corpse. In voiceover, he says, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” In that instant, Tony Bennett’s “Rags to Riches” comes on the soundtrack and we dive into the movie. The juxtaposition of Henry’s childhood dreams of being a powerful criminal and the grisly reality of that life straps us in for the ride.

Tommy gets whacked

It’s easy to understand the reasoning behind whacking Tommy, but it’s still a shocking moment. And the way they do it is so brutal. They lead Tommy to believe he’s getting made. So, he dresses up in his finest suit, he celebrates with his mother, and then he’s driven to what he thinks is his initiation ceremony.

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As he enters an empty room, he realizes what’s going on — he’s had the wool pulled over his eyes — in the split-second before he’s shot in the back of the head. Henry’s voiceover explains that to add insult to injury, they shot Tommy in the face, so his mother couldn’t have an open casket at the funeral.

A helicopter starts following Henry around

The frantic, feverish climactic sequence in Goodfellas is some of the most intense filmmaking of all time. There are a handful of soundtrack changes — from Harry Nilsson’s “Jump into the Fire” to George Harrison’s “What Is Life” to Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy” — as Henry buries himself in coke, darts all over town, and becomes paranoid that the feds are following him in a helicopter.

This might be the best cinematic portrayal of paranoia ever put on film. Scorsese even spends a few shots lingering on Henry, not matching his eyeline with a shot of the helicopter, to create the sense that it might be in his head.

“Funny how?”

This scene was reportedly improvised from an experience that Joe Pesci had when he was working as a waiter and he told a mobster he thought he was funny. Tommy tells a table full of friends a story about insulting a well-built man who beat him up, and when he came to, he did it again.

Henry tells him he’s funny and the atmosphere suddenly turns tense. Tommy rants, “How the f*ck am I funny? What the f*ck is so funny about me?” After a few seconds, Henry catches on that Tommy’s messing with him and they burst into hysterical laughter.

The Copacabana tracking shot

There’s no question that the most iconic moment in Goodfellas is the long tracking shot that follows Henry as he takes Karen to the Copacabana nightclub. They arrive at the club and there’s a long line of customers coming out of the door. Henry takes Karen through a side door and they take a secret entrance into the kitchen.

The staff bring out a table just for them and place it right in front of the stage, all set to the sounds of the Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me.” It’s a very seductive view of Henry’s lifestyle. We can see why it consumed him, and why Karen went along with it.

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Goodfellas: Where Was the 1990 Movie Filmed?

‘Goodfellas’ is a 1990 biographical crime drama that follows the rise and fall of mobster Henry Hill and his associates. Directed by Martin Scorsese , the film is based on Pileggi’s 1985 non-fiction book ‘Wiseguy.’

Opening in around 1985, the film’s multi-decade storyline follows Hill from his early days as a fresh criminal through his meteoric rise and chaotic later years. The film is widely considered one of the greatest depictions of mob life, and its complex narrative is brought to life with almost startling ferocity. The film’s slick backdrop goes a long way in complementing the story. Let’s take a look at the filming locations that were used to bring ‘Goodfellas’ to life.

Goodfellas Filming Locations

‘Goodfellas’ was filmed predominantly in New York City, using many of the metropolis’ iconic spots. The film gets a lot of its characters from the Big Apple, and the crew spent significant time filming in a mind-boggling number of locations around the city. Some scenes were also seemingly shot in Chicago, as well as in nearby New Jersey.

Principal photography reportedly commenced on May 3, 1989, and wrapped up by August 9. Now let’s take a look at the specific locations used to bring the film to life.

Queens, New York City

‘Goodfellas’ was filmed almost entirely in New York’s many iconic boroughs and neighborhoods. The production crew spent a long time shooting in Queens, which is apparent in the many different spots of the borough seen in the movie. Young Henry Hill’s home, seen at the beginning of the movie, was depicted using the residence at 2409 Thirty Second Street in Astoria. Also, the diner near which Henry and Tommy steal a tractor-trailer in the film is located nearby at 6935 Astoria Boulevard, Jackson Heights.

Other filming locations in Queens include Babbage Street on Richmond Hill and the nearby Salerno’s Restaurant on 11711 Hillside Avenue. The Spartan Diner on 7320 Grand Avenue in Maspeth and Neir’s Tavern at 87-48 78th Street in Woodhaven were also used by the production. A few scenes also seem to have been shot at nearby JFK International Airport.

Some studio filming was also seemingly undertaken in the vicinity at Kaufman Astoria Studios on 3412 36th Street in Astoria. Another diner on 56-26 Maspeth Avenue was also briefly used for shooting a few scenes.

Brooklyn, New York City

Several unmistakable Brooklyn spots can also be seen throughout the movie, and rightly so! The crew shot Henry and Karen’s wedding scene at The Oriental Manor on 1818 86th Street in Brooklyn. Collaros Italiano Restaurant on 2758 Coney Island Avenue & Avenue Y stood in for the exterior of the Bamboo Lounge. The crew also filmed around some other locations in Coney Island and at Brooklyn’s iconic prospect part.

Scenes depicting the Jimmy Conway meeting were shot on Smith Street in the Red Hook neighborhood in northwest Brooklyn. The Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn and areas around the Gowanus Canal were also used in a few shots.

Interestingly, scenes depicting the Tampa Zoo in Florida where Henry and Jimmy attempt to collect a debt were also filmed in Brooklyn. The Prospect Park Zoo at 450 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn stands in for Tampa Zoo in the movie.

Manhattan, New York City

How can a film that shoots in the Big Apple, even a one centered on famous mobsters, not lens at least a few scenes in Manhattan? The ‘Goodfellas’ crew spent time shooting at the famous Copacabana Nightclub on 10 East 60th Street on the East Side of Manhattan. Other well-known landmarks in the borough that were used as filming locations include the George Washington Bridge, Foley Square, and Fifth Avenue.

A few scenes were reportedly shot at the Hawaii Kai Restaurant on Broadway on 49th Street. The New York State Supreme Court Building (originally called the New York County Courthouse) at 60 Center Street in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan also appears in the movie.

Staten Island, New York City

Scenes were shot around Richmond Avenue on Staten Island. Specifically, the scene with the shopping mall depicting a paranoid Harry was shot in the borough. The crew also filmed around 2995 Richmond Avenue.

Long Island, New York

Filming continued in nearby Long Island, with scenes shot in Atlantic Beach and Oyster Bay. The Catalina Beach Club on 2041 Park Street is the fancy beach club depicted in the movie. The Richmond Hill station (closed since 1998) of the Long Island Railroad was also used as a backdrop for a few scenes.

New Rochelle, New York

This city in Westchester County also hosted the film crew for a short time as they shot scenes depicting Karen’s parents’ house on 19 Alfred Lane. Bruce’s home was depicted using a nearby residence on 14 Alfred Lane. The filming on Alfred Lane was predominantly near the intersection with Sussex Road.

Locations in New Jersey

Some crucial scenes were filmed in the neighboring state of New Jersey. Henry and Karen’s home after the former’s prison time was depicted using the property on 1080 Inwood Terrace in Fort Lee, Bergen County.

The film’s closing scene, which sees Henry go out to pick up the newspaper, was reportedly shot in Marlboro Township in Monmouth County. A few scenes were also shot in a section of the Palisades Interstate Parkway, which spans New York and New Jersey.

Chicago, Illinois

Though there are a few reports of the crew filming in Chicago as well, others claim that the iconic gangster film was shot entirely in New York and New Jersey. Thus, it remains unconfirmed whether scenes were actually shot in Chicago or not.

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