Free Republic

Once, it was thought of as the gangster movie to end all gangster movies. Before he played Don Corleone, Marlon Brando had been all but written off after several flops. But of course that's exactly what "The Godfather," which opened in New Jersey 40 years ago this Saturday, was not. Instead, it was the gangster movie that began all gangster movies, at least as we know them now: not just its own sequels, "The Godfather: Part II" and "The Godfather: Part III," but also "Goodfellas," "Donnie Brasco," "Analyze This," "Scarface," "The Freshman," "Prizzi's Honor" and "Married to the Mob," not...

Regular readers of this column know that this is my favorite time of year. Baseball has started, tax season is over and my wife and I are traveling. This year we spent time in Italy and Istanbul. You meet the most interesting people when you travel. It's not because the people who surround you on a daily basis are boring; it's because no matter how exciting their lives may be, they are still so familiar. Radio personality Dennis Prager and I discussed this not too long ago. He mentioned that my column was building a real following, to which I...

In Palermo, Sicily hundreds of Italians gathered today "to commemorate murdered anti-Mafia judge Paolo Borsellino 18 years after his death" as reported by David Willey for BBC News: "He was killed by a car bomb in one the most brutal attacks on Italian justice. * * * After several trials, the truth about who organised the murder of Borsellino, and fellow judge Giovanni Falcone the same year, remains elusive."

Nothing heralds the arrival of spring in Rome like the first whiff of a blood orange. Vendors cut open the succulent citrus fruits to show off the crimson flesh to shoppers at the Testaccio market near the Aventine hill (Piazza Testaccio, open Mon-Sat, 7am to 1pm) and the Biological Market in Trastevere (Via Cardinale Merry del Val, open the second Sunday of every month). Coffee bars throughout Rome serve freshly squeezed blood orange juice, spremuta, with a touch of sugar. For an exceptional spremuta, swing by Caffè delle Arance, Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, 2 (arance means oranges in Italian)....

An 82-year-old Italian man who took a Viagra pill scared his wife so much she called the police. Giovanni di Stefano, from Palermo, was so excited his wife thought he would have a heart attack and dialled 999. "The police didn't do anything but their presence had the desired effect. He lost interest in his love life pretty quickly," said a family friend. Terrified wife Carla, 69, told police: "He is 82-years-old and so I thought so much love could have lethal consequences."

The Sicilian Mafia, the Cosa Nostra, is facing a revolt by local businessmen who refuse to pay protection money. Until now almost every business in the Sicilian capital, Palermo, has paid off the Mafia or faced retribution.