Film screening, 1 hour and 15 minutes; English subtitles; Followed by discussion

Wearing his trademark aviators, Myron Sugarman, almost 85, claims he is the last “real” Jewish gangster; a one-of-a-kind outlaw, a self-made “king” of illegal slot machines and a globetrotting adventurer whose clandestine missions included strategic support for Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal and critical weapons delivery to the new State of Israel.

Both gangster and defender of the Jews, Myron, born in 1938 in Newark, New Jersey is catapulted into a life of crime by his father, Barney “Sugie” Sugarman, a prominent gangster of the 1920’s and friend of Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Seigal. With art deco and archival footage from the Roaring Twenties plus a catchy klezmer-like soundtrack, director Jonny Caplan employs Sugarman’s articulate and often humorous voiceovers in this engaging film which showcases one man’s fight against antisemitism at a time when Jew-hatred has again become all too prevalent.

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The Shabbat Jewish Film Series is made possible by the Aptekar Family Endowment Fund for Film.