..who was one of The Sopranos writers. This had sat on our shelf for years, unaccountably. According to Wikipedia it was inspired by Nelson Johnson's 2002 non-fiction book 'Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City', about the historical criminal kingpin Enoch L. Johnson. Who is played, of course, by Steve Buscemi.
Episode 1 was directed by Martin Scorsese (but interestingly, not edited by Thelma Schoonmaker). He is also an executive producer, along with people like Mark Wahlberg, Winter and Steve Levinson (no relation). And Margaret Nagle, who's one of the writers.
Cast: Michael Pitt (as the WW1 veteran) and wife Aleksa Palladino, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg, Stephen Graham (Al Capone), Vincent Piazza (Lucky Luciano), Paz de la Huerta (Nucky's woman), Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire, sadly no longer with us), Shea Whigam (Nucky's brother), Gretchen Moll (Pitt's mum), Anthony Laciura (Nucky's German 'butler'), Paul Sparks.
Fabulous production design by Bill Groom, Colourful evocation of 1920s. Same ingredients as The Sopranos - must watch plots interspersed with unpleasant violence. Interesting themes: corruption, politics, Prohibition, post-war veterans, movies. Made for HBO.
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