'I've met him before'
What was the signifigance of Mrs. Preston revealing she had met Luciano before?
"Be it a grain of sand or rock, in water they sink as the same."
She met him when in the company of Bo Weinberg. Bo was probably conspiring with Luciano to double-cross Dutch. At the "Baptism," Luciano asked about Bo and said that he had never met him. More than likely, the only way Drew could have met Luciano was with Bo, so when Dutch heard that she had met Luciano, it all fell into place for Dutch.
Upon hearing that, Otto immediately knew that Luciano would come after Dutch before Dutch tried to kill Dewey and make things even hotter for everybody. I don't think Otto realized that the hit would take place as quickly as it did, or he might have tried to get away from Dutch.
Hope that helps.
That was good looking out regarding him getting rid of Billy.He knew what was going to happen,albeit not when.I always thought he knew it would happen soon (though not that soon),but your interpretation is valid too.It's obvious Otto really came to care about Billy.
{Caution Possible Spoilers}
Please remember this movie is based on true happenings! What wasn't explained in this movie was that Dutch had gone to the commission to ask permission to kill Luciano, After he was refused, It was feared that Dutch would go against the commission and kill him anyway, this caused a dilemma within the families that if this killing took place, that it would have conflicted with the business of all. Especially when Luciano had already made a deal with the commission to absorb and divide Dutch's territory among the rest of the families as he wasn't expected to escape the tax evasion charges against him. Therefore it was in the best interest of the commission to refuse permission to kill "Lucky" Luciano and fearing that Dutch would kill him anyway, informed Luciano that Dutch was gunning for him. This is what lead to Dutch deciding to move his center of business to New Jersey.
I agree that is why he got rid of the kid,(Because he cared.)Plus it may have also been an act of contrition.. Doing something good before he died. But I believe that Otto gave him the money because he knew they would be coming soon. Probably based on the fact that the phone wasn't being picked up when he called. These gangsters operated during this time with special phone numbers that they would call like a hot line, they knew who was calling and would usually answer immediately with minimal words to avoid identifying themselves for fear of the phones being tapped by the FBI. If he didn't have some inkling that Luciano and his men were coming very soon, he would have had to answer for the missing $1700 to Dutch. And that's why once again he called him the "luckiest kid in the world" That he was able to get out alive. abet, with his help and with a good amount of money that he could start his life over. He knew the numbers, It was in the math!
You are wrong, StefanMichael. Schultz went to the Commission for permission to have Dewey whacked, not Luciano. It was when he decided to go ahead with the hit on Dewey without their permission, Luciano & the others decided that Schultz had to go & they divided up his rackets.
share@Sawarrior, OMG! A ghost from the past (this movie) comes back to haunt me! It's been so long since I seen this film and posted, (2012) I honestly don't remember even seeing this film let alone posting! LoL! While my usual practice is to triple-check and pause the scene on the last viewing while I write any reply to insure accuracy over something such as this that is so easy to prove my idiocy, I have been known to sometimes confuse characters names... One of the benefits of growing older... Or... From reading what I wrote back then in my original post that you are refering to (above), I may have been responding from the "real-life" facts and not from what was depicted in the movie?... I only offer these as a possible explanation in advance of rechecking my facts and trying to figure the basis for my response. But as I hate to pass along bad information, I will see if I can put the movie into my Netflix cue and do some fact checking within the next couple of weeks. Then either make the necessary corrections and humbly bow down in obvious reverance to the one person who has witnessed the soul mistake I have ever made in my entire life!!!.... Or come back gloating and boasting of my greatness while I dance around your quivering soul! ;-) ...Stay Tuned!
Sincerely,
Stefan-Michael