Fact-checking 'Capone': What's true, what's not in Tom Hardy's new gangster movie

Just when you thought he was out, infamous gangster Al Capone keeps getting dragged back into movies.

This time it's Tom Hardy in "Capone" (now streaming), stepping into the formidable shoes worn by Robert De Niro in 1987's "The Untouchables." Writer/director Josh Trank's new telling doesn't focus on the feared Chicago crime boss, but the final year of a syphilis-suffering, mentally weakened man who died in 1947 at age 48.

Trank makes clear he took creative license in "Capone," calling it an "impressionistic film, a rendering of a 20th-century icon." That's common in gangster portrayals, says Jonathan Eig, author of "Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster."

"That’s part of why Capone has become this mythological figure for our times," Eig says. "Because of the liberties taken in telling all these stories."

Here's what "Capone" gets right and wrong:

'Capone' review: Tom Hardy shines as the feral remnant of an infamous gangster

Did the real Al Capone spend his final years in a sprawling Florida villa?

Born in Brooklyn, New York, synonymous with Chicago, Capone spent his final years in Florida, following an eight-year prison stint for tax evasion charges. He purchased his colonial-style home on Miami Beach's Palm Island in 1928, "and the IRS was never able to get their hands on it," says Eig. "He was able to live out the last years of his life in a spectacular location."

Trank shot the film at a mansion in Covington, Louisiana. But it's in the spirit of the actual location.

"The architecture, the topography of the area, the vegetation – it's just close enough," the director says.

Did syphilis take a heavy toll on Capone's health?

Capone kept a lid on his condition until he was formally diagnosed by prison doctors. The movie opens saying that while in prison, "his mental and physical health crumbles from neurosyphilis," when the disease infects the central nervous system. "Capone" depicts FBI agents wondering if the convict overplayed his symptoms to ensure an early prison release. 

Hardy's pale complexion and scars signify Capone's condition. "We tried to be truthful to what syphilitic scars would actually look like; ultimately, you don't have photographic evidence of every stage of the last year," says Trank.

In the film, Capone has guilt-filled hallucinations and shows a loss of mental faculty that comes from Trank's mind. But the disease's impact was real, Eig says: "There are interviews with people who said his behavior was often childlike." 

Is that what Capone sounded like?

No known audio recordings of Capone exist, and he never spoke on video. Trank was inspired by comedian Jimmy Durante, an Italian-American born around the same time in Brooklyn.

"That's how we landed on the accent," says Trank. As far as Capone's actual personality, "that's an interpretation. When somebody is that famous, we all have our idea of who that person might have been. Based on my knowledge and research, I was confident I was writing about what he was like at the time."

Was there a missing $10 million?

In the film, Capone struggles to remember whether, and where, he buried $10 million of his loot, hidden from federal authorities. While the specific figure and anecdote are fictitious, the legend of Capone's alleged fortune is infamous. Geraldo Rivera's 1986 live TV event "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault" didn't find the score in a secret vault in Chicago's Lexington Hotel.

"There has always been talk of 'What really happened to Al Capone’s money?' " says Eig. "He spent his money like crazy. I think that’s the answer, he never accumulated much."

Did Capone father an illegitimate son?

Capone had one son, Albert Francis (played by Noel Fisher), who died at 85 in 2004. But the film shows the ailing gangster haunted by an illegitimate son he never recognized. In real life, there have been people who claimed to be his offspring, but nothing proven.

"I didn't feel guilt or remorse putting that in," says Trank, who believes such a child would have been likely for "men in his position in this world and his line of work."

Did Capone's doctor make him switch out his cigar for a carrot?

Dr. Karlock, played by Kyle MacLachlan, prompts the ailing Capone to replace his ever-present cigar with a healthy carrot. "1,000%, I'm guilty of making that up," says Trank.

MacLachlan, whose character is fictional, loved the idea that shows even legendary gangsters have to accept old age. The vegetable became his text joke with Hardy. "Whenever I communicate with Tom, I send him a carrot. It's kind of become our thing," he says.