Carl A.Veno-author, screenwriter and executive producer

   The Volstead Act imposed a federal law in 1920 restricting the sale of alcohol in the United States. The doors of the bars and nightclubs were bolted tight. But the thirst for a cool glass of beer or a whiskey on the rocks never went away. That thirst was satisfied by underground speakeasies that kept the music going and the booze flowing. The ambitious bootlegger had arrived. When opportunity surfaced, competition followed, And competition produced violence and countless murders. It was the breeding ground for international crime.
   Each generation has its own interesting stories to pass on to other generations. The generation that witnessed the booze-running and the violence of that era is slowly disappearing. Most are in their 80s and 90s.
   The documentary focuses on an area of Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania known by some as "Little Chicago", where alcohol flowed across the Niagara River from Canada, carrying with it dreams of wealth along with greed and murder. The "Last Prohibition Witnesses", a group of elderly people who describe what they recall about the era, tell a variety of tales. One woman describes the trauma of learning as a four-year-old that her father was murdered and her mother had disappeared.
   "Little Chicago" thugs graduated to national crime organizations that still have an impact on America today. Prohibition ended in 1933 and so did the speakeasies. Some of the 72 murders in "Little Chicago" were solved, most weren't. People in "Little Chicago" still talk about them.

Carl A. Veno