In the annals of African American organized crime, no one’s
shadow looms larger than Frank “Black Caesar” Matthews. His story bears an uncanny resemblance to
that of the fictional character Keyser Söze from the film The Usual Suspects. In the
early 1970’s, he lorded over a heroin empire that stretched out over 21 states.
His fearsome reputation preceded him, to the extent that even the Italian Mafia
considered him a threat. He sought to organize
Black and Spanish gangsters into a nationwide network that would eventually push
La Cosa Nostra completely out of the drug trade. His dream was not to be, as he was
apprehended before it could come to fruition.
U.S. authorities had him in their grasp, yet still he managed to disappear
with nary a trace. According to legend,
he skipped the country in 1973 with 15 million dollars in tow. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
Though the basics of Matthew’s story have been covered in a
handful of books, relatively little is known about him. Details of his personal life remain rather scarce. Of course, the scarcity of such information
has only added to his already considerable mystique. In recent years, various colleagues of mine have
made great strides in uncovering the man behind the myth. Chief among them has been noted true crime
author Ron Chepesiuk. Chepesiuk has
studied the Matthews phenomenon for a number of years and covered it in his
literature. In 2007, he and director
Anthony Gonzalez set out to make a documentary entitled Black Caesar: The rise and disappearance of Frank Matthews. A trailer was released in December of thatyear, but the project was never completed.
Thankfully, Ron Chepesiuk has recently developed a rather
fruitful working relationship with another colleague of mine, documentary and
feature filmmaker Al Profit. Profit is
the best there is at street documentaries, and he has taken it upon himself to
help Ron Chepesiuk finish the journey he started in 2007. The
Frank Matthews Story: The Rise and Disappearance of America's Biggest Kingpin
will finally see the light of day. From the
looks of the new trailer which Profit recently posted on YouTube, it will
indeed be as epic as the life of its subject.
Profit’s artistic fingerprints are clearly visible. Interviews and testimonials are spliced
together with Stock footage and set to music of the period. Previously unseen photographs of Matthews are
briefly glimpsed. What’s amazing is that
the trailer manages to give a through outline of the Matthews story while enticing
viewers to find out more.
The story of Frank Matthews is easily the most epic of its
kind, and I can think of no one more qualified to tell it than Ron Chepesiuk and
Al Profit. They’ve done the field work,
and attempted to fill in the many blanks.
The Frank Matthews Story: The Rise
and Disappearance of America's Biggest Kingpin will hopefully answer many
long standing questions, and may even go a long way in finally solving this
little mystery. The only perceivable
downside is that such an amazing tale may ultimately prove impossible to top. This isn’t a rags-to-riches story chronicling
the rise and fall of an organized criminal.
It’s a large scale portrait of a bad guy who somehow managed to actually
get away with it. That’s something that
that audiences rarely ever get to see.
It also has the added distinction of being based in truth. That's about as good as such stories get.
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