"The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is." - George Bernard Shaw

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"Illicit booze fuelled gambling, nightclubs and dancing. In the bootleggers' wake, the entertainment industry flourished. Al Capone and fellow gangsters even became patrons of the arts.

In nightclubs and speakies, customers craved a new kind of music. It was fast and furious. It provided the soundtrack of pre-World War II America. It was jazz.

Many major jazz artists got their first break from Capone or mobsters in New York. Bootleggers bankrolled the jazz explosion of the 1920s, boosting the early careers of such later luminaries as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

Even in an age of intense racism and segregation, gangsters such as Al Capone were actively fostering and promoting African-American talent.

Where there was fast music, there were even faster women... Many women no doubt found the wealth and power of the mobster attractive. But there was something else to the gangsters' allure. Danger. Gangsters knew it, and they knew how to use it.

Actor Rob Steiger:

'In relation to women, it reminds me of a trick we used to do in the Navy.

You go to a dance, there'd be you and your buddy. And there'd be this very good-looking girl, and your buddy would go over and say 'Hi, how are you? Listen, I don't know you. See that guy over there? Stay away from him. He's not a good guy.'

Within 10 minutes, she was over there. Was fascinated by what's supposed to be 'not a good guy'. What is bad was terrible. Y'know, that was our bait'"

- Discovery Channel, American Gangster Part 3