The Ivory Tower (Boardwalk Empire)
Encyclopedia
"The Ivory Tower" is the second episode of the first season of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, which originally aired September 26, 2010. The episode was written by series creator and executive producer Terence Winter
and directed by executive producer Tim Van Patten
.
Nucky is paid a visit by Agent Nelson Van Alden. Jimmy is forced to pay Nucky a larger sum of money. Margaret is visited by Van Alden and Eli, each seeking a different side of her story as to the death of her husband.
funeral, Al Capone
and Johnny Torrio
, are questioned by reporters about Colisimo's murder.
In Atlantic City, Van Alden questions Nucky about the robbery and shootings he is investigating, revealing his suspicions that Hans Schroeder had been framed for them. At Nucky's direction, his brother Eli visits Margaret Schroeder in her hospital room, delivering an envelope of cash and stressing Hans's reported involvement in criminal activities. Nucky confronts bootlegger Mickey Doyle in prison, telling Doyle his operation is being taken over by Chalky White. Jimmy Darmody buys expensive Christmas gifts for his family with part of his share of the robbery proceeds.
In New York, Lucky
brings Frankie Yale
to Rothstein
. Rothstein threateningly questions Yale about his role in Colosimo's murder.
Jimmy visits his mother Gillian, a showgirl, and presents her with an expensive necklace, replacing one she had sold to support the family during his childhood. He then goes to work, where Nucky confronts him about the robbery and shootings in the woods. After Jimmy admits his and Capone's involvement, Nucky fires him and demands a $3000 share from the proceeds.
Rothstein telephones Nucky and demands $100,000 to cover his losses from the robbery, pointing out that a member of his family was among the shooting victim. Nucky refuses the demand. Van Alden visits Margaret at her home, tells her he believes her husband was not involved in the robbery, and questions her about her involvement with Nucky.
At the Commodore's home, Nucky and the Commodore discuss women's suffrage. The Commodore rejects the idea, condescendingly using his black maid, Luann, to demonstrate his belief that women are mentally unfit to vote.
After Van Alden writes home to his wife, he removes a hair ribbon he had taken from Margaret from his desk and smells it. Margaret visits Nucky and returns the money Eli gave her. They discuss Nucky's late wife, Margaret's financial situation, and Margaret's enthusiasm for reading, which appears to impress Nucky.
Jimmy steals back the necklace from his mother and resells it in order to pay Nucky. Nucky demonstrates the change in their relationship by immediately betting, and losing, the $3000 in a roulette game.
A wounded survivor of the robbery turns up at the shooting scene.
and directed by executive producer Tim Van Patten
. This is Van Patten's first directional episode of the series. He directs later episodes, Broadway Limited
, Family Limitation
and the season finale, A Return to Normalcy
.
The story about Big Jim Colosimo's death is the one non-fictional story in The Ivory Tower. As seen in the pilot, Frankie Yale
murders Jim on orders from Johnny Torrio
. It was widely believed that Torrio ordered Colosimo's killing so that the gang could enter the lucrative bootlegging business.
Terence Winter
Terence Winter is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire...
and directed by executive producer Tim Van Patten
Tim Van Patten
Tim Van Patten is an American television director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. As a director, Van Patten has directed episodes of The Sopranos, The Wire, Deadwood, Boardwalk Empire, Rome, The Pacific, Game of Thrones, Ed, and Sex and the City. Van Patten is perhaps best known for portraying...
.
Nucky is paid a visit by Agent Nelson Van Alden. Jimmy is forced to pay Nucky a larger sum of money. Margaret is visited by Van Alden and Eli, each seeking a different side of her story as to the death of her husband.
Main cast
- Steve BuscemiSteve BuscemiSteven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
- Michael PittMichael PittMichael Carmen Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is best known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, and in television for his portrayal of James "Jimmy" Darmody in the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire.-Personal life:Pitt was born in West Orange, New Jersey, the...
- Kelly MacdonaldKelly MacdonaldKelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
- Michael ShannonMichael Shannon (actor)Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
- Shea WhighamShea WhighamFranklin Shea Whigham, Jr. , best known as Shea Whigham, is an American actor notably starring as Elias "Eli" Thompson on the HBO dramatic series Boardwalk Empire.-Early life:...
- Aleksa PalladinoAleksa PalladinoAleksa Palladino is an Italian American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her lead roles in Manny & Lo, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, Find Me Guilty, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.-Life and career:Palladino was born in New York City, where she grew up...
- Michael StuhlbargMichael StuhlbargMichael S. Stuhlbarg is an American theatre, film and television actor.-Life and career:Stuhlbarg was born in Long Beach, California and raised in Reform Judaism. He trained at Juilliard School and also studied acting at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, University of London and UCLA...
- Stephen GrahamStephen Graham (actor)Stephen Graham is an English actor from Kirkby, Liverpool. He is best known for his roles as Tommy in the movie Snatch, Combo in This Is England and its four-part television sequel This Is England '86, Danny Ferguson in Occupation, Billy Bremner in The Damned United, notorious bank robber Baby...
- Vincent PiazzaVincent PiazzaVincent Piazza is an American film, television and stage actor best known for his roles in the television series Boardwalk Empire and the 2007 film Rocket Science.- Biography :...
- Paz de la HuertaPaz de la HuertaMaría de la Paz Elizabeth Sofía Adriana de la Huerta , better known by her professional name Paz de la Huerta, is an American actress and model...
- Michael Kenneth WilliamsMichael K. WilliamsMichael Kenneth Williams is an American actor known for his portrayal of Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire, and of Albert "Chalky" White on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.-Early life and career:...
- Anthony LaciuraAnthony LaciuraAnthony Laciura is an American operatic tenor, noted for his abilities as a comprimario. Born in New Orleans, he studied voice there with Charles Paddock, also the teacher of Ticho Parly....
- Paul Sparks
- Dabney ColemanDabney ColemanDabney Wharton Coleman is an American actor, best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.-Early life:Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary...
Plot
In Chicago, at mobster Big Jim Colosimo'sJames Colosimo
Giacomo Colosimo , better known as Big Jim Colosimo, was an Italian-American Mafia crime boss who built a criminal empire in Chicago based on prostitution, gambling, and racketeering. Immigrating from Italy in 1895, he gained power through petty crime and the heading of a chain of brothels...
funeral, Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
and Johnny Torrio
Johnny Torrio
John "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
, are questioned by reporters about Colisimo's murder.
In Atlantic City, Van Alden questions Nucky about the robbery and shootings he is investigating, revealing his suspicions that Hans Schroeder had been framed for them. At Nucky's direction, his brother Eli visits Margaret Schroeder in her hospital room, delivering an envelope of cash and stressing Hans's reported involvement in criminal activities. Nucky confronts bootlegger Mickey Doyle in prison, telling Doyle his operation is being taken over by Chalky White. Jimmy Darmody buys expensive Christmas gifts for his family with part of his share of the robbery proceeds.
In New York, Lucky
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
brings Frankie Yale
Frankie Yale
Francesco Ioele , better known as Frankie Uale or Frankie Yale, was a Brooklyn gangster and original employer of Al Capone before the latter moved to Chicago...
to Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein , nicknamed "The Brain", was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed...
. Rothstein threateningly questions Yale about his role in Colosimo's murder.
Jimmy visits his mother Gillian, a showgirl, and presents her with an expensive necklace, replacing one she had sold to support the family during his childhood. He then goes to work, where Nucky confronts him about the robbery and shootings in the woods. After Jimmy admits his and Capone's involvement, Nucky fires him and demands a $3000 share from the proceeds.
Rothstein telephones Nucky and demands $100,000 to cover his losses from the robbery, pointing out that a member of his family was among the shooting victim. Nucky refuses the demand. Van Alden visits Margaret at her home, tells her he believes her husband was not involved in the robbery, and questions her about her involvement with Nucky.
At the Commodore's home, Nucky and the Commodore discuss women's suffrage. The Commodore rejects the idea, condescendingly using his black maid, Luann, to demonstrate his belief that women are mentally unfit to vote.
After Van Alden writes home to his wife, he removes a hair ribbon he had taken from Margaret from his desk and smells it. Margaret visits Nucky and returns the money Eli gave her. They discuss Nucky's late wife, Margaret's financial situation, and Margaret's enthusiasm for reading, which appears to impress Nucky.
Jimmy steals back the necklace from his mother and resells it in order to pay Nucky. Nucky demonstrates the change in their relationship by immediately betting, and losing, the $3000 in a roulette game.
A wounded survivor of the robbery turns up at the shooting scene.
Production
The episode was written by series creator and executive producer Terence WinterTerence Winter
Terence Winter is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire...
and directed by executive producer Tim Van Patten
Tim Van Patten
Tim Van Patten is an American television director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. As a director, Van Patten has directed episodes of The Sopranos, The Wire, Deadwood, Boardwalk Empire, Rome, The Pacific, Game of Thrones, Ed, and Sex and the City. Van Patten is perhaps best known for portraying...
. This is Van Patten's first directional episode of the series. He directs later episodes, Broadway Limited
Broadway Limited (Boardwalk Empire)
"Broadway Limited" is the third episode of the first season of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, which premiered October 3, 2010. It was written by supervising producer Margaret Nagle and was directed by executive producer Tim Van Patten....
, Family Limitation
Family Limitation
"Family Limitation" is the sixth episode of the first season of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire, which premiered October 24, 2010...
and the season finale, A Return to Normalcy
A Return to Normalcy
"A Return to Normalcy" is the twelfth episode of the first season of HBO television series Boardwalk Empire and the season finale, which premiered on HBO December 5, 2010...
.
The story about Big Jim Colosimo's death is the one non-fictional story in The Ivory Tower. As seen in the pilot, Frankie Yale
Frankie Yale
Francesco Ioele , better known as Frankie Uale or Frankie Yale, was a Brooklyn gangster and original employer of Al Capone before the latter moved to Chicago...
murders Jim on orders from Johnny Torrio
Johnny Torrio
John "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
. It was widely believed that Torrio ordered Colosimo's killing so that the gang could enter the lucrative bootlegging business.