Palm Springs is known for its swanky mid-century modern architecture and being the playground to the stars, but it was also once the place where wise guys relaxed in the sun and, more terrifyingly, discussed how to "handle" their problems.
The new Paramount+ series "Mafia Spies," based on the book "Mafia Spies: The Inside Story of the CIA, Gangsters, JFK, and Castro" by Thomas Maier, dives into the tense relationship between the United States and Cuba during the 1960s, culminating with a plan to assassinate Cuban Communist leader Fidel Castro. The plan involved the Kennedy administration, the CIA and the Chicago mob, and even Palm Springs crooner Frank Sinatra got wrapped up in some schemes along the way.
The show is out Tuesday on the streaming platform, and will also be released weekly on Showtime beginning July 22.
An 'iconic' slice of Palm Springs history inspired the 'Mafia Spies' episode
"Mafia Spies" is directed by Tom Donahue, who grew up with an affinity for crime stories after watching films such as "Goodfellas," "The Godfather" and the James Bond series. He's always known about the mob rumblings in Palm Springs, particularly with Sinatra's connections, which he said made it even more important to highlight the desert in his new series.
"The legend of Palm Springs is iconic," Donahue said in a recent interview.
The series mainly revolves around two top gangsters, Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana, who were hired for the Castro job. As they plan and scheme with the CIA, they also find themselves cleaning up messes in Palm Springs.
It was no secret that "Ol' Blue Eyes" Sinatra, who made Palm Springs his home beginning in the 1940s, was affiliated with wise guys — the mob had promoted his career, and he even worked to secure the mafia's support to help get John F. Kennedy elected. As the series shows, these mobsters, in return, relied on him to do some of their bidding.
In the fourth episode of "Mafia Spies," Sinatra is tasked by the mob to talk to Desi Arnaz, the producer of the hit show "The Untouchables." The mob detested the show, mainly over its depiction of its Italian-American characters. As a result, members decided to put a hit on Arnaz, unless Sinatra could convince him to change up the show's tune.
Sinatra was also very close to the Kennedys — he even had a helipad built at his house for when President Kennedy came to visit. The mob thought they could use this to their advantage, especially since then-U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was intent on going after boss Giancana. The show depicts Roselli traveling to Sinatra's home to see if the crooner could tell the Kennedy administration to back off. When Sinatra tells Roselli he can't help, Giancana feels betrayed and considers putting a hit on the singer.
Locals such as a former Desert Sun reporter were interviewed
To bring many of these desert stories to life, "Mafia Spies" features interviews with familiar local faces, including retired Desert Sun arts and entertainment reporter Bruce Fessier , who spent 40 years at the newspaper.
Growing up, his parents talked about Sinatra's connections with the mob in Palm Springs, but that didn't really interest him at the time, he said. In his mid-20s, he pitched a television series to Warner Bros., but producers were more interested in a series about an entertainment editor who deals with celebrities and the mafia in the desert.
"I knew nothing about the mafia in Palm Springs. I hadn't been here long enough to realize that," Fessier said. "But then after they told me that there was so much mafia in Palm Springs and everybody should know that, then I started running into it all the time."
Over the years, he heard tales of mob bosses living in the desert and learned of Al Capone's favorite soup maker. In 2014, he wrote a five-part series on the mafia in the Coachella Valley called Gangsters in Paradise .
Related: Read the full Gangsters in Paradise series
Sinatra was a fascinating figure for a number of reasons, Fessier said, but his ties with many key players — from those in the government to those in organized crime — led to a seemingly endless supply of fascinating stories.
"(Joe Kennedy, the father of John F. Kennedy) did Frank Sinatra a big favor in the mid-1950s when Sinatra was having tax problems. He found a way around this $1 million bill that Sinatra had, and Sinatra felt indebted to Joe Kennedy," Fessier said. When Joe Kennedy asked Sinatra to talk to Giancana and other mobsters to help them win Illinois in the presidential election, Sinatra was there to offer support to his friend. "That's why Sinatra did that."
The Chicago mobsters also loved to golf, Fessier said, and it's been reported that Sinatra and Giancana sealed the deal on the Tamarisk County Club golf course.
Some other stories are a little harder to confirm, such as what really happened during Sinatra and Arnaz's meeting regarding "The Untouchables" or if hits were actually put on people. But not knowing what is true and what isn't makes those tales and the men behind them even more scary, and "that's what the mob and CIA both wanted," according to Fessier.
Donahue added that because there are so many conspiracy theories around this topic, especially with the assassination of Kennedy, he had to "tread really carefully" when crafting the show and selecting his interview subjects so that he could "always keep the audiences' trust."
Fessier didn't have many opportunities to interview Sinatra, but when he did, he didn't dare ask him about his mafia connections (perhaps worried about getting whacked?). When he saw Sinatra around the desert, he knew how to behave around him.
"You don't approach Sinatra unless he approaches you first, unless he gives you a signal," he said.
Donahue also interviewed Palm Springs resident Betsy Duncan Hammes, a former girlfriend of Roselli and a singer at El Mirador lounge. In the series, she discusses the love triangle that formed between Judy Campbell, President Kennedy and Giancana, as well as what happened to Roselli in his later years. He also spoke with Emmy Award-winning entertainer Roberta Linn, who was friends with Sinatra.
Hammes did not want to speak with The Desert Sun for this story, while Linn could not be reached.
Donahue's interviews with Hammes and Linn, in particular, stood out to him.
"The thing I got out of it the most is (speaking to) these two incredible women in their 90s. The level of joy and strength that they possess even in their 90s, you understood what they must have been like in the 1950s," Donahue said. "When Roberta explained the power that Sam wielded and Frank Sinatra wielded ... she actually called Frank Sinatra 'the Godfather of Hollywood.' Because of his connection to the mob, he had this almost unstated power in Hollywood."
There's plenty more digging to be done regarding Palm Springs' mob connections, but the stories that are already known could make for an interesting movie. When asked if he had any future plans to do such a thing, Donahue wouldn't spill. Local residents will just have to, as the mafia says, fuhgeddaboudit.
More: New Paramount+ show 'Mafia Spies' dives into Palm Springs connections with mobsters
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: The mob, Frank Sinatra and Palm Springs: 'Mafia Spies' show dives into shady past
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