Everything We Know About Dickie Moltisanti (The Many Saints of Newark)

If you’re a Sopranos fan like me, I’m sure you're excited about the upcoming prequel movie titled The Many Saints of Newark. Set during the historic 1967 race riots in Newark, the film will star a lot of familiar characters including Johnny Boy, Junior, Livia, and even a young Tony Soprano played by Jim Gandolfini’s real life son Michael. But the movie is almost certainly going to revolve around Dickie Moltisanti, Christoper’s father who died before the series started. The name Moltisanti means Many Saints in Italian after all. 

In terms of a prequel, Christopher’s father is a great character to base the movie on since we actually know very little about him. This will give the writers a lot of room to develop a great story, and I can’t wait to see the movie next March. While we wait, I thought I’d go over what we know about Dickie from the Sopranos, and what we can expect to see from the film. Now remember none of this is spoilers. I don’t know any details from the movie. This is my own opinion based on what we already know from the show. Alright?

Richard Moltisanti, nicknamed Dickie, was the wife of Joanne Blundetto and father to Christopher. He was also a cousin of Carmella Diangelis who grew up around him and saw him with mistresses. Dickie was also an older brother figure to Tony. (Adriana FBI) Based on Tony’s statements, we can be sure that the film will delve into their relationship. (Tony Therapy)

Dickie was a soldier in the Soprano crew, serving under Tony’s father Johnny Boy. Tony describes him as a stand up guy, loyal, and well respected as a legend. One of his accomplishments was single handedly taking on a crew from New England.

Now it’s not clear if this is canon or not, but in the script for the season 4 episode For All Debts Public and Private, there are some lines of dialogue about Dickie that didn’t make it into the final scene. Tony describes Dickie as a clutz, and says that he had the chance to get made but turned it down because he felt he didn’t have the brains. 

Like I said it’s not clear if these lines were cut for time or because they changed Dickie’s background, but if it’s true we may see some of this play out in The Many Saints.

Dickie served in the Navy during the Vietnam war, and also served jail time. (Christopher Mom) Tony mentions that Dickie's cellmate in prison was stabbed to death by Jilly Ruffalo, and when Dickie got out of prison he gouged Jilly’s eye out in revenge. This action was apparently what led to his death.

In the mid 1970’s, Dickie was shot to death outside his house while carrying some TV trays. Christopher was only a baby at this point. Tony claims that the killer was a cop named Barry Haydu, who was hired by Jilly to take him out. Apparently this was tolerated by the Soprano’s crew, because Barry was allowed to live until he retired from the force and was no longer useful. Tony then gives the information to Christopher and leaves it to him to kill Barry.

It’s not clear if this story is true or not. When Christopher interrogates Barry he denies killing Dickie, though as he is about to be shot he yells that he is sorry. Now is that a confession or is he just saying anything to try and live? I’m not sure. Even Christopher admits that it is possible that Tony is lying and just wants Barry dead for his own reasons.

But there are definitely some contradictions in the story we’ve been told about Dickie. If he was as respected as Tony says, why was his killer allowed to go free all these years? He might not have been a made guy as deleted dialogue suggests, but the fact that he was considered a loyal soldier should have made his death an outrage for the family. But aside from Tony, no one ever mentions Dickie at all.

Now there might be an explanation for this. Christopher mentions that his father was an addict, and blames his own addition as being inherited from his father. (BBQ) As we know from the show, the mob doesn’t tolerate addicts if they feel they are a liability. If his addiction grew to be a problem, they might have been relieved when he died. In fact, it’s possible that his death was ordered by Johnny Boy or someone else in the family. This would mirror Christopher’s fate, and after all, like father like son.

Now that’s everything we know about the Many Saints part of the movie, but what about the Newark part? The movie is set against the backdrop of the 1967 Newark riots. The riots were caused primarily by racial tension between the majority african american population of the city and the white middle class, including Italians.

The riots were mentioned a couple of times on the show. In season one, Livia watches the riots on the news. There is a slight contradiction as Tony is a child during the riots while Michael Gandolfini is obviously playing a teenage Tony. It’s too early to tell if this is a retcon or if the movie will take place across multiple eras.

The riots are also mentioned during the meeting with Zellman and Maurice Tiffen to discuss the HUD scam. Based on this, it is possible we might see Zellman and Tiffen in the movie. Leslie Odom Jr has been cast for an unknown role in the film. Is it possible that he will play a young Tiffen? We might also see Anthony Imperiale, who was a politician that organized armed white militia groups during the riots.

I hope this video has given you something to look forward to. The Many Saints of Newark premiers on March 12, 2021. I hope life returns to normal by then and we are all able to see the film in theaters together, but the movie will also premier simultaneously on HBO Max as well for those that want to watch at home. 

Until then, if you liked this video make sure to leave a comment. There is a lot more Sopranos content coming to my channel soon, so be sure to subscribe for that as well. Thanks!