#The One Scene In Goodfellas That Wasn’t Directed By Martin Scorsese

One of the colorful characters we meet in “Goodfellas” as we follow Henry’s rise-and-fall is Morrie Kessler (Chuck Low), a low-level associate of the Lucchese crime family and purveyor of some rather unconvincing wigs. Morrie is harmless, but he’s got a big mouth and he’s incredibly annoying. After Hill and his friend Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) pull off the record-breaking Lufthansa heist, poor old Morrie just can’t stop badgering Jimmy for his cut of the money. Jimmy isn’t the kind of guy you want to pester, and Morrie is finally silenced when Conway starts bumping off all the people who could incriminate him.

Earlier on in the movie, it is Jimmy chasing Morrie for some cash. Along with Henry, Jimmy visits Morrie’s Wig Shop to collect on a debt — plus an exorbitant “vig.” Despite Henry’s pleas to be reasonable and cough up the dough, Morrie’s in no mood for paying. Jimmy eventually snaps and starts throttling the toupee salesman with a telephone cord, causing Morrie’s own rug to come unstuck, much to Henry’s amusement.

This scene opens with a crappy TV commercial for the wig shop, starring Morrie himself, which is the reason why Morrie borrowed money from Jimmy in the first place. Scorsese might have already received two Oscar nominations for best director to that point, but when it came to making the ad for Morrie’s Wig Shop, he decided to turn to an expert…