Chicago's Most Dangerous Nightclub | Al Capone's Green Mill

A comedian walks into a jazz club. He becomes the biggest star in Chicago. Then he tries to leave — and three men slash his throat with a hunting knife, fracture his skull in 9 places, and leave him for dead in his hotel room. His crime? Quitting Al Capone’s favorite nightclub. In this documentary, we take you deep inside the Green Mill Jazz Club at 4802 N Broadway, Chicago — the legendary speakeasy where the mob controlled every performer, every song, and every dollar that crossed the stage. What you’ll learn in this video: • How a mourners’ roadhouse from 1907 became Chicago’s most famous jazz club • The real story of “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn — Capone’s top hitman turned nightclub owner • The Joe E. Lewis attack of November 1927 — every brutal detail and its aftermath • How Al Capone used a curved booth and trapdoor to escape police raids through underground tunnels • The exclusive contracts that forced performers to play under death threat • How the Chicago Outfit controlled the entire entertainment industry through violence • What happened when McGurn was assassinated on Valentine’s Day weekend 1936 — and the poem his killers left behind • Why the Green Mill still operates today, and what you can still see inside Key figures: Al Capone, Jack “Machine Gun” McGurn, Joe E. Lewis, Tom Chamales, Danny Cohen, Dave Jemilo Timeline: 1907–present | Key events: 1914, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1986 Why this story matters: The Green Mill is one of the last surviving Prohibition-era speakeasies in America. It stands as a monument to how organized crime infiltrated and dominated the entertainment industry — and how art survived despite it. The club is still open today, serving jazz seven nights a week, with Capone’s original booth and trapdoor intact. Sources: Loerzel, Robert. “Joe and Jack, Part 3: The Attack.” RobertLoerzel.com, 2024. (https://www.robertloerzel.com/2024/07...) “Green Mill Cocktail Lounge.” Wikipedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_M...) “The Green Mill Tunnels: Network Under Broadway.” Block Club Chicago, 2025. (https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/06/...) 📍 Visit the Green Mill: 4802 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640 🎵 Still open seven nights a week 🔔 Subscribe for weekly mob documentaries. New episodes every week. 👇 Drop a comment: Should we cover the Aragon Ballroom next? #AlCapone #GreenMill #ChicagoMob #ChicagoOutfit #JazzHistory #Prohibition #MobDocumentary #JackMcGurn #JoeELewis #Speakeasy #MafiaStories #TrueCrime2026 #MafiaHistory #OrganizedCrime #TrueCrime