Documentary crew seeking Capone's Estevan connections
The creators of the new Al Capone documentary, "Finding Al," want to know if the famed Chicago mobster had any connections to Estevan.
During the Prohibition years of the 1920s, bootleggers used to haul liquor out over dusty back roads over the border through Estevan and onto Regina and Moose Jaw.
A Moose Jaw barber claimed he cut Capone's hair twice. A dentist allegedly pulled out Capone's wisdom teeth. Capone is even said to have visited Weyburn and Manitou Beach near Watrous.
But when Capone was questioned about his affiliations with Canada, he said he didn't know which street Canada is on.
"I interviewed one family in Weyburn that said their grandfather had a Capone connection," said filmmaker Kelly-Anne Riess. "Some of Capone's men, and possibly even Capone himself, may have hid out on this family farm just outside Weyburn.
"This Weyburn grandfather definitely had some shady connections to Chicago, so it stands to reason that there might be some people in Estevan too who may have encountered Capone back in the day."
Riess and her researchers are looking to substantiate this Weyburn story, and are looking for other stories that people in and around Estevan might have about Capone sightings in the area.
"The more I work on this project, the more I believe Capone might have actually been in Saskatchewan," said Riess. "One of Capone's surviving family members said Capone used to talk about Canada. He allegedly called it God's country.
"I think Capone said this playfully. A lot of people back then in the bootlegging business were bringing liquor in from Canada. It makes sense that Capone would have done the same. He just might not have announced his activities, being that they were illegal."
Riess' documentary is examining the folklore and evidence, and will leave it up to the audience of "Finding Al" to decide whether Capone was in Saskatchewan.
The documentary began production last August in Moose Jaw and is expected to wrap up in September. Riess is looking for people whose family had connections or stories about Capone's visits to Estevan, or any other part of Saskatchewan or Canada.
