Tom Hardy plays infamous American gangster Al Capone in director Josh Trank's new biopic, Capone, but unlike he has ever been depicted in media before. While plenty of media exists chronicling Capone's acts as a crime boss during the Prohibition era, not to mention the way in which he was finally apprehended by the law (unable to find evidence of his other crimes, the authorities jailed him for tax evasion), Capone focuses on the final year in the man's life.
The film paints Capone as a man succumbing to dementia as a result of neurosyphilis, an infection of the central nervous system caused by the sexually transmitted infection syphilis. Prior to advances in medicine which made syphilis a commonly treatable condition, it wasn't uncommon for it to have serious negative effects on the brain.
Capone was first diagnosed with syphilis while serving his 11-year sentence for tax fraud (he was also diagnosed with gonorrhoea and was suffering the effects of cocaine withdrawal). Following his transfer to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in 1934, he began to show signs of confusion and disorientation. He was officially diagnosed with neurosyphilis in 1938 and spent the remainder of his sentence in the prison's hospital wing. Eventually, his wife Mae's appeal for parole was granted in 1939, due in part to Capone's reduced mental faculties.
Shortly after his release, Capone moved to Palm Island, Florida, where he would reside for the rest of his life. In 1942, he was one of the first Americans to receive the antibiotic penicillin as treatment for syphilis after the drug began to be mass-produced. This helped to slow the progression of the disease, although the damage to his brain was irreversible, and in 1946, Capone was deemed by medical and psychiatric experts to have the mental capabilities of a 12-year-old.
In January 1947, Capone had a stroke, and subsequently contracted a form of pneumonia. The next day, he suffered from cardiac arrest. He died three days later at home from apoplexy (internal bleeding) at the age of 48.
