The above title describes THE UNTOUCHABLES in a nutshell.
When Desilu Productions decided to adapt Eliot Ness and Oscar Frawley's 1957 memoir THE UNTOUCHABLES as a two part episode of the DESILU PLAYHOUSE anthology series in 1958, they didn't know that they were about to give birth to a classic TV crime series. So a year after the two part DESILU PLAYHOUSE episode aired, THE UNTOUCHABLES debuted on ABC in the Fall of 1959 and came on like gangbusters.
Here's the series in a nutshell, at the end of the original pilot, Treasury Department agent Eliot Ness (Robert Stack) and his hand-picked group of agents known as "The Untouchables" continued their war on what was left of the Capone Organization led by Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon). And also found time to go after such notable underworld figures as Dutch Shultz, Charles "Lucky" Lucianno, Jack "Legs" Diamond, the Genna Brothers, and Ma Barker among others who the real Eliot Ness never encountered. Not to mention a variety of would-be underworld kingpins, vice lords, and drug traffickers, many which often end trying to go for "gangster martyrdom" (dying with guns blazing during battle with the Untouchables)not before committing more than a few acts of violence before Ness and company catch up to them. All in 118 1 hour episodes that mixed the machine gun paced style of the 1930's gangster movies with the gritty edge of 1940's & 1950's film noir and pushed along by the staccato narration of Walter Winchell.
For the record, Eliot Ness - real life - disbanded the Untouchables after Al Capone was put away, but that didn't stop Hollywood from doing this show and creating the situations. And remember, Hollywood has a bad habit of playing fast and loose with history. But that doesn't keep this from being an enjoyable show.
For the record, Ness' agents were Jack Rossman (Steve London), Enrico "Rico" Rossi (Nicholas Georgiade), William Youngfellow (Abel Fernandez) for all four seasons with agents Cam Allison (Anthony George) and Martin Flaherty (Jerry Paris) both replaced by Lee Hobson (Paul Picerni) in the second season. A group of incorruptible agents in a time when cops and politicians "on the take" were the rule rather than the exception to the rule (this was the era of Prohibition). Considering the times (the late 1920's and early 1930's), Chicago and the rest of America needed a tough group of law-enforcers for such a tough age.
In the hands of such writers as Leonard Kantor, Harry Kronman, and John Mantley among many others and directors such as Walter Grauman, Tay Garnett, Ida Lupino, and Paul Wendkos among others; THE UNTOUCHABLES became one of the true classics of the crime television genre. Not to mention at time one of the most violent series ever. But quite a few time during the run of the series, they showed that violence made more of an impact when the gory details weren't shown on screen. Examples of this include "The White Slavers" when a massacre of prostitutes were shown from the reaction of a character shielding his eyes and also in 'The Lily Dallas Story" when the title character machine guns a fence to death by showing a close-up of the tommy-gun being fired followed by a reaction shot of the title character. I could name a lot more incidents, but it would take a lot more space.
During its four year run (1959-1963), THE UNTOUCHABLES ended up becoming one of the most memorable TV series ever to come out of any era. And its healthy afterlife in syndication (currently appears on ME-TV) and all four seasons being released on DVD (by CBS Video) ensured THE UNTOUCHABLES position as one of television's most unforgettable series.
When Desilu Productions decided to adapt Eliot Ness and Oscar Frawley's 1957 memoir THE UNTOUCHABLES as a two part episode of the DESILU PLAYHOUSE anthology series in 1958, they didn't know that they were about to give birth to a classic TV crime series. So a year after the two part DESILU PLAYHOUSE episode aired, THE UNTOUCHABLES debuted on ABC in the Fall of 1959 and came on like gangbusters.
Here's the series in a nutshell, at the end of the original pilot, Treasury Department agent Eliot Ness (Robert Stack) and his hand-picked group of agents known as "The Untouchables" continued their war on what was left of the Capone Organization led by Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon). And also found time to go after such notable underworld figures as Dutch Shultz, Charles "Lucky" Lucianno, Jack "Legs" Diamond, the Genna Brothers, and Ma Barker among others who the real Eliot Ness never encountered. Not to mention a variety of would-be underworld kingpins, vice lords, and drug traffickers, many which often end trying to go for "gangster martyrdom" (dying with guns blazing during battle with the Untouchables)not before committing more than a few acts of violence before Ness and company catch up to them. All in 118 1 hour episodes that mixed the machine gun paced style of the 1930's gangster movies with the gritty edge of 1940's & 1950's film noir and pushed along by the staccato narration of Walter Winchell.
For the record, Eliot Ness - real life - disbanded the Untouchables after Al Capone was put away, but that didn't stop Hollywood from doing this show and creating the situations. And remember, Hollywood has a bad habit of playing fast and loose with history. But that doesn't keep this from being an enjoyable show.
For the record, Ness' agents were Jack Rossman (Steve London), Enrico "Rico" Rossi (Nicholas Georgiade), William Youngfellow (Abel Fernandez) for all four seasons with agents Cam Allison (Anthony George) and Martin Flaherty (Jerry Paris) both replaced by Lee Hobson (Paul Picerni) in the second season. A group of incorruptible agents in a time when cops and politicians "on the take" were the rule rather than the exception to the rule (this was the era of Prohibition). Considering the times (the late 1920's and early 1930's), Chicago and the rest of America needed a tough group of law-enforcers for such a tough age.
In the hands of such writers as Leonard Kantor, Harry Kronman, and John Mantley among many others and directors such as Walter Grauman, Tay Garnett, Ida Lupino, and Paul Wendkos among others; THE UNTOUCHABLES became one of the true classics of the crime television genre. Not to mention at time one of the most violent series ever. But quite a few time during the run of the series, they showed that violence made more of an impact when the gory details weren't shown on screen. Examples of this include "The White Slavers" when a massacre of prostitutes were shown from the reaction of a character shielding his eyes and also in 'The Lily Dallas Story" when the title character machine guns a fence to death by showing a close-up of the tommy-gun being fired followed by a reaction shot of the title character. I could name a lot more incidents, but it would take a lot more space.
During its four year run (1959-1963), THE UNTOUCHABLES ended up becoming one of the most memorable TV series ever to come out of any era. And its healthy afterlife in syndication (currently appears on ME-TV) and all four seasons being released on DVD (by CBS Video) ensured THE UNTOUCHABLES position as one of television's most unforgettable series.