The Untouchables
Directed by	Brian De Palma
Produced by	Art Linson Executive Producer: Raymond Hartwick
Written by	Original Novel: Oscar Fraley Eliot Ness Screenplay: David Mamet
Starring	Kevin Costner Sean Connery Andy Garcia Charles Martin Smith Robert De Niro Patricia Clarkson Billy Drago
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Cinematography	Stephen H. Burum
Editing by	Jerry Greenberg (as Gerald B. Greenberg) Bill Pankow
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	June 2, 1987
Running time	119 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	USD $25,000,000
Followed by	The Untouchables: Capone Rising
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Untouchables is a 1987 film, directed by Brian De Palma, based on the 1959 ABC television series, which, in turn, was based on Eliot Ness's autobiographical account of his efforts to bring Al Capone to justice. It was adapted by David Mamet, and stars Kevin Costner as Ness, Sean Connery as Irish-American beat cop James Malone, and Robert De Niro as Capone. Connery received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film. The film became a solid hit, grossing over $76 million dollars domestically. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Brian De Palma (born James Giacinto DePalma on September 11, 1940 in Newark, New Jersey) is a prolific, and controversial American film director. ... Art Linson (b. ... The Untouchables is an autobiographical book by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, published in 1957. ... Eliot Ness Eliot P. Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois as the leader of a legendary team nicknamed The Untouchables. ... David Alan Mamet (born November 30, 1947) is an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and film director. ... Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American film actor and director who often produces his own films. ... Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is an Academy Award-winning Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films. ... Andy Garcia at the Incirlik hospital, Incirlik Air Base, December 7, 2001 Andy García (born April 12, 1956) is a Cuban-American actor. ... Charles Martin Smith (born October 30, 1953) is an American film actor and director. ... Robert Mario De Niro Jr. ... Patricia Clarkson as Sarah OConnor on Six Feet Under Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American Academy Award-nominated actress. ... Billy Drago on Charmed Billy Drago is an American actor. ... Ennio Morricone (born November 10, 1928; sometimes also credited as Dan Savio or Leo Nichols) is an Italian composer especially noted for his film scores. ... Stephen H. Burum is an American cinematographer, and was born on 25 November 1939 in Visalia, California. ... Gerald B. Greenberg (sometimes credited as Jerry Greenberg or Gerry Greenberg) is an Academy Award-winning film editor. ... Bill Pankow is an American film editor who was born in New York City in 1952. ... Information in this article or section has not been verified against sources and may not be reliable. ... is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... Brian De Palma (born James Giacinto DePalma on September 11, 1940 in Newark, New Jersey) is a prolific, and controversial American film director. ... The Untouchables is the name of a television series that ran from 1959 to 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company. ... Eliot Ness Eliot P. Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois as the leader of a legendary team nicknamed The Untouchables. ... For music albums named Autobiography, see Greek eauton = self, bios = life and graphein = write) is a form of biography, the writing of a life story. ... “Capone” redirects here. ... David Alan Mamet (born November 30, 1947) is an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and film director. ... Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American film actor and director who often produces his own films. ... Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is an Academy Award-winning Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films. ... Irish Americans (Irish: Gael-Mheiriceánach) are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in the west European nation of Ireland. ... Robert Mario De Niro Jr. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ...

The film, like the television series, exaggerates the role Ness and his men played in the capture of Al Capone (most notably his involvement in Capone's trial and eventual conviction on tax evasion charges).

Plot

Prohibition in the United States led to an organized crime wave in the 1920s and early 1930s. Various gangs bootleg vast amounts of alcohol and enforce their business with violence and extortion. The problem is most serious in Chicago, where gang leader Al Capone (Robert De Niro) supplies low-quality liquor at high prices. Treasury Department agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) is put in charge of leading the crusade against Capone and his empire. Early warehouse raids fail due to corrupt officers in the Police Department. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... “Capone” redirects here. ... Robert Mario De Niro Jr. ... Eliot Ness Eliot P. Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois as the leader of a legendary team nicknamed The Untouchables. ... Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American film actor and director who often produces his own films. ...

Ness solicits help from Jim Malone (Sean Connery), an incorruptible Irish-American police officer. Malone advises Ness to find more members to their new team from the police academy to ensure that no one betrays them to Capone. An Italian-American trainee George Stone, formerly Giuseppe Petri (Andy Garcia) is then enlisted due to his superior marksmanship. Along with an accountant Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith) assigned to Ness from Washington, Ness has formed a new team to deal with Capone. Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is an Academy Award-winning Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films. ... Irish Americans (Irish: Gael-Mheiriceánach) are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in the west European nation of Ireland. ... An Italian American is an American of Italian descent. ... Andy Garcia at the Incirlik hospital, Incirlik Air Base, December 7, 2001 Andy García (born April 12, 1956) is a Cuban-American actor. ... Charles Martin Smith (born October 30, 1953) is an American film actor and director. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...

The post office is raided by Ness and his men.

Their first raid takes place in a local post office, where its storeroom is used to house illegal liquor. Apparently, the place is overlooked because no one wants to provoke Capone and his gang. The raid succeeds without anyone killed. As the four are picking up steam, Wallace informs Ness that Capone has not filed an income tax return since 1926. Therefore a feasible method of prosecuting him would be through a tax evasion charge. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        An income tax is a tax levied on the financial income... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article contrasts tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax resistance and tax mitigation. ...

During a raid on the Canadian border, Ness captures one of Capone’s bookkeepers, George (Brad Sullivan). They manage to persuade him to provide evidence against Capone. However, when Wallace is escorting him to a police car, Capone’s henchman Frank Nitti (Billy Drago) kills the two. This leaves Ness with insufficient evidence to press charges. Malone tells Ness to stall the prosecutor from dropping the case while he searches for information regarding Capone’s other bookkeepers. He learns about Payne, another bookkeeper from the corrupt police chief. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Billy Drago on Charmed Billy Drago is an American actor. ...

That night, Malone is ambushed by Nitti at his home and shot countless times. Ness and Stone arrive to find him mortally wounded. With his dying breath, he informs the two about Payne’s upcoming departure from Chicago by train. He asks Ness, “What are you… prepared… to do!” before dying. Ness and Stone arrive at the Union Station (Chicago) and find Payne guarded by many gangsters. After a fierce shootout, the two succeed in killing all gangsters and taking Payne alive. Union Station is a Chicago train station that opened in 1925, replacing an earlier 1881 station, and is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago. ...

Payne testifies in court against Capone, admitting he has disbursed over $1.3 million for him over five years. Ness notices Nitti carrying a gun in court. He takes him out of the courtroom with the bailiff and discovers that Nitti was permitted to do so. However, Nitti is revealed to be Malone’s murderer when Ness sees a matchbox with his address on it. Nitti runs up to the roof of the building and another gun battle occurs. Eventually Nitti gives himself up to Ness. In an act of vengeance after Nitti provokes him, Ness throws Nitti off the building and into a car below. Back inside the courthouse, Stone shows Ness a document from Nitti’s jacket, proving that the jury has been bribed by Capone. Ness convinces the corrupt judge (on Capone's payroll) to do the right thing, saying that his name was among those in the bookkeeper's ledger. As a result, the judge switches the jury with the one sitting on a divorce case next door. As a result, Capone is found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... Bailiff (from Late Latin bajulivus, adjectival form of bajulus) is a governor or custodian (cf. ...

Ness packs up his Chicago office. He sees the Saint Jude pendant that Malone had carried with him for many years. Ness offers Stone the pendant having shaken hands with him. "He would have wanted a cop to have it," Ness insists, because Jude is the patron saint of the Chicago Police Department. Out on the street, a reporter wishes to have a word from the man who put Capone away, but Ness merely remarks he was just there "when the wheel went 'round." When the reporter mentions that Prohibition is due to be repealed, he asks what Ness might do then? Ness says, "I think I'll have a drink." For other uses, see Saint Jude (disambiguation). ...

Cast

The Untouchables: George Stone (Garcia), Jim Malone (Connery), Eliot Ness (Costner), Oscar Wallace (Martin Smith).

• Kevin Costner as Agent Eliot Ness
• Sean Connery as Agent Jim Malone
• Charles Martin Smith as Agent Oscar Wallace
• Andy Garcia as Agent George Stone/Guiseppe Petri
• Robert De Niro as Al Capone
• Richard Bradford as Police Chief Mike Dorsett
• Jack Kehoe as Walter Payne
• Billy Drago as Frank Nitti
• Brad Sullivan as George
• Patricia Clarkson as Catherine Ness

Image File history File links The_untouchables_group. ... Image File history File links The_untouchables_group. ... Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American film actor and director who often produces his own films. ... Eliot Ness Eliot P. Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois as the leader of a legendary team nicknamed The Untouchables. ... Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is an Academy Award-winning Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films. ... Charles Martin Smith (born October 30, 1953) is an American film actor and director. ... Andy Garcia at the Incirlik hospital, Incirlik Air Base, December 7, 2001 Andy García (born April 12, 1956) is a Cuban-American actor. ... Robert Mario De Niro Jr. ... “Capone” redirects here. ... Richard Bradford (born November 10, 1937) is known for his lead role as former CIA agent turned private eye McGill in the British TV adventure series Man in a Suitcase, made by ITC in 1967. ... Chief of Police in United States usage is the title typically given to the head of a police department. ... Jack Kehoe is an American film actor who has appeared in a number of noteworthy films, including the 1973 classics The Sting and Serpico, as well as the 1976 comedy Car Wash. ... Billy Drago on Charmed Billy Drago is an American actor. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Patricia Clarkson as Sarah OConnor on Six Feet Under Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American Academy Award-nominated actress. ...

Production

The Untouchables was filmed in Chicago, Illinois; Hardin, Montana; and the surrounding areas of Great Falls, Montana. Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Hardin is a city located in Big Horn County, Montana. ... Great Falls, Montana the Electric City at dusk Great Falls is a city located in Cascade County, Montana, United States. ...

Dramatic license

• In the film, there are only four "Untouchables": Ness, Jim Malone, Oscar Wallace, and George Stone. However, according to Ness' biography, there were actually ten of them, including himself. Malone, Wallace and Stone are fictional characters. Malone's real-life counterpart may have been Martin Lahart, an Irish-American from a family of cops who served as Ness's second-in-command. However, Ness and Lahart were both in their 20's at the time of the Capone investigation, and Lahart was born in the U.S., not Ireland. According to Charles Martin Smith in the Special Collector's Edition DVD feature The Script, The Cast, Wallace, the bespectacled agent with the accounting background, was loosely modeled on Frank Wilson, the Treasury Agent who commanded the team of IRS investigators who put together the tax evasion case against Capone.

Eliot Ness

• While Ness and his real Untouchables did battle with Capone's organization, they had little to do with assembling the tax evasion case that would ultimately send Capone to prison. That case was put together by the criminal investigations unit of the Internal Revenue Service separately from Ness' efforts, though some of the evidence used to assemble that case included financial records seized by Ness during raids. Similarly the IRS unit would pass information on to Ness's squad about the location of breweries, stills, etc.
• The symbol on the liquor cases from Canada, the Maple Leaf, was not adopted until the fifties.

• Ness's main strategy in his war with the Capone mob was raiding breweries. Breweries represented a major investment of capital and putting one out of commission simultaneously constituted an immediate major loss of assets due to the confiscation of the equipment, and a future major loss of income due to the crippling effect the raids had on the Mob's ability to provide a saleable product. In the film, Ness and his squad make one raid on a liquor warehouse, and intercept an international shipment of liquor coming across the Canadian border, but do not raid one single brewery.

• Contrary to the meetings in the film, the real Capone and Ness never actually met face to face before the trial of Capone.

• The baseball bat scene in which Capone bludgeons a mobster is loosely based on an actual 1929 incident when Al bludgeoned three mobsters to death; John Scalise, Albert Anselmi, and Joseph "Hop Toad" Giunta.

• Two of the four Untouchables are killed in the movie. In real life, none of the actual Untouchables were killed, though some were injured during their battles against the mob. Frank Basile, an associate of Ness's prior to the formation of the squad, was killed, but he was not officially an agent. Of note, the two Untouchables who are killed drink or prepare to drink alcohol at some point in the film.

• During the trial scene, Nitti is shown to have bribed the jury of Capone's trial into acquitting Capone of all charges. The judge then substitutes another jury for the tainted one. (This makes little sense, as, in the film, the trial is well underway at the time of the jury-switch, meaning the new jury would be asked to decide a trial in which they'd missed the bulk of the evidence and testimony.) In reality, Nitti was ruling Capone's crumbling empire, while enforcers attempted to tamper with the pool of potential jurors that had been assembled before the trial began. The judge then replaced the pool of potential jurors with another pool that had been assembled for a different trial.

• The judge in the trial is depicted as a grafter, who switches juries only after being threatened with public exposure of his corruption. In fact, the judge in the Capone trial, James Wilkerson, had a well-deserved reputation for probity and integrity, and the idea for switching the jury pools prior to the beginning of the trial was entirely his.

• In the film, Capone's lawyer pleads his client guilty over his client's vehement protests. In real life, Capone pled not guilty, and the trial went to verdict. A defense lawyer in a criminal trial would not be allowed to plead guilty on behalf of his client without the client's consent.

• The final confrontation between Ness and Nitti, in which the latter falls to his death, is entirely fiction. In fact, Nitti spent nearly six years running the empire after the fall of Capone, and he committed suicide in March 1943 upon learning of his possible jail sentence. The Capone minion who was discovered carrying a gun in court, and who was later found to have a list of the jury pool in his pocket, was Phil D'Andrea, not Nitti, and the discovery led to a quiet arrest, not a rooftop shootout.

• In a similar vein, while Nitti was depicted as Capone's chief hitman in the film, in reality he was, by this point at least, in charge of the gang's financial dealings; Jack McGurn or Fred Burke would have been more accurately depicted in this role.

• In the film, Ness and his squad are referred to as "Treasury Agents." In fact, at the time of the Capone investigation, the Bureau of Prohibition, the agency Ness worked for, was part of the Department of Justice, and had been since 1930.

• In the film Ness is depicted as a family man with a wife, a daughter, and a son on the way. In real life, the thrice-married Ness was a bachelor during most of the Capone investigation. He had only one child, a son he adopted with his third wife, long after his law enforcement career had ended.

Led by Eliot Ness, the original group of Untouchables sought to enforce Prohibition and take down Al Capone. ... Charles Martin Smith (born October 30, 1953) is an American film actor and director. ... Frank J. Wilson (1887-June 22, 1970) was the Chief of the United States Secret Service and a former agent of the Internal Revenue Service, most notably in the 1931 prosecution of Chicago mobster Al Capone and federal representative in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. ... IRS is short for U.S. Internal Revenue Service short for Indian Revenue Service short for Independent rear suspension, used in automobiles. ... Image File history File links Eliotness. ... Image File history File links Eliotness. ... John Scalise (1900-1929) was an organized crime figure in the early 1900s. ... Albert Anselmi (1884-1929) was a Prohibition gangster during the 1920s. ... Machine Gun Jack McGurn (1905–February 15, 1936) was a key member of Al Capones Chicago-based criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit, and believed to be the principal assassin and planner of the 1929 St. ... The Bureau of Prohibition (or Prohibition Unit) was the federal law enforcement agency formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly known as the Volstead Act, which backed up the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution regarding the prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic... The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C. “Justice Department” redirects here. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Reception

Box office

• Opening weekend U.S. gross: $10,023,094
• Total U.S. box office gross: $76,270,454

Critical response

The film has received a mostly positive reception from critics. Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave the movie a glowing review, calling it "a smashing work" and saying it was "vulgar, violent, funny and sometimes breathtakingly beautiful." [1] Roger Ebert, on the other hand, said "'The Untouchables' has great costumes, great sets, great cars, great guns, great locations and a few shots that absolutely capture the Prohibition Era. But it does not have a great script, great performances or great direction." [2] Many reviewers, including Ebert, singled out DeNiro's scenes portraying Al Capone as the biggest disappointment of the film, while giving praise to Connery's performance. (Connery, however, won first place in a BBC poll for worst film accent[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3032052.stm). Leonard Maltin gives the film a four out of four star review. Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – September 15, 2000) was an American film critic. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ... Roger Joseph Ebert (born June 18, 1942) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American film critic. ...

Academy awards

The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is an Academy Award-winning Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films. ... This Academy Award was first given for movies made in 1948 when separate awards were given for black-and-white and color movies. ... The Academy Award for Original Music Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. ... Ennio Morricone (born November 10, 1928; sometimes also credited as Dan Savio or Leo Nichols) is an Italian composer especially noted for his film scores. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. ...

Further reading

• Tucker, Kenneth. Eliot Ness and the Untouchables: The Historical Reality and the Film and Television Depictions. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2000. ISBN 0-7864-0772-7

External links

• The Untouchables at the Internet Movie Database
• The "Untouchables" Rotten Tomatoes Page
• Movie stills