The Untouchables (1959): 1933. Violence and corruption were at an all-time high in Chicago, New York, St. Louis, Detroit, Kansas City-- virtually every city in the U.S. The lone exception is an Eastern seaboard metropolis, referred to as City Without a Name, in which the voters had used the ballot box to vote corruption out of public office. And Federal agent Arnold Wainwright had kept organized crime out-- but on October 22, he is blasted by machine-guns while in a coffee shop. Eliot Ness and his men are called to the case. Ness goes to the hospital and talks to Wainwright's assistant, Gilbert Burke, who was injured in the attack; Gilbert tells Ness the hit was the work of Lou Mungo. Chicago. At the Montmartre club, Nitti is having a meet. Nitti decides that since Lou Mungo's done the groundwork, it's time for him to take over half of Mungo's action. Nitti sends for Sebastian, who specializes in such acquisitions without using muscle. Sebastian wins a high stakes poker game by bluffing. Nitti tells Sebastian to go to Mungo and get a list of the guys he's paying off in City Hall-- and Nitti will take it from there. Nitti offers Sebastian 10% of Mungo's district for the doing the job; Nitti gives him a few days to accomplish the task. One of Nitti's boys, hatchet-man Nick Vascovitch, accompanies Sebastian. In the nameless City, Ness is trying to find the hitmen. Mungo, accompanied by his shyster lawyer, drops in on Ness. When Ness reads Mungo's record, including suspicion on 3 counts of murder, the mouthpiece points out there were no convictions. Ness investigates Mungo's front: he owns the City Garage. Ness is convinced Arnie Falken, the mechanic, was the wheelman on the job; Ness scares him when he talks about a murder rap. Meanwhile Sebastian is getting much faster results with money: he not only finds the hitmen, but by offering them 100-Gs apiece, they sign a confession saying Mungo was fully responsible for the murder of a federal officer, Wainwright. Sebastian won't show the signed confession to anyone but Mungo, whom he'll blackmail with it. The hitmen skip town. Terrified Arnie Falken wants to wipe his fingerprints off the car that was used in the hit; all Falken succeeds in doing is leading Ness and Lee Hobson right to the car. Sebastian blackmails Mungo with the confession; Sebastian demands the names of those he's paid off in City Hall-- the ones providing protection for his rackets: bookies, girls, dope, booze. Later, ambitious Nick Vascovitch decides to double-cross his boss Nitti; he wants to be partners with Sebastian. It seems Sebastian is willing to go along with the double-cross. Nick phones Nitti in Chicago, and says they'll need another 7-10 days. Smelling something phony, Nitti and some of his boys make a trip to the nameless City. Meanwhile, Mungo has Blinky rub out Arnie Falken, who was Ness' only lead so far in the case. November 2. Nitti and his boys drop in on Sebastian; Chicago is probably 700-800 miles away, but Nitti quips he "just happened to be in the neighborhood." Nitti also says Nick Vascovitch "had an accident." Sebastian gets rid of any idea of double-crossing Nitti. Sebastian goes to Mungo that night and demands the list of those who are paid off; Mungo only gives him the name of the top man, Commissioner Bodeen, saying, "If he goes, they all go." Later, Mungo's lawyer Symes tells him Nitti is in town; Mungo realizes Sebastian must be under the gun to wrap up his deal fast. Sebastian is pressuring Commissioner Bodeen right now. Bodeen says Mungo threatened his family; Sebastian asks him if he thinks Nitti would do any less. But Nitti's gang is in Chicago, and Mungo is here, so Bodeen won't budge. Later, Ness talks to Bodeen. Sebastian and Mungo are at a stand-off: Sebastian can't get the names, Mungo is blackmailed by the signed confession. They are both gamblers. They will decide with a cut of the cards; the pot: the list of names and the confession, winner take all. Mungo draws a 3. Sebastian draws his card but won't show it. They fight to the death. (as if either would have abided by the card game's outcome.) Mungo kills Sebastian, who had a deuce. (he always did like to bluff.) Ness and Lee Hobson show up. Mungo tries to escape in a truck, and Ness fires; the truck crashes into some fuel pumps, and there's a big, fiery explosion. Mungo is dead. The Syndicate threat died in flames on November 4. Their work done, Ness and his Untouchables went back home to Chicago. (synopsis by: kdh)

Starring:

Abel Fernandez, Nicholas Georgiade, Paul Picerni, Robert Stack, Steve London, Walter Winchell

Genre:

Action, Crime, Drama