The Untouchables

Plot synopsis:
During Prohibition in 1930, Al Capone has nearly the whole city of Chicago under his control and supplies illegal liquor. Bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness is assigned to stop Capone, but his first attempt at a liquor raid fails due to corrupt policemen tipping Capone off. He has a chance meeting with Irish-American veteran officer Jimmy Malone, who is fed up with the rampant corruption and offers to help Ness, suggesting that they find a man from the police academy who has not come under Capone's influence. They recruit Italian-American trainee George Stone (aka-Giuseppe Petri) for his superior marksmanship and intelligence. Joined by accountant Oscar Wallace, assigned to Ness from Washington, D.C., they conduct a successful raid on a Capone liquor cache and start to gain positive publicity, with the press dubbing them "The Untouchables." Capone later kills the henchman in charge of the cache as a warning to his other men.
Wallace discovers that Capone has not filed an income tax return for some years and suggests that the team try to build a tax evasion case against him, since he is well-insulated from his other crimes. An alderman offers Ness a bribe to drop his investigation, but Ness angrily refuses it and throws him out of the office. When Capone gunman Frank Nitti threatens Ness' family, Ness has his wife and daughter moved to a safe house. His team flies to the Canada–United States border to intercept an incoming liquor shipment, aided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, killing several gangsters and capturing George, a Capone bookkeeper. Malone then shoots a gangster through the mouth (not revealing the man is already dead) to scare George into agreeing to testify against Capone.
Wallace prepares to escort George from the Chicago police station to a safe house, but they are shot and killed by Nitti, who has infiltrated the station. Ness confronts Capone and his men over the deaths, but Malone intervenes to save him from being killed and urges him to persuade the district attorney not to dismiss the charges against Capone. Realizing that police chief Mike Dorsett sold out Wallace and George, Malone forces him to reveal the whereabouts of Walter Payne, Capone's chief bookkeeper. That night, a knife-wielding thug sneaks into Malone's apartment; Malone chases him out with a shotgun, but falls victim to Nitti's Tommy gun ambush. Ness and Stone arrive at the apartment; before dying, Malone tells them which train Payne will take out of town.
At Union Station, Ness and Stone find Payne guarded by several gangsters. A gunfight breaks out on the lobby steps, resulting in all the gangsters being killed and Payne being taken alive. As Payne testifies at Capone's trial, explaining the untaxed cash flows throughout the syndicate, Ness notices that Capone seems unusually relaxed and also spots Nitti carrying a gun under his jacket. Ness has the bailiff remove Nitti and searches him outside the courtroom; a matchbook in Nitti's pocket contains Malone's address, leading Ness to realize that he killed Malone. Nitti shoots the bailiff and flees to the courthouse roof. Ness has the opportunity to kill Nitti at one point but chooses not to, but when Nitti mocks the way Malone died, Ness pushes him off the roof to his death.
Stone gives Ness a list, taken from Nitti's jacket, that shows bribes paid to the jurors. When the judge refuses to consider it as evidence of jury tampering, Ness bluffs him into thinking that his name is in Payne's ledger of payoffs. The judge subsequently orders that the jury be switched with one in another courtroom, prompting Capone's lawyer to enter a guilty plea on his behalf. Capone is later sentenced to 11 years in prison. Ness closes up his office and gives Malone's St. Jude medallion and callbox key to Stone as a farewell gift. As Ness leaves the police station, a reporter mentions a rumor that Prohibition may soon be repealed and asks what Ness will do if that happens. Ness replies, "I think I'll have a drink."

Tags: murder

Review:
One of the great shows of the '90s.
"The Untouchables" had many great elements: 1.
An excellent cast, including several familiar faces from TV and films: Tom Amandes ("Everwood"), William Forsythe ("John Doe," "UC: Undercover," "Out for Justice"), John Rhys-Davies ("The Lord of the Rings," "Raiders of the Lost Ark"), and David James Elliott ("JAG").2.
Some entertaining -- if historically unrealistic -- stories, combining gangster action stories with looks into the personal lives of the characters, especially the relationships with Al Capone (Forsythe) and Eliot Ness (Amandes) and their respective wives and children.3.
Fantastic theme music by Joel Goldsmith (I'm still humming it, and I haven't seen the show in 10 years).
I wish they had released a soundtrack album for the series.Though the show was on for only a year and a half, "The Untouchables" was able to tell a complete story, fleshing out both the heroes and the villains into complex characters, and it wrapped up most of the plot lines by the final episode.This series would make an ideal DVD box set.
Are you paying attention, Paramount?.
Good Entertainment.
This 1990s version of "The Untouchables" was actually pretty good, and was one of the better programs on FOX when it aired.
The stories were engaging although, as in previous versions of "The Untouchables", they perhaps took their creative license at bit too far at times(Al Capone and Elliot Ness in a boxing match?!!).
However, the real strength of the show was the performances.
Tom Amandes and Paul Regina work well as Elliot Ness and Frank Nitty, and John Rhys-Davies does an even better job as Malone.
But the greatest performance is without doubt that of William Forsythe as Al Capone, who really steals the show, and makes it quite worth watching.
I think he did a better job in the role than Robert De Niro did in the 1987 movie.
Indeed most of performances were better than those in the movie, which was itself not a bad piece of work..
the acting was top notch, particularly by William Forsythe.
the series format definitely allowed the principle characters to be much more elaborately portrayed than the limited two hours available in a movie.
I have been hoping that this series would become available in DVD format.
I think it would be a must buy item for any serious videophile..
Great Series!.
I can still remember how shocked I was when I heard this program was cancelled.
Every episode was good; one even dealing with bootlegging on an Indian reservation( where liquor had not been permitted to be sold for years prior to Prohibition.) I was also struck by the stunning look-alikeness of Tom Amandes to Jimmy Stewart.
They could have been twin brothers.Even their voices,mannerisms were similar.
I wonder if this had anything to do with the series sudden disappearance.
William Forsythe was the best Capone to-date, even outdoing de Niro.
The supporting cast was also excellent.
I think this series was better than the original series with Robert Stack.
What made Stack so good was his toneless performance.Amandes gave the character flesh and blood and a mind.
Excellent series and canceled way too soon.
I really liked the development of the characters throughout the episodes I have been able to watch.
Especially the character of Paul Robbins played by David James Elliott.
The story lines were clever and kept me watching from episode to episode.
The actor that portrays Elliott Ness does indeed remind me of Jimmy Stewart.
With the onset of reality TV programs, I miss the scripted dramas of old and would really like a revival of good series programs such as The Untouchables.
If you enjoy gangster movies and shows where the good guys win, you will enjoy this program.
In my opinion, it was canceled way too soon.
If it were to come out on DVD, I would buy it in it's entirety..
As good as it always has been.
Enjoying the airing of the Untouchable series on Polish TV in English, I find the story as fascinating as the times I´ve watched it before.
Aside from the excellent choice of actors/actresses, the tragedy and funny side of the topic is clearly tangible in almost all episodes.
Especially when Ness is forced to rescue Nitti from a revengeful boy who´s cop dad was killed.
Irony at its best.Although the story happened nearing a century ago, it is as vivid and valid as ever.Excellent scripts, great actors, and a fascinating story untouched by time..
Canned way too soon.
I saw this show early on in its first few episodes and was very favorable impressed by the great performances of Tom Amandes as Elliott Ness( by the way, Mr Amandes looks enough like  Jimmy Stewart to almost be his twin brother,  I could,'t believe the very close resemblence), and Robert Forsythe, who played Al Capone.
Mr Forsythe brought a measure of depth to the usual Capone gangster portrayal.
I hope that this show will still be viewable even as reruns.
It was canned way too soon.I would even like to see it on vhs.
It would be well worth the buying price..
A few comments to make....
Yes, this really was a great show.
Two corrections to make on the previous comments that were left:  a) The show DID last more than one season; it was on for two.
The show ran from January 1993 to September 1994 (the last new episode aired in June 1994).
b) Second, it was not on FOX, but on UPN (or whatever they called themselves in the early 90s; it may have been "Universal 9" here in the NY area.)I think the show ended because William Forsythe announced he was not coming back for a third year.
Also, I remember there was some controversy back in 1993 because there was a healthy dose of ethnic slurs on the program, directly mostly towards Italians, Irish, and Poles, and some Italian-American groups were offended by it..
Definitely worth watching....
One of my favorite movies of the 80s was "The Untouchables," and when I saw that a show was coming out on the same subject, I thought it would be another crummy TV spinoff like "Uncle Buck."But, despite the fact that the TV show didn't have the big names of the movie version, I found the show to be much more believable and suspenseful, without the glaring anachronisms that the movie had (e.g. Frank Nitti being killed at the Capone trial in the movie).William Forsythe (Capone) does an INCREDIBLE job...he AT LEAST equals the great Robert DeNiro's performance of the same character.
Also, John Rhys-Davies and Tom Amandes give great performances and the show's writing was excellent.
It's a shame it had such a crummy time slot and was canned so soon..
Well-made TV drama.
This was such an excellent show!
I, too, was shocked and disappointed when it was dropped.
There are few shows for which I actually made time in my schedule to watch, but this definitely was a weekly "event." In addition to the great stories, acting, camera work, etc.
it also had first-rate scenery and costumes that really added to the portrayal of that time period.
(Sometimes it was a little too violent for my taste, but hey, it's Al Capone, so what do you expect?) And, yes, one of the all-time greatest TV theme songs.
My fingers are crossed that this series will someday come out on DVD.
I would not only get a copy for myself, but also several gifts..
This TV series Should be on DVD!.
I'm a fan of untouchables as much as the next person and i would love for the series to be on DVD i enjoy all the early episodes, especially the pilot the later episodes, i didn't get to see because i was busy watching other movies If the series lasted from January 1993 till September 1994 then they should put both seasons on both VHS and DVD [on either two, three or four disc DVD] to some extent that people would be like "oh my gosh, the untouchables is on DVD!
i'm excited!
"My point being , This series should be on DVD and VHS then they'd realize they'd love the series on DVD or VHS as much they did when it was on fox TV from january 93 till September 94.
I really liked this series.
I really liked this series.
I really liked this series.
I honestly enjoyed this series.
It moved fast and had great music.
In fact, I wish I could find the theme song an a CD someplace.
There were moments in which the writers drew parallels between Ness and Capone, revealing that the two men actually had some things in common.
I never missed an episode and was truly disappointed that it was not renewed for a second season..
This show was the best one i have ever seen.
Great stories and great acting in this series.
I have been watching the clips on you tube, which are great.
I think this show was taken off way to soon and may be why we will never see it on DVD.
This was the best untouchables show or movie made, it was ahead of its time.We need to do whatever we can to get this series to DVD.
I gave it 10 in voting for it.
If anyone has DVD info on this show please let me know about.Or if anyone is selling DVD's i'm very interested in buying them.
please email me at jpisano@bostonvolvo if you have info.
Why do we need to have a minimum of 10 lines for this??.
For A New Generation.
This revived version of The Untouchables drew from both the original Robert Stack television series and the Brian DePalma film that won for Sean Connery that Best Supporting Actor Award.
As such it had the strengths and weaknesses of both.The Untouchables themselves under Eliot Ness were as described a group of incorruptible federal prohibition agents at a time when that group generally could be bought and sold.
They were the group who hurt Al Capone and Bugs Moran the rival gang heads in Chicago in the pocketbook with their raids on their illegal distilleries.
They did not however bring Capone down, that was the job of some hard working accountants in the US Attorney's office in Chicago who got him for income tax evasion.This series did not take its characters from the original Robert Stack series that was based on Ness's memoirs ghosted by Oscar Fraley.
The characters are from the film that starred Kevin Costner with Tom Amandes as Ness, John Rhys-Davies in Sean Connery's role as Malone and William Forsythe as one mean and nasty Al Capone.Amandes captured a lot of the self righteousness of Eliot Ness who back in the day fancied himself as some kind of Eagle Scout.
In work I've seen him in subsequently, Amandes has been more villainous which may have been his true niche as an actor.
Forsythe was the best thing that series.
In his career he's played a succession of great villains, his style of psychotic villain is similar to Lyle Bettger's.
Capone by all accounts was a generally easy going man, but had a hair trigger temper which was demonstrated on more than one occasion here.The Untouchables just like the previous series ran out of real plots and then had the guys going all over the country taking care of all the known criminals of the time.
The silliest episode I recall had Amandes and his crew going to New York and tangling not only with Lucky Luciano but with Thomas E.
Dewey.
Charles Martin Smith played Dewey and on those grounds alone, Tom Dewey's heirs should sue.
In fact Dewey had a lot more to do with bringing down New York's criminals than Ness did in Chicago.
In fact both men aspired to a political career, but Dewey certainly got a lot farther than Ness who ran for Mayor of Cleveland and lost in a landslide.
Still Eliot Ness and his crew will probably get another look in the next generation, they do fascinate us so..
the untouchables.
the untouchables.
Can someone plse tell me where I can buy this TV series of the untouchables from 1993-1994?
I have been racking my brains trying to find it and the soundtrack for it is impossible!!
I really love this show and I would like to add it to my collection.
I think that William Forsythe is an excellent actor to play the role of Al Capone.
The show has its moments where you just get right into the action and puts you at the edge of your seat!
If there is anyone that has any leads on where to buy this DVD/VHS or even know about the soundtrack, plse don't hesitate to reply.Thank you =)