"The Untouchables" (1959) TV series 1959-1963

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

15 October 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptable agents battle organized crime in 1930s Chicago.

Plot Keywords:

Organized Crime | Mafia | Federal Agent | US Treasury Agents | Cult Favorite

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Robert Stack	...	Eliot Ness (118 episodes, 1959-1963)
Walter Winchell	...	Narrator (118 episodes, 1959-1963)
Nicholas Georgiade	...	Agent Enrico Rossi / ... (105 episodes, 1959-1963)
Paul Picerni	...	Agent Lee Hobson / ... (83 episodes, 1960-1963)
Abel Fernandez	...	Agent William Youngfellow / ... (80 episodes, 1959-1963)
Steve London	...	Agent Jack Rossman / ... (65 episodes, 1959-1963)

Also Known As:

Chicago 1930 (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Los intocables (Spain) (Venezuela) [es]
Die Unbestechlichen (West Germany) [de]
Gli intoccabili (Italy) [it]
Lahjomattomat (Finland) [fi]
Les incorruptibles (France) (dubbed version) [fr]
Os Intocáveis (Brazil) [pt]

Runtime:

60 min (118 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

According to testimony from Jimmy 'The Weasel' Fratianno, a Mafia boss turned FBI informant, the Chicago family of the Mafia ordered the assassination of the show's producer Desi Arnaz because they didn't like, (a) the fact that the success of the show was focusing attention on the Mafia, and (b) the show's portrayal of Italians. Fratianno said that two hitmen hid themselves near Arnaz's house one night waiting for him to show up, but he never did. Shortly afterwards the assassination order was rescinded when it was realized that Arnaz's murder would cause the Mafia more trouble than it was worth.

Quotes:

Police Officer: There is nothing in that area... except an old abandoned warehouse.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: There's Always Room for One Less (#4.26)" (1963)

Characters frozen in time.

Seeing an excerpt from 'Untouchables' on satellite TV recently brought back some memories of forty years ago, when I looked forward in eager anticipation to seeing the weekly appearance of Eliot Ness and his associates. To see them again was to see characters apparently frozen in time, operating in a mythical world where the differences between good and evil were clearly delineated and the 'bad guys' got their just deserts. Notwithstanding the fact that Capone and Ness never met, that Ness had little, if anything, to do with putting Capone behind bars, the programmes were quite well directed and acted, even though some of the supporting characters had little,if anything, to say - I can remember often waiting for some considerable time for 'Rico' (Georgiade)to say his only line ! Enjoyable,nevertheless, as cinematic curiosities, well crafted, but so far removed from historical reality as to be a rather threadbare tapestry of the events which the series purported to represent.