"The Untouchables" The Otto Frick Story (1960)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

John Peyser

Writers:

Leonard Kantor (written by)
Eliot Ness (book) ...

TV Series:

"The Untouchables" (1959)

Original Air Date:

22 December 1960 (Season 2, Episode 10)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Otto Frick is a drug dealer with a traveling group of distributors. Ness and his men trace his supply...

Plot Keywords:

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

Cast

Robert Stack	...	Eliot Ness
Francis Lederer	...	Walter Messlinger
Richard Jaeckel	...	Hans Eberhardt
Jack Warden	...	Otto Frick
Walter Winchell	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Willis Bouchey	...	Nathaniel Emmons
Abel Fernandez	...	William Youngfellow
Nicholas Georgiade	...	Enrico Rossi
Hermann Göring	...	Himself (archive footage)
Stacy Harris	...	Capt. Reardon
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Steve London	...	Jack Rossman
Joseph Mell	...	Herschel Levitan
Fred Nurney	...	Felix Boll
Erika Peters	...	Hedda Messlinger
Paul Picerni	...	Lee Hobson
Molly Roden	...	Elaine Levitan
John Wengraf	...	Manning Loder

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Desilu Productions

THE OTTO FRICK STORY: From the Chicago 'Outfit', to the Sicilian Mafia, to 'The German-American Volks Bund, The Untouchables prove to be Equal Opportunity Feds!

Well, well that Mr. Ness sure was everywhere doing just about everything. He bagged "Big Al" Capone in Chicago. He tangled with the likes of "Dutch Schultz" and Charles "Lucky" Luciano in New York. He and the Untouchables even brought Ma Barker and her Boys in to their proper and swift punishment under the law.

As we've previously stated, the various Episodes of this weekly series of Cops & Robbers show, varied greatly in the content. Some were really quite close to the real, historical. Others wandered far off of the path of veracity to the road of being far fetched, at least for a unit of Treasury Men! The question of Jurisdiction comes into play in a lot of these hour long teleplays. Just why exactly, would the Federal Men get all involved in the the investigations of such varied non Federal areas as gambling, narcotics and prostitution. and unlawful gambling. The Feds would not get so involved with local and State Laws. The only way would be when there was some violation of their precious old Volsted Act (National Prohibition).

Yes, I hear you asking what about Federal Narcotics Laws, wouldn't Ness enforce the Federal Code in this area? The answer would have to be yes, but a qualified yes. As Federal Law Enfoecement Agents, they would enforce any and all Federal Laws. But that would generally be in those incidents where their contact with the drug violator was due to a violation of Prohibition or some other Federal liquor law or regulation, comprende Amigo? On the positive side for this story which began with a link between the importation of illicit drugs being linked to some operatives of the relatively new Third Reich of Germany. The bad guys this time weren't from the Sicilian Mafia or the Chicago 'Outfit', but they were genuine Espionage Agents of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. That's Nazi for short.

To their credit the Production Team did do us all a great favor. There was this movement in the good old USA during the mid 1930's which was called The German-American Volks Bund. It was ostensibly a club for Americans of German Ancestory to foster the continued observance and practice of those things of German Music, Art, Literature and all things related to German History and Culture. These sounded like mighty lofty goals, but they were essentially true. There other purposes of the Bund which were not disclosed. Namely to disseminate and to cultivate the principles of the Superiority of the Aryan Super Race and all the other beliefs and 'laws' of Nazism.

Well friend, perhaps it wasn't that Ness and his guys who were involved in the conduct of the investigation and apprehension of these Nazis on our own soil, here in America. But it sure was somebody. It would seem that Desilu Productions provided a sort of video "History Lesson"! The UNTOUCHABLES TV Series was the venue for telling a story about it. It was the first time that this writer had heard of such a subversive movement. If it was true for me, just think of how many other thousands of little "boomers"*were so enlightened.

As for the story, it was dynamic and action filled. It had a truly National Theme, as it took one from Chicago to New York to Los Angeles, then back to New York's Madison Square Garden for the big pro Hitler Rally.

Well, this was 1935. Prohibition was all over. The boys had to have something to do. My rating for this OTTO FRICK STORY is **1/2. It is worth your investing an hour. Besides, Agent Jack Rossman (Steve London) has a line of dialog. While trailing a suspect into a Rathskellar Bar, he takes a seat at a table and says, "Beer!"