The Untouchables (1959–1963): Season 1, Episode 17 - One-Armed Bandits - full transcript
Mobster Augie Viale is out to start a new and lucrative business in the Chicago area: slot machines. They're not illegal so Eliot Ness and the Untouchables can't do a great deal about them but they know they provide the Syndicate with income that can be used to finance other illegal ventures so they take every opportunity to put Viale out of business. Ness visits Frank Odine who has just been released from prison. Odine wants nothing to do with the rackets but Viale forces him into the business by threatening to tell his daughter, who thinks her father was a hero who died in World War I, about his life. When Viale orders Odine to kill Ness, he can think of only one way out of his predicament.
Federal officers!
Stay where you are!
All right, come on, move...
Come on, move. Get 'em up.
Let's go!
Come on, move.
Come on. Let's go, hands up.
Come on, come on.
Let's go, hands up. Come on.
Behind the neck.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight's episode...
Starring Robert
Stack as Eliot Ness.
Co-Starring Larry Gates
and John Beradino.
With Special Guest
Star Harry Guardino.
WALTER WINCHELL:
Chicago, February 1932.
Crime was a big business
that was spreading
from the dark alleys
of Cicero across town
to the gentler social
atmosphere of the Gold Coast.
Times were changing and
crime was changing with them.
Like any big business,
it had to change,
but it still required the services
of hoodlums and gunmen
like Al Barberry
and George Colleoni;
the courtroom techniques
of unscrupulous attorneys
such as Paul Curtiz;
and the guiding hands
of the man at the top,
the man who had
come up from the ranks
and had made the
transition from gangster
to big businessman:
Augie Vialle.
Come in.
Augie Vialle had never made
the inner circle of
the Capone syndicate.
He had never tried,
not even after Capone was
sent to Atlanta for tax evasion.
With the help of
men in public office
willing to look the other way,
Vialle was too busy
making a place for himself
with narcotics and hot
cars and a new enterprise.
Hey, Nick!
Pretty good, huh?
Watch this now.
(all laughing) Huh? Empty!
What do you think of that, huh?
Pretty good machine.
I make the best.
What do you think, huh?
Vialle's operations had
been under secret surveillance
for some time by a special
group of government agents
known as the Untouchables.
Working under the
leadership of Eliot Ness were
Enrico Rossi, key
witness against Frank Nitti;
Cam Allison, brought
in from St. Louis
to replace Martin
Flaherty, recently promoted
to direct the Cleveland office
of the Bureau of Prohibition;
Jack Rossman, a
former telephone lineman
and now a wiretap expert; and...
William Youngfellow,
full-blooded Cherokee
and former all-American
from Carlyle University.
He was planted by Ness
as a waiter in Vialle's
apartment hotel.
So you can see, it
was quite a gathering.
A pair of police commissioners,
judges, lawyers, businessmen,
and all of them
ready to give Vialle
the city of Chicago
on a platter.
They've been trying to
do that for some time.
What are they figuring on now?
Slot machines.
Slot machines?!
Could be real big business.
Grossed ten to 15
million a year in St. Louis.
They'll double that
here, if we let 'em.
They think they're going
to get a man to run it
who we can't stop.
Who?
Frank O'Dean.
Who's O'Dean?
(sighs)
At one time, he was a captain
in the Irish Republican Army.
You're kidding.
No, he was running Irish
whiskey into New York,
raising money for the cause.
When his wife died, it
did something to him.
He forgot the cause and
just raised money for himself.
Did very well at it, too.
His army training made
him a great organizer.
Strange, I never heard of him.
He's been in the pen at
Joliet for almost eight years.
I got a report on
him a few days ago.
He's being released tomorrow.
I think I'll have
a talk with him.
You know him?
I should; I sent him up.
And he didn't have to go.
I was in a bad
spot during a raid.
He could have killed
me, only he didn't.
That's why I think I'd
better go talk to him now.
(talking indistinctly)
Illinois State Penitentiary.
Joliet.
A Wednesday.
Release day.
Having served seven
years and six months
of a ten-year sentence,
Frank O'Dean was
released... A civilian again.
The state provided him
with clothes, a ten dollar bill,
and a ticket for
transportation back home.
Frank O'Dean waited
at the Joliet station
for the train back to Chicago.
Coffee.
Hello, Frank.
Well, Eliot Ness, isn't it?
That's right.
You still a Fed?
Still.
I'll have one.
I, uh, I thought you
got out of that business.
Well, some people
are still in business
As long as they are, I am.
You haven't changed much, Fed.
How about you?
What do you think?
I'm asking you.
Why?
Them.
Know them?
Uh-uh.
I do.
They work for an old friend
of yours... Augie Vialle.
I hear Vialle's doing
very well these days.
Ugh, this stuff is almost as bad
as the stuff they
make in the joint.
I hear that you're
going to work for Vialle.
And you want me to ask
you where you heard that.
Ask me.
Where?
Vialle.
That why you're here?
You did me a good
turn once, Frank.
I'm going to get Vialle.
I'd hate to have to
get you again, too.
Let me tell you
a little story, Fed.
Once upon a time, there
was a guy who had everything.
Then, a bunch of old
women made a law.
This guy I'm telling you about,
he, he bottled up
a million violations
and one day he landed in jail.
Well, now he's out...
and he's going to stay out,
forget the past, and
live happily ever after.
I like that story, Frank.
I hope it comes true.
Do you want a ride into town?
(sighs)
You're the only
copper I'd ride with,
that is, if I were going
to ride with a copper.
No thanks, I'll use this.
That way the state
won't owe me anything
and I won't owe you anything.
Suit yourself.
That's all right.
Hey, you.
You know, there's one thing
I've always liked
about you, Ness.
What?
You're the only copper
that never told me to
keep my nose clean.
So long, Fed.
O'Dean... I'm Al Barberry.
This is George Colleoni.
Vialle said to give
you his regards.
Why didn't he come himself?
Well, he's kind of busy.
We'll drive you back.
No, thank you.
Vialle wants to talk to you.
I said Vialle wants
to talk to you.
Things have changed
since you were around.
(grunts)
Listen... I've heard!
They just locked me up...
They didn't cut off my ears!
In the late afternoon
of February l6,
Julian Glass awaited Frank
O'Dean's arrival into Chicago;
Glass was a disbarred lawyer.
He had been big when
O'Dean had been big.
He had fallen when
O'Dean had fallen.
Frank!
Julie.
I didn't think you'd be here.
What do you think
old friends are for
if not to be where
they're needed.
Thanks, Julie.
Here, give me that.
Come on.
I got something to show you.
This is what?
Home, Frank.
And look... get a load of this.
It comes right
down... and bingo...
you got a place to sleep.
Closet space over there, too.
Lots of it.
Everything you need, Frank...
Radio, telephone.
Hey, and here's
something you'll really like.
I got all your stuff
out of storage.
And just in case
you want a cup of hot coffee
in the morning...
something to eat...
something to drink.
Hey, maybe you want a drink now?
Cockroach.
Yeah, they get in sometimes.
Oh, Frank, I know
this chicken coop
isn't exactly what you're...
well, it's better
than a cell block.
Anything's better
than a cell block.
Thanks, Julie.
Now, you didn't
have to say that.
This calls for a drink.
I'm...
I'm a little thirsty
today, I guess, it's...
all the excitement.
How is she, Julie?
She's fine, Frank.
Fine.
She's all grown up now.
She's gonna get married.
Married?
Yeah.
To a nice boy named Plummer.
Goes to school in Evanston.
How does she look?
Like her mother used
to look many years ago.
The image of her,
Frank, you got a fine daughter.
No, I don't, Julie.
All right, all right.
You don't have a daughter.
As far as she knows,
her name's Larkins
and her father was
killed in the war.
But, someday, I'd like
to tell her about you.
You do that, and I'll kill you.
Drink up.
(glasses clink)
For two weeks after the
return of Frank O'Dean,
Eliot Ness waited for
some sign, some word,
that Augie Vialle's intended
slot machine operation
was going into action.
But there was
no sign, no word...
(phone rings) until
the night of March 4.
William Youngfellow
called in with a tip
that Vialle was
interested in a moving van
entering the state that night.
What it contained,
exactly when it was due
to arrive, he didn't know...
Only that Vialle
was very interested.
(woman laughing)
Eliot Ness was interested, too.
(engine revving)
We'll wait till they get here.
Get 'em after they
cross the state line.
Let's get set.
I wonder if Vialle is starting
to move slot
machines into the state.
If Youngfellow's tip is
right, we'll soon find out.
I understand Floyd Gibbons
had something to say
about Vialle in his
broadcast earlier tonight.
About him trying to
take over all of Chicago.
Yeah, I heard.
Someday, they're going
to put radios in cars,
and when they do, I'm going
to be the first to buy one.
(engine revving)
That's it, Eliot.
Yeah.
(engines revving)
(tires squealing)
Hey, what's going on?
Federal Officers! Come
out with your hands up!
(horn blaring)
(horn quiets)
You know them?
Yeah, this one's Pete Florio.
That's his brother Joe.
They're both Augie Vialle's men.
ROSSMAN: Eliot, better
take a look back here.
A good tip.
(quietly): Let's go.
WINCHELL: With the confiscation
of the truckload
of slot machines,
Eliot Ness declared open
war on Augie Vialle's enterprise.
There's no Federal law
against slot machines!
But Ness will invoke
every Federal statute he can
to authorize search and seizure.
He'll haze you until
he gets you, Augie.
Ness isn't going to get anybody.
We're going ahead
with the operation.
Can you guarantee that?
What do you want
me to do, sue him?
No.
But you promised
to get Frank O'Dean
to run it for you.
We want you to get him.
Frank O'Dean is a two-bit punk!
He had his chance to come
in with me... now, he's through.
I don't need anybody to
operate this set-up for me.
You need us, Augie.
What?!
The big boys... downtown.
Your protection.
I like you, Augie.
Everybody likes you.
But we think it
takes a little more
than you've got right here
to run this kind of operation.
Frank O'Dean was
the best organizer,
the best operator
in the rackets.
I suggest you get
him to work with you.
I'm right about this, Augie.
I know it, you know it...
the boys downtown know it.
(glass breaking)
(car engine idling)
(door creaking)
Well, Mr. Glass,
I haven't seen you
around for a good long time.
Hey, you look like
you could use a
drink, Mr. Glass.
No, thank you.
What do you want with me?
How is the legal business
these days, Mr. Glass?
I'm not in that
business anymore.
Oh? And why not, Mr. Glass?
I was disbarred.
Oh, yes, I did read
something about that.
Now, tell me, Mr. Glass,
what is your new business?
He asked you a question.
I have no business.
Not even with Frank O'Dean?
I have no business
with him, or with you,
or with anyone else.
I should like to go now.
Mr. Glass, you
were quite a lawyer
when you were a lawyer.
I always wondered
why you advised Frank
to waive a jury trial
and plead guilty.
In front of a jury, he
might have been acquitted.
I thought you were his friend.
I was.
But then, if there
had been a jury,
they would have
investigated very carefully...
His interests, his family, huh?
There is a family,
isn't there, Mr. Glass?
No, no.
His wife has been
dead for many years.
I mean, besides his wife.
Well, you should
know, Mr. Glass,
since you handled
all of his affairs.
Go on, Mr. Glass.
Have your drink.
(groans loudly)
Aah! Aah!
(phone ringing)
(clears throat)
Yeah.
Julie, where are you?
Oh, what's Vialle got to do...?
Okay.
Okay, tell him
I'll be right there.
ANNOUNCER: And now
back to The Untouchables.
(piano plays upbeat melody)
Well, you finally came to talk.
(crowd chatter
and laughter inside)
Excuse me, honey.
Excuse me, please.
Frank! Frank, it's
good to see you.
Julie called. I got
your message.
Oh, I sent you one a
couple of weeks ago.
He got that one, too.
Yeah, I got that one, too.
Uh, go ahead, George.
The kind of people a
man has to hire these days.
Not like the old
days, huh, Frank?
Where's Julie? Uh, he'll keep.
They tell me you got religion.
You look the same to me.
Where is he?
Come on, come on, okay.
Nice people, eh, Frank?
Some of the best in Chicago.
Julie?
Hey! Hey!
Julie, what did they do to you?
What did they do to you?!
We had to know, Frank.
You had to know what?
The way to get you
to come in with us.
And, uh, your mouthpiece talked.
I'm sorry, Frank.
I'm sorry.
What did you talk
about, Julie? What?
I couldn't help it, Frank.
I couldn't take it.
They know.
They know all... all about her.
(clicks tongue)
Oh, Julie...
Come here, Frank.
I want to show you something.
(piano playing,
laughter and chatter)
Lots of nice people here, Frank.
Lots of lovely girls.
Judges' daughters,
senators' daughters,
and there, Frank... that one...
That's your kid, Frank.
Yeah.
Eleanor Larkins, 918
Jefferson Road, Wilmette.
That boy with her is her fiancé.
A friend of the judge.
I asked him to bring them along.
The kid's got a
great future, Frank.
Happy marriage, plenty of money,
high society.
Only, what happens to
it if the papers come out
with a story about her father?
A jailbird, a gangster?
Wouldn't be much left of
that future, would there?
How do I know she's mine?
Ask him.
(laughter and chatter)
Okay. What's the deal?
You know, Frank.
The slot machines.
We're going to go
back in business.
Just like the good old days.
(crowd chatter and laughter)
Okay!
Get your coats.
You're leaving here.
What?! Get 'em, and get out.
But why?
Listen, miss,
this is not your kind of
party, nor your kind of people.
Now, look, who do
you think you are?
Never mind who I am!
Believe me, miss, I
know what I'm saying.
I think he's right, Stuart.
Thank you.
WINCHELL: With Youngfellow's
information about O'Dean,
Eliot Ness knew
that Augie's slot machine
racket was really going
into high gear with
powerful political protection
and financial backing.
He also knew
that the potential operation
could extend, octopus-like,
far beyond Chicago and Illinois,
and create an even
greater empire of crime
than Capone and all the others.
But importing and
distributing slot machines
did not violate
the federal code.
Ness could only keep Vialle
under constant surveillance,
hoping for a break...
A break that would give
him the wedge he needed.
Those closest to Vialle
became very familiar figures.
Paul Curtiz, the lawyer; George
Colleoni, hoodlum and killer;
and now, Frank O'Dean.
Guess he didn't
learn his lesson.
Do any of them?
Come on.
Come on, how long does
it take to load a truck?!
WINCHELL: Under
Frank O'Dean's supervision
and organizing ability,
the slot machine racket
started to grow with
unbelievable speed.
Truck after truck roared out
with the insatiable
mechanical monsters.
All of Chicago, and
then Cook County,
became flooded with them.
No spot was too large or too
small for Frank O'Dean to hit.
I'll do the dishes, Mama,
after I'm through sweeping.
I did them already, Jake.
You did? I didn't notice.
You the boss? I am.
What's your name?
Jake Brodowski.
All right, Jake, I'll show
you just how this thing works.
Hey, what is this?
Leave it right here
on the counter.
No, you can't put
that in my store.
Jake, will you pay attention?
Now, on the first
of every month,
I'll send a man around
to empty the machine.
You get 30 percent.
And this is to make sure
that your customers get
plenty of nickels for change.
Oh, no! That's against the law!
Jake, will you let me
worry about the law, huh?
Hey, take that
thing out of here!
I don't want it here!
(wife screams)
Jake. Oh, Jake.
Please, please,
just let it stay.
Just let it stay, Jake.
You'll be all right.
Check the block.
Where do I find Jake Brodowski?
He's in back.
I'm his wife.
What do you want?
You Mr. Ness?
That's right.
I'm Jake Brodowski.
Mr. Ness, from the government.
Please, go in the back, Mama.
Go away. We have nothing to say.
I have something to say.
I called Mr. Ness. No, no.
We have nothing to say.
JAKE: Please, Mama.
She's scared.
Everybody's scared.
But not me, not Jake Brodowski.
I told the police.
They do nothing,
so I'll tell you.
They put it there...
those gangsters.
Yeah, I know.
What you gonna do
about it, Mr. Ness?
He can do nothing.
Please, Mama.
I don't want it, but I got it.
So I call you.
I don't like to see the
kids put their nickels in it.
I want you to stop it.
Mr. Brodowski,
there's no federal law
against slot machines.
There is a law against
racketeers, ain't there?
Yes, but the law is
spelled out specifically.
You represent the United
States government of America,
you ain't going to do nothing?
Jake... I thought you come here
to get the racketeers and
criminals out of business.
Ain't that what you want to do?
Ain't that what you
come here to do?
I'm doing everything
I can, Mr. Brodowski.
But until such a time as
there's concrete evidence
or reasonable suspicion
that a federal law
has been violated, I can't...
Eliot, ten in this block.
Ten?! (scoffs)
I know of a hundred,
a thousand of them.
What?
Slot machines,
like that thing here.
Please, Jake, don't. Don't.
I saw the place where
their trucks come from,
where they keep them stored.
Over on Trenton Street.
When'd you see
this, Mr. Brodowski?
Yesterday.
It's near where I buy my coal.
They store their liquor there.
The coal salesman told me.
Liquor? Liquor.
(scoffs)
Bootleg stuff.
Thanks, Mr. Brodowski.
Thank you very much.
WINCHELL: On the information
provided by Jake Brodowski,
Eliot Ness obtained
a federal warrant
to search the Trenton
Street warehouse
for liquor on the premises.
But, remembering the days of
raiding the Capone breweries,
he took every
precaution to make sure
that it would be
a successful raid.
Let's go!
(tires squealing)
Federal officers!
Stay where you are!
Move it! Let's go!
All right, come on,
let's get a move on.
Come on, move.
All right, let's
have those guns.
Come on.
Let's go, hands up. Come on.
Behind the necks.
WINCHELL: 50 cases
of illegal liquor were found
in the Trenton Street warehouse.
In comparison to the
hundreds of slot machines,
it was a minor discovery,
but an important one.
Ness couldn't get Vialle
directly for slot machines.
But he could get him
for violation of
the Prohibition Act,
if he could prove that Vialle
was directly connected
with the warehouse.
You're coming with us
anyway, you might as well talk.
It's Vialle, isn't it?
(spits)
WINCHELL: However, questioning
of the mobsters picked up in the raid
failed to link Vialle
with the operation.
So he tried another way.
Ask the people of this
city what they're going to do
about men like Vialle, and
the crooks who take his money
and look the other
way while he spreads
slot machines
all over this city.
If he's allowed to
continue, in one more year,
he'll have as much
or more revenue than
the Capone organization had
in the same amount of time.
I'm sure that this city,
this state and this nation
have had their bellies
full of men like Capone.
WINCHELL: It had worked on
Capone, and it could work again.
Ness's statement to the
Chicago papers was deliberate,
made to antagonize
Vialle into some rash act
of retaliation that
would expose him.
The same night the
stories broke in the papers,
Vialle made his move.
You heard what happened?
I heard.
I want you to rub out Ness.
I hear you're on good
speaking terms with him.
You can get to him easy.
You're talking to the
wrong man, Vialle.
I don't think so.
Rubbing out wasn't
our part of the deal.
This one is.
Or Miss Eleanor Larkins
reads in the papers
that her dead war
hero daddy is really
Frank O'Dean, a live gangster.
I'll need a little time.
Uh-uh.
Tonight.
Now.
I can handle this
by myself... sonny.
You.
Hello, Fed.
You alone?
All alone.
You're working kind
of late these days.
These are busy days.
Yeah, I, uh, I read
about it in all the papers.
You didn't have to
read the papers, Frank.
You've been described
a dozen different times.
A man with a soft
touch... Or the hard touch,
whichever the case may be...
When you're passing
out slot machines.
You get around, don't you, Fed?
Everyplace.
Candy stores, restaurants,
hotels, grocery stores...
The same places you go, Frank.
Little story you told
me a few weeks ago
never did come true, did it?
Well, where is it?
Where is what?
Vialle sent you up here
with a couple of
thousand to buy me off.
That's why you're
here, isn't it?
Not exactly.
Why are you here
and what do you want?
You're in up to your
neck with Augie Vialle.
Why don't you get out?!
Why don't you?
Because it isn't so
easy to do sometimes.
You know, for some
reason... I don't know why...
I thought there was
something more to you.
There isn't.
You're just like
every other hoodlum
in those files over there.
All they want out of life
is a hundred dollar suit
and a roll of bills
in their pocket.
You give any one of them
something longer than a
menu to read, and they'd be lost.
Talk to them about
God or country,
friendship, love, family and...
they don't know what
you're talking about.
Turn around.
All they got are their guns.
No hearts, no guts, just guns.
If they had anything
else... anything...
They'd know that whatever
you get from that roll of bills
in your pocket, you give
20 times as much back,
right down to your soul.
Turn around!
Did you ever have
a family, Frank?
A wife? Child?
Maybe that's what it
takes to have a soul.
Or maybe you haven't got a soul.
Maybe you never had one.
What was O'Dean doing here?
Vialle sent him to put
me out of business.
What stopped him?
I don't know.
We better keep him in sight.
He's in trouble now.
Keep it.
Pretty quiet neighborhood.
Too quiet.
What are you doing here, Julie?
I'm drinking.
I can see that.
I... I'm waiting for you, Frank.
How long you been here?
An hour... an hour,
two, I, I don't know.
Anyone been by?
(muttering): No...
No, thank you.
Yeah, then I'll
have another drink.
I have a reason to drink.
Two reasons.
Lottsa reasons.
(phone rings)
Hello?
Well, what about it, O'Dean?
Did you take care of him?
It's done.
I said it's all done!
Nothing to worry about now.
Are you sure
Ness is still alive?
I saw him leave the
building after O'Dean took off.
Then he lied to me.
Maybe he sold out to Ness.
Get him.
What's all done?
Some nice dirty piece of
work for our friend uptown?
Forget it.
(chuckling): Yeah.
That's a simple
thing for you to say...
I got you into this...
The thought of that
and the tidings I bear
aren't really compatible.
What tidings?
Your daughter's wedding's
tomorrow morning
at 9:00, at St.
Victor's in Wilmette.
It's a small place;
there'll be a lot
of people there.
No one would notice
if you wanna... 9:00?
And then most of your
troubles will be over...
unless something interferes.
Nothing will.
Julie, how would you
like to get out of this town?
Leave with me right
after the wedding.
Well, will Vialle let you?
I'm gonna talk it
over with him, tonight.
(whistles)
Get an ambulance.
(siren wailing)
How is he?
Still unconscious.
They had to take a
lot of slugs out of him.
Will he make it?
They don't know yet.
How about Colleoni?
Dead.
All right, Mr. Ness,
you can come in now.
Just one minute, Mr. Ness.
Thanks.
You stopped a lot of lead.
It was Colleoni, Frank.
Vialle sent him.
You're all through
with Vialle, Frank.
I want to get him.
You've been around long enough
to know how I can tie him up
with that Trenton
Street Warehouse.
Help me. I'll do
everything I can for you.
Anything else on your mind?
Yeah... thanks
for saving my life.
Get out of here, Fed.
He must have gone
down the fire escape.
I don't see how he
had strength enough
to get out of bed, let alone out
of the hospital. Police.
He's a walking dead man.
Hello, this is Eliot Ness.
I want an all-points sent
out on Frank O'Dean.
O'Dean... you've
got a record on him.
In the vicinity of
Union Hospital.
He's badly wounded,
shouldn't be hard to find.
Right... Get on it.
Let's go.
(knocking on door)
(grunting)
All right, all right.
Well, keep after him; find him!
Right.
Not a sign of him anywhere.
They're combing the
whole neighborhood.
He has to be somewhere.
With all the blood he's lost,
it's a cinch he can't get far.
He got this far.
WINCHELL: The Chicago
police started an immediate search
for Frank O'Dean.
Streets were blocked
off, cars searched,
every possible hiding
place looked into.
It was though the night and
the city had swallowed him up.
(distant siren wailing)
(clattering nearby)
WINCHELL: Eliot Ness arrived home
at ten minutes to 7:00 that morning.
He was tired... dog tired.
Don't worry, Fed.
I... I couldn't harm them.
I had a wife and
kid of my own once.
I came to make a deal.
Why should I make
a deal with you?
Because I got this.
It's kind of hard
getting across town
with all those
coppers out there.
I want you to help me.
Is it a deal?
(gun cocks)
What do I get out of it?
All of Vialle's mob.
It's a deal.
We'll talk about it on the way.
All right, Frank.
Can you make it?
Yeah.
Now, give me that thing.
(bells chiming)
(pipe organ playing processional
from "Wedding March")
Don't let me fall down now, Fed.
Not yet, huh?
(clamoring, laughter)
(overlapping chatter)
Good luck.
Thank you.
Say, aren't you the
gentleman that...
No, no, you don't know me,
but, good luck anyway.
Thank you.
Come on, Ellie.
There goes my daughter, Fed.
But no one has to know, huh?
No one does, Frank.
Thanks... Thanks...
Stay where you are!
All right, come on, move...
Come on, move. Get 'em up.
Let's go!
Come on, move.
Come on. Let's go, hands up.
Come on, come on.
Let's go, hands up. Come on.
Behind the neck.
ANNOUNCER: Tonight's episode...
Starring Robert
Stack as Eliot Ness.
Co-Starring Larry Gates
and John Beradino.
With Special Guest
Star Harry Guardino.
WALTER WINCHELL:
Chicago, February 1932.
Crime was a big business
that was spreading
from the dark alleys
of Cicero across town
to the gentler social
atmosphere of the Gold Coast.
Times were changing and
crime was changing with them.
Like any big business,
it had to change,
but it still required the services
of hoodlums and gunmen
like Al Barberry
and George Colleoni;
the courtroom techniques
of unscrupulous attorneys
such as Paul Curtiz;
and the guiding hands
of the man at the top,
the man who had
come up from the ranks
and had made the
transition from gangster
to big businessman:
Augie Vialle.
Come in.
Augie Vialle had never made
the inner circle of
the Capone syndicate.
He had never tried,
not even after Capone was
sent to Atlanta for tax evasion.
With the help of
men in public office
willing to look the other way,
Vialle was too busy
making a place for himself
with narcotics and hot
cars and a new enterprise.
Hey, Nick!
Pretty good, huh?
Watch this now.
(all laughing) Huh? Empty!
What do you think of that, huh?
Pretty good machine.
I make the best.
What do you think, huh?
Vialle's operations had
been under secret surveillance
for some time by a special
group of government agents
known as the Untouchables.
Working under the
leadership of Eliot Ness were
Enrico Rossi, key
witness against Frank Nitti;
Cam Allison, brought
in from St. Louis
to replace Martin
Flaherty, recently promoted
to direct the Cleveland office
of the Bureau of Prohibition;
Jack Rossman, a
former telephone lineman
and now a wiretap expert; and...
William Youngfellow,
full-blooded Cherokee
and former all-American
from Carlyle University.
He was planted by Ness
as a waiter in Vialle's
apartment hotel.
So you can see, it
was quite a gathering.
A pair of police commissioners,
judges, lawyers, businessmen,
and all of them
ready to give Vialle
the city of Chicago
on a platter.
They've been trying to
do that for some time.
What are they figuring on now?
Slot machines.
Slot machines?!
Could be real big business.
Grossed ten to 15
million a year in St. Louis.
They'll double that
here, if we let 'em.
They think they're going
to get a man to run it
who we can't stop.
Who?
Frank O'Dean.
Who's O'Dean?
(sighs)
At one time, he was a captain
in the Irish Republican Army.
You're kidding.
No, he was running Irish
whiskey into New York,
raising money for the cause.
When his wife died, it
did something to him.
He forgot the cause and
just raised money for himself.
Did very well at it, too.
His army training made
him a great organizer.
Strange, I never heard of him.
He's been in the pen at
Joliet for almost eight years.
I got a report on
him a few days ago.
He's being released tomorrow.
I think I'll have
a talk with him.
You know him?
I should; I sent him up.
And he didn't have to go.
I was in a bad
spot during a raid.
He could have killed
me, only he didn't.
That's why I think I'd
better go talk to him now.
(talking indistinctly)
Illinois State Penitentiary.
Joliet.
A Wednesday.
Release day.
Having served seven
years and six months
of a ten-year sentence,
Frank O'Dean was
released... A civilian again.
The state provided him
with clothes, a ten dollar bill,
and a ticket for
transportation back home.
Frank O'Dean waited
at the Joliet station
for the train back to Chicago.
Coffee.
Hello, Frank.
Well, Eliot Ness, isn't it?
That's right.
You still a Fed?
Still.
I'll have one.
I, uh, I thought you
got out of that business.
Well, some people
are still in business
As long as they are, I am.
You haven't changed much, Fed.
How about you?
What do you think?
I'm asking you.
Why?
Them.
Know them?
Uh-uh.
I do.
They work for an old friend
of yours... Augie Vialle.
I hear Vialle's doing
very well these days.
Ugh, this stuff is almost as bad
as the stuff they
make in the joint.
I hear that you're
going to work for Vialle.
And you want me to ask
you where you heard that.
Ask me.
Where?
Vialle.
That why you're here?
You did me a good
turn once, Frank.
I'm going to get Vialle.
I'd hate to have to
get you again, too.
Let me tell you
a little story, Fed.
Once upon a time, there
was a guy who had everything.
Then, a bunch of old
women made a law.
This guy I'm telling you about,
he, he bottled up
a million violations
and one day he landed in jail.
Well, now he's out...
and he's going to stay out,
forget the past, and
live happily ever after.
I like that story, Frank.
I hope it comes true.
Do you want a ride into town?
(sighs)
You're the only
copper I'd ride with,
that is, if I were going
to ride with a copper.
No thanks, I'll use this.
That way the state
won't owe me anything
and I won't owe you anything.
Suit yourself.
That's all right.
Hey, you.
You know, there's one thing
I've always liked
about you, Ness.
What?
You're the only copper
that never told me to
keep my nose clean.
So long, Fed.
O'Dean... I'm Al Barberry.
This is George Colleoni.
Vialle said to give
you his regards.
Why didn't he come himself?
Well, he's kind of busy.
We'll drive you back.
No, thank you.
Vialle wants to talk to you.
I said Vialle wants
to talk to you.
Things have changed
since you were around.
(grunts)
Listen... I've heard!
They just locked me up...
They didn't cut off my ears!
In the late afternoon
of February l6,
Julian Glass awaited Frank
O'Dean's arrival into Chicago;
Glass was a disbarred lawyer.
He had been big when
O'Dean had been big.
He had fallen when
O'Dean had fallen.
Frank!
Julie.
I didn't think you'd be here.
What do you think
old friends are for
if not to be where
they're needed.
Thanks, Julie.
Here, give me that.
Come on.
I got something to show you.
This is what?
Home, Frank.
And look... get a load of this.
It comes right
down... and bingo...
you got a place to sleep.
Closet space over there, too.
Lots of it.
Everything you need, Frank...
Radio, telephone.
Hey, and here's
something you'll really like.
I got all your stuff
out of storage.
And just in case
you want a cup of hot coffee
in the morning...
something to eat...
something to drink.
Hey, maybe you want a drink now?
Cockroach.
Yeah, they get in sometimes.
Oh, Frank, I know
this chicken coop
isn't exactly what you're...
well, it's better
than a cell block.
Anything's better
than a cell block.
Thanks, Julie.
Now, you didn't
have to say that.
This calls for a drink.
I'm...
I'm a little thirsty
today, I guess, it's...
all the excitement.
How is she, Julie?
She's fine, Frank.
Fine.
She's all grown up now.
She's gonna get married.
Married?
Yeah.
To a nice boy named Plummer.
Goes to school in Evanston.
How does she look?
Like her mother used
to look many years ago.
The image of her,
Frank, you got a fine daughter.
No, I don't, Julie.
All right, all right.
You don't have a daughter.
As far as she knows,
her name's Larkins
and her father was
killed in the war.
But, someday, I'd like
to tell her about you.
You do that, and I'll kill you.
Drink up.
(glasses clink)
For two weeks after the
return of Frank O'Dean,
Eliot Ness waited for
some sign, some word,
that Augie Vialle's intended
slot machine operation
was going into action.
But there was
no sign, no word...
(phone rings) until
the night of March 4.
William Youngfellow
called in with a tip
that Vialle was
interested in a moving van
entering the state that night.
What it contained,
exactly when it was due
to arrive, he didn't know...
Only that Vialle
was very interested.
(woman laughing)
Eliot Ness was interested, too.
(engine revving)
We'll wait till they get here.
Get 'em after they
cross the state line.
Let's get set.
I wonder if Vialle is starting
to move slot
machines into the state.
If Youngfellow's tip is
right, we'll soon find out.
I understand Floyd Gibbons
had something to say
about Vialle in his
broadcast earlier tonight.
About him trying to
take over all of Chicago.
Yeah, I heard.
Someday, they're going
to put radios in cars,
and when they do, I'm going
to be the first to buy one.
(engine revving)
That's it, Eliot.
Yeah.
(engines revving)
(tires squealing)
Hey, what's going on?
Federal Officers! Come
out with your hands up!
(horn blaring)
(horn quiets)
You know them?
Yeah, this one's Pete Florio.
That's his brother Joe.
They're both Augie Vialle's men.
ROSSMAN: Eliot, better
take a look back here.
A good tip.
(quietly): Let's go.
WINCHELL: With the confiscation
of the truckload
of slot machines,
Eliot Ness declared open
war on Augie Vialle's enterprise.
There's no Federal law
against slot machines!
But Ness will invoke
every Federal statute he can
to authorize search and seizure.
He'll haze you until
he gets you, Augie.
Ness isn't going to get anybody.
We're going ahead
with the operation.
Can you guarantee that?
What do you want
me to do, sue him?
No.
But you promised
to get Frank O'Dean
to run it for you.
We want you to get him.
Frank O'Dean is a two-bit punk!
He had his chance to come
in with me... now, he's through.
I don't need anybody to
operate this set-up for me.
You need us, Augie.
What?!
The big boys... downtown.
Your protection.
I like you, Augie.
Everybody likes you.
But we think it
takes a little more
than you've got right here
to run this kind of operation.
Frank O'Dean was
the best organizer,
the best operator
in the rackets.
I suggest you get
him to work with you.
I'm right about this, Augie.
I know it, you know it...
the boys downtown know it.
(glass breaking)
(car engine idling)
(door creaking)
Well, Mr. Glass,
I haven't seen you
around for a good long time.
Hey, you look like
you could use a
drink, Mr. Glass.
No, thank you.
What do you want with me?
How is the legal business
these days, Mr. Glass?
I'm not in that
business anymore.
Oh? And why not, Mr. Glass?
I was disbarred.
Oh, yes, I did read
something about that.
Now, tell me, Mr. Glass,
what is your new business?
He asked you a question.
I have no business.
Not even with Frank O'Dean?
I have no business
with him, or with you,
or with anyone else.
I should like to go now.
Mr. Glass, you
were quite a lawyer
when you were a lawyer.
I always wondered
why you advised Frank
to waive a jury trial
and plead guilty.
In front of a jury, he
might have been acquitted.
I thought you were his friend.
I was.
But then, if there
had been a jury,
they would have
investigated very carefully...
His interests, his family, huh?
There is a family,
isn't there, Mr. Glass?
No, no.
His wife has been
dead for many years.
I mean, besides his wife.
Well, you should
know, Mr. Glass,
since you handled
all of his affairs.
Go on, Mr. Glass.
Have your drink.
(groans loudly)
Aah! Aah!
(phone ringing)
(clears throat)
Yeah.
Julie, where are you?
Oh, what's Vialle got to do...?
Okay.
Okay, tell him
I'll be right there.
ANNOUNCER: And now
back to The Untouchables.
(piano plays upbeat melody)
Well, you finally came to talk.
(crowd chatter
and laughter inside)
Excuse me, honey.
Excuse me, please.
Frank! Frank, it's
good to see you.
Julie called. I got
your message.
Oh, I sent you one a
couple of weeks ago.
He got that one, too.
Yeah, I got that one, too.
Uh, go ahead, George.
The kind of people a
man has to hire these days.
Not like the old
days, huh, Frank?
Where's Julie? Uh, he'll keep.
They tell me you got religion.
You look the same to me.
Where is he?
Come on, come on, okay.
Nice people, eh, Frank?
Some of the best in Chicago.
Julie?
Hey! Hey!
Julie, what did they do to you?
What did they do to you?!
We had to know, Frank.
You had to know what?
The way to get you
to come in with us.
And, uh, your mouthpiece talked.
I'm sorry, Frank.
I'm sorry.
What did you talk
about, Julie? What?
I couldn't help it, Frank.
I couldn't take it.
They know.
They know all... all about her.
(clicks tongue)
Oh, Julie...
Come here, Frank.
I want to show you something.
(piano playing,
laughter and chatter)
Lots of nice people here, Frank.
Lots of lovely girls.
Judges' daughters,
senators' daughters,
and there, Frank... that one...
That's your kid, Frank.
Yeah.
Eleanor Larkins, 918
Jefferson Road, Wilmette.
That boy with her is her fiancé.
A friend of the judge.
I asked him to bring them along.
The kid's got a
great future, Frank.
Happy marriage, plenty of money,
high society.
Only, what happens to
it if the papers come out
with a story about her father?
A jailbird, a gangster?
Wouldn't be much left of
that future, would there?
How do I know she's mine?
Ask him.
(laughter and chatter)
Okay. What's the deal?
You know, Frank.
The slot machines.
We're going to go
back in business.
Just like the good old days.
(crowd chatter and laughter)
Okay!
Get your coats.
You're leaving here.
What?! Get 'em, and get out.
But why?
Listen, miss,
this is not your kind of
party, nor your kind of people.
Now, look, who do
you think you are?
Never mind who I am!
Believe me, miss, I
know what I'm saying.
I think he's right, Stuart.
Thank you.
WINCHELL: With Youngfellow's
information about O'Dean,
Eliot Ness knew
that Augie's slot machine
racket was really going
into high gear with
powerful political protection
and financial backing.
He also knew
that the potential operation
could extend, octopus-like,
far beyond Chicago and Illinois,
and create an even
greater empire of crime
than Capone and all the others.
But importing and
distributing slot machines
did not violate
the federal code.
Ness could only keep Vialle
under constant surveillance,
hoping for a break...
A break that would give
him the wedge he needed.
Those closest to Vialle
became very familiar figures.
Paul Curtiz, the lawyer; George
Colleoni, hoodlum and killer;
and now, Frank O'Dean.
Guess he didn't
learn his lesson.
Do any of them?
Come on.
Come on, how long does
it take to load a truck?!
WINCHELL: Under
Frank O'Dean's supervision
and organizing ability,
the slot machine racket
started to grow with
unbelievable speed.
Truck after truck roared out
with the insatiable
mechanical monsters.
All of Chicago, and
then Cook County,
became flooded with them.
No spot was too large or too
small for Frank O'Dean to hit.
I'll do the dishes, Mama,
after I'm through sweeping.
I did them already, Jake.
You did? I didn't notice.
You the boss? I am.
What's your name?
Jake Brodowski.
All right, Jake, I'll show
you just how this thing works.
Hey, what is this?
Leave it right here
on the counter.
No, you can't put
that in my store.
Jake, will you pay attention?
Now, on the first
of every month,
I'll send a man around
to empty the machine.
You get 30 percent.
And this is to make sure
that your customers get
plenty of nickels for change.
Oh, no! That's against the law!
Jake, will you let me
worry about the law, huh?
Hey, take that
thing out of here!
I don't want it here!
(wife screams)
Jake. Oh, Jake.
Please, please,
just let it stay.
Just let it stay, Jake.
You'll be all right.
Check the block.
Where do I find Jake Brodowski?
He's in back.
I'm his wife.
What do you want?
You Mr. Ness?
That's right.
I'm Jake Brodowski.
Mr. Ness, from the government.
Please, go in the back, Mama.
Go away. We have nothing to say.
I have something to say.
I called Mr. Ness. No, no.
We have nothing to say.
JAKE: Please, Mama.
She's scared.
Everybody's scared.
But not me, not Jake Brodowski.
I told the police.
They do nothing,
so I'll tell you.
They put it there...
those gangsters.
Yeah, I know.
What you gonna do
about it, Mr. Ness?
He can do nothing.
Please, Mama.
I don't want it, but I got it.
So I call you.
I don't like to see the
kids put their nickels in it.
I want you to stop it.
Mr. Brodowski,
there's no federal law
against slot machines.
There is a law against
racketeers, ain't there?
Yes, but the law is
spelled out specifically.
You represent the United
States government of America,
you ain't going to do nothing?
Jake... I thought you come here
to get the racketeers and
criminals out of business.
Ain't that what you want to do?
Ain't that what you
come here to do?
I'm doing everything
I can, Mr. Brodowski.
But until such a time as
there's concrete evidence
or reasonable suspicion
that a federal law
has been violated, I can't...
Eliot, ten in this block.
Ten?! (scoffs)
I know of a hundred,
a thousand of them.
What?
Slot machines,
like that thing here.
Please, Jake, don't. Don't.
I saw the place where
their trucks come from,
where they keep them stored.
Over on Trenton Street.
When'd you see
this, Mr. Brodowski?
Yesterday.
It's near where I buy my coal.
They store their liquor there.
The coal salesman told me.
Liquor? Liquor.
(scoffs)
Bootleg stuff.
Thanks, Mr. Brodowski.
Thank you very much.
WINCHELL: On the information
provided by Jake Brodowski,
Eliot Ness obtained
a federal warrant
to search the Trenton
Street warehouse
for liquor on the premises.
But, remembering the days of
raiding the Capone breweries,
he took every
precaution to make sure
that it would be
a successful raid.
Let's go!
(tires squealing)
Federal officers!
Stay where you are!
Move it! Let's go!
All right, come on,
let's get a move on.
Come on, move.
All right, let's
have those guns.
Come on.
Let's go, hands up. Come on.
Behind the necks.
WINCHELL: 50 cases
of illegal liquor were found
in the Trenton Street warehouse.
In comparison to the
hundreds of slot machines,
it was a minor discovery,
but an important one.
Ness couldn't get Vialle
directly for slot machines.
But he could get him
for violation of
the Prohibition Act,
if he could prove that Vialle
was directly connected
with the warehouse.
You're coming with us
anyway, you might as well talk.
It's Vialle, isn't it?
(spits)
WINCHELL: However, questioning
of the mobsters picked up in the raid
failed to link Vialle
with the operation.
So he tried another way.
Ask the people of this
city what they're going to do
about men like Vialle, and
the crooks who take his money
and look the other
way while he spreads
slot machines
all over this city.
If he's allowed to
continue, in one more year,
he'll have as much
or more revenue than
the Capone organization had
in the same amount of time.
I'm sure that this city,
this state and this nation
have had their bellies
full of men like Capone.
WINCHELL: It had worked on
Capone, and it could work again.
Ness's statement to the
Chicago papers was deliberate,
made to antagonize
Vialle into some rash act
of retaliation that
would expose him.
The same night the
stories broke in the papers,
Vialle made his move.
You heard what happened?
I heard.
I want you to rub out Ness.
I hear you're on good
speaking terms with him.
You can get to him easy.
You're talking to the
wrong man, Vialle.
I don't think so.
Rubbing out wasn't
our part of the deal.
This one is.
Or Miss Eleanor Larkins
reads in the papers
that her dead war
hero daddy is really
Frank O'Dean, a live gangster.
I'll need a little time.
Uh-uh.
Tonight.
Now.
I can handle this
by myself... sonny.
You.
Hello, Fed.
You alone?
All alone.
You're working kind
of late these days.
These are busy days.
Yeah, I, uh, I read
about it in all the papers.
You didn't have to
read the papers, Frank.
You've been described
a dozen different times.
A man with a soft
touch... Or the hard touch,
whichever the case may be...
When you're passing
out slot machines.
You get around, don't you, Fed?
Everyplace.
Candy stores, restaurants,
hotels, grocery stores...
The same places you go, Frank.
Little story you told
me a few weeks ago
never did come true, did it?
Well, where is it?
Where is what?
Vialle sent you up here
with a couple of
thousand to buy me off.
That's why you're
here, isn't it?
Not exactly.
Why are you here
and what do you want?
You're in up to your
neck with Augie Vialle.
Why don't you get out?!
Why don't you?
Because it isn't so
easy to do sometimes.
You know, for some
reason... I don't know why...
I thought there was
something more to you.
There isn't.
You're just like
every other hoodlum
in those files over there.
All they want out of life
is a hundred dollar suit
and a roll of bills
in their pocket.
You give any one of them
something longer than a
menu to read, and they'd be lost.
Talk to them about
God or country,
friendship, love, family and...
they don't know what
you're talking about.
Turn around.
All they got are their guns.
No hearts, no guts, just guns.
If they had anything
else... anything...
They'd know that whatever
you get from that roll of bills
in your pocket, you give
20 times as much back,
right down to your soul.
Turn around!
Did you ever have
a family, Frank?
A wife? Child?
Maybe that's what it
takes to have a soul.
Or maybe you haven't got a soul.
Maybe you never had one.
What was O'Dean doing here?
Vialle sent him to put
me out of business.
What stopped him?
I don't know.
We better keep him in sight.
He's in trouble now.
Keep it.
Pretty quiet neighborhood.
Too quiet.
What are you doing here, Julie?
I'm drinking.
I can see that.
I... I'm waiting for you, Frank.
How long you been here?
An hour... an hour,
two, I, I don't know.
Anyone been by?
(muttering): No...
No, thank you.
Yeah, then I'll
have another drink.
I have a reason to drink.
Two reasons.
Lottsa reasons.
(phone rings)
Hello?
Well, what about it, O'Dean?
Did you take care of him?
It's done.
I said it's all done!
Nothing to worry about now.
Are you sure
Ness is still alive?
I saw him leave the
building after O'Dean took off.
Then he lied to me.
Maybe he sold out to Ness.
Get him.
What's all done?
Some nice dirty piece of
work for our friend uptown?
Forget it.
(chuckling): Yeah.
That's a simple
thing for you to say...
I got you into this...
The thought of that
and the tidings I bear
aren't really compatible.
What tidings?
Your daughter's wedding's
tomorrow morning
at 9:00, at St.
Victor's in Wilmette.
It's a small place;
there'll be a lot
of people there.
No one would notice
if you wanna... 9:00?
And then most of your
troubles will be over...
unless something interferes.
Nothing will.
Julie, how would you
like to get out of this town?
Leave with me right
after the wedding.
Well, will Vialle let you?
I'm gonna talk it
over with him, tonight.
(whistles)
Get an ambulance.
(siren wailing)
How is he?
Still unconscious.
They had to take a
lot of slugs out of him.
Will he make it?
They don't know yet.
How about Colleoni?
Dead.
All right, Mr. Ness,
you can come in now.
Just one minute, Mr. Ness.
Thanks.
You stopped a lot of lead.
It was Colleoni, Frank.
Vialle sent him.
You're all through
with Vialle, Frank.
I want to get him.
You've been around long enough
to know how I can tie him up
with that Trenton
Street Warehouse.
Help me. I'll do
everything I can for you.
Anything else on your mind?
Yeah... thanks
for saving my life.
Get out of here, Fed.
He must have gone
down the fire escape.
I don't see how he
had strength enough
to get out of bed, let alone out
of the hospital. Police.
He's a walking dead man.
Hello, this is Eliot Ness.
I want an all-points sent
out on Frank O'Dean.
O'Dean... you've
got a record on him.
In the vicinity of
Union Hospital.
He's badly wounded,
shouldn't be hard to find.
Right... Get on it.
Let's go.
(knocking on door)
(grunting)
All right, all right.
Well, keep after him; find him!
Right.
Not a sign of him anywhere.
They're combing the
whole neighborhood.
He has to be somewhere.
With all the blood he's lost,
it's a cinch he can't get far.
He got this far.
WINCHELL: The Chicago
police started an immediate search
for Frank O'Dean.
Streets were blocked
off, cars searched,
every possible hiding
place looked into.
It was though the night and
the city had swallowed him up.
(distant siren wailing)
(clattering nearby)
WINCHELL: Eliot Ness arrived home
at ten minutes to 7:00 that morning.
He was tired... dog tired.
Don't worry, Fed.
I... I couldn't harm them.
I had a wife and
kid of my own once.
I came to make a deal.
Why should I make
a deal with you?
Because I got this.
It's kind of hard
getting across town
with all those
coppers out there.
I want you to help me.
Is it a deal?
(gun cocks)
What do I get out of it?
All of Vialle's mob.
It's a deal.
We'll talk about it on the way.
All right, Frank.
Can you make it?
Yeah.
Now, give me that thing.
(bells chiming)
(pipe organ playing processional
from "Wedding March")
Don't let me fall down now, Fed.
Not yet, huh?
(clamoring, laughter)
(overlapping chatter)
Good luck.
Thank you.
Say, aren't you the
gentleman that...
No, no, you don't know me,
but, good luck anyway.
Thank you.
Come on, Ellie.
There goes my daughter, Fed.
But no one has to know, huh?
No one does, Frank.
Thanks... Thanks...