The Untouchables (1959–1963): Season 2, Episode 17 - Augie 'The Banker' Ciamino - full transcript
Augie 'The Banker' Ciamino is a bootlegger who seems to have developed an almost foolproof way of manufacturing his liquor. He has equipped over a hundred immigrant homes with small stills to actually make the stuff and a unique way of collecting the product. Not everyone in the immigrant community is participating in the illegal liquor-making operation and Eliot Ness visits a night class where adults learn English. His visit is followed by Ciamino's thugs who give the teacher a beating in front of his students. When shopkeeper Renzo Raineri intervenes, he learns that his son, a bookkeeper, is part of Ciamino's organization. Once Ness at his men learn how Ciamino collects the liquor, they try to catch him with goods but through intimidation and murder, the mobster proves to be elusive.
Papa, I don't know
how you get such ideas.
I got the whole story.
The story about
Ciamino and the whiskey
and the whole operation.
Papa, listen.
I'm going to give
it to Mr. Ness.
You tell him to stay there.
Tell him you're coming
right over to see him.
You can come with me, my son.
Papa?
Will you wait, Papa?
I'll be right over.
I'll wait, Paolo...
Tonight's episode:
Starring Robert
Stack as Eliot Ness.
Costarring Will
Kuluva, Lee Philips
and Sam Jaffee,
with special guest
star Keenan Wynn.
And narrated by Walter Winchell.
More than anything else,
the war between Eliot
Ness and the gang lords
was a war over the
Prohibition Era's most prized
liquid asset: alcohol.
By 1931, with a
series of slashing raids
on secret distilleries,
it looked as though
the Untouchables
were actually managing
to dry up the arrogant,
illegal, multimillion-dollar
whiskey racket.
But the nimble minds of
the underworld kingpins
were to regroup
their angry forces.
With shocking speed,
the underworld bosses
found another way to
get their whiskey made.
Taking advantage of the
poverty and the desperation
of many immigrant families
during those Depression days,
the racketeers had
devised a home still
that could be put together
for less than three dollars.
The man picked to run
this new illicit empire
was Augie Ciamino, absolute
boss of Chicago's Little Italy.
In a short time, his
home-cooker operation
was canceling out the
Untouchables' gains.
Whiskey flowed from
1,000 tenement kitchens.
Ciamino spent most of
his time counting profits,
until the night of August 16,
the night of a street
festival on Haver Street.
Raineri was having
a little private party,
and somebody picked
up a bottle of bad whiskey.
Gio started drinking
ahead of all the others.
Giovanni, don't you
worry about anything.
I called the hospital.
The best doctors, the best room.
Go, go. Go in the ambulance.
Everything will be all
right, I promise you.
Ciamino takes
care of his friends.
Now we have a little talk, huh?
Where did Giovanni
get the bad stuff?
Come on. It's for you.
I want to help you.
I don't want that this
should happen again.
Raineri, he was in
your place. Your party.
Come on, baker.
You know all the answers.
You go to night school.
You know everything.
I scratch you, you scratch me.
You tell me where
Giovanni got the bad stuff,
I'll buy all your sfogliatelle.
I don't make sfogliatelle.
Who was that?
Stevano, huh?
Twice I had to warn him
about the way he
cooked the stuff!
Stevano.
Well, we know where
Giovanni got that bad whiskey.
Stevano.
Too bad you don't
make sfogliatelle.
Maybe you learn the wrong
things at that night school.
Same old story.
Nobody saw nothing.
The landlady found
him tied to a chair.
They poisoned him
with his own bad whiskey.
What's his name?
Stevano. Tony Stevano.
1,000 of these,
each one turning
out a gallon a day...
30,000 gallons a month.
An ocean of bootleg
right under our noses.
There's got to be a
bottling plant somewhere.
The question is, how do
they get the stuff there?
Rico, you've been
working the district all day.
Nobody's talking, Eliot.
Nickels and dimes.
Most of them haven't
been here too long.
Things are tough. They're
glad to pick up a buck.
And the rest... they're scared.
Ciamino has a
knife at their throat.
They don't like it,
but they're scared.
All of them?
No. Not all of
them. There's a few.
The ones who go
to night school aren't.
They've got deep feelings
about this country. They love it.
They want to be a part of it.
Maybe we can give
them that chance.
The composition
you did as homework.
Let's see. Uh...
Mr. Raineri, will you
read yours, please?
Now, you listen.
Yes. Listen.
"In America, a
boy goes to school,
"he studies, he gets
a piece of paper.
"He is a bookkeeper.
"It says on the paper
he is a bookkeeper,
"and he wears a white
shirt, and that is a fine thing.
"And, if you ask me how I know,
"it is because of my son
Paolo, who I now call Paul
"because he is an American boy.
"My son Paul, he
has American job.
"The End.
Composition by R.
Raineri, Class I-A."
Thank you very much.
Mr. Ness.
Mr. Lee.
This is Mr. Eliot Ness, of
the United States government.
He asked to talk to you,
and I personally take
that as a great compliment.
I hope you will
listen carefully.
I'm sure what he has to say
will be very important.
Mr. Ness.
Mr. Lee says I work for the
United States government.
That means I'm working for you.
I think you know why I'm here.
It's about Ciamino.
I can take him off your
backs, but I need some help.
Tell me how he gets the
whiskey out of the kitchens.
Tell me where
his bottling plant is.
Don't be afraid.
Don't let him scare you.
We'll give you
protection. That's our job.
You don't have to tell me now.
You don't even have
to tell me your names.
Just call me, and tell
me what you know.
That's my office number.
Anytime, day or night.
Write it down. Pass it along.
And remember,
I'm working for you.
You're paying me.
You ought to get
your money's worth.
Thanks for your time.
Thank you, Mr. Ness.
That number will
stay there for a while,
in case you forget it.
"so that is how Luigi
Valcone become a grocer.
Composition written by
Luigi Valcone, grocer."
Thank you very much...
What is it?
What's the trouble?
What do you want?
No!
No! No! Leave him alone!
No! Leave him alone!
Ritchie, no!
That's Paul Raineri's old man!
What did you say? What did...?
Come on!
Renzo Raineri finally
got hold of himself
and called for help.
Mr. Lee was rushed
to County Hospital.
You know, they never
spoke a word to me.
Just silence, Mr. Ness.
Just silence.
Mis... Mr. Raineri
tried to help.
Who?
Renzo Raineri... the baker.
He... he jumped up.
He tried to stop them.
We'll give you this, Mr. Lee.
Then we'll take
you up to your room.
Huh? Oh.
Those men... They, uh...
Something about Raineri.
Then they stopped beating me.
And then... I-I can't remember.
Why?
Why did they stop?
What did Raineri do?
I'm sorry, Mr. Ness, we'll
have to take him now.
Papa, please, keep
your voice down.
Papa, I got nothing
to do with Ciamino.
Then why did those animals
grab me and not hit me?
Papa, how do I know?
I got to put the books away.
What kind of books?
Paul, what-what
kind of dirty books?
What do you mean, dirty?
They're books, account books.
I work for the Central
Bottling Company,
and I keep their books.
What kind of company is it
when they gotta
lock up the books?
Papa, leave me alone, please!
You come to Renzo
Raineri's bakery.
You do my books.
My books don't have to
be locked up with no key.
Oh, your books...
For crying out loud.
Three napoleons, a
half-dozen loaves of bread.
Nickels and dimes!
What's so wrong all of a sudden
with nickels and dimes, huh?
That sounds so familiar.
Around here, we're
real big authorities
on nickels and dimes.
You know how long I
looked for a regular job?
What are you doing with Ciamino?
A girl like Rose,
a beautiful girl.
She knows she could
have done better than me.
What are you
doing with Ciamino?!
Only the books!
You lie!
Papa, look, I go to the office,
I pick up the books...
I come home and I
do 'em, and that's all.
You quit.
You go there.
You'll tell them you quit!
Papa, it's not so easy to quit.
You quit, you
dumb boy! You quit!
All, all right, all right, Papa.
I'll quit.
I'll quit.
But it takes a little
time, you know.
I've gotta put the
books in order.
All right, Paul.
Put 'em in order.
Put their stinking
books in order.
And your life, my son,
put that in order, too.
Mr. Ness, I, I don't know why
those men acted like they did.
Why did they suddenly
stop beating Mr. Lee
when they saw you?
I don't know.
Mr. Raineri, what's their
connection with you?
There is no connection.
You're the only one who
even tried to help Lee.
Then something happened.
What changed everything?
Nothing changed.
Nothing changed.
Mr. Raineri, we're
trying to find out
who gave a brutal
beating to your friend.
We need your help.
I got nothing to say.
Ness and the Untouchables knew
where most of the bootleg
whiskey was being made.
They also knew that
raiding the individual stills
would do no good;
others would just
take their place.
For what Ness had in mind,
it was better to keep
those home stills boiling.
Tomorrow, we'll each take a
family that's operating a still,
we'll write down everything,
everything that goes
into one of those flats,
everything that comes out.
They're getting that
whiskey to Ciamino.
We got to find out how.
Agent Rossi watched
a family named Falco.
Early that morning
he had seen the man
of the house, Romeo
Falco, go to his job.
Agent Rossi wrote
everything down...
even Mrs. Falco's
two trips to the market.
This man wasn't married.
Agent Hobson saw that he did
the little things a
housewife would...
Like a Depression housewife,
spending as little as possible,
even bringing back those
brown root beer bottles
for the two-cent deposit.
Youngfellow, too,
writing it all down.
Root beer empties...
Root beer empties
going back to the grocer.
Again, our constant
in all the reports.
Right there, right
under our noses.
Who would ever think
of looking for whiskey
in an empty root beer bottle?
A grocer.
According to the reports,
usually the same man.
No, it's a crazy idea.
This place is a drop, Valcone,
for thousands of
gallons of whiskey.
What happens to
the bottles, Valcone?
Somebody picks them up,
somebody takes them someplace.
Where?
I don't know.
I'm a grocer.
How I would know?
I go to night school.
I try to live right.
Do you call being a stooge
for Ciamino living right?
No, no!
I'm no stooge for nobody!
Look, what do you
expect me to do?
You can start by
telling the truth.
They came to me.
And they say if I don't
do business with them...
And so, the people
who bring their whiskey
and that they put
their bottles in there.
The root beer bottles.
But they look like empties.
They didn't have any caps on.
Paraffin.
They put a wax plug
down low in the neck,
the bottle looks empty.
And then Ciamino's
men come in the night
in a truck.
What kind of truck?
Mr. Ness, I never look.
I don't want to see.
I don't want to
see their dirty work.
Mr. Ness, you, you
know what I mean?
I know what you
mean, Mr. Valcone.
What time do you close up?
About now.
What time do they
pick up the bottles?
Not for a couple of hours.
We'll take it from
here. I'll be back later.
I'll go out this way.
Mr. Valcone, don't
talk about this,
not to anybody.
Renzo, I'm not
supposed to tell nobody,
but I had to tell you, no?
Renzo, I told you a
proud thing like this,
I think you be happy.
I'm happy that you're working
with Mr. Ness now, Luigi.
But that you took
in their rotten bottles
and their rotten whiskey...
about that, I'm not happy
and I'm not proud.
Renzo, please,
try to understand.
I'll come after supper
on my way to school.
Paul!
Who'd you think it was?
I was just
surprised, that's all.
It's a good thing you don't bake
the way you keep
your books, you know?
Paul... Yeah?
Paul, did... did you...?
What, Papa?
Nothing, my son.
And now back to...
Renzo?
You come early.
Hey, Valcone, what's the matter?
What are you standing
there like that for?
Were you expecting something?
Like a knife maybe?
Or an ice pick?
Take it easy, Valcone.
I didn't say anything
mean, did I?
What?
I didn't yell.
I'll say it real nice.
Relax, Valcone.
What?
We're gonna have a little party,
and Stevano donated the whiskey.
You remember Stevano.
He used to be a little careless
the way he made his whiskey.
But he was a real nice fella.
No.
Please, no.
Hey, a little drink?
Sure.
Just a drink among friends, huh?
No, no!
Don't!
Say, you took a lot for
your first swig, grocer.
Please...
But then, you should
be able to take a big swig.
You got a big mouth!
At 7:10 p.m. on the
night of August 23,
a nondescript truck
turned into the alley
behind Luigi Valcone's
darkened store,
and made its last scheduled
stop of the evening.
Hidden beneath
its tarpaulin cover
was the precious
cargo of rotgut whiskey...
Illicitly produced by over
one hundred homemade
tenement stills.
The vigilance of
Ness and his men
was at last beginning to pay
off as they followed the truck
at a safe distance through
the streets of Chicago
waiting patiently
for it to lead them
to its base of operation.
As far as the Untouchables knew,
things were meshing perfectly.
Just a few blocks away, however,
Renzo Raineri on
his way to night school
was about to discover
the heartbreaking,
chilling opposite.
Luigi, what happened?
What's the trouble?
What happened to him?
Rotgut whiskey,
he's been poisoned.
Renzo... Yes, Luigi?
Come on, move
out of the way, man!
But he's my friend,
let me go with him.
All right. All right.
Get in. Get in.
Come on.
Luigi... rest.
Renzo... they held me.
They tortured me.
Was bad... so bad...
You must not talk, not now.
They make me drink
their rotten whiskey.
They know everything.
Somebody told
them... I talk with Ness.
Who could have done this?
Who, Renzo?
Who?
Renzo, don't go
away, don't leave me.
I'm here, Luigi.
Renzo, I can't see.
I am blind.
I'm blind.
Try the office.
See if you can
dig out the books.
What's the matter, Mr. Ness,
you don't like root beer?
You sure took a long
ride for a drink of root beer.
Could've gotten a
bottle anyplace in town.
Legitimate, all legitimate.
A nice legitimate
root beer business.
Yeah, and Mr. Ciamino
pays his taxes, too.
You won't find no root
beer in there, Mr. Ness.
Them are all empties.
They knew we were tailing them.
They poured the whiskey out.
What's the matter,
Mr. Big Shot Ness?
You wanna wash your hands?
Wash 'em in root beer.
Hey, watch it.
That vat cost a lot of money.
All right, you can
quit now, Mr. Ness.
I bottle root beer here.
Tonight.
Tomorrow, you'll be
bottling whiskey again.
Mr. Smart Guy Ness,
you got any proof?
Eliot... Any books?
No books, nothing.
Everything's nice and clean.
Only this.
You want proof, Ciamino?
Proof? What are you
gonna tell the judge?
"Hey, Mr. Judge, smell
the whiskey on my hand"?
Paraffin.
How much paraffin you
use bottling root beer?
We use caps.
We don't use no paraffin.
Here's an order for 800 pounds.
All right, so my wife likes
to put up raspberry jam.
Well, we don't
have much to show.
All we have is this
order for paraffin.
That's not all.
What's the address on that bill?
430 Dexter Street.
Let's check it out for size.
Go on, clean up the office.
Augie... Listen,
everybody's talking.
They took Valcone
to the hospital.
That's the best place
in the world for him.
You said you weren't
gonna hurt him.
You said a little scare
for a little grocer, that's all.
Look, kid, can I help it if a
man can't hold his whiskey?
Now go on and help Ritchie
clean up the office, huh?
Go ahead.
The door's open.
Grandpa.
Where's Paul?
He's out.
What's wrong, Papa?
Please, sweetheart, inside.
It's not time yet.
Come on, Teresa, into your room.
What's the matter, Papa?
Your husband is a fool.
Your husband, my son,
he works for Ciamino.
He just keeps books, Papa.
He works for the
Central Bottling Company
on East Taylor Street,
and he keeps books.
He keeps these books,
books for Ciamino.
That's his job, Papa.
He's a bookkeeper.
Pages, pages... the
whiskey, the payoffs...
the whole dirty story...
That's what he keeps.
Well, what do you
expect him to do?
Things are bad.
He's got to have a job.
He's just a little person, Papa.
Nobody's got to
be that little, Rose.
Not my son.
Not anybody's son born
under the eye of God.
What are you going to do, Papa?
What I must do.
Basta.
Salute. Salute.
Central Bottling Company.
Let me talk to Paul Raineri.
Paul, it's for you.
Hello.
Luigi Valcone is blind.
You hear me?
Luigi Valcone, who went with
me to your First Communion...
Listen, Papa, you don't think...
I think it, you dumb boy.
You heard him at the bakery.
You heard it!
Papa, I don't know
how you get such ideas.
You wanna know where?
From your account books.
I've got the whole story...
The story about Ciamino
and the whiskey and
the whole operation.
Papa, listen...
And now, Paul, I'll tell
you what I'm going to do,
I'm going to give
it to Mr. Ness.
You can come with me, my son...
and try and stand up straight.
And try to help.
You can do that or you cannot...
But either way... either way...
I tell it to you on the
memory of your mother,
it will be done.
You tell him to stay there.
Tell him you're comin'
right over to see him.
Tell him you're gonna be alone.
Papa, who do you
think you're talking to?
This is Paolo, nobody else.
Your Paolo.
I know who it is.
Listen, Papa, you remember
the way we used to do,
you know, we'd talk
and you'd get sore at me
and then I'd come
around and we'd talk.
Believe me, I know.
I'm coming right over now, Papa.
Just me, me alone,
and I'll explain all
about those books.
You hear me, Papa?
Will you wait?
I hear you.
I hear tears, my son.
Will you wait, Papa?
I'll be right over.
I'll wait, Paolo.
Papa, run! They're
coming to kill you!
I love you, Papa!
I didn't mean...
Paul!
Papa... forgive me.
Do what you must do.
Paul!
Paraffin.
Yeah, but how can we
make it stick to Ciamino?
Maybe he can help us.
Ordered by Paul Raineri.
That's right... Paul
Raineri, the bookkeeper,
Renzo Raineri's son.
The old man...
Where's the old man?
He left.
Where's my husband?
And the books...
What about the books?
Where's my husband?
The books.
Where are the books?
He took 'em when he left.
You did something to
my husband, didn't you?
Where'd Renzo go?
I don't know, I don't know.
Where's Paul?
Where's my husband?
He's in trouble,
isn't he? Isn't he?!
Not anymore, honey.
Paul... Paul... Paul... Mommy?
Mommy, what's the matter?
Ness and his men had arrived
at Paul Raineri's apartment
expecting to find Ciamino's
elusive bookkeeper.
Instead, they found
his weeping widow.
Ness didn't have to
spell it out to his men.
They knew that
somewhere near here,
somewhere in an
alley or a cellar,
afraid to make
much of a run for it,
afraid he would be spotted
by one of Ciamino's stooges,
Renzo Raineri, clutching
those telltale account books,
was hiding.
And don't try to hide him, see?
And Ciamino and his killers
were somewhere out there, too,
hunting, closing in.
Please, Esposito...
Rennie, go away, go away.
They been here. I don't
want to get mixed up.
Just for a minute,
let me use the phone.
I-I just want to call Ness.
Let me call Ness!
Don't worry, don't worry.
Yes, what can I... Shut up!
It's taking too long.
An old man like that, he
can't run and hide much longer.
Where would he
think he had a chance?
The school... he
might go to the school.
Or maybe the police.
You go there;
I'll try the school.
Oh, you left the phone
off the hook, huh?
Hey, paisan! Salute!
No...
Please, paisan...
do you-you got
change for 50 cents?
Uh, change? Yeah. You
got change for 50 cents?
Please? Oh, not
since I was a little fella.
You got a nickel? Just a nickel?
Take the 50 cents,
give me the nickel.
How ya... how
ya think I got this?
I spent all my money.
Now, come on, buddy boy,
just one little drink.
I'm sorry that everyone
isn't here tonight,
because verb
conjugations are very hard.
But... we have to go on.
Uh, you-you must
understand, of course,
that you do the same thing
in your native language.
Perhaps you never
thought of it in terms of...
What is it?
I was looking for Mr. Raineri.
He isn't here.
I was wondering
where he is myself.
Is there anything we can do?
Just... go on.
Well, uh...
as I was saying, grammar
is essentially the same...
in Italian, in Greek,
in Latin, in Hebrew...
or in any other language.
I am, you are... he is.
It's the same the world over.
You better say your
prayers, old man.
You're gonna die.
But first hand over those books.
No sense getting
them all messed up.
All right, Ciamino,
turn around and put your
hands against the wall.
Look out!
Picolo!
Picolo!
Ritchie!
Ritchie...!
Ritchie!
Ritchie!
Stay where you are, Ness.
You come any
closer... I'll kill ya, Ness!
You won't kill anybody, Ciamino.
They only hold six.
Hold it!
You asked me once what
they teach us in night school.
They teach us
that in this country
a man doesn't have to
be afraid of people like you.
Paul...
was a good boy, Mr. Ness.
He would've been a good man.
Here, this is for you.
Thanks.
We'll use 'em well,
I promise you that.
Eliot Ness used the
books very well indeed.
The information they
contained sent Augie Ciamino
to the Federal
penitentiary for life,
and smashed one of the most
profitable bootleg operations
in all history.
But it could never have happened
without the help of
Renzo Raineri, citizen.
how you get such ideas.
I got the whole story.
The story about
Ciamino and the whiskey
and the whole operation.
Papa, listen.
I'm going to give
it to Mr. Ness.
You tell him to stay there.
Tell him you're coming
right over to see him.
You can come with me, my son.
Papa?
Will you wait, Papa?
I'll be right over.
I'll wait, Paolo...
Tonight's episode:
Starring Robert
Stack as Eliot Ness.
Costarring Will
Kuluva, Lee Philips
and Sam Jaffee,
with special guest
star Keenan Wynn.
And narrated by Walter Winchell.
More than anything else,
the war between Eliot
Ness and the gang lords
was a war over the
Prohibition Era's most prized
liquid asset: alcohol.
By 1931, with a
series of slashing raids
on secret distilleries,
it looked as though
the Untouchables
were actually managing
to dry up the arrogant,
illegal, multimillion-dollar
whiskey racket.
But the nimble minds of
the underworld kingpins
were to regroup
their angry forces.
With shocking speed,
the underworld bosses
found another way to
get their whiskey made.
Taking advantage of the
poverty and the desperation
of many immigrant families
during those Depression days,
the racketeers had
devised a home still
that could be put together
for less than three dollars.
The man picked to run
this new illicit empire
was Augie Ciamino, absolute
boss of Chicago's Little Italy.
In a short time, his
home-cooker operation
was canceling out the
Untouchables' gains.
Whiskey flowed from
1,000 tenement kitchens.
Ciamino spent most of
his time counting profits,
until the night of August 16,
the night of a street
festival on Haver Street.
Raineri was having
a little private party,
and somebody picked
up a bottle of bad whiskey.
Gio started drinking
ahead of all the others.
Giovanni, don't you
worry about anything.
I called the hospital.
The best doctors, the best room.
Go, go. Go in the ambulance.
Everything will be all
right, I promise you.
Ciamino takes
care of his friends.
Now we have a little talk, huh?
Where did Giovanni
get the bad stuff?
Come on. It's for you.
I want to help you.
I don't want that this
should happen again.
Raineri, he was in
your place. Your party.
Come on, baker.
You know all the answers.
You go to night school.
You know everything.
I scratch you, you scratch me.
You tell me where
Giovanni got the bad stuff,
I'll buy all your sfogliatelle.
I don't make sfogliatelle.
Who was that?
Stevano, huh?
Twice I had to warn him
about the way he
cooked the stuff!
Stevano.
Well, we know where
Giovanni got that bad whiskey.
Stevano.
Too bad you don't
make sfogliatelle.
Maybe you learn the wrong
things at that night school.
Same old story.
Nobody saw nothing.
The landlady found
him tied to a chair.
They poisoned him
with his own bad whiskey.
What's his name?
Stevano. Tony Stevano.
1,000 of these,
each one turning
out a gallon a day...
30,000 gallons a month.
An ocean of bootleg
right under our noses.
There's got to be a
bottling plant somewhere.
The question is, how do
they get the stuff there?
Rico, you've been
working the district all day.
Nobody's talking, Eliot.
Nickels and dimes.
Most of them haven't
been here too long.
Things are tough. They're
glad to pick up a buck.
And the rest... they're scared.
Ciamino has a
knife at their throat.
They don't like it,
but they're scared.
All of them?
No. Not all of
them. There's a few.
The ones who go
to night school aren't.
They've got deep feelings
about this country. They love it.
They want to be a part of it.
Maybe we can give
them that chance.
The composition
you did as homework.
Let's see. Uh...
Mr. Raineri, will you
read yours, please?
Now, you listen.
Yes. Listen.
"In America, a
boy goes to school,
"he studies, he gets
a piece of paper.
"He is a bookkeeper.
"It says on the paper
he is a bookkeeper,
"and he wears a white
shirt, and that is a fine thing.
"And, if you ask me how I know,
"it is because of my son
Paolo, who I now call Paul
"because he is an American boy.
"My son Paul, he
has American job.
"The End.
Composition by R.
Raineri, Class I-A."
Thank you very much.
Mr. Ness.
Mr. Lee.
This is Mr. Eliot Ness, of
the United States government.
He asked to talk to you,
and I personally take
that as a great compliment.
I hope you will
listen carefully.
I'm sure what he has to say
will be very important.
Mr. Ness.
Mr. Lee says I work for the
United States government.
That means I'm working for you.
I think you know why I'm here.
It's about Ciamino.
I can take him off your
backs, but I need some help.
Tell me how he gets the
whiskey out of the kitchens.
Tell me where
his bottling plant is.
Don't be afraid.
Don't let him scare you.
We'll give you
protection. That's our job.
You don't have to tell me now.
You don't even have
to tell me your names.
Just call me, and tell
me what you know.
That's my office number.
Anytime, day or night.
Write it down. Pass it along.
And remember,
I'm working for you.
You're paying me.
You ought to get
your money's worth.
Thanks for your time.
Thank you, Mr. Ness.
That number will
stay there for a while,
in case you forget it.
"so that is how Luigi
Valcone become a grocer.
Composition written by
Luigi Valcone, grocer."
Thank you very much...
What is it?
What's the trouble?
What do you want?
No!
No! No! Leave him alone!
No! Leave him alone!
Ritchie, no!
That's Paul Raineri's old man!
What did you say? What did...?
Come on!
Renzo Raineri finally
got hold of himself
and called for help.
Mr. Lee was rushed
to County Hospital.
You know, they never
spoke a word to me.
Just silence, Mr. Ness.
Just silence.
Mis... Mr. Raineri
tried to help.
Who?
Renzo Raineri... the baker.
He... he jumped up.
He tried to stop them.
We'll give you this, Mr. Lee.
Then we'll take
you up to your room.
Huh? Oh.
Those men... They, uh...
Something about Raineri.
Then they stopped beating me.
And then... I-I can't remember.
Why?
Why did they stop?
What did Raineri do?
I'm sorry, Mr. Ness, we'll
have to take him now.
Papa, please, keep
your voice down.
Papa, I got nothing
to do with Ciamino.
Then why did those animals
grab me and not hit me?
Papa, how do I know?
I got to put the books away.
What kind of books?
Paul, what-what
kind of dirty books?
What do you mean, dirty?
They're books, account books.
I work for the Central
Bottling Company,
and I keep their books.
What kind of company is it
when they gotta
lock up the books?
Papa, leave me alone, please!
You come to Renzo
Raineri's bakery.
You do my books.
My books don't have to
be locked up with no key.
Oh, your books...
For crying out loud.
Three napoleons, a
half-dozen loaves of bread.
Nickels and dimes!
What's so wrong all of a sudden
with nickels and dimes, huh?
That sounds so familiar.
Around here, we're
real big authorities
on nickels and dimes.
You know how long I
looked for a regular job?
What are you doing with Ciamino?
A girl like Rose,
a beautiful girl.
She knows she could
have done better than me.
What are you
doing with Ciamino?!
Only the books!
You lie!
Papa, look, I go to the office,
I pick up the books...
I come home and I
do 'em, and that's all.
You quit.
You go there.
You'll tell them you quit!
Papa, it's not so easy to quit.
You quit, you
dumb boy! You quit!
All, all right, all right, Papa.
I'll quit.
I'll quit.
But it takes a little
time, you know.
I've gotta put the
books in order.
All right, Paul.
Put 'em in order.
Put their stinking
books in order.
And your life, my son,
put that in order, too.
Mr. Ness, I, I don't know why
those men acted like they did.
Why did they suddenly
stop beating Mr. Lee
when they saw you?
I don't know.
Mr. Raineri, what's their
connection with you?
There is no connection.
You're the only one who
even tried to help Lee.
Then something happened.
What changed everything?
Nothing changed.
Nothing changed.
Mr. Raineri, we're
trying to find out
who gave a brutal
beating to your friend.
We need your help.
I got nothing to say.
Ness and the Untouchables knew
where most of the bootleg
whiskey was being made.
They also knew that
raiding the individual stills
would do no good;
others would just
take their place.
For what Ness had in mind,
it was better to keep
those home stills boiling.
Tomorrow, we'll each take a
family that's operating a still,
we'll write down everything,
everything that goes
into one of those flats,
everything that comes out.
They're getting that
whiskey to Ciamino.
We got to find out how.
Agent Rossi watched
a family named Falco.
Early that morning
he had seen the man
of the house, Romeo
Falco, go to his job.
Agent Rossi wrote
everything down...
even Mrs. Falco's
two trips to the market.
This man wasn't married.
Agent Hobson saw that he did
the little things a
housewife would...
Like a Depression housewife,
spending as little as possible,
even bringing back those
brown root beer bottles
for the two-cent deposit.
Youngfellow, too,
writing it all down.
Root beer empties...
Root beer empties
going back to the grocer.
Again, our constant
in all the reports.
Right there, right
under our noses.
Who would ever think
of looking for whiskey
in an empty root beer bottle?
A grocer.
According to the reports,
usually the same man.
No, it's a crazy idea.
This place is a drop, Valcone,
for thousands of
gallons of whiskey.
What happens to
the bottles, Valcone?
Somebody picks them up,
somebody takes them someplace.
Where?
I don't know.
I'm a grocer.
How I would know?
I go to night school.
I try to live right.
Do you call being a stooge
for Ciamino living right?
No, no!
I'm no stooge for nobody!
Look, what do you
expect me to do?
You can start by
telling the truth.
They came to me.
And they say if I don't
do business with them...
And so, the people
who bring their whiskey
and that they put
their bottles in there.
The root beer bottles.
But they look like empties.
They didn't have any caps on.
Paraffin.
They put a wax plug
down low in the neck,
the bottle looks empty.
And then Ciamino's
men come in the night
in a truck.
What kind of truck?
Mr. Ness, I never look.
I don't want to see.
I don't want to
see their dirty work.
Mr. Ness, you, you
know what I mean?
I know what you
mean, Mr. Valcone.
What time do you close up?
About now.
What time do they
pick up the bottles?
Not for a couple of hours.
We'll take it from
here. I'll be back later.
I'll go out this way.
Mr. Valcone, don't
talk about this,
not to anybody.
Renzo, I'm not
supposed to tell nobody,
but I had to tell you, no?
Renzo, I told you a
proud thing like this,
I think you be happy.
I'm happy that you're working
with Mr. Ness now, Luigi.
But that you took
in their rotten bottles
and their rotten whiskey...
about that, I'm not happy
and I'm not proud.
Renzo, please,
try to understand.
I'll come after supper
on my way to school.
Paul!
Who'd you think it was?
I was just
surprised, that's all.
It's a good thing you don't bake
the way you keep
your books, you know?
Paul... Yeah?
Paul, did... did you...?
What, Papa?
Nothing, my son.
And now back to...
Renzo?
You come early.
Hey, Valcone, what's the matter?
What are you standing
there like that for?
Were you expecting something?
Like a knife maybe?
Or an ice pick?
Take it easy, Valcone.
I didn't say anything
mean, did I?
What?
I didn't yell.
I'll say it real nice.
Relax, Valcone.
What?
We're gonna have a little party,
and Stevano donated the whiskey.
You remember Stevano.
He used to be a little careless
the way he made his whiskey.
But he was a real nice fella.
No.
Please, no.
Hey, a little drink?
Sure.
Just a drink among friends, huh?
No, no!
Don't!
Say, you took a lot for
your first swig, grocer.
Please...
But then, you should
be able to take a big swig.
You got a big mouth!
At 7:10 p.m. on the
night of August 23,
a nondescript truck
turned into the alley
behind Luigi Valcone's
darkened store,
and made its last scheduled
stop of the evening.
Hidden beneath
its tarpaulin cover
was the precious
cargo of rotgut whiskey...
Illicitly produced by over
one hundred homemade
tenement stills.
The vigilance of
Ness and his men
was at last beginning to pay
off as they followed the truck
at a safe distance through
the streets of Chicago
waiting patiently
for it to lead them
to its base of operation.
As far as the Untouchables knew,
things were meshing perfectly.
Just a few blocks away, however,
Renzo Raineri on
his way to night school
was about to discover
the heartbreaking,
chilling opposite.
Luigi, what happened?
What's the trouble?
What happened to him?
Rotgut whiskey,
he's been poisoned.
Renzo... Yes, Luigi?
Come on, move
out of the way, man!
But he's my friend,
let me go with him.
All right. All right.
Get in. Get in.
Come on.
Luigi... rest.
Renzo... they held me.
They tortured me.
Was bad... so bad...
You must not talk, not now.
They make me drink
their rotten whiskey.
They know everything.
Somebody told
them... I talk with Ness.
Who could have done this?
Who, Renzo?
Who?
Renzo, don't go
away, don't leave me.
I'm here, Luigi.
Renzo, I can't see.
I am blind.
I'm blind.
Try the office.
See if you can
dig out the books.
What's the matter, Mr. Ness,
you don't like root beer?
You sure took a long
ride for a drink of root beer.
Could've gotten a
bottle anyplace in town.
Legitimate, all legitimate.
A nice legitimate
root beer business.
Yeah, and Mr. Ciamino
pays his taxes, too.
You won't find no root
beer in there, Mr. Ness.
Them are all empties.
They knew we were tailing them.
They poured the whiskey out.
What's the matter,
Mr. Big Shot Ness?
You wanna wash your hands?
Wash 'em in root beer.
Hey, watch it.
That vat cost a lot of money.
All right, you can
quit now, Mr. Ness.
I bottle root beer here.
Tonight.
Tomorrow, you'll be
bottling whiskey again.
Mr. Smart Guy Ness,
you got any proof?
Eliot... Any books?
No books, nothing.
Everything's nice and clean.
Only this.
You want proof, Ciamino?
Proof? What are you
gonna tell the judge?
"Hey, Mr. Judge, smell
the whiskey on my hand"?
Paraffin.
How much paraffin you
use bottling root beer?
We use caps.
We don't use no paraffin.
Here's an order for 800 pounds.
All right, so my wife likes
to put up raspberry jam.
Well, we don't
have much to show.
All we have is this
order for paraffin.
That's not all.
What's the address on that bill?
430 Dexter Street.
Let's check it out for size.
Go on, clean up the office.
Augie... Listen,
everybody's talking.
They took Valcone
to the hospital.
That's the best place
in the world for him.
You said you weren't
gonna hurt him.
You said a little scare
for a little grocer, that's all.
Look, kid, can I help it if a
man can't hold his whiskey?
Now go on and help Ritchie
clean up the office, huh?
Go ahead.
The door's open.
Grandpa.
Where's Paul?
He's out.
What's wrong, Papa?
Please, sweetheart, inside.
It's not time yet.
Come on, Teresa, into your room.
What's the matter, Papa?
Your husband is a fool.
Your husband, my son,
he works for Ciamino.
He just keeps books, Papa.
He works for the
Central Bottling Company
on East Taylor Street,
and he keeps books.
He keeps these books,
books for Ciamino.
That's his job, Papa.
He's a bookkeeper.
Pages, pages... the
whiskey, the payoffs...
the whole dirty story...
That's what he keeps.
Well, what do you
expect him to do?
Things are bad.
He's got to have a job.
He's just a little person, Papa.
Nobody's got to
be that little, Rose.
Not my son.
Not anybody's son born
under the eye of God.
What are you going to do, Papa?
What I must do.
Basta.
Salute. Salute.
Central Bottling Company.
Let me talk to Paul Raineri.
Paul, it's for you.
Hello.
Luigi Valcone is blind.
You hear me?
Luigi Valcone, who went with
me to your First Communion...
Listen, Papa, you don't think...
I think it, you dumb boy.
You heard him at the bakery.
You heard it!
Papa, I don't know
how you get such ideas.
You wanna know where?
From your account books.
I've got the whole story...
The story about Ciamino
and the whiskey and
the whole operation.
Papa, listen...
And now, Paul, I'll tell
you what I'm going to do,
I'm going to give
it to Mr. Ness.
You can come with me, my son...
and try and stand up straight.
And try to help.
You can do that or you cannot...
But either way... either way...
I tell it to you on the
memory of your mother,
it will be done.
You tell him to stay there.
Tell him you're comin'
right over to see him.
Tell him you're gonna be alone.
Papa, who do you
think you're talking to?
This is Paolo, nobody else.
Your Paolo.
I know who it is.
Listen, Papa, you remember
the way we used to do,
you know, we'd talk
and you'd get sore at me
and then I'd come
around and we'd talk.
Believe me, I know.
I'm coming right over now, Papa.
Just me, me alone,
and I'll explain all
about those books.
You hear me, Papa?
Will you wait?
I hear you.
I hear tears, my son.
Will you wait, Papa?
I'll be right over.
I'll wait, Paolo.
Papa, run! They're
coming to kill you!
I love you, Papa!
I didn't mean...
Paul!
Papa... forgive me.
Do what you must do.
Paul!
Paraffin.
Yeah, but how can we
make it stick to Ciamino?
Maybe he can help us.
Ordered by Paul Raineri.
That's right... Paul
Raineri, the bookkeeper,
Renzo Raineri's son.
The old man...
Where's the old man?
He left.
Where's my husband?
And the books...
What about the books?
Where's my husband?
The books.
Where are the books?
He took 'em when he left.
You did something to
my husband, didn't you?
Where'd Renzo go?
I don't know, I don't know.
Where's Paul?
Where's my husband?
He's in trouble,
isn't he? Isn't he?!
Not anymore, honey.
Paul... Paul... Paul... Mommy?
Mommy, what's the matter?
Ness and his men had arrived
at Paul Raineri's apartment
expecting to find Ciamino's
elusive bookkeeper.
Instead, they found
his weeping widow.
Ness didn't have to
spell it out to his men.
They knew that
somewhere near here,
somewhere in an
alley or a cellar,
afraid to make
much of a run for it,
afraid he would be spotted
by one of Ciamino's stooges,
Renzo Raineri, clutching
those telltale account books,
was hiding.
And don't try to hide him, see?
And Ciamino and his killers
were somewhere out there, too,
hunting, closing in.
Please, Esposito...
Rennie, go away, go away.
They been here. I don't
want to get mixed up.
Just for a minute,
let me use the phone.
I-I just want to call Ness.
Let me call Ness!
Don't worry, don't worry.
Yes, what can I... Shut up!
It's taking too long.
An old man like that, he
can't run and hide much longer.
Where would he
think he had a chance?
The school... he
might go to the school.
Or maybe the police.
You go there;
I'll try the school.
Oh, you left the phone
off the hook, huh?
Hey, paisan! Salute!
No...
Please, paisan...
do you-you got
change for 50 cents?
Uh, change? Yeah. You
got change for 50 cents?
Please? Oh, not
since I was a little fella.
You got a nickel? Just a nickel?
Take the 50 cents,
give me the nickel.
How ya... how
ya think I got this?
I spent all my money.
Now, come on, buddy boy,
just one little drink.
I'm sorry that everyone
isn't here tonight,
because verb
conjugations are very hard.
But... we have to go on.
Uh, you-you must
understand, of course,
that you do the same thing
in your native language.
Perhaps you never
thought of it in terms of...
What is it?
I was looking for Mr. Raineri.
He isn't here.
I was wondering
where he is myself.
Is there anything we can do?
Just... go on.
Well, uh...
as I was saying, grammar
is essentially the same...
in Italian, in Greek,
in Latin, in Hebrew...
or in any other language.
I am, you are... he is.
It's the same the world over.
You better say your
prayers, old man.
You're gonna die.
But first hand over those books.
No sense getting
them all messed up.
All right, Ciamino,
turn around and put your
hands against the wall.
Look out!
Picolo!
Picolo!
Ritchie!
Ritchie...!
Ritchie!
Ritchie!
Stay where you are, Ness.
You come any
closer... I'll kill ya, Ness!
You won't kill anybody, Ciamino.
They only hold six.
Hold it!
You asked me once what
they teach us in night school.
They teach us
that in this country
a man doesn't have to
be afraid of people like you.
Paul...
was a good boy, Mr. Ness.
He would've been a good man.
Here, this is for you.
Thanks.
We'll use 'em well,
I promise you that.
Eliot Ness used the
books very well indeed.
The information they
contained sent Augie Ciamino
to the Federal
penitentiary for life,
and smashed one of the most
profitable bootleg operations
in all history.
But it could never have happened
without the help of
Renzo Raineri, citizen.