The Untouchables (1959–1963): Season 2, Episode 28 - The Nero Rankin Story - full transcript

Although Eliot Ness and the Untouchables managed to destroy the Underground Court, they have yet to make a dent against the Syndicate, which has re-grouped and continues to operate. They elect Nero Rankin to chair the national board of the syndicate, but the choice wasn't unanimous. He's also in poor health and that leads Sylvia Orkins, who loves Rankin and is convinced he will die or be killed, to approach Eliot Ness to do something, anything, to get him out of his new job. Rankin knows he has only about a year to live and that he's an unpopular chairman so he offers Ness a deal: lay off the Syndicate for the year and when he's dead, he'll provide Ness with the Syndicate's books. When Ness turns him down, Rankin decides that there's only one option: fight back.

Mexico? Looks like.

Get after them!

Tonight's episode...

Starring Robert
Stack as Eliot Ness.

Co-starring Will Kuluva
and John Dehner.

With special guest
star Joanna Moore.

And narrated by Walter Winchell.

September 1933.

Although Eliot Ness had
successfully destroyed

the underground court,

he had not been able to
smash its parent organization,



the Big Syndicate...
Then in control of over 50%

of the nation's crime.

With the death of Judge
Foley, chief of the court

and chairman of the Syndicate,
it was expected that the power

of the Syndicate would wane,

but on September the
16th, at a roadhouse

on the outskirts of Chicago,

top-ranking members of
the national organization

had congregated
to vote on the man

whom Foley had
designated as his successor,

months before he died.

The heir apparent was
an elder chieftain of crime

named Nero Rankin...
Foley's teacher in infamy

and, at present,
proprietor of Chicago's



most popular roadhouse,
the Club Debutante.

But before Rankin
could assume his role

as head of the
Syndicate, he had to win

a vote of approval by
the Syndicate bigwigs.

Maury Brigger, who
controlled the southwest,

Lou Hyndorf, boss
of the east coast

from Canada to the Florida Keys;

Hooey Barker, who had been
able to dominate the underworld

of the Midwest without
stepping on Al Capone's toes;

Paddy Polofski of Detroit, who
headed the Gunman Squad;

and Cy Brenner of New Orleans,
bookkeeper for the Syndicate.

Others present were top-ranking
subordinates of the Syndicate

who had no voting privileges.

Are you all right, honey?

Sure, I'm all right.

Anybody's ticker
would be a little jumpy

on a night like this.

What are they doing out there?

They got to vote.

Well, even if they vote you in,

you can still turn
them down, can't you?

Setting the glass down
upright was a vote for Rankin.

Turning it over
was a vote against.

Because there ain't no
one else in the picture,

I could see him taking over.

Two for, three against.

He don't make it.

Wait a minute.

Like Lou Hyndorf says...
Who do we have better?

That puts him in.

For now.

Nero...

you can come out now...

Mr. Chairman.

Hey.

I made it clear on the phone
this was between us only.

Won't you have a seat?

Thanks.

I haven't had much
to do with cops before.

If you stick us, we bleed.

I guess that's true.

Why don't you
just start talking.

I want to stop him
from killing himself.

Who's that?

I guess you've heard of a
man called Nero Rankin.

Rankin... yeah.

Big time mobster during
the World War and early '20s.

That's him.

Served a jail term, retired
after he got out, as I recall.

For five years.

It was real nice.

I'm his secretary... and friend.

Although me being here, I
guess it might not seem like it.

Mr. Ness, have you
got anything on him?

Anything you can arrest him for?

Why?

I want to see him safe.

Even in jail.

Well, he's not on any
of the wanted lists.

Well... maybe my coming
here was just a waste of time.

Why do you want
him out of the way?

I told you.

The old fool's gonna
get himself killed.

He's gonna take
Judge Foley's place

as chairman of the Syndicate.

When he starts on that job,

we can send him away
for a nice long rest.

I'll do anything I can to help.

Where can I reach you?

Through my sister.

I'll get in touch with
you very shortly.

Thank you.

Mr. Ness... I love him.

I realize that, Miss Orchins.

Boss.

It's important.

Where is she?

At the bar.

What business you got with Ness?

I did it for you, Nero.

What'd you tell him?

Nothing. I don't know anything.

Go on home. Stay there.

I'll take care of you later.

How?

That ain't your concern.

How much does she know, Nero?

I don't give her no secrets.

Get rid of her, Nero.

I don't need your
help with my woman.

Wait a minute... The
boys want to be sure

you know how to handle
a big-mouthed dame.

I'll handle her my own way.

Listen, she gets away with this,

you are going to have to
do some fancy explaining.

You finished your business here.

Get moving.

Lefty?

Sylvia... now.

Ness learned of
Sylvia Orchins' death

when he called the
number she had left with him.

But the information
she had given him

naming Rankin as the
new head of the Syndicate

was relayed to Hartley Lester

of the Attorney General's
Office in Washington, DC.

During the weeks that followed,
Ness, operating in Chicago,

spearheaded a
nationwide campaign

designed to disorganize
and cripple the Syndicate

before Rankin's administration
could get up steam.

The richest prize was the
Syndicate's number-one palace,

Amy's Place, which festered
with every known vice

from gambling
tables to prostitution.

In charge was
Madame Amy of London.

You the manager of this club?

How clever of you
to have guessed.

You're going for a ride.

Oh, what a bore.

Must we go through this
formality twice every year?

I'll be open again in a month.

Not this time.

I'll give you, uh...
five-to-one on it.

I'm not a betting man.

Let's go.

In the first week of October,

the national drive
against the Syndicate

tore into them to the
tune of nearly $10 million

in illicit goods and property.

To add acid to their wounds,

hundreds of their
men were arrested

or put out of commission.

As a result, Rankin
called his first meeting

of the top national
Syndicate leaders.

We're getting hurt,
Nero, and we don't like it.

From the looks of it, you
ain't fit to sit in Foley's chair.

Shut up!

Why you... Forget it.

This chair is my chair.

This chair belongs
to Nero Rankin.

Who wants to try and
take my chair off this table?

Walk this around
your brains, you punks.

Foley sat in his
chair, I sit in mine.

Mine!

I clean dirt like you out of
my fingernails every day.

You hear?

When I call a meeting,

you talk out of my courtesy.

You don't raise no voices

and you don't give
me no scared-rat digs!

You...

put my chair back where it was.

When I get through
with this organization,

it's gonna make what it was

look like a kid's shoeshine box.

That's all you need to know.

Got any plans you
can let us in on, Nero?

You puttin' that like
a request, mister?

Sure.

Respectfully yours.

Lefty, my cough medicine.

I only got one plan for
the time being, boys:

Stop Ness!

Where you been lately, Hooey?

I was beginning to think
you didn't like me any more.

Like you?

Baby, baby, I love you.

Oh, do you...?

In fact, I love you so
much that I'm gonna

to sacrifice you to someone else

for your own good.

Oh, so you're here
on business, huh?

Yes, you always were
a one for plain talk.

That's just about
all I understand.

You like older men, don't you?

Popsies? Mm-hmm.

Oh, I adore them.

I've got one for you.

He's a real big shot, too.

Do you still know how to type?

As much as I ever did.

Well... it's good enough.

This gent's gonna be
needing a secretary.

What's your cut?

All I want is to make
my friend happy.

Hooey, since when have
you been givin' out apples

without worms in them, huh?

What a way to talk.

What do you want, Mr. Barker?

No, all I want is for us

to continue on
being friends, Althea.

Good friends.

You just want me to be
your foot in the door, huh?

Oh, no.

Mm-mm.

Not my foot,
baby... my little ear.

Though Ness' raids failed

to produce any of the
Syndicate hierarchy,

he spent exhaustive hours
questioning those lesser fish

that had been caught in the net.

Thank you.

I'll ask you again.

Who are you fronting for?

And I'll tell you again:

I'm my own boss.

Where'd you get the
dough to open your place?

I'm an heiress.

You're the daughter of a
small storekeeper in London.

My, you do do your
homework, don't you?

We know your place was
Syndicate-owned and operated.

Mine?

All right, this routine's
getting us no place.

Throw her back in.

Let's hear the next one.

I'll make the odds ten-to-one

if you care to take that
bet I offered you, Mr. Ness.

Progress was slow.

It took a lot of digging

to uncover even
the smallest of gems.

And the Syndicate
had smart lawyers

and unlimited
funds for bail money.

In a matter of days,
Madame Amy was out

and discussing plans with
the Syndicate for reopening.

But Rankin, although
he exuded confidence

in Syndicate circles,
was privately worried.

He knew he was not
a popular chairman,

and lately, his medicine,

prescribed by one of Chicago's
leading heart specialists,

seemed to do him
less and less good,

even when administered
by his new secretary.

But it was a visit to his
doctor that curdled his unrest

and turned it into desperation.

Hello, Mr. Ness.
I'm from the Leader.

Do you think you've broken
the back of the Syndicate

with all of these
national raids?

Well, I think we've
made it ache a little.

From what I hear,

they've started to reopen
their places already.

You gonna keep on
wasting tax money

trying to close them again?

If the public did their part and
stayed away from those joints,

they'd save a lot
more than tax money.

There'd be no Syndicate
and lot less criminal activity.

Thank you, Mr. Ness.

Would you pose for
a picture now, please?

Mr. Ness, don't you ever smile?

You've got a message,
Eliot... From a lady.

My wife?

Not from the
expression on his face.

Here's the number.

Don't recognize it.

It's Eliot Ness.

No, no, no... hold it
to my ear, sweetie,

'cause, see, I'm wet all over,

and that's just
murder with electricity.

Hello?

Mr. Ness?

This is Nero Rankin's secretary.

I have a message for you.

My boss, Mr. Rankin, would
like to meet with you any time,

any place you name.

But, but alone, you
know, just the two of you.

What should I tell him?

Hold on a moment, please.

Would you say that
Rankin considers me

naive enough to
walk into a trap?

Definitely not.

Neither do I.

Hello?

Hello. I'm still here.

Tell Mr. Rankin I'll
be on Beacon Avenue

between Sixth and
Seventh at 11:30 p.m.

I sure will, and thank you
so much for calling, Mr. Ness.

Good-bye.

Go on, take it.

A shake's not illegal.

I'll pass.

I've come to be friendly.

I'm listening.

I don't know whether you know

my line of work
or not, Mr. Ness.

I'm a nightclub owner.

Not a big one; the
Club Debutante.

Strictly an
up-and-up enterprise.

Not even legitimate hooch sold.

Just light wines and beer.

Makes a good front.

We're never gonna
get no progress

if you're gonna slur me.

Lay down your hand, Rankin.

We're not here to play cards.

I'm here representing some
friends of mine who suffered

some business reverses
a couple of days ago.

I don't know the details,

but they seem to figure you
had something to do with it.

You know anything
about that, Mr. Ness?

Keep going.

They're gonna fight back.

They don't play nice,
these gentlemen.

They don't know
nothin' about rules,

so it's part to
help you I'm here.

How much they offering?

How much would it take?

Best offer so far wasn't enough.

Suppose they doubled your best.

That the offer?

Who's playing cards now, Ness?

I know you can't be
touched with cash.

You just come here to
pass on some threats?

No.

How much do you
know about me, Ness?

I know all about you, Rankin.

I was up there before you
was out of school in the old days

when the federal government
was doing what they ought to:

busting trusts and
fighting the Huns.

They didn't fool around
with income taxes then;

they didn't fool around
with hero law enforcers.

They passed phony
laws like Prohibition

and forgot about
them, like gentlemen.

They didn't go
on with all this...

Rankin, I've got no time

to swing down
memory lane with you.

All right.

I got access to certain ledgers;

books belonging to my friends,

what you guys call
"foolproof evidence."

Every name, every transaction
my friends done is written down

in those books.

I'm offering them to you.

What do I do in return?

Wait.

What for?

For me to die.

I got an old heart.

It won't last out
the rest of me.

A year, the sawbones say.

Lay off for one year, Ness,
and I'll give it all to you.

That's my proposition.

How do I know you got the
books you say you have?

I never said I had them.

Whoever has got
them controls my friends

and their businesses,
and I never said it was me.

Not in so many words.

Double-talk.

I won't welch on you, Ness.

What do you say?

I don't make deals
with punks, Rankin...

Young or old punks!

Don't you call me no punk!

I'll make you a counter offer.

You turn those books over to me

and I'll give you
protection from your friends

for the rest of your life.

What do you think I am,

some old horse to be fenced in?

No, Mr. Federal Cop...

I don't eat grass
for the rest of my life.

I eat pure filet mignon
to the last minute!

And I live out my last year
how I always lived... on top!

You're gonna wish you caught
the ball before I'm done, Ness.

Now, back to The Untouchables.

Ness continued to hit at
the Syndicate's empire,

closing places as soon
as they were reopened.

Most of them were in
Hooey Barker's territory.

You been talkin' "Stop Ness"
since you got the chair, Nero.

Meantime, he's ruining
me, and if I ain't makin' it,

the Syndicate
don't get its take.

It ain't good, Nero.

Maybe you're too much of a
gentleman for the job, Nero.

Maybe you're not
mad at Ness anymore.

You're getting on
my nerves, Barker.

Look out.

I mean... look out.

Maybe you're getting
on our nerves too, Nero.

For instance...

What was that little rendezvous
with Eliot Ness all about?

What are you
doing, spying on me?

We got eyes all
over. What about it?

You don't keep no eyes on me.

I move like I have
to... Like I think best.

Nero, what about Ness?

I tried to buy...
he wouldn't sell.

You want to make
something out of that?!

That's good enough.

Lay off him, Barker.

What have you got
on your mind, Nero?

I'll need five top
triggermen and a fast car.

What about a wheelman?

Lefty... he's the best.

Now you'll see
how class operates.

Ness and his men
worked day and night

gathering information of
the latest Syndicate activities.

Got a report from downtown.

Narcotics are flowing in again.

Mexico? Looks like.

Get after them.

Are you all right?
Are you hurt badly?

It's my leg.

An ambulance will
be along shortly.

There's nobody dead.

Two others wounded.

Looks like they tried to scare
them more than anything.

Not them... us.

We're going down
to the Club Debutante

and rub Rankin's nose in this.

Looks like they're
out of business.

They left the lights on like
they're expecting someone.

Eliot, look at this.

"Next time the
shooting will be straight.

How many dead bodies
before you lay off?"

The effectiveness
of Nero Rankin's

cold-blooded
maneuver was reflected

in Chicago newspaper
headlines the next day.

And Ness was besieged
by the press and civic leaders

pressuring him for statements

about his future actions
against the Syndicate.

Hello, Eliot.

Hartley.

I got the news last night.

Caught an early plane.

Pity.

Just when you had
them on the ropes.

I've seen dirty fighting, but...

this is worthy of Satan himself.

Does that mean
Washington's convinced

we should change
our tactics now?

Aren't you?

I don't know.

Eliot...

Hartley, I don't
advocate experimenting

with the lives of innocent
people any more than you do.

But can we let ourselves

get knocked out of
the box this easily?

It's got greater ramifications

than a fight to
break the Syndicate.

If we back down
now it's a blueprint

for the entire
underworld to follow.

Fire a few shots into a
crowd and you're home free.

I see that.

Not a lot of people do.

Chicago's more
scared of our next move

than they ever were of Capone.

I came down here to
offer you some advice

in the matter, Eliot,

but I suppose advice
at a time like this

is only undue pressure.

It's your job, your decision.

When I get back to Washington,

I'm going to recommend
that they leave it that way.

I know you'll make
the right choice.

I'm not sure there is
a right one, Hartley.

Either way, it's going to hurt.

At a Syndicate-owned hotel

the newspapers
were being read, too,

but another mood prevailed.

That's as sweet as sugar candy.

You happy today, Popsie?

Like a bird.

Would you read me the funnies?

Oh... Come on, Popsie.

My real popsie used
to read me the funnies.

Well... they're
going in a tunnel...

and Little Ace says,

"Hey, Benny, what has a hole

on either side and is
dark in the middle?"

And in the next picture
they're in the tunnel

and it's so dark you
can't even see them,

just what they say.

Benny says... "I give up.

What has a hole on either
side and is dark in the middle?"

In the next picture
they're out of the tunnel

and Ace says, "Search me."

In the next picture

they're all the way
down the road already

and Benny says, "What made
you think of that silly question?"

And Ace says, Ace
says, "I don't know."

Hole on either side...
dark in the middle...

Boss, Barker's here.

Nero, you've done
a beautiful job.

A beautiful job.

Now we got Ness on the mat.

Now all we gotta do
is wait for the count.

Yeah, what the politicians
call public pressure

will take care of that. Yeah.

In the meantime, you and
me got some planning to do.

We'll use the Chicago
section as a test.

Reopen Madame
Amy's at a new location.

Right under Ness' eye.

I was thinking, maybe even
where I closed my Club Debutante.

Ah, that'd be a good one.

If Ness turns the other
cheek like he's gotta,

we'll give it a couple of weeks
for a double safety check,

and reopen all over the country.

What if he busts Madame Amy?

If he busts Madame Amy,

this time I turn a
loaded car loose

with orders to shoot to kill.

But you've got my word,
it won't ever come to that.

Want some?

Me?

Then what's so interesting?

Nothing.

Don't worry, I'm
not gonna croak...

Not till I'm good and ready.

Aw, I didn't even
think such a thing.

The fun's just beginning.

I'm not walking out on no fun.

What brings you here, Mr. Ness?

Thought I'd see how
you were getting along.

I hear you not only
stopped a bullet,

but busted a leg when you fell.

Yeah, I got all the luck.

Is this your family?

Pleased to meet you.

Food's not so good here,

but like I was telling my
wife, the nurses make up for it.

Well, if you noticed,
it's a good sign.

Yeah, shows I ain't dead anyhow.

You could've been.

If those cops had stop
poking around so much

this wouldn't have happened.

If we quit poking around, ma'am,

this country might be taken
over by hoods and racketeers.

I don't know about that.

I only know about innocent
people getting shot at.

You'd better stop before
you get us all killed,

Mr. Ness.

She's right.

It's all a lot of malarkey
anyway, all this reform.

Like booze.

One year it's a crime,
the next year it's legal.

Same glass of whiskey.

It's ridiculous.

It's a matter of
obeying the law.

Law?

Your laws don't mean as much

as a bullet in my husband's leg.

Get well soon.

For city officials, newspapers
and the people of Chicago,

public safety
overwhelmingly outweighed

the cause of public welfare...

but the final decision
lay with Ness.

At his office he found
letters, wires and messages

urging him to give up his
campaign against the Syndicate.

What's the matter?

The word's out the Club
Debutante is reopening.

Maybe it's just a rumor.

It's more than a rumor, Eliot.

We drove out
there this afternoon.

They're putting up a new sign.

Madame Amy's.

It didn't take them long
to call my hand, did it?

Hobson.

Yeah, he's right here.

It's Rico.

Yes, Rico.

Eliot, our witness just
gave us a positive ID

on the driver of
the Syndicate car.

Good. Give me a rundown on him.

His name is Lefty Southern.

Got a record a mile long,

mostly extortion
and armed robbery.

He was paroled from Joliet
in November of last year.

Any address?

Not since Joliet.

We'll check his probation
officer in the morning.

Pick you up in ten minutes.

Where are we going?

To close Madame Amy's.

Do you think the
police will cooperate?

I don't know.
There's a lot at stake.

But it's our move.

One way or another
we've got to make it.

In a Chicago police station,

Ness went over
last-minute details for a raid

on the new Madame Amy's place.

As a precaution, Rankin had
posted Lefty at a vantage point

overlooking the only means
of approach by automobile.

Inside Madame Amy's
place, the mood was gala.

Hello, John, darling.
How are you? Welcome!

Oh, darling, thank
you for coming!

How are you?

Hello, darling.

Hello, stranger.

Mm... You got
something for me, hmm?

My settings will come loose.

How come we haven't
talked the past couple of days?

I've been busy.

Popsie and I have been shopping.

You know, baby just
had to have a pair

of new diamond bracelets.

Hmm. What's the occasion?

What?

Christmas.

Christmas has an
"R" in it this year.

That's a reward.

What for?

Hooey.

You know how particular I am.

Baby always rides the winner.

Now come on, say
ta-ta to your little ear.

I'm all Popsie's now.

That's what I
wanted to tell you.

You tipped him about us.

That's why I didn't
hear from you.

Popsie.

I was just showing
Hooey my-my karats.

How you like them, Hooey?

Yeah... beautiful.

I got something for you, too.

There's gonna be a meeting
at my place tomorrow.

Be sure and make it.

About 12:00.

I'm gonna make my recommendation

for who should take my place

if something happens to me.

The boys tell me you've
been anxious about it.

I wouldn't do that.

I'm a pretty popular
guy with the boys lately.

Well, dear, you look lovely.

Oh, thank you.

I've heard all sorts
of inquiries about you,

but I, uh, I told everybody
you're private stock.

Oh, Mr. Gregson,
you're all alone.

We don't allow
that here, you know.

Amy can run him
through for awhile.

Cops... they're
heading this way.

Car down below?

Yeah.

Come on, Althea.

Hey!

Federal officers! This is a
raid! Stay where you are!

All right, wait up! Wait up now!

It's a good thing you
didn't bet me, Mr. Ness.

Only small fry left.

Now it's Rankin's move.

This time he'll try for
wholesale slaughter.

The next day, while
Chicago waited anxiously,

an emergency
meeting was being held

at a Syndicate-owned hotel.

By 11:30 a.m., Eliot Ness,

with the cooperation of the
Chicago police department,

had taken every
possible precaution

to protect the city's populace.

Enlisting the aid of
off-duty policemen

and civilian volunteers,

Ness had dispatched
over 100 mobile units

throughout the city.

At 15-minute intervals,

radio broadcasters warned
the people of Chicago

to stay off the streets

unless it was absolutely
necessary to be out.

Here is an official bulletin

from the local
police department:

All traffic in the immediate
vicinity of the Federal Building

on Dearborn Street is
under police supervision

and the public is
advised to stay away

from that area.

It won't work.

It's worth a try.

Hooey's right.

The first time Rankin
sent the car out,

it made its point.

It was a bluff and had a chance.

Well, Ness wasn't
bluffed. I say forget it.

You don't say nothing.

By 12:07, Ness,
acting on information

supplied by Lefty
Southern's probation officer,

went to a Hillsdale address

where Southern shared
an apartment with his uncle.

How should I know where he goes?

He stays out lots of nights.

Does he work?

Work?

Some kind of chauffeur,
that's what he says.

You... you
interested in pigeons?

Who employs him?

I don't know.

Have you got any
idea where he works?

Oh, some hotel.

Which hotel?

Ah, this one, this
one is my favorite.

Which hotel? What part of town?

I don't know, I don't
know, I don't know.

All right, thanks.

Hey, mister! Mister,
wait a minute!

It's right here on
Lefty's matches!

"Hotel Gastone."

It's almost lunchtime.

The streets will
be full of people.

Not today.

Didn't you listen to the radio?

Yeah, I heard the radio.

I'm rich. I got a radio!

Maybe you forget
there's a depression on!

25% of this city
can't afford a radio.

You're pretty sure this
thing's gonna work?

When Ness can count
a dozen, two dozen,

50 dead innocent
people in the streets,

he'll know who
he's dealing with.

You want to gamble
on that, Nero?

What's the bet?

It don't work... you step down.

That's fair.

I'll buy that.

I'm with Hooey.

Yeah.

And if it does work, I shut
your big mouth for good.

And that's fair, too.

Give me the garage.

Garage.

Now.

This is it.

Federal Agents!

Again we are requested by
the police to remind all persons

if they do not have important
business requiring them

to be out on the streets today,
they should remain at home.

Those persons who are Relax.

Already at their
places of business

are most urgently advised
to stay off the streets

as much as possible Yeah?

Particularly in the area of the Federal
Building on Dear... It's Lefty. Open up!

It's no good, boss.

The Feds are
downstairs in the garage.

It's good. It's good!

I'll make it good.

Get your hands against the wall.

Let's go. Come
on. Against the wall.

Hurry up. Get your
hands on the fireplace.

Move!

Ness took the remaining ranking
members of the Syndicate alive.

From the ledgers and the
books produced by Cy Brenner

came the evidence that
led to prison terms for them

ranging from 20 years to life.

For Althea, as a possessor
of stolen diamonds,

there were several years
without bubble baths.

As for Nero Rankin, his
heart managed to hold out

for 11 years, all of
them spent behind bars,

but when he received
word of his probation,

it faltered and he
died of the good news.