The Untouchables (1959): Chicago, Summer 1931. Nick Acropolis is the new bookmaker in town, his territory is Illinois and the 6 surrounding states; he covers bets on horse racing, boxing matches, ball games, everything. By August, his operation is $2-million per month. And so Eliot Ness and his Untouchables are on the case; Enrico Rossi has a wiretap on one of Nick's betting parlors, run by Sully Hinds. Nick and his boys pay a visit to their bookkeeper, Louis Manzak, who is Nick's brother-in-law. Louis embezzled 200 grand of Nick's money, to make a side-bet on a boxing match, and lost. Nick roughs him up, and Louis' only excuse is, "Who would have thought that Locks would lose a decision to Max Baer?"* Nick tells Louis to replace the dough, and fast-- or else! Nick demands the 200 grand in one month, and the usual gangster interest of 25% per month; but Nick wants the 50 grand interest payable in 48 hours. Louis tries to beg and borrow the 50 Gs; his sister Stella offers to come up with half of the 50 Gs. But when Louis goes to Sully Hinds, Nick's top bookie, and Sully won't help him, Louis shoots him and steals some money. Thanks to Enrico's wiretap, Ness and his men are on top of the case. Frank Nitti is interested in Nick Acropolis' racket, too-- Nitti is an old pal of Nick, and now that Nick's operation is big-time, Nitti sets up a meet. At the Club Montmartre, Nitti has 3 lieutenants at the table: Yeager, Urcel and Karlson. Nitti tells Nick that the Organization gets 50% of his action. When Nick balks, Nitti snaps, "Then we wipe you out." But since a gang war with Nick would result in a lot of casualties, Frank Nitti makes the unusual offer of having the Organization take only 25% in this case; Nitti and Nick drink to it. Louis Manzak goes to his sister Stella for money, and to plead not to have her husband Nick kill him. But Stella Acropolis has found out that her brother embezzled 200 grand, and killed Sully. Louis, desperate to save his life, tells Stella to steal a million bucks from Nick's safety deposit boxes, and they can "go away together" and it would be like the old days before she married Nick. Stella, disgusted by the thief and killer her brother has become, tells him to get out of her life. Frankie Fershman eavesdrops on their conversation. Later, he sets Louis up: he tells Louis they are going to kill Nick-- but when Louis draws his gun on Nick, Frankie shoots Louis. Frankie is convinced he has now proven his loyalty to Nick, and expects to be rewarded. Nick makes Frankie a partner, and shows him his bookkeeping system: he only enters 1/100th the amount he actually takes in, in the ledgers; so his $2-million a month operation looks like only $20,000 and he has legitimate fronts like his flower shop to cover that. Nitti and 2 of his boys drop in on Nick; Nitti tells him that's 2 killings (Sully, Louis), and the word from the Organization is "no more killings." They don't want Ness snooping around. When Nitti leaves, Ness and Lee Hobson drop in; Nick quips, "What is this, Grand Central Station?" Ness takes his books, but the federal accountants can't prove anything with the doctored ledgers. Meanwhile, Frankie Fershman figures since he set up Louis and double-crossed him, and became Nick's partner, he will pull the same trick to get Nick rubbed out. Frankie sends 2 of Nick's hitmen over to deliver some money to Nitti; then he phones Nitti and tips him that 2 of Nick's boys are out to gun him. At the barber shop across the street from the Montmartre, as Nick's hitmen say they "got something for Nitti," and one reaches into his pocket to pull out an envelope of cash, Nitti's boys gun them down. Nitti figures Nick tried to rub him out. Nitti's plenty sore. Nitti and his boys pay a visit to Nick; Nitti says his trademark words, "You're dead!" Nick says he didn't do it; even Nitti is surprised Nick would pull such a bonehead stunt. Nick says Fershman did it, and gets a 2-hour reprieve to settle the score. Nick goes to the flower shop where Frankie is, and kills the lights. In an eerie scene, in the pitch-black shop, Nick takes some 24-inch garden shears, and says, "I'm gonna cut your heart out, Frank." Fortunately for Fershman, Ness and the Untouchables arrive in time to save him from being chopped up by the garden shears. Unfortunately for Fershman, he decides to shoot it out and gets blasted by Ness and Hobson. Nick Acropolis is taken into custody and charged with income tax evasion. He serves 11 years in prison but wife Stella stands by him and Nick manages to outlive Frank Nitti.

Starring:

Abel Fernandez, Nicholas Georgiade, Paul Picerni, Robert Stack, Steve London, Walter Winchell

Genre:

Action, Crime, Drama