The Untouchables Analysis

The Untouchables directed by Brian De Palma was released in 1987. During prohibition Eliot Ness and his band of untouchable US Treasury Department agents were waging war on violators of prohibition law. President Herbert Hoover directed the Treasury Department to end the reign of Chicago crime boss Alphonse Capone. Ness, played by Kevin Costner and his agents were effectively given free access to Chicago in order the bring Al Capone (Robert De Niro) to justice.
Al Capone was the stereotypical mob boss we envision in the 1930s. Larger than life and giving the appearance of living above the law, Capone ruled the Chicago underworld. Engaging in unlawful activities as bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, and racketeering, Capone also was known
for generosity. Viewed by many Chicago residents as a modern day Robin Hood, he always made contributions to charities and helped many underprivileged.
Capone was prone to extreme violence shown when Ness raids a post office store room where bootleg liquor is stored, the police knew where the liquor was but refused to disturb the stash to not provoke Capone. Capone later beat the man in charge of the store room to death with a baseball bat. The intentional non-discovery of the illegal alcohol reinforces the notions of law enforcement and Chicago government was under Capone’s control. St Valentine’s Day 1929 several members of rival crime boss George “Bugs” Moran’s organization were gunned down by men dressed as police officers. This was attributed to Al Capone which the media gave him the moniker of Public Enemy No.1.
Eliot Ness failed several time to end the reign by destroying illegal liquor, raiding houses of ill repute among other endeavors believed to be Capone enterprises.
These failures convinced Ness to change his tactics. Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery) was an un-corruptible Chicago beat cop who joined Ness and his Treasury agents. The views of Malone had big impact on the Ness operations. Ness was convinced to be as ruthless as the gangsters were, when Malone says “He pulls a knife, you pull a gun, He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That’s the Chicago way, and that’s how you will get Capone”. No longer utilizing the corrupt Chicago law enforcement, Ness began operating as a gang would but just within the law, many time bending it
severely.
Even though the efforts of Ness were damaging Capone, the Untouchables were unable to dethrone Capone until Jimmy Malone captures a book keeper but could not convince him to talk. Malone props up a dead thug and shoots the corpse in the mouth. This action convinced the book keeper to cooperate. The efforts of Ness and his Untouchables have yet to succeed gathering enough evidence for the District Attorney to file charges against Capone. This only reinforced the notion that Capone was above the law and could not be stopped. Convincing the District Attorney to delay dropping the charges a subpoena was issued for Walter Payne (Jack Kehoe), Capone’s book keeper. This action prompted Capone to get Payne out of town. This resulted in a shootout in Union Station where Ness and his team had been waiting. One of Capone’s men known as the Bowtie Man used Payne as a human shield until Stone (Andy Garcia) shoots the Bow Tie man in the mouth.
Walter Payne offers his full gratitude for the action of stone which most likely saved his life and gives his complete cooperation the investigation.
Capone stood trial for income tax evasion thanks to the book keeper’s information. During the trial Ness presents the judge with a list of jurors who have been paid by Capone, but the evidence was refused by the judge. Ness convinces the judge to believe his name was in the book keeper ledger exposing his own corruption. The judge then orders the jury to be changed with the one in the next courtroom prompting Capone’s lawyer to change the plea from not guilty to guilty before the trial started. Capone was sentenced to 11 years in
prison.
The Untouchables was most likely bases on actual events but was mostly entertainment license. Alphonse Capone was released from prison six and a half years into his sentence. Al Capone died in 1947 while living in Miami. (Staff, 2009)