The Real Untouchables (TV 2001)

The three-part documentary examines Eliot Ness, Melvin Purvis and Thomas Dewey: three real-life heroes who battled organized crime between the two world wars.

Director:

John Fothergill

Writer:

Steve Longmuir

Stars:

James Woods, Bob Kaliebe, Dominic Capone

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Woods	...	Himself - Narrator
Bob Kaliebe	...	Eliot Ness
Dominic Capone	...	Al Capone
Tom Clarke Hill	...	Eliot Ness / Melvin Purvis (voice) (as Tom Clarke-Hill)
Douglas Weidner	...	Melvin Purvis (as D. Douglas Weidner)
Michael Dailey	...	John Dillinger
Todd Milliner	...	Thomas Dewey
David Viggiano	...	Charles Luciano
Paul Heimel	...	Himself - Author
Kathleen L. Kiernan	...	Herself - Special Agent in Charge
Laurence Bergreen	...	Himself - Author
Walter Trohan	...	Himself - Crime Reporter
Tony Berardi	...	Himself - News Photographer
George E.Q. Johnson	...	Himself - George Johnson's Son
Fred Anderson	...	Himself - Eliot Ness's Friend

Storyline

Three real-life heroes, who battled organized crime between the two world wars, are the subject of this three-part documentary, complete with interviews and reenactments. Part one looks at Eliot Ness, the incorruptible Prohibition agent who worked to bring down Al Capone but remained obscure until Ness's memoir became the basis for a popular TV series, which inflated his role in bringing down the Chicago mobster. Part two examines Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent whose tireless efforts to capture John Dillinger ended in front of the Biograph theater in Chicago. Acclaim for Purvis faded as the jealous J. Edgar Hoover did what he could to erase the agent from public memory. Part three chronicles the career of Thomas Dewey, best known now as the Presidential candidate who lost to the dark horse, Harry Truman. But Dewey's great accomplishment was as the New York district attorney who brought down the Sicilian mobster, Lucky Luciano, by successfully prosecuting him for heading a prostitution ...

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Plot Keywords:

organized crime | mobster | memoir | sicilian | fbi | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 2001 (USA)

Filming Locations:

South Side, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

£75,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
[segment: "Eliot Ness"]
Narrator: He was the first untouchable, the Prohibition agent who cleaned up Chicago and brought down Al Capone. He became a legend. But does he owe his name to history or Hollywood? Who was the real Eliot Ness?

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Connections

References Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

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