"The Untouchables"
Mexican Stake-Out (1959)

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

Robert C. Dennis (writer)
Oscar Fraley (novel)

TV Series:

"The Untouchables" (1959)

Original Air Date:

26 November 1959 (Season 1, Episode 7)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Eliot Ness is lured south of the border to retrieve a witness who will help his case. Only it's a set-up...once there, the mobster on trial is planning to have Ness killed. |

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Police | Federal Agent | Organized Crime | US Treasury Agents

Cast

Robert Stack	...	Eliot Ness
Martin Landau	...	Jerry Fanning
Vince Edwards	...	Nick Delgado
Jerry Paris	...	Agent Martin Flaherty
Abel Fernandez	...	Agent William Youngfellow
Nicholas Georgiade	...	Agent Enrico Rossi
Steve London	...	Agent Jack Rossman
Byron Foulger	...	Julius Imbry
Ken Lynch	...	Theodore 'Ted' Newberry
Frank Wilcox	...	Beecher Asbury
Barbara Luna	...	Lucita
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.	...	Achilles 'Charlie' Guzman (as Rodolfo Hoyos)
Alex Montoya	...	Maximiliano 'Max' Charcas
Richard Norris	...	Dottweiler
Roy Engel	...	Whelan

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

The Good & The Bad Of 'Mexican Stake-Out'

Justice "is finally about to catch up to racketeer Theordore Newberry, the owner of gambling parlors, speakeasies, and houses of prostitution." However, the key witness against Newberry, despite police protection, vanishes when the crooks come and capture him.

When I look at these old shows, any crime story from movies or TV from the "classic era," I just shake my head at some of the things I see. I wonder if they really were like that back then. For example, everyone handles evidence, messing up fingerprints, etc. Doors are left open everywhere, police beat up all the suspects. In here, "police protection for a key witness against a big mobsters consists of ONE guy outside the door and one inside. When the policeman outside the door is duped and slugged over the head, the witness is abducted. It's that easy! Oh, well.

In good twist, however, it turns out Newberry didn't kidnap the witness and doesn't know who did, but figures "the city hall boys ran him out of town." He doesn't Ness to find him. What to do? Get Ness out of the city so he can find the witness and kill him. He starts with a smear tactic.

Most of the show is centered in Mexico and what happens there with Ness, his partner "Nick Delgado" (played by Vince Edwards of Dr. Ben Casey" fame) ,and the bad guys.

The most interesting character in this episode, by far, was "Jerry Fanning," Newberry's hit man, who is played by well-known screen actor Martin Landau. He was intense all the way.

Despite all of the above, this was too talky and just plain boring in much of it. I only mentioned the high spots and the most intriguing actor (Landau). Some of these shows are a lot slower-moving than I remembered as a kid. Back then, however, most TV shows and movie were that way so we were used to a more leisurely pace. Now, it looks slow compared to what we are used to seeing the last few decades.