"The Untouchables"
The Jake Lingle Killing (1959)

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"The Untouchables" (1959)

Original Air Date:

29 October 1959 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

A newspaperman is murdered for double-crossing some mobsters. So a reward-seeking ex-con decides to work with Ness and find the killer. |

Plot Keywords:

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

Cast

Robert Stack	...	Eliot Ness
Charles McGraw	...	Barney 'Bugs' Birch
Jack Lord	...	Bill Hagen
Jerry Paris	...	Agent Martin Flaherty
Phillip Pine	...	Jack Zuta
John Beradino	...	Angie Viale
Herb Vigran	...	Jake Lingle
H.M. Wynant	...	Joe Aiello
Frank Wilcox	...	Beecher Asbury
Chuck Hicks	...	LaMarr Kane
Steve London	...	Agent Jack Rossman
Walter Winchell	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steve Gravers	...	Birch Henchman (unconfirmed)
Charles Tannen	...	Reporter on Telephone (unconfirmed)
Harry Wilson	...	Jazzbox Patron (unconfirmed)

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

Great List Of Guest Stars, But Needed More Zip

Walter Winchell sets this episode up right in the beginning with a narration that explains that "Geographically, Chicago always had its North and South side. In the early 1930s these terms had a very special significance. They referred to the territories of rival gangs......the line of demarcation was never clearly drawn and territories overlapped and were often in dispute. The result: gang wars."

After the last one, a newspaper writer, Jake Lingle, gives the details of it and is shot the next day. It is first time that the mob has killed a reporter, and the public is furious. This then, is the story of what happened afterward.

Jack Lord (Hawaii Five-O), Charles McGraw and John Beradino, three famous actors of the 1950s and 1960s (McGraw goes back to the film noirs of the late '40s) are guest star in this episode. None of them play "good guys." although Lord's character proves otherwise in some respects. He's the most interesting of the people in here as the double-dealing "Hagen," who winds up working for Ness but not liking it.

It turns out the newspaper guy who was killed wasn't on the up-and-up, either, but Ness and boys race for time before the public hears about that, hoping to capitalize on the furor of the murder.

Overall, an episode that should have been better considering the premise and the interesting guest stars. It's main fault: too talky.