The Unhired Assassin: Part 1 (25 Feb. 1960)

While a crazed derelict in Florida is obsessed with assassinating President Roosevelt, Capone's mob is planning to take over the Chicago World's Fair by killing the mayor.

Director:

Howard W. Koch

Writer:

William Spier

Stars:

Robert Stack, Bruce Gordon, Joe Mantell

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Stack	...	Eliot Ness
Bruce Gordon	...	Frank Nitti
Joe Mantell	...	Giuseppe 'Joe' Zangara
Claude Akins	...	Jake 'Dodo' Ryan
Robert Middleton	...	Mayor Anton J. Cermak
Nicholas Georgiade	...	Agent Enrico Rossi
Abel Fernandez	...	Agent William Youngfellow
Steve London	...	Agent Jack Rossman
Anthony George	...	Agent Cam Allison
Frank DeKova	...	Louis Campagne
Lee Van Cleef	...	Frank Diamond
Richard Deacon	...	Bill Skidmore
Frankie Darro	...	News Vendor
George N. Neise	...	Ira Peterson (as George Neise)
Barry Russo	...	Milwaukee Minelli (as John Duke)

Storyline

Major changes are on their way, including the end of Prohibition, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected President in the fall of 1932. The Chicago mob, led by Frank Nitti, is out to get control of the upcoming Chicago World's Fair with it's lucrative concessions and other revenue streams. When they are unable to bribe the mayor, Anton J. Cermak, they decide to track his movements and assassinate him. They know he goes to same coffee shop every day at the same time so that becomes the obvious site for the hit. When Eliot Ness learns of the their plans, he races to save the Mayor. In Florida meanwhile, a mentally disturbed man, Giuseppe 'Joe' Zangara, decides to assassinate the President-elect.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 1960 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions, Langford Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Shooting a mayor

This is the first of a two part Untouchables story where Robert Stack and his picked crew of incorruptible federal agents get involved in protecting the Mayor of Chicago one Anton J. Cermak elected in 1931 against the Capone mob's friend in City Hall William H. Thompson. That was a seminal election in Chicago's history, Democrat Cermak defeating Thompson, no Republican has won since.

Organized crime had a friend in Thompson, not that Cermak was anything like a boy scout, but Thompson was once chosen as the worst big city mayor by a poll of urban historians. Hard to argue with that. And the mob missed the friendly back door to Chicago's City Hall they once had.

It's another one of those historical legends that the real intended target in Miami was Cermak instead of President-elect Roosevelt. This episode takes no position on that, this is just The Untouchables on another case.

Robert Middleton fits my conception of Cermak from all I've read about him. On a parallel track in the plot we see Giuseppe Zangara, Italian immigrant and anarchist, an angry man with stomach problems and Joe Mantell fits what I've read of Zangara. It was true he had originally planned to kill Herbert Hoover, but as a passerby told him on Election Day Night, the Democrats did it for him. After that he sets his deranged sights on FDR.

The two parts were later released as a film for the big screen entitled Gun Of Zangara.