S&W and "The Untouchables"

[paltik]

colt revolver

during the recruitment phase of the movie, Andy garcia was shooting a colt police positive revolver; a nice touch there... but his shooting style was very very advance for the era=)

I know this is the S&W forums, but a classic police revolver of that vintage which was giving S&W a run for their money (may have even been ahead of S&W at that time) was the Colt Police Positive. That would have been an appropriate equipment for someone, too.

 

[kscardsfan]

I know this is the S&W forums, but a classic police revolver of that vintage which was giving S&W a run for their money (may have even been ahead of S&W at that time) was the Colt Police Positive. That would have been an appropriate equipment for someone, too.

The scene at the end of the movie where Frank Nitti is trying to escape down a rope and Ness decides not to shoot him he is holding a Colt Police positive (or so it appears).

 

[Gary7]

The scene at the end of the movie where Frank Nitti is trying to escape down a rope and Ness decides not to shoot him he is holding a Colt Police positive (or so it appears).

It was. Ness got it from the police officer who dropped it when Nitti shot him in the courthouse.

 

[Stu454]

Agreed on giving the armorors some credit.

 

[Gary7]

Agreed on giving the armorors some credit.

I just don't understand the use of Star 1911 clones. I mean it's not like correct (real) Colt 1911s weren't available when that movie was made.

 

[Jack Flash]

Agreed on giving the armorors some credit.

I just don't understand the use of Star 1911 clones. I mean it's not like correct (real) Colt 1911s weren't available when that movie was made.

I agree too about giving some credit to the Prop Man. The only movie I can remember seeing this done was Thief by Michael Mann, who must have been gun-savvy since he armed Crockett with a Bren Ten in the tv series Miami Vice.

As for using 1911 clones:
Who knows? Maybe the studio was offered a great deal by a big importer who bought in quantity.

 

[Stu454]

Mann sent James Caan to Gunsite; which is why he looks like he knows what he's doing with the 1911.

 

[twaits]

That isn't a Hi-Power. It's a Star 1911 clone:

Yes indeed. A Star model B. The actor that plays Frank Nitti also carries one in the move in the courtroom/rooftop scenes.
"I gotta perMIT for that..."

 

[danski]

Prop men and armorers usually know their stuff but they also have a responsibility to the producers regarding cost and knowing from the script really how very centrally important it is to have the absolute most correct firearm. As for the Star 1911, most of which are in 9 mm, they are used
in many films because of their reliability and also because they can be rented cheaply.

Michael Mann, for instance, is a gun savvy director/producer and he did his best to get things as right as he could for "Public Enemies," "Collateral" and "Thief" as well as "Last of the Mohicans."

Really, from start to finish "The Untouchables" is pure fiction with only a few, very few, facts/truths portrayed. The writer, Chicago playwright David Mamet, had a ball.

Now, regarding the beginning of this thread with Andy Garcia and the
"modern" Model 10--yet the prop men did see to it that in the scene with
Sean Connery supposedly shooting a bootlegger through the mouth, he had a pre-war M&P with the telltale long hammer. How about praising that.

And did you really care that when Costner visited Connery at his house that Connery's collar was sometimes open and sometimes buttoned within moments of the back and forth dialog?

Since Nitti was portrayed as just a hit man thrown off the Cultural Center roof in Chicago, did you really care that he also took over the Outfit in the
1930s after Capone went to prison for tax evasion?

Hey, it's entertainment!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[2152hq]

The Star automatics are often used as stand-ins for Colt 1911's because they can be made to function with blank ammunition quite easily compared to the Colts. The difference is in the extractor.

 

[gerald mcdonald]

Star may be as period correct as a Colt for the time frame. I think they started producing a Colt similar gun in 1920.

 

[Jack Flash]

Mann sent James Caan to Gunsite; which is why he looks like he knows what he's doing with the 1911.

Great information! Makes sense that he is armed with a tricked out 1911.

I thought that it looked like Caan must have had some training for the movie. Little things like how he never crosses his feet when he is searching, gun drawn, through the gangster's house.

 

[sigp220.45]

"How do you get those movie stills to post?

GF "

This site has lots of photos, some good info, and plenty of errors, too.



Untouchables, The (1987) - imfdb :. guns in movies :. movie guns :. the internet movie firearms database

 

[Gary7]

"How do you get those movie stills to post?

GF "

This site has lots of photos, some good info, and plenty of errors, too.



Untouchables, The (1987) - imfdb :. guns in movies :. movie guns :. the internet movie firearms database

That's where I lifted the screen caps from. And I agree, there is A LOT of erroneous info on that site.

I was going to do the screen caps myself but I realized my copy of The Untouchables is Blu-Ray and the drive on my computer is DVD only.

 

[2152hq]

There are a couple of Star semiauto models that were around at that time that would fit in.

The Star M1920 is easily distinguished from a Colt because of it's slide mounted safety on the left side. Low production, not many around.

The Models 1921 and 1922 could easily pass for a 1911Colt in a movie shot, the larger rear sight and it's slide cut mounting being the easiest giveaway.
Most all the Model 20,21,22 production was for the military there but a few commercial models were made.

M1921 had a grip safety, removed from the M1922.

The common Model A has been around since 1922, it was a commercial version of the M1922.
The first Model A pistols had a large tangent type adjustable rear site.

The Colt style grip strap and a small rear site were added to the Model A in the early 30's and though a few more small changes were made, it's escentially the same pistol the Spanish Govt adopted in 1940. The commonly seen Star Model A (9mmLargo) and a bit later the same gun in 9mmLuger, Model B.

 

[twaits]

That's where I lifted the screen caps from. And I agree, there is A LOT of erroneous info on that site.

I was going to do the screen caps myself but I realized my copy of The Untouchables is Blu-Ray and the drive on my computer is DVD only.

There's also a lot of argumentative people on there when you challenge what they post!

 

[SPEEDGUNNER]

I think the Hi-Power back on Page 1 with the "Commander style bobbed hammer" may actually be an Inglis...

 

[Gary7]

I think the Hi-Power back on Page 1 with the "Commander style bobbed hammer" may actually be an Inglis...

Could be. But given that the character of Indiana Jones traveled all over the world, it's not improbable that he picked up a FN Hi-Power somewhere along the way.

 

[kwbikr]

Stone aiming at the bad guy...

I'm impressed that he's taking aim in DA rather than with an SA hold...

 

[shawn mccarver]

I watched "The Untouchables" this afternoon. Here's a screen shot from the shoot-out scene at the train station. This is where Stone is taking a bead with his S&W 38 Special as he aims at the bad guy who's holding a gun to the Bookkeeper's head. Notice anything wrong?

I have not read the entire thread yet, but my guess is that you are referring to the fact that the Model 10 in question had not yet been built at the time of the events portrayed. The Model 10 looks like a much newer version than would have been available in the 1920s or 1930s.