The Untouchables

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jrm53

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We get Decades tv channel off our antenna and they have run the Untouchables all day yesterday and today. I had forgotten how great a series that show was with Robert Stack as Elliot Ness, after seeing the junk on network tv today you can really appreciate this show from 1960. It had every thing from action to great automobiles to machine guns and S&W revolvers and Colts plus they had Walter Winchell narrating. A great well done series. Jeff
 
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Usually catch it on ME-TV late. Recall watching it with my folks when I was a kid. Good acting and enjoy seeing all the actors from way back. TV was great back then and a series lasted many seasons unlike some of the junk today.
 
Guest start list......

The guest start list is amazing.

Luther Adler in S2E3 "Nicky", S2E22 "Murder Under Glass", S3E17 "Takeover"
Richard Anderson in S1E28 "The Frank Nitti Story"
Michael Ansara in S2E3 "Nicky" and S2E16 "The Jamaica Ginger Story"
Edward Asner as Frank in two episodes, S4E8 "Elegy", S4E13 "Search for A Dead Man", also S3E16 "The Death Tree", S4E1 "The Night They Shot Santa Claus"
Jim Backus in S1E15 "Star Witness"
Martin Balsam in S3E3 "Tunnel of Horrors", S3E21 "Man in the Middle"
William Bendix in S1E9 "The Tri State Gang"
Whit Bissell in S1E11 "You Can't Pick the Number"
Joan Blondell in S2E18 "The Underground Court"
Charles Bronson in S3E16 "The Death Tree"
Victor Buono as Melanthos Moon in S2E25 "Mr. Moon" and as Parnise Surigao in S3E13 "The Gang War"
James Caan in S4E10 "A Fist of Five"
Anthony Caruso in S1E13 "Syndicate Sanctuary"
Phyllis Coates in S1E5 "Ain't We Got Fun", S1E28 "The Frank Nitti Story", and S4E10 "A Fist of Five"
James Coburn in S2E16 "The Jamaica Ginger Story"
Mike Connors in S4E7 "The Eddie O'Gara Story"
Richard Conte in S2E15 "The Organization", S4E3 "The Chess Game"
Robert Duvall in S4E17 "Blues for a Gone Goose"
Peter Falk in S1E26 "The Underworld Bank", as Nate Selko in S3E1 "The Troubleshooter"
Betty Field in S1E22 The White Slavers
Louise Fletcher in S1E2 "Ma Barker and Her Boys" as a girlfriend to one of Ma's boys
Anne Francis in S1E24 "The Doreen Maney Story"
Harry Guardino in S1E17 "One-Armed Bandits", S2E19 "The Nick Moses Story", S3E25 "The Contract"
Connie Hines in S1E24 "The Doreen Maney Story"
Brian Keith in S2E16 "The Jamaica Ginger Story"
George Kennedy as 'Birdie' the mute in S2E30 "The King of Champagne"
Jack Klugman in S3E6 "Loophole", S4E19 "An Eye for an Eye"
Gail Kobe in S1E13 "Syndicate Sanctuary", S4E28 "The Torpedo"
Martin Landau in S1E7 "Mexican Stake-Out", S3E6 "Loophole"
Cloris Leachman in S3E7 "Jigsaw", S3E21 "Man in the Middle"
Jack Lord in S1E3 "The Jake Lingle Killing"
Joe Mantell as George Ricci (Brandy LaFrance's husband) in the 2 hour pilot, and as Giuseppe Zangara in S1E20 "The Unhired Assassin" part 1, & S1E21 "The Unhired Assassin" part 2
Lee Marvin in S2E31 "The Nick Acropolis Story", S3E19 "Element of Danger", S4E10 "A Fist of Five"
Elizabeth Montgomery as Rusty Heller (received an Emmy Award nomination, 1960) S2E1 "The Rusty Heller Story"
Harry Morgan as Bugs Moran in S4E12 "Doublecross"
Vic Morrow in S2E11 "The Tommy Karpeles Story", S3E20 "The Maggie Storm Story"
J. Carrol Naish in S1E14 "The Noise of Death"
Patricia Neal in S3E20 "The Maggie Storm Story"
Leslie Nielsen in S1E23 "Three Thousand Suspects"
Leonard Nimoy in S3E17 "Takeover"
Warren Oates in S3E26 "Pressure"
Carroll O'Connor in S3E2 "Power Play", S4E6 "Bird in the Hand"
Susan Oliver in S2E15 "The Organization"
Nehemiah Persoff as Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik in three episodes, S1E1 "The Empty Chair", S2E29 "The Seventh Vote", S4E12 "Doublecross", also S1E27 "Head of Fire- Feet of Clay", S2E4 "The Waxey Gordon Story", S3E18 "The Stryker Brothers"
Robert Redford in S4E15 "Snowball"
Madlyn Rhue in S1E27 "Head of Fire- Feet of Clay", S2E11 "The Tommy Karpeles Story"
Cliff Robertson in S1E12 "The Underground Railway"
Telly Savalas in S2E20 "The Antidote", S3E5 "The Matt Bass Scheme", S4E14 "The Speculator"
Henry Silva as Little Charlie Sebastino in two episodes, S1E14 "The Noise of Death", S2E5 "The Mark of Cain", also S3E15 "The Whitey Steele Story"
Barbara Stanwyck as Lt. Agatha Stewart in S4E8 "Elegy", S4E13 "Search for a Dead Man"
Rip Torn as aka "Pittsburgh Phil" in S2E14 "The Masterpiece", S4E23 "The Spoiler"
Claire Trevor as Ma Barker in S1E2 "Ma Barker and her Boys"
Lee Van Cleef in S1E20 & E21 "The Unhired Assassin" part 1 & 2
Jack Warden in S1E3 "The George 'Bugs' Moran Story", S1E27 "Head of Fire-Feet of Clay", S2E10 "The Otto Frick Story"
David White in S1E10 "The Dutch Schultz Story", and S2E1 "The Rusty Heller Story", in the latter, co-starring with his future Bewitched co-star Elizabeth Montgomery

I also remember that every story had to have a 'dame' or a 'gun moll' that was pretty hot. In the Pilot Barbara Nichols did a pretty good 'boom boom' to 'Ain't Misbehavin'.

Kudos also go to Neville Brand who played Capone in the pilot..... Top Flight job.
 
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jrm53 said:
We get Decades tv channel off our antenna and they have run the Untouchables all day yesterday and today. I had forgotten how great a series that show was with Robert Stack as Elliot Ness, after seeing the junk on network tv today you can really appreciate this show from 1960. It had every thing from action to great automobiles to machine guns and S&W revolvers and Colts plus they had Walter Winchell narrating. A great well done series. Jeff
Click to expand...

The production values on some of those classic 60s shows like The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, and Gunsmoke (in black and white) were ahead of their time, in my opinion. Although most of them used simple camera setups and were only allocated a short time for shooting, they seemed to just work, you know? Plus, they didn't spend a lot of time on editing and other post-production work.

They provided a quality viewing experience on a fairly consistent basis...and they did it without a lot of violence, sex, and special effects.

I miss seeing a lot of them.
 
The UNTOUCHABLES was certainly one of the best; every Thursday at (I think) 9 PM Central Time. As for an impressive list of guest stars, however, UNTOUCHABLES had nothing on many other shows of the '50s and '60s. One not mentioned was The FUGITIVE; a fine show made even better with the many noteworthy guest cast members.
 
Neville Brand: The Forgotten Al Capone in "The Untouchables"

Neville Brand's portrayal of Capone has almost faded from memory when compared to more recent portrayals...De Niro in the film version of The Untouchables, and Steven Graham in HBO's series, Boardwalk Empire.

Far as I'm concerned, Graham leaves De Niro's portrayal in the dust.

I think Brand broke new ground with his take on Capone, even though he looked absolutely nothing like the man.

Brand, by the way, was a much decorated WWII veteran, having been awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart, just to mention a couple.

Some people may remember him as the sympathetic prison guard in Birdman of Alcatraz.
 
I bought the DVDs as they came out, and eventually aquired all of the "Untouchables" series on disk. It took severL years before the entire series was released.

Here is a photo of the series...still available for about $100....

A1PfSsPOYkL._SL1500_.jpg


This was my favorite series when I was a kid, and I eagerly waited for each new episode to come out. I think that watching this series as a young, impressionable kid may have ultimately inspired me to go into law enforcement.

Of course, as an adult, I realized that Ness and his crew didn't single-handedly arrest every bad guy back In the day, but that hasn't dimmed my enthusiasm for the series!!

Best Regards, Les
 
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As I recall Desi Arnez played with Capones son growing up in Cuba. The network took a lot of heat for their portrayal of Italian Americans.
 
"Reco, YoungBlood, arrest him and take him in. Find out where I can get these vintage reruns."

I can get The Twilight Zone on my dish but not the Untouchables. That is a great show although I hate to see all that beer and whiskey get wasted.
 
in my area they are no longer showing the Untouchables in the morning. it was a heck of a lot better than any tv show that has played since then. even sgt. Shultz was in one of the episodes
 
ME tv has been showing 1 to 3 episodes of mid 60s “ The Saint “ weekdays . They are set in various countries and cities around the world so it is like a travelogue with period cars from each nation.

I was hooked when I was a kid and I’m hooked again.
 
The series was filmed at the DESILU studios and I seem to remember it on ABC but at the end of each show CBS comes up. The "Rusty Heller story" very good, saw the one with Neville Brand as Capone, Brand was believable. Jeff
 
Never missed an episode myself! I do have the entire series on DVD. :cool:
Always liked the lead in music and the narrative done by Walter Winchell.;)
Sad to say that the real Elliot Ness died penniless in Potter County Pennsylvania and was buried in Cleveland Ohio.
 
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