Original subtitles

Hey, what is this?

Who are you?

You remember me, drummer boy! Wha...?

I was at Charlie's party last month.

Well, what do you want with me?

Just come along quietly.

What's the charge?

Take your pick: possession of narcotics or murder.

Bill, you stay with the stuff.

We'll come back, pick it up later.

Right.

Tonight's episode...

Starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness.

Costarring Will Kuluva, Conrad Janis,

Eduardo Ciannelli.

With special guest star Henry Silva.

And narrated by Walter Winchell.

In the late spring of 1932, it became evident

through the protests of irate citizens

whose families had become victimized,

that drug addiction in Chicago

was reaching alarming proportions.

Prior to the spring of 1932,

the distribution of narcotics had been a haphazard affair...

A small-time business

in the hands of unorganized small-time thugs.

But under the cunning leadership

of Little Charlie Sabestino,

the narcotics racket had been amalgamated

into one organized empire

with Little Charlie as its emperor.

There was no end to the ingenious methods

which Charlie devised to distribute his dope.

Not even the public parks were overlooked.

Ah.

I was starting to think maybe you wasn't coming.

No. Here.

No.

No, you don't need money tonight.

Not if you give me a little kiss.

Don't come near me...

What are you getting excited about?

All I want is a little kiss. No!

Don't shout! Give me some!

Don't shout!

I'm not good enough for you, huh?

Okay, princess, you can have the junk,

but you're gonna

have to crawl in the dirt for it!

Crawl... Crawl.

Although Eliot Ness had virtually stopped the flow

of narcotics into Chicago,

he had not uncovered the giant horde of dope

which Little Charlie had accumulated

and which was capable

of sustaining his empire indefinitely.

When, uh, the hospital called us

down at the precinct

and said it was an overdose of narcotics,

I thought I'd better let you know.

Thanks, Rawlins.

She's out of the coma, but it still looks bad.

Maybe you better go in alone.

Hello.

Who are you?

I'm a friend.

I'm here to help you.

Now tell me, what can I do to help you?

Help me?

Yes.

Help me.

Tell me what I can do.

I hate him.

Hate him.

Hate him.

Does he give you the drugs?

Do you know his name?

No.

Where do you meet him?

At the park.

Such pretty flowers.

Pretty, pretty flowers.

Which park?

Which park with the pretty flowers?

Williams Street.

He picks rags.

Can't stand him.

It's all right.

I can't stand him... I can't stand him.

I can't...

Lee, get over to the Park Department.

Bring me the files of the men

who clean up the Williams Street Park.

Right.

What are you thinking about?

I'm thinking about pigs.

All sizes of pigs.

The little pigs who hook a girl like that on narcotics

and keep peddling it to her like candy bars,

bleeding the self-respect out of her veins.

And I'm thinking about the one big pig, Sabestino,

who suckles all the little ones.

A fed just took the files of the rag pickers

at the Williams Street Park.

Charlie ain't gonna like that.

He's giving a party tonight.

That's some news to start a party.

The parks have been real good.

Don't I know it.

Carol?

You recognize this man?

No.

This man?

That's all, Carol.

That's all.

This is the man.

What's this all about, Mr. Ness?

It's about a disease.

A disease called Little Charlie Sabestino.

Do we have to sit on the story for a while,

or can we use it now?

She's dead.

Use it now.

Fill 'em in, Rawlins.

Sure.

Lee?

A girl named Carol Royce was found on West Clark Street

in a coma, as a result of an overdose of heroin.

Rico, cover the back.

Right.

Riordan. One-C.

They'll be hearing me clear over

in Milwaukee tonight, Charlie.

You have to go to the powder room, don't you?

How long do I have to go for?

I'll send you a telegram.

I'm sorry, Charlie.

I couldn't stop him.

You got a warrant?

What are you looking for, Ness?

It couldn't be booze,

or he would have brought his hatchet.

Looking for your rag picker, Charlie.

Now, what would a rag picker be doing here?

I see a lot of dirt in this room.

You got warrant to search, you got a warrant to insult?

I got a lot more than a warrant, Charlie.

I got a picture in my head... A picture of a young girl.

19, maybe 20, lying in the County Hospital, dead.

I don't know what you're talking about.

I'm talking about a young girl dead.

Dead from an overdose of narcotics.

That's a sad story about a young girl.

Now, I'm gonna tell you a sad story.

I come from a big family.

I don't know how many of us lived in two rooms.

I never counted.

I used to dream about the time I would have a place of my own,

so I wouldn't have people I didn't like

walk all over where I was living.

I got that place of my own,

and there are still people I don't like

walking where I live.

Ain't that sad?

I'm going to give your story a happy ending, Charlie.

I'm going to send you away

where you can be all by yourself for a long, long time.

Maybe for as long as you live.

He's not here.

Enjoy yourselves.

You heard what the man said...

Enjoy yourselves!

You're reading the wrong place, Frank.

What do you mean?

The headlines just give you the facts.

The editorials tell you

what the public is going to do about the facts.

And they're going to do something

about this narcotics business.

Only I'm going to do something about it first.

Get Sabestino on the phone.

Get your friend Little Charlie on the phone.

Tell him to be here at a meeting tomorrow morning.

What are you waiting for?

I'm trying to remember the number.

State 9150.

Hello?

Charlie there?

No.

Where is he?

Look, how should I know?

I've got a message from Joe Genna.

You'll find him at Main 2690.

♪ You took the part ♪

♪ That once was my heart ♪

♪ So why not take all of me? ♪

Excuse me, Mr. Sabestino.

Telephone for you, sir.

Another girl?

What are you talking?

You know you're the only one tonight.

Charlie Sabestino talking.

Charlie, this is Frank Genna.

Hello, Frank.

Good to hear your voice.

What can I do for you, Frank?

Joe would like you to come to the house tomorrow

for a little talk.

Tomorrow?

Is he there?

Maybe I could talk to him on the phone now.

If he wanted to talk to you on the phone,

he would have called you himself, Charlie.

Well, could he make it some other day?

Tomorrow's my pay day.

It's pretty tough.

I'll let you know.

Good talking to you, Charlie.

All fixed?

Not exactly.

He's busy tomorrow.

His pay day.

He'd like to make it another day.

Is that all he said?

He sends his best to you.

Now I'll send him my best.

Call Howie Dee. Joe...

I asked him to come to a meeting.

I didn't ask him if it was his pay day

or his mother's funeral.

Call Howie Dee.

Hey, Puffy.

Puffy.

Open up, ya bum.

I'd like a drink.

That's against the law.

I don't want to break the law.

Come on, Charlie, get me a drink.

All right, I'll get you a drink.

Hey, Puffy.

Where are you?

Hello, Frank.

I just got home and got the message.

What time is the meeting?

The murder of Puffy Orsel

carried an unmistakable warning from Joe Genna:

"Obey the orders of the council or else."

The next morning, Little Charlie Sabestino

entered the Genna home.

Hello, Charlie.

It's been a long time.

A long time.

That's not my fault, Sylvia.

I can't just come here.

I got to get invited.

You'd be here more often if I did the inviting.

Frank's always wrapped up in work.

I get lonesome, if you know what I mean.

I think I do.

But you don't do the inviting, Sylvia.

Your brother-in-law does it.

Joe doesn't know what to look for in a man.

I do, Charlie.

Easy, baby.

Easy.

Charlie, Charlie, long time no see.

Joe in there?

Everybody's there.

Let's go in.

Sit down, Little Charlie.

Thanks.

Only you're not so little anymore.

Some people you never have to ask how they're doing.

You find out by reading the papers.

And you're doing fine.

You're selling enough dope to one customer to kill her.

And that's just one customer.

It was a mistake.

You bet it was a mistake.

Any publicity is a bad mistake.

I suppose there's never any word

about bootlegging in the papers.

For the time being, Little Charlie,

don't suppose anything, just listen.

We like to see a bright boy come up.

A few of us aren't as young as we'd like to be.

And we're not going to last forever.

We know the value of brains.

We also know the value of experience.

You've got the brains to sit on this council.

The problem is how are we going to make sure

you grow old enough to have the experience.

I say the first step is to get out

of the narcotics business.

Not everybody agrees with me.

My own brother thinks we can grow old

in the narcotics business, don't you, Frank?

You heard me before, Joe.

What do you say, Little Charlie?

What do you say to seven editorials

calling for the extermination of dope at any cost?

What do you say to seven editorials

screaming butchers, barbarians,

hyenas? There's just as much

in the papers against bootlegging, maybe more.

Let me tell you the big difference.

No 19-year-old girl is dying from booze.

The public reads something like this,

and they get the feeling that the next time it may be

their sisters or their brothers

or their sons or their daughters.

It scares them.

And they think it's one group.

One group selling everything:

booze and dope.

What are we going to do?

Take an ad in the morning papers and say

bootlegging and narcotics are two different businesses?

Do you know how much work I put into this?

Don't tell us any stories about hard work.

What stories do you want me to tell?

Do you want me to tell you how much money I stand to lose?!

I'm always interested in money.

But before you tell me,

let me tell you something.

When you get to be my age,

when you get to sit at the head of the council,

then you can raise your voice!

Until then...

you talk soft.

I'm sorry.

Now, tell me about money.

There's a fortune in narcotics.

I pay one man.

The man I buy the stuff from.

That's all.

The people that push it for me, I don't pay them cash.

I give them some of the junk.

In bootlegging, how many do you pay?

You pay for the ingredients.

You pay for the brewmaster.

You pay the manager.

You pay the people who ship it for you...

What has that got to do with what I'm talking about?

What has that got to do with that dead girl?!

It'll blow over, Joe.

My brother says it'll blow over.

Are you giving me a written guarantee

there is not going to be another dead girl

or a dead boy tomorrow?

Got anything to say?

No.

Stand up if you want Little Charlie

to continue to operate.

Three to two.

You're closed.

As of this minute.

You're closed.

Is that all? No, that isn't all.

Believe it or not,

with all the people we got to pay,

we still make money selling booze.

And to make up for what you're going to lose,

we're going to help you to set up an operation of your own.

Thanks.

Don't thank me now.

Thank me 30 years from now

when I am dead and you're alive,

sitting on this this council and alive.

Thank me then.

I can't make it out.

Well, it could be that he's scared.

I'd like to make myself believe that, I don't.

Nobody's peddling narcotics.

That's for sure. Why not?

What's Charlie up to? What?

Let's put some pressure on him and see what happens.

Start tailing him, right on his back.

Let him know you're there.

Wherever he goes, night and day, I want somebody on him.

We'll split it into four six-hour shifts.

Rico, you take the first.

Then Lee...

Nobody's selling it, Charlie.

That's right.

I need it, bad.

A lot of people are gonna need it, Sticks.

But you always helped me before, Charlie.

Even when I didn't have the loot, you helped me.

Put me on to where I can get some.

Please, Charlie.

I can't put you on to anything.

Everything is closed tight.

Tight as your drum... tighter.

What would you do for it, Sticks?

Would you kill?

Would you kill for a big supply?

Yeah... Yeah, I'd kill. Who?

An owl, a wise old owl.

Here's your first payment.

When?

I'll tell you when.

It's going to take a little planning.

I'll let you know when.

He's all yours.

Good shot, Charlie.

Do we have to wait for Joe or can you tell me the setup?

I can tell it to you.

We got you an old bakery warehouse on Hawton Street.

Two top brewmasters.

Joe will handle your distribution in the beginning.

Little by little, you'll be doing it yourself.

How much do I have to cough up for this?

The warehouse, the equipment and the brewmasters

comes to $80,000.

But Joe said if you haven't got it all in one clip,

you can pay it off... it's okay.

I got it.

I'll send my uncle over with the dough.

Your uncle? Salvatore Sabestino.

He knew your old man pretty good.

I think Joe knows him.

He's a retired small-timer.

The brewery will give him something to do.

I'm making him night watchman.

You know.

You cook every night?

A man that eats at home, he's got a home.

A man that eats out, what does he got?

A hotel room.

Joe say anything when you gave him the cash?

$80,000 cash.

Did he say anything?

Not a word.

I ain't seen Joe maybe 25 years.

He's gotten tougher, Charlie.

I turned soft with old age.

He's gotten tougher.

Hey, cut it out!

You're eating the profits!

Give me a pound.

Not the soft junk, firm.

You sure you know what you do, Charlie?

Any little finger that points your way,

and you're dead.

That's why I'm using the drummer.

Any gunman hired anywhere in the country

and the finger could come back to me.

With a hophead drummer,

he's not even a hood, not in a million years.

What makes you so sure?

And since when can you trust a hophead?

Since never.

Only he ain't going to be around to trust.

I get you.

After Joe's... good-bye.

You sure Frank will play ball?

I told you he stood up for me at the council.

60 cents, Salvatore.

40 cents, that's all it's worth.

Choke on the pits!

Go over the plan.

Now, listen.

In five or six days, the brewery will be ready.

The night it opens,

you'll call the feds and they raid it.

Okay, I'm raided.

Joe and Frank come down to see what happened.

Frank feels sorry for me.

But Joe, he's suspicious.

That's his nature.

"My uncle was arrested, Joe.

They put my poor uncle in prison."

That's got to stop him.

He warms up.

We go out a couple of times.

One of those times... the drummer gets him.

I follow you up to the point where Joe warms up.

But what makes you think an old man in stir

is going to melt an iceberg?

I thought of that.

To make sure I'm working that angle from two sides.

Besides you and the raid,

I'm making a little time with Frank's wife.

Joe likes her.

Believe me, she's gonna do

everything she can to have me around.

You've got lit dynamite in both your hands, Charlie.

Be careful.

It's a brewery, all right.

Charlie's set up this whole operation

in the past couple of days, knowing we've been tailing him.

Knowing it!

He's gone crazy.

Like a fox.

This is a little play.

The big play is narcotics.

He's not going to give it up

to become low man on the bootlegging pole.

That's for sure.

Shall we keep this place staked out?

There doesn't seem to be much point to it.

He wanted us to know about it.

All right, we know.

He doesn't mind being tailed.

All right, we'll stop.

We carried the fight to him for a while,

now let him carry the fight to us.

Yeah.

But-But I called him three times, Charlie.

You talk to Ness?

Every time.

I told him just like you said,

"The brewery on Hawton Street is being moved tomorrow.

This is the last night."

It's over three hours since the first call.

Ness is not coming.

He's not coming.

What you going to do?

I'm coming down to the brewery.

I'll smash it myself.

What about Joe?

He wouldn't believe it.

Remember I had to be arrested for Joe to believe it.

I'm coming down.

Joe wouldn't believe it...

How you gonna make Joe believe?

Looks like they stopped calling.

I never thought I'd live to see the day

when I felt a hood was squirming because we didn't raid him.

That's the way I feel right now.

Squirm, Charlie, squirm.

And now, back to...

After he completed the destruction of his brewery,

Little Charlie Sabestino sent for his partners,

Joe and Frank Genna.

What am I going to do? What?

Easy, Charlie, easy.

I was so upset, I just had to talk to somebody.

We understand.

I saw a lot of raids, Charlie.

A lot of raids.

This one looks like an army was in here.

Ever see a raid like this, Frank?

Everything's busted.

In spades.

I never saw the feds put an ax to the machinery.

Never.

Did you ever see them put an ax to machinery, Frank?

I guess there's always a first time.

Yeah... always a first time.

Too bad, Charlie.

This was a nice place.

Yeah.

You'll be back in action soon.

Sure.

How did you break the padlock on the door?

The padlock?

They always put a padlock on the front door after a raid.

There wasn't any padlock.

No padlock?

Ever see a raid

when they didn't put a padlock

on the front door, Frank?

Even at night,

when they ax the machinery for the first time,

they would put a padlock on the door.

Wouldn't they, Frank?

I guess so.

I guess so, too.

How come there was no padlock, Charlie?

How come?

I think I know why.

Good.

I'd like to hear.

There was some shooting.

My uncle shot it out with them.

He was hit

and he dragged himself down here.

They probably thought he got away

and they went after him.

In their rush, they did not padlock.

Where is your wounded uncle, Charlie?

For Eliot Ness, it was a long and sleepless night.

By daybreak, he could no longer control his curiosity.

Ness knew his refusal to raid Little Charlie's brewery

would create a crisis,

but he was hardly prepared

for the way Little Charlie had handled it.

You mean he smashed up his own brewery?

That's right.

When we didn't oblige him, he did it himself.

He wanted a raid and he wanted it last night.

Yeah, but for whose benefit?

The same "who" who benefits from whatever he does.

Little Charlie Sabestino.

Smashing up his own place.

I'm stuck.

We're all going to be stuck, Rico.

Right on Little Charlie's tail.

Only this time, I don't want him to know we're on him.

Keep your eyes open.

I want to know who he talks to and where he goes.

Every night, we'll meet back here

and try to put the pieces together.

Eliot...

did Charlie do a good job on the brewery?

A beauty.

A beauty.

Joe keeps slapping me in the face.

He didn't even show up at my uncle's funeral.

Does your cheek hurt where he slapped you?

No, Sylvia, it's no good.

If Joe's gonna give me the business,

you and me are gonna have a rough time.

What's Joe got to do with us?

Plenty. Look...

If I'm a friend when I come to the house, no sweat.

But if I'm poison to Joe...

well, you figure it out.

What do you want, Charlie?

I want to be like one of the family.

Aren't you already?

With Joe, too.

All right, Charlie.

I'll make you one of the family.

I'll make you anything you want.

Baby, believe me, life will be good.

Life will be so good.

It's up to you.

We're going to the races on Saturday.

Why don't you just happen to show up?

Well, that's a start.

And, at 5:30, he saw the drummer again.

There's the third time this week.

Rico, you can stop following Sylvia Genna

and get on the drummer for a while.

Okay. What else, Lee?

At 7:30, he went to the Turkish bath,

the one on Ribner Street.

Move that dog! Move it!

What to you got that whip for, decoration?

He never went to the whip.

I didn't know you were going to the track today.

All of a sudden, I got the urge.

The horses are approaching the starting gate.

Check in with Eliot, tell him they're both here.

I'll keep an eye on them.

Right.

It's Charlie.

It figures.

I've had four straight losers.

It figures he'd show up.

Be nice, Joe.

Hello, Sylvia, Frank.

Hello, Joe.

How you doing?

I'm doing great.

Only my horses aren't doing so good.

How are you doing, Charlie?

I've hit two straight. Maybe I'll change your luck.

They're off!

At the break, it's Royalty Line, Song Man,

Sudden Riches, Jim Jam.

Into the turn, it's Jim Jam going for the lead.

It's now Jim Jam, Royalty Line, Dream Prince by two.

Turning for home it's Dream Prince a length,

then Tantalizing.

Into the stretch, it's Dream Prince a half,

Enchantment, and Jim Jam.

Come on, come on!

Dream Prince and Enchantment.

Dream Prince and Enchantment.

He's quitting. He's quitting.

At the finish line, it's Dream Prince!

Four to five and he quit.

A lousy 11-to-one shot beat him.

Show me where that dog figured.

Where?

I had some word, Joe.

Here, I hope it gets you out.

I hope that it gets everybody out.

How come you didn't say anything before we bet?

Well, let's face it, we don't get along so good as it is.

I didn't want to give you a loser to boot,

so I made the play for you.

If the horse lost,

I'd have eaten the tickets.

20-four-90.

Why, that's, that's over $6,200.

What are we waiting for?

Let's cash 'em!

Charlie, have you got any more "words"?

$6,225!

Joe!

Joe! Joe!

Joe! Joe!

Call a doctor... Call a doctor!

I'll go.

Little Charlie Sabestino was no gambler.

He had put 15 $100 tickets on every horse in the race.

His $9,000 investment had made every horse a winner.

The only loser... Joe Genna.

The rendezvous between Little Charlie and Sticks

for the payoff to Sticks

was set at a tenement apartment on Chicago's West Side.

It was in this shabby room

that Little Charlie Sabestino's huge supply of narcotics

was stockpiled.

When the news of Joe Genna's assassination

reached Eliot Ness,

the puzzling pieces of Little Charlie's recent activities

started to fit together.

Ness realized it must have been Genna and the council

that stopped Charlie's traffic in narcotics...

Stopped it cold...

And Charlie's first step in starting again

was to stop Genna cold.

The drummer's in this tenement, on the fourth floor.

I want him alive.

This is a murder charge we can hang on Charlie,

a murder charge he won't be able to shake.

Hey, what is this? Who are you?

You remember me, drummer boy.

I was at Charlie's party last month.

Well, what do you want with me?

Just come along quietly.

What's the charge?

Take your pick: possession of narcotics or murder.

Bill, you stay with the stuff.

We'll come back, pick it up later.

Right.

Eliot!

There goes an airtight case against Charlie.

Airtight... dead.

Maybe we can still use him... against Charlie.

When Little Charlie arrived for his rendezvous with Sticks,

he realized that his horde of narcotics

had been discovered and seized,

but he had no ideas as to the fate of Sticks.

Perhaps Sticks had escaped, perhaps not.

Until Charlie knew, he wasn't safe,

not safe from Ness or the council.

The night the girl died in the hospital,

your headlines and editorials were instrumental

in forcing the underworld to clamp down on narcotics.

Today, Joe Genna, the man responsible

for closing down the rackets, was murdered.

I assume it was to break the lid wide open.

I want you to help me keep it shut.

For six hours, Little Charlie waited in a movie theater,

and when he came out,

the news he had waited for was in the papers.

Despite the severe financial loss incurred

by the loss of his narcotics,

the day's accounting was in Little Charlie's favor.

Joe Genna was dead,

and even though Little Charlie had not been able

to pay off Sticks personally,

the payoff had been accomplished anyway,

exactly as Little Charlie had planned.

Whoever it was,

we'll get him, I promise you.

I've been going over it in my mind... over and over.

I don't like to talk business on a grave, Frank... a fresh grave...

But I'm due to put money down on another brewery soon

and I wanted to know

whether or not there's gonna

to be a review of Joe's policies...

now that you're in charge.

Like I said, Frank...

it's terrible to talk business

on the grave of a brother, but I have to.

I am almost flat busted.

If I'm going back into action, I'm gonna need money.

I'm going to need partners.

I suppose there should be a meeting of the council.

Only if you think there should be, Frank.

Yeah, I do.

How about tonight, 8:00?

It doesn't have to be tonight, Frank.

Why not?

The living have to go on living, Charlie.

At 8:00 sharp,

Little Charlie arrived for the council meeting,

confident that his new partner, Frank Genna,

would guarantee his reinstatement

as emperor of the narcotics racket.

Sylvia.

Hello, Charlie.

Are they in there?

Frank said you should go right in.

Even in a mourning dress, you're something.

Good evening, Frank.

Sit down, Charlie.

You told us you weren't pushing

the stuff anymore, Charlie.

How come this one got the stuff?

How come this one died?!

You lied to us, Charlie.

You lied to the council.

What are you talking about?

I'm talking about dope!

I'm talking about the law of the council.

You don't answer my questions, Charlie.

Haven't you got any answers?

Now, wait a minute...

You know the penalty for defying the law of the council.

What are you trying to pull here?

This is a vote, Charlie.

A vote?

Sit down, Charlie.

Sit down.

What have you got to say, Charlie?

Before we vote, what have you got to say?

You killed him.

You killed your own brother!

Don't you see?

He knew I was planning it all the time.

He used me to kill Joe.

He used me!

Are you telling us that you killed my brother?!

Don't play innocent with me, Frank.

You know I killed him.

You knew I would and you let me.

You let me do your dirty work

because you wanted to sit there.

You let me because you wanted him dead.

The council will vote.

Wait... You don't know what you're doing.

You don't know what you're doing.

He planned it... From the beginning,

Frank planned it!

You killed your brother.

Cain! Cain!

You killed your brother.

Charlie, what happened?

What happened?

I think I'll grab some lunch.

Yes.

What?

Police Headquarters.

They just found Charlie... dead.

Okay, thanks.

Can you beat that?

Can you beat that?

They sure put the pressure on him, all right.

More than I thought.

Well, what are we waiting for?

Maybe we can all eat together, for a change.