Original subtitles

I'm not paying you a dollar more than $25,000.

This job I'm going to do for nothing.

For nothing?

You know, I've gotten 89 guys, Meyer.

That's a lot of hits.

And some, let me tell you, were beautiful hits.

But this one... this one is my masterpiece.

I get the gunsmith

right under Ness's federal nose.

Tonight's episode...

Starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness.

Costarring Robert Middleton,

George Voskovec, and Bruce Gordon.

With special guest star, Rip Torn.

And narrated by Walter Winchell.

With the conviction and jailing of Al Capone,

the richest plum of the Capone empire,

the operation of the speakeasies and the breweries

in the heart of Chicago was split into two parts.

The speakeasies were acquired by Meyer Wartel.

Wartel was a Capone lieutenant.

Distinguishing characteristics: killer...

and hypochondriac.

Cover your nose when you sneeze, you slob.

The breweries and distilleries were acquired by Carl Positan.

Positan, too, was a Capone lieutenant.

Distinguishing characteristic: killer.

In a bold effort to take over the entire operation,

Positan had withheld the whiskey and beer

which Wartel needed to run his speakeasies.

As a result, the number of speakeasies

flourishing in Illinois' largest city

dropped to an all-time Prohibition low.

The tremendous loss in speakeasy revenue

brought Frank Nitti, Capone's collector,

face to face with Meyer Wartel.

Candy stores take in more.

You can't run speaks without booze.

I don't want to hear no excuses.

Excuses ain't money... Only money is money!

But, Positan...

I ain't interested in your stories.

He ain't supplying me, Frank.

Well, that's your business, not mine.

My only business is collecting.

All right, Frank, I'll take care of it.

Meyer, you're always worrying about your health.

Well, for the sake of your health,

you better take care of it... and soon.

Come here.

Get on the phone, close all our speaks.

Close 'em?

I want Positan to think he's got us.

It's beginning to add up, Bill.

How about State Street, Rico?

More of the same.

Every speakeasy in the area is closed up.

What do you think it means, Eliot?

It means we'd better hang on to our hats.

Either Wartel or Positan

is gonna blow the lid off this town.

The date was December 9, 1931.

Wartel's men, led by Happy Levinsky,

arrived at the Kiyope Hotel,

the headquarters of Carl Positan.

Positan here?

No.

I got a message for him.

He ain't here.

Can I leave the message with you?

Now, what do you think I'm here for?

What's the message?

This is an important message.

You got any idea how important messages are announced?

Look, mister, I'm busy... You got a message or not?

You got time, sonny, you got nothing but time.

Now, don't move.

You move, it'll be the last time you move, ever.

I'm only a clerk.

I know.

And you take messages.

Ain't that right?

Yeah.

And I asked you if you knew

how important messages are announced.

I don't know.

With a salute.

With a 21-gun salute.

Now, we ain't got 21 guns with us,

but we'll make up for it with the noise.

Now, you come out of there, sonny. Slow.

That's too fast... Sonny.

That's better.

Okay.

That was the salute.

Now here's the message.

You tell Positan this here's a present from Meyer Wartel.

It don't work.

But Meyer's got 50 that do work.

P.S. Tell Positan

Meyer thanks him for the breweries.

You got the message?

So long, sonny.

Anybody hurt?

They didn't shoot at anybody,

just the walls and furniture.

This is hard to believe.

I've never seen so many machine guns in my life.

There must've been a couple dozen of 'em.

They've got an arsenal, Eliot.

Just look over here.

At least Positan had the brains to clear out.

He couldn't stand up against this firepower.

How about telling my paper what this all adds up to, Ness.

Mr. Shaw, this doesn't look like a likely place for it,

but there was a coronation here this morning.

Yeah? Who got the crown?

Meyer Wartel.

Flush with his bloodless coup over Carl Positan,

Wartel reopened his speakeasies

and began to operate the breweries and distilleries

which were the spoils of his victory.

And once again, Eliot Ness led his men against them.

In addition, the crusading Chicago Leader

continued its unrelenting battle against crime.

What does he think he's doing, huh?

I want to pay a visit to this newspaper editor.

Easy, Meyer.

It's tough to start up with a newspaper.

Who says so?

If I listened to you, I'd be running errands for Positan.

What'd you tell me when I told you I was gonna push him out

and take over the breweries, huh?

"Easy, Meyer."

Okay, what do you want me to do?

I'll do.

You just come with me, huh? I'll do.

The press room's in the basement.

Get going.

We go to 15. Yeah.

What is this? Who are you?

You're always writing about me...

I thought it was time we met.

Wartel.

Get up.

Now, look, if you think you can come in...

Close the window... it's drafty.

You should be careful... You're liable to catch cold.

You're liable to catch a lot of things

if you don't stop printing

the kind of stories you've been printing.

Get out of here.

That's not a nice way to talk.

Not to a guy who come all the way over here

to give you an exclusive story.

Tonight...

the press room of the... Chicago Leader...

was smashed to bits by some unhappy readers.

You wouldn't dare!

I already dared, Mr. Editor.

My boys are down there now.

Call, find out.

Go on, call!

Just make sure you only call the press room.

Press room.

Hello, Willy?

Who is this?

Give me that.

This is Meyer.

Tell this guy what his press room looks like.

You'll pay for this.

I'm paying for nothing, Mr. Editor.

I'm collecting!

I'm collecting your word you'll play ball and lay off.

'Cause if you don't,

next time we visit your newspaper,

it won't be the printing machines we'll be smashing.

You understand?

He's finished.

Wipe off the typewriter keys,

and the window.

Get the phone, too.

What's so funny?

I was just wondering if I ought to call the Obituary Department.

The bullet itself doesn't tell us much,

except the uniformity of the rifling marks

indicates a finely tooled weapon.

However, the cartridge case you found in Shaw's office

is quite another story.

The gun was an automatic.

The clip marks confirm that.

Conventional .45 caliber?

Yes. The caliber's the only thing

that's conventional about this weapon.

Why do you say that?

Well, first of all, notice the exact centering

of the striker on the face of the case.

I doubt that it's off more than a millimeter.

Now, this...

is a particle of scraping I found on the case.

It's an aluminum alloy.

Aluminum?

That's unusual, isn't it?

I'd say it's almost unique.

Aluminum itself is highly impractical for firearms

because it loses its strength at 600 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is possible, I suppose,

that a high-strength aluminum alloy could be used

in the making of an exceedingly light weapon,

though it would certainly have to be the work of an artisan.

In other words, the gun was handmade.

Yes. And brilliantly made.

Judging from the craftsmanship, it could be very nearly perfect.

A perfect weapon.

There were three master gunsmiths

licensed with the Chicago police.

All three were capable of making guns

from the raw metal to the finished weapon.

We don't make guns anymore.

We just sell them and repair them.

I have a friend who said he had a gun made by Berg.

Well, he must have a gun that my father made.

I've never made a gun.

You buy a gun, I'll make modifications for you.

That's the best I can do.

No, thanks... I want a gun that's all handmade.

Thank you.

At the second shop,

Frank Ludlum agreed to make Ness a gun,

but not an automatic.

He could make a single-shot weapon and nothing more.

But at the third shop... What do you mean,

"make me a gun"?

I have a permit. I keep a gun at home

for protection against burglars,

but I don't like the feel of the guns you can buy.

I've had three gunsmiths recommended to me,

and you're one of them.

Who are the other two?

Frank Ludlum and Walter Berg.

Ah! Berg...

Berg couldn't make you a rattle for a baby.

His father, ah, he was a master,

but not Berg.

You can't turn this kind of business

over from father to son.

The son may have the same name, but not the same hands.

What about Ludlum?

He's all right... up to a point.

This is one of Ludlum's guns.

I'm fixing it.

The mechanism is a good one,

but it leaves a great deal to be desired. Here.

Notice anything unusual?

Seems all right to me.

It's out of balance.

The barrel is much too long for the weight of the stock.

If you couldn't tell that, you don't need me.

You can buy a ready-made gun.

Or get Ludlum to make you one.

No, I think you're the man I want.

Ludlum only makes single-shots.

Can you make me an automatic?

I can make anything.

But what was Ness doing in there?

I don't know.

When he left, you didn't talk to Kihn, did you?

No.

Good.

It could be nothing, Meyer.

Nothing? Call Al in stir

and ask him if Ness means "nothing."

There's too much steam in here.

You want me to bring Kihn here?

No. You keep a million miles from him.

Ow!

I can't turn this heat down.

The plumbers must get a cut from the doctors.

What are we gonna do about Kihn?

We're gonna give all the other gunsmiths in Chicago

less competition.

He's served his purpose.

We needed machine guns... He made them for us.

I've been thinking...

Even before this Ness business come up...

I was thinking...

if he could make machine guns for us,

he could just as easily make 'em for anybody else.

I'll take care of it.

No. No, Happy, not you.

Who knows? The feds may be on him day and night.

No, this... this has gotta be a real special job.

Call Pittsburgh Phil.

The high executioner of the United States underworld

was Harry Strauss, known as Pittsburgh Phil.

I look around this room, I say to myself,

"There's a pretty good hitter here."

Happy Levinsky is no punk.

Why does Meyer call me in?

He calls me in because

a good hitter is not enough for this particular job.

This hit has got to be guaranteed.

Guaranteed, and no possible suspicion

drawn to Meyer.

Am I right?

Sure, Phil, you're right, but... $25,000?

You want a cheap price, there are cheap...

Take it easy, Phil.

Sit down. Sit!

I've never paid more than five G's for a hit before.

I've never had the pleasure of hitting for you, Meyer.

$10,000.

I didn't come up here from New Orleans

to quibble about dollars. I came up here to do a job,

a job that will cost you $25,000.

All right. All right.

$25,000.

You sign on the bottom line.

When the deal is done, I get paid.

Whadda ya mean, sign?

All it says is "For Services."

Now, you fill in the price and sign.

Why should I?

I don't tell you how to run your business. Don't tell me how

to run mine.

Eh.

Whose death warrant are you signing?

Herman Kihn.

A gunsmith over on Boygan Avenue.

He did work for you?

He still does.

Then this is going to be a surprise party?

How're you gonna do it?

First, I'll examine the patient.

Then I'll know what medicine to use.

The brutal murder of Michael Shaw

did not stop the Leader's attacks on Chicago's hoodlums.

William Adcock, the new editor of the Chicago Leader,

continued in his mentor's footsteps

and directed the newspaper's war against Meyer Wartel.

And on December 19, 1931, Wartel retaliated

with a vicious citywide attack on the Leader.

Responding to an urgent call from Adcock,

Eliot Ness and Lee Hobson headed for the Leader building.

Newsboys beaten up, trucks burned,

newsstands destroyed.

It's happening all over town, Mr. Ness, all over town!

Editorial.

I know.

I'd like you to lay off Wartel for a while, Mr. Adcock.

You can't tell me to lay off.

I'm not telling you anything. I'm asking you.

You keep hitting Wartel,

he'll keep hitting back.

How many policemen will it take to protect

all your newsboys, news trucks, newsstands?

At least half the force.

If you pull half the force off the regular assignments,

what do you wind up with? Chaos!

Wouldn't it be worth the gamble if we got Wartel?

Wartel's smart.

He's hiring these hoods out of town.

Even if the police pick up a couple,

there's no way of tying them in with Wartel.

It won't be for long, Adcock.

All right, Mr. Ness.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Well... Can I do something for you?

I think Meyer called you

and told you I was coming over.

Are you Pittsburgh Phil?

That's right.

This is a real pleasure.

What can I do for you?

You just did it.

Hmm?

I just wanted to shake the hand of a gunsmith

who can do your kind of work.

Coming from you, I consider that a genuine compliment.

I hope you will not think I'm nosey,

but what kind of gun do you use?

I never use a gun.

Why not?

Well, two reasons.

Number one, they're too noisy.

And number two... Yes.

They're perfecting a way to trace guns.

Have you got a few minutes?

Sure.

I want you to come down with me to, to my workroom.

I think you will find this exciting.

Did Meyer show you one of these?

Yeah.

Did you shoot it?

No.

Here.

This way.

Go ahead.

Feel how cool it is.

Feel it.

Like holding an ice cube, huh?

Ah, that's, that's great.

That's very good.

I have been working on a gun that I'd like you to have.

Ah, you do great work, Kihn,

but like I said, I never use them.

This one you'll use.

Shoot.

Go on.

They stopped making silencers in 1929.

There was too much public pressure against them.

They were never really perfected anyway,

not like this one.

They made quite a bit of noise

and you had to put a bulky attachment on the muzzle.

Take a look at... my fitting.

Is that all you do day and night? You work on guns?

Just about. I love it.

Ah, no time for fun, huh?

Oh, I have fun, too.

I go to the movies three times a week.

That so?

There's a movie house

just two blocks from here

that changes a double feature

every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

And you go every Monday, Wednesday, Friday?

Like clockwork.

Wow!

In your own way

you're just as much of a craftsman as I am.

To you I would give such a gun.

Thank you.

I have to make just a few minor adjustments.

It'll take a few days.

Will you be in town?

Oh, yeah.

On business?

On business.

And now, back to The Untouchables.

Anything?

I don't know.

A few hours ago a man walked in

and Kihn locked the place up tight.

Then, about an hour later, the man left.

Recognize him?

No.

Kihn's still in there.

Let's start checking out this gunsmith around the clock.

I'll take over, Lee.

Right.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Boo!

We want the movie...

Mr. Ness?

Yes?

I'm Pittsburgh Phil.

Pittsburgh Phil's bold announcement of his presence

in Chicago to Eliot Ness was his way of telling Ness

that he had come to Chicago to kill,

and there was nothing Ness could do about it.

Your gun isn't ready yet, mister.

I told you it would be at least three weeks.

I'm not here to talk about the gun.

What do you want?

You're a dead man, Kihn.

A dead man?

My name is Ness. I'm a federal agent.

Meyer Wartel is going to have you killed.

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

I'm talking about saving your life.

Wartel wants you dead.

You made a gun for him, didn't you?

An automatic with aluminum alloy parts?

Didn't you?

No.

For your own good, you'd better stop lying to me, Kihn.

Wartel used that gun to kill a newspaper editor.

Now you're on the list.

You must have come to the wrong gunsmith, mister.

You went to the movies last night, didn't you?

Don't bother denying it. I followed you there.

Do you know a man named Phil? Pittsburgh Phil?

No.

He knows you.

He was sitting right behind you in the movies.

I think he would have killed you last night

if the film hadn't split.

He saw me when the lights went on

and he didn't go through with it.

Now will you cooperate?

I have nothing to say.

Nothing to say.

You're proud of that, aren't you?

The code of the bums, lips sealed tight.

You stick to that code

and your lips are going to be sealed forever.

And if I talk, Mr. Ness, then what?

You'll put me in jail.

And if they don't kill me in court

or on my way to the penitentiary,

one morning the guard will find me dead in my cell.

You said it before.

I'm a dead man.

Your gun will be ready next week.

If I were you, Mr. Kihn,

I wouldn't promise anything for next week.

Kihn could be gambling

that Wartel will have a change of heart.

I hope he had the foresight to make out a will.

Do you think Pittsburgh Phil

still has the contract?

It's hard to tell.

Let's tail him for awhile, just in case.

Rico, you stay with Wartel.

Bill, you take Levinsky. I'll take Kihn.

Maybe we can break this party up in time

to stick Wartel with the check.

It's open.

Hello, Meyer.

Hello, Phil.

Hello, Happy.

Phil.

Is it finished?

Sit down.

Is he dead?

Have some coffee.

Go wash it out.

Well?

You're worried about your little man,

aren't you, Meyer?

I'm paying you, so I'll ask all the questions, huh?

Is he dead?

You know, Al used to call you the "Worry Wart-el."

I didn't ask you what Al used to say.

I asked you if the gunsmith was dead!

I went to the movies last night, Meyer.

What do I care?!

Kihn went to the movies, too.

He goes to the movies every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The movie seats are two inches thick.

This blade is ten inches.

That means, if you push this blade through a two-inch seat

and there is somebody sitting in that seat,

eight inches of steel goes into the body.

He's dead.

He's supposed to be, but he's not.

What happened?

Something lucky for me

and something lucky for the gunsmith.

The film broke and the lights went on.

Do you know who I saw when the lights went on?

Huh?

Eliot Ness.

Eliot Ness was sitting two rows behind me.

Now, you didn't tell me

Ness was tailing the gunsmith, Meyer.

What difference does it make?

It makes a big difference.

I'm not paying you a dollar more than $25,000!

Oh, you're not paying $25,000 for this job.

I got a contract with you!

I'm backing out of the deal.

Nobody welches on me, Phil.

Not even you!

I didn't say I was going to welch, Meyer.

You just said you were backing out of the deal.

That's right.

I don't get it!

Will you let me finish?

All right, finish!

This job I'm going to do for nothing.

For nothing?

That's right.

I'm not going to take a nickel.

Not for my transportation from New Orleans or this suite

or that lobster or that cup of coffee

which you still haven't touched.

I pay for everything,

just for the pleasure of killing this gunsmith

right under Ness' nose.

Ness... the big Fed.

The big Fed that put Al in the jail.

Nobody could do it, but he did it!

And I'm going to rub out this gunsmith right under Ness' nose.

How're you gonna do it?

Your little man is making me a silencer, huh?

It doesn't make a peep.

Now, Ness is tailing him day and night.

Now, when your little man gives me the gun,

we go out to celebrate.

We have a few drinks.

Your little man starts getting loaded,

and Ness is right on our tail.

I take your little man into a speakeasy.

We have a few more.

Ness follows us right into the speak.

Now, your little man is really getting loaded now.

He's stoned! He can hardly sit up.

I take the silencer,

I hold it under the table, and... pow!

Your little man falls on the table.

Now, Ness is watching us all the time.

He doesn't hear a shot.

He knows I'm not sitting close enough to your little man

to put a blade into him, uh...

We're drinking out of the same bottle so I couldn't poison him.

Now, Ness has got to think that your little man passed out.

I leave...

and there's nothing he can prove.

It's perfect, Phil.

There's only one thing, Meyer.

You gotta set up the speak.

Not one of your places.

And you got to arrange it so that everyone

is let in that night.

Do you think you can do that, Meyer?

Sure, it's easy.

You can use Willie Puloni's Club, The Green Cat.

That's fine.

I've gotten 89 guys, Meyer.

That's a lot of hits.

And some, let me tell you, they-they were beautiful hits.

But this one, ah... is my masterpiece.

I get the gunsmith right under Ness' federal nose!

Now, won't Al get a kick out of that

when I tell him about it, huh?

Huh?

Hello, Happy.

Hello, Kihn.

It's the last day of the month.

I've come to clean and oil the guns.

Oh, yeah, yeah. I forgot.

Come on in.

Hello, Herman.

Hello, Meyer.

You like a little schnapps?

I better not.

Phil and I are going out tonight.

I'll be drinking enough tonight.

Good! I'm glad you're gonna

be with somebody on New Year's Eve.

We're not just going out 'cause it's New Year's Eve.

I gave Phil a special gun that I made for him.

I won't take any money,

so this is his way of paying me.

But from me you take money, huh?

Business is business, Meyer,

and giving presents is giving presents.

You've got no complaint on either score.

Didn't I give you this gun for Christmas?

That's the lightest gun in the world you're holding.

I'm sorry, Herman, I was just kidding.

This handle needs some adjustment.

What would we do without you, Herman?

When you get finished, give the key to Happy.

I gotta go out now and start checkin' things.

New Year's Eve is the biggest take of the year.

Have a good time tonight, Herman.

Thanks.

Happy New Year.

♪ See how they run ♪

♪ How they run... ♪

♪ They all ran after the farm... ♪

♪ She cut off their tails with... ♪

Happy New Year!

Looks like we're gonna usher in the New Year at a speakeasy.

Ah... champagne!

And I don't mean the kind that's made

in French bathtubs in Chicago.

I mean the kind that's made in France.

Yes, sir!

A lot of his stuff tastes terrible!

You know, it's too bad

that most of these bootleggers don't take the same pride

in their merchandise like you do in yours.

There aren't many people left...

who've got that kind of pride.

I got it!

This is really a very nice place.

It's class!

Class!

You know, that cork,

it makes more noise than your little present.

Here's to all people who take pride in their work.

Right.

Have another.

You like music?

You have a favorite?

I love all music.

Yeah, don't you have a favorite?

My favorite music is Chopin's "Funeral March."

Chopin's "Funeral March"?

I don't think they know it.

Hey.

Hey, come here.

Chopin...?

The "Funeral March."

Play-Play something happy.

Chopin's "Funeral March."

You feel great?

Marvelous.

You knew it.

You knew it.

Pittsburgh Phil's shot left Herman Kihn near death,

and as the ambulance rushed the gunsmith

to the county hospital, Ness attempted to find out

the one thing which could immediately finish

Wartel's reign as the czar of Chicago's underworld.

Where does Wartel keep the gun?

He hasn't got it.

Who does?

Nobody.

I took the gun this morning...

and destroyed it.

Why?

Did he tell you to?

He doesn't even know the gun's missing.

After you told me what Wartel was going to do

I decided to make him suffer.

Not like this... For a few minutes...

Suffer forever.

Meyer's a worrier.

He'll never know where the gun is.

He'll always worry that the police will get it and get him.

I didn't do bad for a dead man, Mr. Ness.

I got both of them... Phil and Meyer.

He's dead.

No, you didn't do bad.

You only got yourself killed.

He destroyed the gun.

Maybe we can still use it.

What do you mean?

Wartel doesn't know it's been destroyed.

What do we do?

First, we find out whether Wartel

is as big a worrier as Kihn thought.

Look at that.

What are they talking about?

It's not here.

It's not here!

Kihn showed it to you yesterday.

He asked you about the handle, remember?

Maybe he took it to his shop to fix.

I had it in my hands.

It's got my fingerprints on it.

We're going to Kihn's shop.

Now? Now.

You look in the cellar.

He's worried, all right.

Now we'll really give him something to worry about.

Well, where is he?

The papers are probably late.

Where is he?!

Look, Meyer, maybe we ought to get out of Chicago for a while.

I ain't runnin' nowhere.

Where is that useless slob?

What took you so long?

I don't print 'em.

Slob.

They ain't got nothing.

What did he do with the gun?

What?

When's the edition hit the newsstands?

About five minutes.

We can expect Wartel's call within ten.

Come on, come on, hurry up.

Pay him.

Here.

You think they have it?

How do I know?

Even if they do, that professor'll

have to check the gun out up at Northwestern.

They'll have an army up there.

So, I'll keep the army here in Chicago.

Get me some nose drops.

Adcock speaking.

You remember Michael Shaw?

Who is this?

You liked him, didn't you?

Who is this?

Did you like Shaw?

Yes.

Good.

Because tomorrow night, you're going to meet him.

You understand?

He called right on the minute.

What did he say?

He threatened me.

He said what happened to Shaw

is going to happen to me tomorrow night.

Lee, get over to Captain Dorset.

Tell him to send every man he can get

over to the Leader Building tomorrow night.

Make sure you, Rossi, and Youngfellow are there, too.

Right, Eliot.

Adcock, I think we've done it.

Hey, you.

You got a sign says the phone ain't working?

What's the matter with it?

Nothing. I don't want anybody to be using it.

I'm expecting a call.

Sure.

I'm gonna close soon, Mister.

You got anything better to do?

No, sir.

Fry me a couple of eggs.

Right.

Over easy. Right.

Hey, wait a minute. Ain't you got no butter?

Sure.

Well, don't use that junk.

Fry 'em with butter.

Yeah?

They're pulling up now.

It looks like the whole police force and all of Ness' men, too.

Good.

Congratulations, Wartel.

You get your diploma tonight.

You ain't got nothing on me.

The jury will decide what you're doing here.

You're wasting your time, Ness.

Turn around.

Put your hands against the wall.

Yes?

Hello, Bill?

Eliot, are you all right?

I'm fine.

Is there still time to make the late edition?

Yes.

Good.

I've got a story for you.