Original subtitles

You can always claim

that you smashed organized narcotics in Chicago.

How long does it stay smashed?

Four months.

Where am I during these four months?

You're a retired hero with $250,000 a year,

every 12 months for the next five years.

Fair enough.

You'll like doing business with us, Mr. Ness.

We're reliable.

Tonight's episode:

Starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness.

With special guest stars Lee Marvin

and Victor Jory.

Narrated by Walter Winchell.

Chicago, August 29, 1934.

The roof of a rotting tenement in the area known as Haymarket,

a grimy setting for the portrait of a man about to die.

His name: Special Agent Daniel Gosden,

one of 11 handpicked men from the Chicago Police

on temporary loan to the Untouchables.

His job: to find out the reason

behind a persistent underworld rumor

that Chicago's dormant narcotic traffic was about

to become big business.

Okay, Sully, get the rest of the stuff, huh?

Mace?

Why don't you go downstairs, mister, take a good look?

The alley.

Right. Come on!

Trapp, call the garage.

Tell them to get a truck over here fast!

Hello. Mr. Ness?

This is Danny Gosden. I...

Who are you working for, punk?

You go to the devil!

Come on. The truck's on its way.

Let's get out of here! What's your hurry?

Well? He's clean.

Not even a wallet.

That figures.

Rate, the people are coming!

Come on! The alley!

Okay, Gus, you stick around and mingle with the crowd, huh?

Stick around? What for?

I want to see if I can get that stuff out of the storeroom.

Yeah, but the whole block's gonna be lousy with cops.

Where there's no risk, there's no fun, huh, Gus?

Fun? Working with you is like bleeding in front of a shark.

Smitty?

Yeah?

A gummy stuff on this receiver.

Know what it is?

I can tell you without looking.

He had it on his fingers, too.

Opium?

That's right.

There's not enough opium in this whole country

to lose a life over.

What about fingerprints?

Hundreds.

This is a back entrance to a hotel.

It'd take us days to check them all out,

and even then, there's no guarantee

the killer's prints will be among them.

Anybody check out the block?

They're starting now.

All right, now, break it up the rest of you.

It's all over.

There's nothing more to see.

Move along.

Move on. Keep moving.

Move along.

Rate, they're checking all over the place.

Well, keep your shirt on.

There ain't no law against loading trucks.

You know, you're out of your mind!

Rate.

You boys are working pretty late, aren't you?

Well, you know how it is, Officer.

No rest for the wicked.

How long you been here?

About a half hour or so.

Then you must have heard the shooting.

Oh, yeah, sure, we heard the shooting.

Yeah, we thought it was a truck backfiring.

Yeah, but we seen the police cars, we figured trouble.

But you didn't go to investigate?

Well, I'll tell you, Officer, I'm the kind of a guy

that can't stand morbid curiosity seekers.

I figure they just get in the way of the police.

Mister, you don't know the half of it.

How many more crates up there?

This is the last one, but, uh... But what?

There was some other merchandise

up there ought to be taken care of.

Okay, I'll take care of that.

Uh, pack that stuff good and tight, huh?

Well, Officer, if we see anything suspicious,

we'll be sure to let you know, huh?

All right, get this load on the road, boys.

Get Mace!

Come on, move!

Be careful!

Go on, take off!

Now!

Hey, hey, I seen the whole thing!

I seen them shoot this officer, but I think I hit the truck!

Where did they come from? Hmm?

Oh. Oh, the alley.

Did you get the license number?

Oh, no. I was too excited. I got it.

Lucky thing I'm still alive

the way this idiot was firing that gun.

Well, I'm sorry, but I was so excited when I seen

this officer get it, I... Rico, hold 'em.

Dead, huh?

Yeah. Yeah.

All right, let's have the license number.

What's that smell?

Well, if you were in Chinatown, you'd recognize it.

Opium.

Gosden had it smeared all over his fingers.

They must have caught him in here.

There hasn't been a market for opium in this country in years.

So why would anybody want to kill two police officers

to protect something that's practically worthless?

Let's go talk to those witnesses.

You're certain you didn't get a look at anyone?

Well, like I told you, it all happened so fast,

and besides, I was a long way away.

And you?

I told you before.

I heard the shots.

I ran around the corner, almost got killed by a truck,

and then trigger finger Harry here starts

blazing away, I hit the deck.

Not too much, Eliot.

Sailor got the license number.

Mr. Carson here was too busy shooting at the truck.

Did either of you see what was in the truck?

Some boxes, I think.

Yeah, something like that.

All right. Mr. Rossi will take you down to the office.

We'll want detailed statements

from both of you covering everything you saw.

How long is that gonna take?

About an hour or so. Why?

Oh, I'd like to phone my family.

They might be worried about me.

Help yourself. Thank you.

Right this way.

There's a phone right down here.

Do you want the lab boys to check in here

when they're finished in the alley?

No, they can hold off till tomorrow.

Yeah. This is Rate.

Look, I had a little trouble down here tonight,

but I got the stuff out.

Now a truck will be arriving there in a few minutes.

I want you to unload it quick, and then ditch it.

Look, I don't have time to explain.

Now, just do like I tell you.

Who? Me?

Well, I'm at the scene of the crime.

Yeah, I got to go downtown and give the feds a statement.

How's that for a twist?

Oh, I'm all set if you are, Mr. Rossi.

All right, let's go.

At 10:00 in the morning,

after the killing of Agent Daniel Gosden,

a check out of the truck observed

leaving the scene of the crime led Eliot Ness and Hobson

to the offices of the Marsac Gas Company,

a reputable firm

engaged in the manufacture of industrial gases.

Mr. Stegler? Mr. Ness,

your call caught me just in time.

I was on my way out.

I gather you've come about my truck.

How would you know that, Mr. Stegler?

Since it was stolen, I naturally thought...

Stolen? When?

Last night, about 10:00,

from our Market Street Garage.

We have three units, Mr. Ness.

There's this office, there's the garage,

the butane plant here on Radcliff Road.

Did you report the theft?

As soon as I heard.

As a matter of fact, a policeman came around

this morning with some forms.

My secretary is filling them out now.

Well, I guess that's that.

Thanks, Mr. Stegler. Not at all.

Mr. Ness, if you've recovered the truck...

We haven't.

All we know is it was seen leaving an area

where two police officers were killed.

Two police officers killed?

And you thought...

In our business, Mr. Stegler, anything's possible.

Thank you.

Sounds all right.

What do you think?

I don't know, let's check out the time

he reported the truck theft.

You never told me you killed two policemen.

You never asked.

I suppose you had to kill them.

It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

The violent thing always seems

the best thing to you, doesn't it?

Look, I risked my neck getting that opium out!

You risked your neck because you like it!

Because you get some weird kick

out of these near misses! Watch your mouth!

You think I care about that opium?

I've got a whole warehouse full of it!

All I care about is you put my whole operation in danger!

Your operation?!

When are you gonna quit kidding yourself, Stegler?

It hasn't been your operation since I unloaded 50,000 pounds

of that junk on the docks of San Francisco!

And it hasn't been your operation

since I ramrodded those trucks clean across the country!

And you're gonna sit behind this fat desk

and tell me about risks?!

Stegler!

I ought to push a bullet right through your fat mouth.

I should know better than to get mad at you, Victor.

Mainly because you're right.

Without you, we wouldn't have anything.

But you're not easy to understand.

If you were to shoot me right now,

it'd cost you close to a million dollars.

You might do it just the same.

Don't you forget it!

I won't.

I get a kick out of you, Stegler.

You know, you talk about me taking risks.

You know how close you almost came?

Close only counts in horseshoes, Vic.

I'll be in touch.

Kill him.

Eliot?

Part of a poppy leaf.

Raw opium?

Just the way it left the fields.

Who'd buy raw opium?

It doesn't make sense.

Raw opium can be reduced to heroin, and that's money.

Millions.

With all these stoves in here, you're probably right.

But it really doesn't make much sense.

Do you know that it takes more than 12 hours to get

one single ounce of heroin from ten ounces of opium?

But if you had 20 stoves, a hundred, two hundred?

Gosden wasn't killed because he uncovered a few stoves.

He uncovered a whole operation.

Don't turn around!

Rate!

I could shoot you both in the back,

but I'm gonna give you a sporting chance.

Oh, you got... Shut up!!

I'm standing behind you right in the middle of the alley

about 15 or 20 feet.

Now, I figure if you both turn around at the same time,

one of you might get lucky and get me.

I'm gonna count to three.

Vic, wait a minute. One.

Wait a minute!

Two!

Three, the crystals which we got

from the first evaporation chain are put into this.

Reflux condenser, huh?

The biggest size made,

which is why you can only make an ounce at a time.

Now, to the morphine crystals

we add acetyl chloride.

This is extremely volatile,

which is why we have to use a reflux condenser.

Clear?

Smitty, you lost me back with the lime water.

What else? That's it.

The solution is filtered,

the crystals that remain on the filter paper are heroin.

Acetyl chloride.

All we have to do is find somebody

that's ordered that stuff in large quantities.

It's worth a try.

Thanks, Smitty.

You should've been a school teacher. Oh, I am.

Sunday School.

Later that night,

two key members of the narcotics syndicate

met with their partner, Arnold Stegler.

By now, Ness knows there was opium in that room.

He'll discover the factories.

Let him.

Let him find one, five, ten.

We can build them faster than he can find them.

It's like a floating crap game.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

But every time he hits a factory,

we lose opium and equipment.

Look, at a profit of 3,000 percent,

we can lose half of it and still come out

with over a million apiece.

Provided Rate doesn't take any more stupid chances.

We can forget about Rate.

What do you mean?

Rate's the kind of man

we had to have at the beginning.

You know, we couldn't have done this without him.

But he's becoming a liability.

Meaning he's about to be removed?

Meaning he has been removed.

Kralik and Trapp have taken care of him.

Any objections?

Okay, let's get down to business.

As far as I'm concerned, there's only one place

where we might be vul...

Cozy little group.

And quiet, too.

What's the matter? Aren't you glad to see me?

You won't believe this, but Kralik and Trapp

tried to kill me tonight.

They almost made it, too.

But like you say, "close only counts in horseshoes."

What are you shaking for, Stegler?

Sit down, Vic.

Let's talk things over.

Sorry, I don't have the time right now.

I gotta go home and get my rest.

I have an appointment in the morning.

Appointment?

Yeah, the Federal Building, with Eliot Ness.

Ness?

I gotta sign that statement I made him

about the cop killing.

Just a matter of routine.

And now, back to...

At 11:00 in the morning,

following the attempt on his life,

Victor Rate, known to the Untouchables

as Howard Carson, was in Ness's office.

He was brazenly reviewing a transcribed copy

of the statement he had given Rossi

on the night of the double murder.

Yeah, that's about it.

Anything you'd like to add?

Oh, no, no, no, it's all right down there.

Then if you'll sign it, please?

Well, is that all?

We may have to call you back

if we find the truck you fired at.

Oh, Mr. Ness, just one other thing.

Do you think you'll find the guy that did this?

We'll find him.

Mr. Rossi.

Hello, Mr. Carson.

Well, here it is.

65 gallons of acetyl chloride

shipped to a tanning factory near the stockyards.

New customer.

Was there something else, Mr. Carson?

Well, there's just one thing that still puzzles me.

You know that was a one-and-a-half ton truck.

Yes.

Well, in the newspapers,

it said you were looking for heroin,

and I always thought

that heroin kind of came in small packages,

and what would they be doing with a truck like that?

That's a very good question, Mr. Carson.

Sorry.

Well, if there's anything else just let me know.

Lee, get us a warrant.

We'll hit that tanning factory tonight.

Tonight?

Don't you think we should check it out first?

We should, but I've got a funny feeling

that if we don't get there tonight,

it won't be there tomorrow.

♪ ♪

Let's have another, huh?

You might have told me before we came out

what you had in mind.

What?

Why do we have to come to a place like this?

Ah, the joint's got atmosphere.

It's a dump!

If we got any closer to the stockyards,

we'd get trampled to death.

What's so interesting out there?

I'm sort of expecting a friend.

Oh? What time is he coming?

I don't know.

But if he does show, I'd sort of like

to give him a little, uh, surprise.

Oh, surprise.

Oh, I like surprises.

What kind of a surprise?

Drink your drink.

Say, honey, how long do we have to wait for this friend?

I don't know.

If I'm not back in about half an hour,

you grab a cab, huh?

Hey!

Federal officers... open up!

Open up in there!

Gone... another dead end.

What does that say?

"When you come to a tannery, Ness,

you got to expect to get tanned."

See if you can find the office.

Pick up any books, records, everything you can find.

Right.

Oh, glad to see you made it back.

Yeah, did you see the skirt I was with?

Yeah, she took off.

You owe me four bucks. Are you kidding?

I left her ten for the tab.

That's your hard luck, sucker.

Four bucks is what you owe.

Good luck.

Wait a minute.

Hold it.

Mr. Carson.

Now, what would you be doing here?

Yeah, yeah, I know.

Look, Hank, play it my way,

and I'll give you the whole story when it breaks.

No, no, just say that the raid

was triggered by information given

by a friendly witness named Howard Carson.

He's being held for further questioning.

Dress it up any way you like,

as long as it makes the front page, huh?

Good, Hank, thanks.

Do you think it will work?

If he's part of the syndicate,

that should build a fire under somebody.

What about Carson?

Shall I bring him in?

No, let's wait for the report on his fingerprints.

Got a feeling we may be holding more cards than we think.

I tell you it's got to be Rate.

Carson is the name he gave the feds.

Sure, he's making us sweat.

He's going to give us to Ness a piece at a time.

He'd enjoy that.

Death by inches.

I still say there's something phony about it.

Rate couldn't give information to Ness

without involving himself.

Even he's not crazy enough to do that.

But you tried to have him killed night before last.

He's liable to do anything.

He may be right, Arnie.

This man's a crackpot.

He could blow the whole setup.

I'm with him.

They call them the Untouchables.

Well, I've always felt that anything could be worked out...

if the approach is right.

So?

Maybe we can reach an understanding with Ness.

It's been tried.

Maybe if we offered him a million.

No, no, you could offer him five million.

He'd still probably refuse.

Then what do we offer him?

Let me think about it.

Sing Sing, Joliet, Folsom, Leavenworth.

You name it, he's been there.

Assault with a deadly weapon,

manslaughter, suspicion of murder.

Okay, so you got lucky, copper.

But it ain't going to help you

one little bit, 'cause I'm clean now.

You haven't been clean since the day you were born.

Who killed that policeman, Rate?

The men in the truck or you?

Don't make me laugh.

That sailor doesn't know how lucky he was, does he, Rate?

The light had been any better, you could have gotten him, too.

Look, copper, you're going too fast for me.

I'm what they call a slow thinker.

What were you doing at the tannery?

Oh, I heard you guys talk about it in the office,

so I figured I'd go down there for a little excitement.

How did you know the address?

I, um... looked it up in the phone book.

We didn't name the tannery.

There are three or four down there.

Well, I checked them.

L-Look, you guys ain't got nothing on me.

Attempting to evade payment of a lawful debt.

Oh, come on.

You got to be kidding.

A lousy four-dollar bar tab?

That ain't a federal offense.

Look, I want a lawyer.

Hello.

Mr. Ness, please.

This is Ness.

I have a message for you, Mr. Ness.

A friend of mine would like to know if you

would be interested in making a business proposition.

Bill, put a tracer on the line.

I think Mr. Rate's friends have read the morning paper.

Mr. Ness.

Didn't expect you.

Very simple, Mr. Ness.

I'm a businessman.

I'm sure that everything can be negotiated.

That's an opinion.

Let's talk about facts.

All right.

We'd like to buy you, but...

even if we could, we aren't stupid.

We know you can't just drop this investigation

without a lot of questions being asked.

They'd only indict you

and put somebody else in your place.

So?

So, we... we decided to let you be a hero.

We'll set up a phony headquarters.

We'll staff it with men who are wanted by the police,

and we'll throw in enough opium and heroin

to make it the biggest single raid in history.

You'll be able to claim

that you smashed organized narcotics in Chicago.

How long does it stay smashed?

Four months.

After that, when we start to rebuild,

you can always claim it's a new organization.

Now, who can blame you

if the local police can't hold the ground you won?

Where am I during these four months?

Well, let's say, um... Switzerland.

You're a retired hero with $250,000 a year

every 12 months for the next five years.

Well?

I'll level with you, Stegler.

If it was anything but dope, I'd negotiate.

Booze or numbers...

Oh, now, Mr. Ness, the Samarians had a dope problem

3,000 years before the birth of Christ.

So did the ancient Greeks and the Assyrians.

As long as the opium poppy is grown

anywhere in the world,

there are going to be addicts.

If I don't supply them, someone else will.

Now, we didn't exactly make you a paltry offer...

but if there's anything else in the world you'd like,

I'll be glad to talk about it.

Yes, there would be.

And what's that?

The agent who was killed was on loan to me.

I want the man who shot him.

I can't do that.

Then, it's no deal.

You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Ness.

I'm in a position to.

Okay.

You've got the man who did it.

Victor Rate.

He also killed the policeman.

Fair enough.

Thanks.

Just give us ten days.

You'll like doing business with us, Mr. Ness.

We're reliable.

I'll say one thing for you, Rate.

You're no stool pigeon.

What is this, the soft lights,

the velvet nightie technique?

You think the syndicate's going

to bat for you, don't you? What syndicate?

You'd better pray they come through for you,

because you're going to need all the help you can get:

top lawyers, bribed jurors, the works.

For what? For murder.

Don't make me laugh.

It makes my stitches hurt.

You got a great sense of humor, Rate.

Here's something else that will make you laugh

all the way to the chair.

Stegler just sold you out.

What's the matter?

Don't you think that's funny?

Where're the violins?

Don't I get music with this?

We'll do better than music.

We'll give it to you with pictures.

Bill.

Sit down.

This is Miss MacLean.

Okay, Rico.

Interesting?

What's that supposed to mean?

It means you're on the hook, Rate.

Stegler says you killed Gosden.

You show me a picture of some guy I never even seen before

and you want me to believe

that he's fingering me for a murder rap?

I thought you were supposed to be smart, Ness.

We got enough evidence to hang you.

With that? With that.

Miss MacLean here is from a school for the deaf.

She reads lips, Rate.

She's going to put the words in Stegler's mouth

while I fill in my lines.

Ready, Miss MacLean?

Yes, sir.

Rico.

MISS MacLEAN: What is it?

The agent who was shot was on loan to me.

I want the man who killed him.

I can't do that.

Then it's no deal.

You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Ness.

I'm in a position to.

MISS MacLEAN: Okay.

You've got the man who did it...

Victor Rate.

He also killed the policeman.

That's enough.

Hobson.

Hold on.

Eliot.

Don't move or I'll tear her throat out!

Okay, smart boy, you convinced me.

Now, let me convince you.

I'm a three-time loser.

You're inside the Federal Building, Rate.

You'll never get out alive.

If I don't get out, she don't get out.

You know I'll do it.

Now, put a gun on that table.

Move!

Watch it... watch it.

Put the butt towards me.

The other way around.

Get back... all the way.

Okay, we're going out of here.

Anybody tries to follow me... she's dead.

Stay where you are!

He'll get away.

There's nothing we can do to stop him.

He'll be over the border in a matter of hours.

I don't think so.

Anyone else in the world would run,

but I don't think Rate will.

Stegler?

Stegler.

Hello.

I'm getting a little fed up with you, Stegler.

Rate?

Surprised?

Well, this ain't nothing compared to the surprises

you're going to be getting from now on.

What is it?

W-What do you mean, Vic?

Just shut up and listen.

You're up the creek, Stegler, and I got all the paddles.

Now, if you want to get back down,

you're going to have to do like you're told.

What do you want?

Money, to begin with, and lots of it.

About a million and a half and in cash,

and I want it in 45 minutes.

Where would I get that kind of money?

The safe at the butane plant.

I know all about it, Stegler.

Now, you be down there in 45 minutes

or you're going to spend the rest of your life in the clink.

Well?

I'll be there.

And bring your friends, Stegler,

'cause I want to see the looks on their face when I...

take off with their dough.

He wants us to come down to the plant.

Well, I'm not going down there.

He's right, Stegler.

Rate doesn't care about money.

He just wants to see us dead.

I hope he tries.

We won't be there alone.

Good evening, Mr. Stegler.

Evening. Mr. Rate come in yet?

Yes, sir, he's inside waiting for you.

Open up.

Sully!

Wait there.

11:10 p.m.

The Untouchables search for Arnold Stegler.

A quick check of his garage

and his offices sped them on to the Marsac Gas Company plant.

Here, friends!

Federal officers, open up.

Don't even think about it.

We've got the money, Victor.

I see, Mr. Ness, but do you have a warrant?

Get that gate open.

Well, here's my proposition.

You get all the money, the whole operation.

And... what is more important...

I'll see you get immunity from the law.

I'll arrange it so that, uh...

Greer gets convicted for the killings.

Bill, get her out of here by the main gate and back fast.

We may need you. Right.

All you give me is my life.

Huh?

Think about it.

Rico, Rico!

Get him out of here.

Go.

I got Stegler, copper, I got him.

Yeah, you got him all right.

Where's the opium?

Rate, where's the opium?!

It's burning.

Burning.

At 11:55 p.m. on September 6,

the Marsac Company was totally destroyed

by explosion and fire.

In the ruins were three men who had engineered

the greatest narcotic threat in the history of Chicago.

Close by lay the body of Victor Rate,

a man who had fed on his own particular brand of narcotic

once too often.

The Untouchables.