Original subtitles

(theme music plays)

WALTER WINCHELL: Bonnie Street, Chicago, 1929.

A street made to order

for killing.

Tonight, December 12, was the climax

of a plan.

The man behind it, Arnie Kurtz.

(gunfire)

(crashing)

ANNOUNCER:

"Bird in the Hand."

Starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness.

Co-starring Herschel Bernardi,

Carroll O'Connor,

and Nan Martin.

With special guest star Dane Clark.

And narrated by Walter Winchell.

WINCHELL: 10:35 p.m.,

a few minutes after the killing on Bonnie Street.

While Arnie Kurtz established an alibi

at a flossy club on Chicago's north side,

his wife took a cab to Brownwood Avenue.

Stella! Your husband let you out this late?

Why not?

(birds chirping)

So I don't win any medals for keeping house.

Oh, Benno, you need someone.

You've always needed someone.

Why? I got you.

(birds chirping)

Hey, Stella, look at the new bird I got.

Female. Old Willie was getting lonesome.

-(whistles) - (bird chirps)

Come Saturday nights, I couldn't keep him in.

Benno, listen, you're going to Washington.

-Washington? -Arnie has to send some money down,

a hundred grand, and he wants you to take it.

Not me.

Now, don't get a stiff neck.

You owe him, Benno.

He sends you half your business in here.

Why? 'Cause you keep twisting his arm.

Because you're my brother, because I worry about you.

Well, this time you're wrong; I didn't say one word.

Arnie thought this up himself.

I'll bet. Heh.

He needs a big dumbo like me.

Stop saying that!

You're not dumb.

You just need somebody to push you, that's all.

Aw, come on, Benno.

It's so easy.

Three or four days.

I don't know, I ain't been feeling so sharp.

Well, a little change'll do you good.

Just walk out, just lock up and go, huh?

Sure. Just hang a sign on the door:

"Closed for funeral.”

Yeah, well, three, four days-- who's gonna feed the birds?

Me. I'll take them home tonight.

Benno, do you remember when Mama died?

Do you remember what she said to you?

"Don't throw away your life like Papa.

"Be somebody.

Try.”

Be somebody, Benno.

Means a lot to you, don't it, Stella?

A lot.

What's the difference?

You won't do what I ask.

Did you hear me say I wouldn't?

(Stella laughs)

You're gonna take the birds, I better put in fresh paper.

-(Stella laughs) -I don't want them complaining

I don't keep a clean house.

Another score for Kurtz, you think?

-I wish I could prove it. -He's sure coming up fast.

Too fast.

ROSSI: Eliot? Excuse me.

Got a bonus for you.

Over here.

One side, please.

Ring any bells?

Not for me.

His name is McCurry.

I found this in his wallet.

His license...

New York.

Kurtz brought a gun all the way from New York?

That's what I mean-- it's too much too fast.

Eight years he's been around, eight years a runner,

a legman, a nobody.

Bingo, he's playing for the whole south side.

It doesn't make sense; he's not the type.

Unless he's hooked in with somebody big.

Who?

Yeah.

(train whistle blowing)

(knocking)

(knocking)

Change your mind, sir? Like your berth made up?

Uh... I guess so.

All right, sir.

Hey. You gonna keep this place so hot all night?

I didn't notice it was hot, sir.

I'll check. Might be cooler

if you'd wait in the observation car.

Yeah. That's... that's a good idea.

You can leave that here.

No. No, it's all right.

I got... I got a hundred grand in here.

You know what I mean?

Oh, sure, sure.

(panting)

It's hot in here.

(whistle blowing)

WINCHELL: Hoping to trace the man behind Kurtz,

the Untouchables put a tap on his private phone.

Rossman and Youngfellow dug in

to wait in the cellar of the swank Lakeview Hotel,

where the mobster

and his wife were permanent guests.

The lobby was also put under surveillance.

The watch was maintained around the clock.

Here we are.

Here, here...

here and here.

I got it all broke up in sections.

Everybody works his own district.

That way you get to know your people better.

I'll get...

If you got any problems when it comes to collections,

Kelty here is gonna handle 'em for you.

We'll be ready to roll in a couple of days, so...

keep your boys where you can grab 'em fast.

Okay, you can scram now.

I ain't had my breakfast yet.

Them lousy birds are stinking up the whole joint.

Benno didn't call?

-What do you think? -A train can be late.

Oh, with your brother on it, it's got to be late.

You said he was the perfect person for the job,

nobody would even look at him twice.

It was your big idea, so why don't you lay off!

What do you mean, lay off? There's a hundred

good grand of my dough in that bag!

Well, you worry about that.

I've had a headache all morning!

(slams box down)

Arnie, you wait and see, he'll come through fine.

(bird chirps)

(exhales)

(bird chirps)

Redcap!

Take your bag, sir?

Your bag.

Morning paper! Read all about it!

Paper, mister?

Hey, you all right, mister?

Taxi?

Want a taxi, mister?

Redcap? Take your bag, sir?

(several talking at once)

(voices distorting, echoing, growing louder)

Enrico!

Give me that cap! Give me that...

Enrico, wait for me!

(gasping breaths)

Kind of early in the day for that.

Huh?

(panting)

Mister, you're sick.

Stay right here.

Cavanaugh. I've got an ambulance case.

Yeah.

Yeah, on J Street, right back of the station.

Right. I'll stay with him.

WINCHELL: 12:20 p.m.,

December 13, 1929.

An emergency telephone call was received at number three,

B Street, southeast, Washington, DC.

It was handled with routine efficiency.

In this building, most calls were emergency.

(phone rings)

The call was taken by Dr. Victor Garr,

title: Associate Surgeon General,

United States Public Health Service.

Where?

What time?

Home address?

No, no, no, we'll check it out ourselves.

Dan, would you come in here?

(door opens)

Daniel Gifford, MD.

Harvard Medical School,

by way of the Philadelphia mainline.

He had been Garr's assistant

for almost three years.

I drag you away from something?

I'm up to my ears with these new PH-12 forms

for the Federal prisons.

As if we didn't have enough already.

Well, you wanted to be a public servant.

Just got another suspected psittacosis.

-Where? -J Street, right near the Union Station.

Here in Washington?

Maybe that'll shake up the boys on the Hill.

Male, Caucasian, aged 42 estimated.

Estimated?

Passed out on the street.

The cops sent him, he hasn't come around yet.

Name and address?

That's the rough part.

No name or address.

What, no cards or identification?

Nothing.

That's all we had.

Now, we sure as blazes better get more.

Dan, I'll be in emergency.

Right.

Now for the last time,

you're sure you have no one sick here?

And you have no birds?

Parrots, parakeets, canaries?

Some bird can make you very sick.

-(muttering) -We don't have any birds.

Do you know anyone in the neighborhood who keeps birds?

-No. -No. -(muttering)

Well, if you hear of anyone, would you tell the policemen?

(muttering)

Thank you.

(children yelling)

Hey, Doc?

Find anything?

No, not yet.

Look, I'm around here all the time.

-If something shows up... -Thanks.

GIRL: You'll never find me.

BOY: Tina?

Tina?

Tina, where are you?

(weakly): Be a somebody.

Try... Try...

Don't credit me, Doctor.

Chief makes your bulletins required reading.

Almost classic.

Elevated temperature, chills.

-You do a fluoroscopic? -Yes, sir.

That's what put me on to it.

Inflammation but no congestion.

Rules out pneumonia.

-Leukocyte count? -It's abnormal.

-Epistaxis? -Intermittent

with considerable loss of blood at first.

And then, the delirium.

I'll need a blood sample.

I'll set it up.

It's all right.

You're in the hospital.

You're sick, but we'll fix you up in no time.

Now, just a few questions.

We think you've got a disease that's carried by birds.

Have you had any recent contact with birds?

Parrots, lovebirds, parakeets?

Parakeets?

Where are they now?

What's your name?

Where do you live?

Jay Street? Do you live on Jay Street?

Well, where?

You didn't come from the station.

You didn't have any bag.

Now, try to remember.

What were you doing on Jay...

Hey!

Let's get him in the bed.

Easy.

(panting)

Now look, maybe you don't understand,

but this fever is dangerous.

Anyone who touches those birds could die.

Anyone who's even near them.

(panting)

You could be saving somebody's life.

Maybe a lot of lives.

Now please,

tell us where can we pick up those birds?

St... Stella.

Stella who?

Where can I find her?

Chicago.

Where?

What address?

Hotel.

What hotel?

Kurtz.

Ste... Stella Kurtz.

S-Stella Kurtz.

Kurtz, Kurtz.

He's pretty weak.

He won't be talking for a while.

Well, you've got the name.

Now you better get the address.

Chicago?

There's an afternoon plane.

What made him take off like that?

I was asking about Jay Street.

You dig up anything over there?

Not a thing.

Hey, look.

Gonna need something.

Get that nail.

Wow.

WINCHELL: By 3:45 that afternoon,

Dr. Dan Gifford was on his way to Chicago.

On arrival, he began a systematic check

of all hotels in the classified directory.

He had one lead, a guest named Stella Kurtz.

Right, Arnie, all right.

Yeah, all right, all right.

All I know is I'm standing on one foot,

and all you do is make excuses for him.

Benno doesn't need excuses.

Well, why don't he call me then?

If I felt better, I'd tell you where to...

(phone ringing)

You wanted him to call you.

Why don't you talk to him?

Jack, Washington, long-distance.

Eliot, he's on.

Careful now, I'm gonna cut you in.

Yeah, yeah, this is Mr. Kurtz.

Sure, I'll wait.

Hello?

Hello, Arnie?

Oh, it's you, uh...

I thought it was the guy that, uh...

Everything's all right, isn't it? You got it?

Where am I calling from, Arnie?

From Washington.

If I got it, would I still be in this lousy town?

If I got it, wouldn't I be back in New York by now, huh?

Well, uh, listen, I-l sent it down to you last night

on the train.

You know the way I operate, Arnie.

You've been around long enough.

It don't look good.

Sets a bad example.

The first payment and you try to cop out.

Oh, no, no, no. no, wait a minute, wait a minute.

I ain't copping out or anything like that.

I mean, you know, I, uh...

Uh, something just must have went wrong, that's all, but...

Uh, I tell you, I'll fix it.

I'll take the loss,

and, uh, I'll make a new payment.

I'll bring it down myself.

And stick your neck out?

What about the feds?

Oh, no, no, no, don't worry about them.

The way I come, I'll have them running around in circles.

But, uh...

Give me another couple of days is all.

A couple of days?

I'll wait for you, Arnie.

Got any names?

(sighs) It's too early for Christmas.

No question about it, though.

Somebody's calling the shots.

Yeah, all we have to do is find them.

All we have to do is stay with Kurtz.

I can take a hint.

What time are you taking over for Lee?

9:00.

Rico?

Don't lose him.

I should have known your brother.

I should have known he'd louse it up.

He didn't louse it up.

You-You'll hear from him.

Sure, he'll send me a picture postcard from the White House.

All I know is what the man said on the phone.

Benno didn't show with the dough!

Well, maybe something scared him off.

-Maybe he's playing it smart. -Smart?

What do you mean? He couldn't even make change of a nickel,

-that guy. -Shut up, Arnie.

-Smart. -I said shut up.

Don't tell me to shut up.

That's the last time you ever touch me.

Now, wait a minute.

Hey.

If you're going, take them stinking birds with you.

Hey.

Hey!

Hey!

ANNOUNCER: Now, back to The Untouchables.

WINCHELL: Arnie Kurtz had guaranteed his partner

that he would not be followed to Washington.

To make sure, he had laid out a route

that would take him through several large cities.

He planned to leave the hotel at 9:35.

Dr. Gifford reached the lobby at 9:16.

I phoned from the airport about Stella Kurtz.

Might be better if you didn't announce me.

I'm sure Mrs. Kurtz will understand.

Mind if I ask why?

Mind if I say it's none of your business?

You can say it, but you'd be wrong.

Sorry.

Dr. Gifford, Public Health Service, Washington.

If you still want to ask about...

Mrs. Kurtz? Yes, I'd like to.

Well, maybe you've read about psittacosis, parrot fever.

We think she may have some birds that are infected.

And if she has?

We don't know too much about it.

Dispose of the birds, quarantine the apartment.

Nobody comes or goes?

For two weeks.

Does that include her husband, too?

That's right.

Wait a minute.

I can't let you go up there, Doctor.

Well, I'm afraid you'll have to.

Look, something I must tell you,

but it has to be in confidence.

Stella Kurtz's husband is mixed up in the rackets,

and he's planning a move.

We've got him staked out.

If you pin him down now, we're dead.

I'm sorry, I've got a job to do.

I've got a job, too.

Well, you better learn where it starts and where it ends.

You try to keep me from going up there,

I'll get a federal judge out of bed

and slap you with a nice, fat court order.

Excuse me.

Outside line, please.

Yeah?

Mr. Kurtz, I'm from the Public Health Service.

Will you let me in, please?

You're what?

You have some birds in there

that we believe are diseased; I'd like to have a look at them.

Go on, beat it. We got no birds in here.

It's for your own protection, Mr. Kurtz.

If your birds are infected,

the worst that can happen is a short quarantine.

Quarantine?

Why take a chance with your life?

Mr. Kurtz?

Come on, open up.

Mr. Kurtz?

Get in.

Dr. Dan Gifford, Eliot Ness.

Where's Kurtz?

He got away. He want down the fire escape.

Look, Mr. Ness, I had a job to do.

I had to pick up those parakeets.

Did you find any parakeets?

He must have taken them with him.

Not him. His wife.

She went through the lobby a while ago with the cage.

-I asked you to wait. -(buzzer sounding)

(clack, whirr of elevator)

You did a bang-up job, all right.

You lost Kurtz for us and Mrs. Kurtz for yourself.

I'll find her.

If those birds are diseased, you can lay odds, I'll find her.

Quote me some odds on finding Kurtz?

I'll find him, too, if he's been infected.

He's picked up the fever?

I think it's possible.

-Probable? -I said, possible.

You didn't come all the way to Chicago on a hunch.

No, on a tip from a man who has the fever.

Who is he? What's his name?

I don't know.

From Chicago?

I don't know.

What's he to Kurtz?

I don't know.

You don't seem to know very much, do you?

-(buzzer sounds) -Look, I've got troubles enough.

If you're so interested in the man,

why don't you go talk to him?

-Go back to Washington and talk to him. -(buzzer sounds)

Maybe I will.

WINCHELL: Hoping to trace the parakeets

before they spread their infection,

Dr. Gifford alerted the local health authority.

He got unexpectedly fast results.

At 10:00 the following morning,

he was called to Cook County Hospital.

When was he brought in?

Night before last.

We didn't get a diagnosis till this morning.

Is it all right if I ask him some questions, Doctor?

I think so.

How you doing?

Not so good, Doc.

Oh, your temperature's coming down.

You'll be feeling better real soon.

You, uh, call me if you need me.

I thank you, Doctor.

We think you've picked up something called psittacosis.

Parrot fever.

It's carried by birds. Do you have any birds?

Any friends with birds?

Have you ever been to the Lakeview Hotel?

(exhales heavily)

No.

Oh. Three strikes, and I'm just starting.

Let's begin with the day you got sick and work back.

Where you went, what you did, everything you can remember.

All right?

I'll try.

Fine. Now, Tuesday, December 12.

You got up, you got dressed, you had breakfast,

and you went to work. How?

On the I.

Stopped to buy a paper, cigarettes, anything?

Where do you work?

Union Parcel Service.

Parcel service?

Yeah. I make deliveries.

Drive a truck.

You cover a lot of ground,

make a lot of stops.

Doc...

they give me route sheets.

Maybe the office has still got 'em.

What's the number?

Mohawk... three...

two, seven, one.

Three, two, seven, one.

Union Parcel Service.

This is Cook County Hospital.

(siren blaring, tires squealing)

WINCHELL: Less than three hours later,

the hospital had its second parrot fever case

sent in by a doctor on the swank north side.

But again, intensive questioning yielded no clues.

Neither patient had ever seen the other.

They came from different parts of the city.

They had never had the remotest contact.

Thanks. You get some rest.

I'll look in on you later.

Doctor?

(laughs) It's ironic.

I've always detested birds.

-Oh. -Sorry, Doctor.

Any leads?

Negative. I'd hoped that something

in these route sheets would give me a clue.

If I could just place him in one spot

that truck man had made a delivery.

You'd think they came from different planets.

-Yeah. -(phone ringing)

Isolation. Dr. Hasker.

Yes. Please.

Admitting. They just brought another one in.

WINCHELL: The Untouchables had taken

the night train to Washington, hoping to apprehend Arnie Kurtz

and his big-time Eastern Partner,

but Kurtz had disappeared into thin air.

They had only one slim line to follow.

I'm sorry, Mr. Ness, but he's much too sick.

Five minutes.

Wish I could. Took a bad turn last night.

We're not just visiting lodge brothers, Doctor.

Wouldn't much matter who you are.

Be too rough on him and too dangerous for you.

Look, I just want to ask him a few questions.

And I just want you to wait until he's better.

Dr. Garr, I'm after a man named Arnie Kurtz.

He's mixed up with one of the top racketeers in the east.

It's quite possible your patient could help us grab both.

Well, you have your problems, I've got my own.

Maybe this is yours, too.

Suppose Kurtz is walking around with the fever right now,

spreading it all over your beautiful city.

You have no proof of that.

He was exposed, Doctor, at close range.

You figure it out.

It's not that easy.

It's hard to see the pattern, Mr. Ness.

One man handles a sick bird, and nothing.

Someone else just passes down the hall.

We had a janitor-- he wasn't even in the room...

I'll take my chances.

No, sir. You can be brave, but I won't let you be foolish.

(Ness sighs)

It must be something they teach all doctors in college.

How to be stubborn in one easy semester.

GARR: Ness?

You might leave your phone number

with the switchboard operator.

If there's any change, I'll call you.

Thanks.

Helen... you sure you haven't heard from Dr. Gifford yet?

Please, as soon as you do.

And you went straight home and went to sleep?

You didn't see anyone?

See?

Sometimes when I'm asleep,

I see all kinds of people.

Know what I mean?

Yeah, I know what you mean.

All right, that was last Tuesday.

Now, the day before that, Monday.

Monday?

Let's take it from the top.

Oh, Monday.

Oh, sure. Monday.

I was home all day.

Sure, that's... that's the day I got my stick.

Your stick?

Clarinet.

I got a real good lip.

I took it home, and I played.

I played all day.

It was like old times.

Where did you get it?

You don't just get it, Doc.

You wait for it a long time.

You walk by, and you look at it in the window.

What window?

Oh, this pawnshop just around the corner.

Took a lot of saving.

Lot of doing without.

Know what I mean?

Doctor, those route sheets.

These over here.

Of course.

Almost positive he made a delivery to a pawnshop.

Do you remember a pawnshop?

-Well, I can't really say. -I remember now.

I wondered at the time, what do you deliver

to a pawnshop, and it was shoes.

A pair of shoes...

That pawnshop-- what's the address?

(sighs) I don't know, Doc.

Over on Brownwood.

Doctor?

Fisk pawnshop. 1420 Brownwood Avenue.

What about him?

Some more questions.

You said you'd never been to any of these places.

And you have to assume scientific doubt

and check them all again.

Not all. Just one.

A pawnshop on Brownwood Avenue.

When were you there?

I didn't say I was there.

I'm saying it.

Would it be... confidential?

Doctor and patient?

Doctor and patient.

I was there.

Last week.

Why?

I thought no one would know me on that side of town.

I lost some money at the club.

A rather large amount.

I had some diamond cufflinks.

A present from my wife.

(chuckles)

I never liked them anyway.

(tires squealing)

(horn honking)

(alarm sounding)

Anybody here?

Mr. Kurtz?

Operator, I want to call Washington, D.C.

Dr. Garr.

Yes.

Can't you read?

"No admittance.”

I'm sorry, but I've had it up to here today.

Then that bullheaded doc in Emergency...

-Emergency? -Yeah, he said I'd have to get your permission.

For what?

Look, I'm the one who sent that sick guy in

from J Street back at the station.

Then somebody finds this little bag

right directly where I picked him up.

Lieutenant says, "Go see if it's his.”

The man's sick, he might not live.

Now, why worry about a crummy little bag?

It had $100,000 in it.

Helen, Mr. Ness left his number.

Get hold of him.

WINCHELL: Arnie Kurtz arrived in Washington

late the following morning.

It was Friday, the last of his two-day space.

(phone rings)

Yes.

Hello, this is Arnie, I just got in.

You took your own sweet time.

Yeah, I know, I gave 'em the runaround and came by St. Louis.

Anybody see you leave there?

No, no, no, nobody.

Uh, I got it with me.

Where do you want delivery?

I'll call you.

You'll what?

I'll call you.

Where are you staying?

I'll be at the Maybrook.

Ask for Albert Krim, K-R-I-M.

You sure nobody tailed you down here?

Yeah, sure, I'm sure, nobody.

Listen...

(knocking)

All right, all right, take it easy, will you, lady?

This is Mr. Ness; he's from Chicago.

You're Benno Fisk.

You own a pawnshop in Chicago.

What's this Stella Kurtz to you?

My sister.

You find her?

You find the birds?

We found her and we found the birds.

She all right?

I asked, is she all right?

So say it.

It ain't so hard, it's just a couple of words.

Say it.

I wish we could.

I'm sorry, you know how hard this thing can hit.

I told you, you should have got there quicker.

I told you, you should have checked the hotel!

She wasn't at the hotel.

Where?

Your place.

She was waiting for you.

Arnie-- must have been on account of Arnie.

Why?

He hated the birds.

Couldn't stand them around.

Why?

'Cause he needed you to deliver this?

Wasn't that it?

Let your sister keep the birds

so you could play errand boy for Arnie Kurtz.

Was his idea-- the whole thing.

You can pay him off.

Unless Kurtz means more to you than your own sister.

Nothing-- he don't mean nothing to me.

Then hit him, Benno, for her sake hit him.

You're scared of him.

He can't hurt you.

Put him where he'll never hurt anyone again.

We know there was money in that bag-- $100,000.

Who was it for?

I don't know.

You were supposed to deliver it.

The bus station... locker.

Pick up something else.

What?

I don't know.

A bag.

I ain't much help.

More than you know.

We'll get him, Benno.

First job I ever did for him.

Honest.

Stella kept saying, "Be somebody.”

That's all she wanted.

Me to be somebody.

You're somebody.

(door closes)

♪♪

ANNOUNCER (over radio): The situation is being

closely watched by the Public Health Service.

It is now definitely established that the victim Benno Fisk

contracted the fever before leaving Chicago.

At this point there is no way of determining

how many other visitors from that city

may already be infected.

If you have been in Chicago recently

and have had any close contact with birds...

(turns radio off)

...see your physician

or get in touch with the Public Health Service.

Last time I looked, you were in Chicago.

We're shorthanded; he took the night train back.

He told me you found the birds.

Nice going.

We got lucky.

We could use some of the same.

No word on Kurtz?

Not a whisper.

Unless you've got something.

Not yet, but I'm used to it.

In my business you learn to wait.

And in mine.

Would you like some coffee?

Thanks.

Did you get that stuff distributed?

Every hotel in town.

That's a... nice job of printing.

Hey, you got a doctor in this hotel?

(phone rings)

Garr.

Yes, Doctor.

Yes. Yes.

Yes, I've got it.

Yes, thanks a lot.

The house physician at the Maybrook--

he thinks it might be your man.

He's registered as Albert Krim, room 907.

Can he hold him?

He thought, for possibly 20 minutes.

Made him strip to the buff.

-WINCHELL: Kurtz left the hotel at 11:30. -(whistles)

The doctor had given him a clean bill of health,

but something else had made him feel even better--

the Big Man had called and had given him the word.

Arnie Kurtz was on his way.

Yeah.

Always wanted to see this Lincoln thing.

Here you are, buddy.

You keep the difference.

♪♪

ARNIE: Tough climb up here.

THE MAN: Real tough.

Worth it, though.

ARNIE: Yeah, I wouldn't miss it for anything.

You got everything in here?

Everything-- names, addresses, the works.

Distilleries, warehouses, contacts.

Everything you'll need for the whole territory.

I'll keep in touch with you.

-Don't move. -What is this?

All right, Kurtz, move

before he runs out of charity.

Come on.

WINCHELL: That was the end of Arnie Kurtz.

A few weeks later, on January 24,

President Hoover issued Executive Order number 5264,

regulating the importation of all birds

subject to Parrot Fever.

According to Dr. Victor Garr,

Benno's case figured largely in the evidence submitted.

Benno Fisk had become a somebody.