Original subtitles

(theme music plays)

WALTER WINCHELL: October 1918.

World War Number One was coming to an end.

A man named Elroy had trapped an enemy machine gun.

-The name Elroy means king. -(explosion)

And he might have become one as a baseball star.

Elroy could pick a bird out of a tree at 50 yards

with a pebble, a rock, a baseball, or a pineapple.

(gunfire)

Got awful quiet awful quick.

Cover me.

(speaking German)

(grunts)

Any trouble?

Nah, they were all dead when I got here.

Mmm.

Man, that's good.

Uh...

a little thing like that...

Little things make you feel...

real good.

WINCHELL: In the war, Elroy Daldran found

his own unique appetite,

a taste for pineapple.

(cheering)

In the decade that passed, Elroy saw no reason

to give up his taste for pineapple,

simply because killing wasn't legal anymore.

Coming in now.

That's him.

That's your target.

DALDRAN: The one on the left?

Gray suit?

Yeah, that's him.

That's Ness.

Well?

What do you think?

Nice-looking fella, ain't he?

ANNOUNCER:

"“A Taste for Pineapple."

Starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness.

Co-starring Jeremy Slate,

Edward Binns,

with guest star, Tom Tully.

And narrated by Walter Winchell.

WINCHELL: Boston, New York, Atlantic City,

Pittsburgh, Detroit, and now Miami.

May 14, 1931.

The rats were leaving the ship.

Big one.

Last call came from the Miami office.

Diamond arrived in the land of sunshine and orange blossoms

with lots of noise and lots of friends.

That makes three so far today.

Yeah, Nitti to Atlantic City, Moran to Pittsburgh,

and now Diamond in Miami.

I'd say it's a big one, all right.

The rats are willing to establish alibis themselves.

Somebody in Chicago's gonna get the slug.

Question is who?

Who's the setup?

He did it again.

Well, there you are, mister.

Hey, you've got some arm there, fella.

Now, don't kid me,

you're a professional, ain't you, huh?

Yes, hey there, folks, he's masquerading.

We got Walter Johnson here.

Hey there, hey there, step right up,

and watch Walter Johnson knock them over.

Come on.

Danny's waiting.

How'd you know I was here?

Where else?

CARNY: What did I tell you?

Yes, sir, yes, sir.

Look at him go, folks.

Step right up.

Who's next?

Hey, Walter,

don't you want your prizes?

Hey there, hey there...

Tomorrow, as soon as I get to St. Louis,

I'll call you.

Then you go ahead,

but not till I call.

My way?

I like the way you laid it out.

It's intelligent.

I'll be waiting for your call.

Sit down.

Sit down.

You know what you're getting into?

A job's a job.

That's just what I don't want to hear.

You know what we usually pay?

A G, 1,500 is tops.

I bring you to Chicago, I pay you ten grand.

Eliot Ness is not just another job.

Well?

Now you listen good.

Ness is prohibition agent number one.

He's Mr. Untouchable himself.

Him and his boys are pushing us right into bankruptcy.

You know who hung the label The Untouchables on them?

We did.

The syndicate.

Can't buy them, can't scare them, so...

So, so, so, so, I'm here.

Anything else?

Just this.

Some of the big boys think it's a mistake

to hit a fed, any fed, and especially Ness.

They say it's bad for public opinion.

Nobody likes to upset the customers.

But I say Ness goes.

So, it's my hit.

So, it's my neck, too.

Anything else?

Going after Ness don't upset you, huh?

For ten grand, I'll go after Al Smith.

For ten grand,

I'll even sit through a chalk talk I don't need.

DANNY: Hey.

You with the great right arm.

For ten grand,

you better pitch a shutout.

'Cause you know who's in the bullpen right behind you?

Me.

Like I said,

I'll be waiting for your call.

(phone ringing)

WINCHELL: The next morning, Elroy got his call.

Danny Mundt had arrived in St. Louis.

His alibi was now established.

♪♪

(car starting)

Hey, Ness.

(horn honking)

(crashing)

DOCTOR: Now I'm gonna look at the other eye.

Well?

A little hemorrhaging.

No damage at all that I can see.

What now?

Skull X-rays.

(machinery hissing)

All right, that's it.

Put them in work immediately, please.

Yes, sir.

All right, Mr. Ness.

When will I know?

As soon as I do.

I know right now.

I don't have to stall around and try to think up where I was.

Old friend, I know where I was.

I was at my sister's for dinner.

Ask her.

You guys roused me like a common hoodlum or something.

There's nothing common about you, old friend.

You've been the top fuse-man for the organization

for the past two years.

What's the score, Rico?

Two Danny Mundt cars,

half a dozen Lou Diamond trucks,

nine warehouses, maybe ten.

You've used every known explosive, every known device.

You rigged the ignition in Woody O'Mara's car

the night he parked it out in front Charlie Zenko's speak.

-Ooh, you got photographs? -(phone rings)

Better, we've got a police record

detailing your motives on every job you ever pulled.

Well, then I guess you have got me red-handed.

-Yes, Captain... -Sure, I blew up Ness.

You bet you did.

You picked up the shell of a world war grenade

just like this one.

Then rigged it out with explosives,

then you tossed it in that car.

- I did? -Please, Captain...

Oh, come on, why would I do a dumb thing like that?

If I'm supposed to hit Ness,

why wouldn't I just knock him off neat and clean?

Why would I mess around with some stupid thing

that might not even work?

How about that, Rico?

Don't that make sense?

The name's Rossi.

Mr. Rossi.

An nothing you say makes any sense.

Where'd you get that shell?

Who's your wheel man? Who drove you?

Go on, get out.

Get out and tell Nitti why you missed.

He's clean.

(door closes)

Pineapple. War surplus pineapple.

Could be some guy got hurt in a brewery raid.

Well, maybe some little guy that got caught in the middle.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Could be a driver maybe.

Picking up a few extra bucks for his family.

Hey, we raid the place, he's out of a job.

You know, some guy with a big grievance.

Sounds right.

Yeah, somebody who couldn't buy a gun.

Somebody afraid to buy a gun.

Yeah.

Picked up a pineapple at a surplus store.

Now you tell me who's gonna be able to trace that?

Nobody. But where does that leave us?

What are we gonna do?

Pick up every little guy with a grievance?

Pardon me, sir, I'm Federal Officer.

Can you tell me honestly now that you purchased

a grenade recently?

No.

Well, I don't know. Just doesn't figure.

Doesn't figure it'd be a gang hit.

The big boys aren't gonna give a contract

to some character walking the streets

with a hand grenade in his hip pocket.

They're not gonna give a contract period.

They're not gonna hit a Fed,

the whole city will move against them.

I'm afraid that's just a myth, Jack.

Supposing that

he's tired of seeing his breweries knocked over.

His major source of income cut down, and down, and down.

Let's look at it from his point of view.

All right, so he takes care of Eliot.

Washington gets excited. Chicago gets excited.

The public sits around the speakeasy

sipping Nitti's booze,

clucking away with great indignation.

A few weeks go by-- a month, six months.

Washington appoints a new man as head the untouchables.

The new man, I don't care how good he is,

won't be as able as Eliot.

Nitti rolls the dice.

Nitti wins.

But there's nothing to trace it to Nitti, Lee.

He's right, Lee. It was a sloppy job.

And Nitti's boys work neat.

I've never seen them mess one up yet.

Why not start rounding up everybody we can.

That'd take too much time.

The big boys are all out of town.

Let's pick up their first teams.

Their number one contract killers.

We got nothing to go on, we'll just be rousting.

What are we gonna tell Eliot?

We sat around the office and wished him well?

Come on, let's go.

WINCHELL: With Ness out of the way,

illicit liquor poured into Chicago in a steady stream.

The speakeasies flourished.

Now, this will be the last test.

The anesthetic drops in your eyes

have taken hold.

Gonna use the tonometer.

You don't feel that, do you?

No.

This indicates the intraocular pressure.

Normal.

Well, Doctor, what about it?

You did say that was the last test.

Yes, I did.

Mr. Ness...

I'm not sure I know how to explain this.

Simple words will do. Yes or no?

It's not quite that simple.

I've consulted with an internist,

another eye man,

and two neurologists.

I wanted to verify my own findings.

You trying to tell me that...

something's damaged that can't be repaired?

Mr. Ness, there is no trace of any damage whatsoever.

No damage to the skull, the brain, the eyes,

or the nerves-- none that we can find.

Then what?

I must tell you that there is no physiological

explanation for your condition.

-And yet... -And yet...

I'm blind.

It didn't light, Mr. Ness.

May I?

Now, I'm going to move a light

into your field of vision.

Doctor, we've been through all that.

Let's go through it again.

I want to know precisely how much you can see.

You mean how little?

Now...

you tell me when you see some light.

Be sure to tell me when.

Nothing.

I'm not sure.

Blurry kind of light.

Somewhere.

Somewhere, huh?

(sighs)

Now...

Tell me when

you see some change.

The room's not so...

grey/black now.

All right. That's fine for now.

Oh, nurse, would you go downstairs

and tell Mr. Hobson he can come up now?

NURSE: Yes, Doctor.

That's not all...

Ness, easy.

It can't be all.

There's got to be an explanation.

Yes.

Yes, in medicine there is always an explanation.

In your case it is certainly not physiologic.

Meaning what?

Mr. Ness, I know something

about your work.

I admire...

and appreciate the war you're fighting

on behalf of all of us.

But it is a war.

And in war people get hurt.

Hurt? There's no wound.

You yourself said there's no physical damage.

There are other kinds of wounds

besides physical-- psychological perhaps.

Look, Doctor...

See, Mr. Ness, the problem is...

What's the problem, Doctor? I don't see. I'm blind.

That's the only problem.

What's psychology got to do with blindness?

Don't fight me, Mr. Ness.

It's important that you see the problem.

So?

Tell me, Mr. Ness...

Have you ever been afraid?

I know you're a brave man,

but even so...

What?

You know the expression "blind panic?"

What are you getting at?

There's a recent theory

that where there is a physical handicap

without a medical explanation...

the basis may be fear.

Fear, huh?

That's supposed to explain why I'm blind?

Why not? Haven't you ever been afraid?

Doctor, anyone tells you you can look down the barrel

of a gun and not be afraid is a liar.

Or a lunatic.

That's right.

That's why this fear theory doesn't apply to me.

As many times as I've been scared,

I mean bone scared, I've never gone blind before.

So why now, Doctor? Tell me that, huh?

-Why now? -(knocking)

Hello, Eliot.

Lee.

How are you?

Dandy.

Before you, uh,

take Mr. Ness back to his room,

there's one more thing.

Well, I'm sorry, I'll wait outside.

Stay, Lee.

You asked me why?

Why now? Who knows?

A man plays a violin...

a thousand times. Then one night

the E string snaps. Why?

Why that night and no other?

Who knows.

Perhaps...

that one bit of added pressure...

was just too much.

You're only human, Mr. Ness.

Perhaps, you have a breaking point, too.

You can't put a...

violin string back together

is that what you're trying to tell me?

No. The human body and the mind

have remarkable powers of recuperation.

You may get your sight back.

I don't know how...

or when.

That's all you can tell me, Doctor?

One patient of mine...

blind for reasons that couldn't be explained medically.

Blind for four years...

Woke up one morning,

said to his wife,

is that what the new wallpaper looks like?

What a crazy pattern.

Sometimes it happens like that.

Often?

Often, Doctor?

People do get along without their sight.

No Federal Officers.

Lee...

So tell me why?

Why, Wonder Boy,

didn't you count first?

I wanted him to know.

What?

What was gonna happen.

Uh, I wanted him to see it hit.

So he'd know what was gonna happen.

Buddy, we're in business here.

And we do things business-like.

You got a job to do, you just do it.

-Clean, quick. -(phone rings)

Hello.

Yeah, yeah.

What about the, uh,

party in question?

(laughs)

Is that a fact?

(laughs)

(hangs up phone)

Angie...

open the safe.

Take out ten grand.

Give it to Wonder Boy there.

Did Ness die?

Better.

He's blind.

Totally.

Stone blind.

Much better.

He's out of our way.

We practically got a clean conscious.

Hey, what do you think you're doing?

I'll be back for the money.

When?

When I finish the job.

But you are finished. You did good.

I'm the first to admit.

Now, take the money and blow, huh?

I said that for ten grand I would kill him.

That's what I've got to do.

Hey,

I don't want you to do no more.

You did good. Now...

take the dough or don't take it,

but I don't want no more trouble.

The job is finished.

Not, uh, for me.

An amateur.

He likes people to know first.

How many guys in this town,

eight, nine, that I should meet in a dark alley?

They don't worry me.

But that one...

if I met him in a dark alley, I'd worry.

There he goes, lighting that cornball corncob pipe

like nothing was wrong.

This guy's trouble.

Al...

half a block down, still on La Salle.

Follow him...

find him...

lose him.

WINCHELL: The orders-- follow him, find him, lose him.

Al Gross, killer par excellence in his own right,

found Elroy Daldran.

Gross would never find anyone again.

Eliot Ness began his rehabilitation

May 18, 1931.

His world was reduced from hundreds of square miles,

the city of Chicago, to a small gray room.

He tried desperately to adapt to it.

In countless other rooms throughout the city,

the Untouchables put on the pressure.

They were determined to avenge the attack on their leader.

Every hoodlum known to be associated

with big-league gang activity was hauled in and grilled,

including the close associates of Danny Mundt.

(sighs)

Who's that?

It's me, Eliot.

Hello, Lee.

I brought Rico with me.

We thought you'd like a rundown.

How are you, Eliot?

Fine.

Tell me about Betty.

Well, your wife's safe.

We, uh, we moved her out of town, Eliot.

-Does she know? -We did as you asked.

We didn't tell her.

Well, we, uh, we told her that...

well, that you'd been hurt and that you'll be all right.

And you will be.

Well, what's been happening?

Give it to me in nice, round zeroes.

Well, first off, we hauled in all the fat cats.

Nitti, Moran, Mundt, all of them.

Out of town, all with shining, golden alibis, huh?

Airtight and foolproof.

But then we really started shaking down the town.

We brought in every ex-con in Chicago,

and we squeezed them all.

Some of these guys, Eliot, we had stuff on,

stuff we'd been saving.

If they knew anything, they would've talked.

But they didn't.

Because they just don't know.

Well, you won't find him.

This job's over with.

The hit-and-run guy must be a thousand miles away by now.

Unless Gross...

Yeah, there's-there's that.

Gross? Al Gross?

What about him?

Past tense, Eliot. They hauled him out of the lake.

ROSSI: And he didn't drown.

Knife wound in the abdomen.

And a very neat job, too, leaving him very dead.

So we figured that...

-Mr. Ness. -Figured what?

-It's lunchtime. -Just put it down, please.

Oh, no. You must let me help you.

I don't want any help. Please.

I'm sorry.

Well, if there's anything you wish,

just ring.

What about Gross?

Well, it would have to be something bigger.

For instance, if Gross was the one who tried the hit,

maybe he's got to go, to lock up the secret once and for all.

It wasn't Al.

How can you be so sure?

I am sure- it wasn't Gross.

I heard the guy's voice.

"Hey, Ness," he said.

I'll never forget that voice as long as I live.

Well, do you have any idea who it might have been?

It's all I've been doing for the past five days,

and nights, too.

I went through a card file in my mind,

my own private index.

Every crook we've ever run across,

trying to put together the voice and the face,

the voice and face, one by one.

(sighs) It's no good-- I can't come up with it!

A voice I never heard before.

(knocking)

This just came for Mr. Ness.

NESS: What?

Eliot, are you expecting anything?

No one's supposed to know I'm here, remember?

-Who brought it? -Special delivery.

Uh, I signed for it.

Thanks.

Who's it from?

We've got to tell him.

It's a get-well card, Eliot.

Well, go on.

Well, it's the usual little mass-produced poem,

but on the back...

well, on the back written by hand in block letters

somebody wrote: "We still got a date, Mr. Ness,

so like it says, get well quick.”

It's signed "The Pineapple Man."

WINCHELL: The search for the Pineapple Man intensified.

Although the Untouchables had no new clues

as to his identity, they did have two items

of inside information--

his whereabouts: Chicago;

his plan: to keep his murder appointment

with Eliot Ness.

Frank, you don't have to tell me the raids have been stepped up.

I got... three or four places been knocked over this week.

Yeah.

What's that?

Guy from out of town?

Uh... no, we haven't found him yet, Frank,

but we will.

Yeah, and quick.

Yeah.

Oh, we'll wrap him up in a couple of days or so.

Sure, sure, you can hold me responsible.

Yeah.

Ness.

He wants Ness, this we know, right?

That's where you got to stick around.

That's where you'll find him.

Danny, uh...

where Ness is, we can't go.

The cops, they got him covered nine ways from tomorrow.

Well, they're just waiting for a familiar face to show.

Well, Dino and me, the cops know us.

We get anywhere near Ness, they'll chop us down first

and ask questions later.

But, Roy, the cops don't know him.

They don't even know what he looks like.

That screwball could walk right by him,

they wouldn't know it.

So now what do we do?

Hey, Danny, you tell us what to do, we'll do it.

No.

I'll do it.

Myself.

What?

Something you guys have never seen me do before.

Let me have that phone.

I'm gonna holler cop.

If we can't find him...

maybe they can...

...with my help.

Captain Johnson, please.

Hello, Captain Johnson?

You got a pencil and paper?

Never mind who this is. Listen and listen good,

because I'm only gonna say this once.

The guy you're looking for...

the guy who tossed the pineapple at Ness...

his name is Elroy Daldran.

About, uh, six feet tall...

180 pounds,

male Caucasian.

Armed and dangerous.

I got it. Thank you.

What now?

We just got a tip on our man.

The police are putting out an all-points right now.

And right now we go to work.

We dig into this guy.

Take all police files, major cities.

-Right. -Veterans' records,

-whatever else you can think of. -Got it. -Photographs.

Photographs. Let's dig them out.

There's got to be a photograph somewhere.

At worst, let's get accurate descriptions,

and I mean accurate.

We'll order a police composite drawing.

All right, let's go.

♪♪

Hey. Milk.

Oh, yeah.

Sorry.

This coffee's cold; give me another cup.

You ain't even tasted it yet.

Hey!

I said it's cold.

Thank you. Very grateful.

I really appreciate it.

It's all right. It's all right.

Coffee.

Hey, uh... (chuckles)

-You fish, huh? -Yeah.

Where you fish, at the lake?

No, no, I don't like to fish Lake Michigan.

Give me a spoon, huh?

I just got back from downstate.

I fish small lakes, streams, that sort of thing, you know.

Yeah.

I'll tell you something,

Wisconsin, a lot better fishing.

(exhales) And Minnesota's better yet,

but it just takes too long to get there.

Really like that stuff, huh?

Sure. You don't fish?

No.

No, I can't see it.

-No control. -What are you talking about?

There's a lot of control.

You'd be surprised what you can do with a rod.

Yeah, but you got no control over the fish.

Can't make them do anything; you can't see them.

He takes the bait or he don't.

No control.

But, uh...

hunting...

that's different.

There you got control.

Like quail. Did you ever go quail hunting?

No.

(laughs) You don't know what you're missing.

Now you take quail, see?

Uh, you know where they are,

or you-you think you know where they are,

so you got to scare 'em out.

You set a dog on them, you flush "em out.

You know what happens?

They sail up, right in front of your face.

Pow! Pow, pow, pow, pow! You pick "em off.

(laughing) Pow! Pow!

Beautiful.

Oh.

See what I mean?

Uh, uh, you make a move when you want "em to move, huh?

(laughing)

Beautiful, huh?

It's, uh, little things like that

that, uh, make you feel real good, huh?

(phone ringing)

Hello.

DALDRAN: Hey, Ness?

Ness, do you know who this is?

This is your friend, your uh... your pineapple friend.

Remember me?

What's the matter? You so scared you can't talk?

I got your card.

What are you waiting for?

DALDRAN: You think you're pretty well covered, huh?

Uh, well, uh, not good enough.

Um, when I feel like coming in,

I'm just gonna walk right through,

so, uh, wait there for me, Ness,

'cause, uh, we got a date, you and me.

Hey, Ness?

Ness, you didn't drop the phone, did you, huh?

Guard! Guard!

What's the matter, Mr. Ness?

Eliot, what's the matter?

Phone-- put a trace on it.

It's dead.

Fine.

What happened?

It was him, that voice.

Are you sure?

"Hey, Ness," he said, "Wait there for me."”

Eliot, listen.

I'm blind, but I'm not deaf.

"Wait that for me."” That's what he said.

Listen to me.

We know who it is.

You know him.

His name's Daldran.

Elroy Daldran.

Ex-ballplayer, war hero.

Metals to prove it. Four of 'em.

You know what he was decorated for?

Pineapple throwing. He never missed.

If a company was pinned down, get Elroy.

Don't you see how it all fits?

Elroy Daldran, huh?

We even got a picture of him.

Now for the first time, Eliot, we know what to look for.

Get him, Lee. I want him.

Get him.

I'll take that.

Orders, remember?

Is that the way it's going to be from now on?

I'm not to see my own patient?

Don't knock it, lady.

It'd be a lot safer for you if you stay out of that room.

I'll be right here.

Mr. Ness's dinner.

Set it right there.

Call me if you get anything.

Yeah, it looks pretty good, Eliot.

Roast beef, mashed potatoes, string beans,

strawberry shortcake for desert.

Too bad you're not having any.

The least you can do is keep me company.

WINCHELL: The maneuver was well-planned.

The hospital routine was maintained

exactly as it had been.

Except, that very day,

the hospital laundry, picked up in the usual way

at the usual time, was just a little heavier.

But the Untouchables made one mistake.

Dr. Samuels, who had attended Eliot Ness

since his first examination,

maintained his general practice.

And the doctor could not hide his movements.

(engine starting)

And there's been no pain?

No.

Well, Doctor, how's our patient?

No worse.

Yes, I know. No better, either.

Let's just say, there's been no change.

Now, I'll drop back in about a week.

At that time, we can start a new series.

(metal rattling)

(mewing)

It's a cat, Eliot.

Just a cat on the windowsill.

There's a change.

Now I'm jumping at cats.

I'll see you next week.

Good-bye, Mr. Ness.

Good-bye, Doctor.

Bye, Doctor.

(door closes)

(engine starts)

(explosion)

HOBSON: The shed.

Ben! Ben!

Keep your eye on Eliot.

Don't let him out of your sight.

(door closes)

HOBSON: Spread out!

He's got to get out of here somewhere!

(running footsteps)

Well, see anything?

The barn's on fire.

-Don't worry about it. We'll find him. -(click)

(grunts)

Ben, what happened? Ben?

DALDRAN: Ness?

Hey, Ness?

(Daldran laughs)

Hey, Ness?

(Daldran laughing)

(grunts)

(panting)

Hey, Ness.

Hey, Ness.

You run pretty good for a blind man.

Where are you?

Here.

There.

(laughs) I'm sorry you can't see, Ness, 'cause, uh,

I want you to know what's going to happen.

Uh, this is my left hand,

and in my right hand I've got a knife.

I'm sorry you can't see, Ness.

(chuckles)

Good-bye, Ness.

(grunting)

(grunting continues)

This is my left hand.

This is a knife in my right hand.

And you can see it?

Yeah.

How do you like it, huh?

(chuckling): Ah, sure, go ahead.

Do it.

Do it now.

I want you to know first.

How do you like it, being scared, huh?

(laughs)

You're wasting your time, buddy.

I never been scared of nothing,

never in my whole life.

Honest.

(laughing)

A man once told me,

anyone who said he was never scared

is either a lunatic or a liar.

You're no liar.

(splash)

-Come on. -WINCHELL: Elroy Daldran's career of crime

ended abruptly on a bright afternoon in May 1931

when the sadistic Killer was taken into custody

by the Untouchables.

Five weeks later Eliot Ness returned to his desk

and immediately turned the heat on Mundt.

Wait a minute, Danny.

Wait for what?

Nitti's not waiting; he's sore but good.

On account of you and you, he's sore at me.

From the beginning it was your fault.

Wait a minute.

Whose idea was it in the first place to knock off Ness?

Shut up.

Hold it right there.

(tires screeching)

(indistinct shouting)

Let's go.

WINCHELL: By September 1931

Mundt's vast racketeering enterprise was destroyed.

He spent his last days

in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth.