The Untouchables is an American gangster film produced in 1987. The movie is set in 1930 during the prohibition era. Al Capone, a Chicago crime boss, has the entire city in the palm of his hand and supplies illegal alcohol. He has strong relations with the government officials and the police force, influencing them greatly enough to not investigate his illegal practices. One strong member of the Treasury Department, Eliot Ness, believes it is his duty to uphold the law and bring Capone to justice. After his first raid bust, Ness seeks helps from Irish-American officer Jimmy Malone to help him catch Capone. With his help, they pick up an Italian trainee because of his outstanding marksman abilities. Washington D.C. also assigns an accountant,
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During the film, there were many scenes that were completely made up for entertainment reasons. When “gangster movie” comes to mind, most people think action, gore, and shooting. A tax evasion investigation movie just wouldn’t have made the cut. The director’s job was to throw in scenes that made it more entertaining, but not necessarily accurate. In the movie The Untouchables, the movie is inaccurate in depicting the events that occurred during the prohibition era in Chicago by including the smaller squad size, the train station and rooftop chase, and the death of two members in the team, but accurately depicts Capone’s violent nature by including the corner shop bombing in the opening …show more content…
In a scene depicted after a successful alcohol raid at a post office, they head down to a restaurant to celebrate and absorb what they had just accomplished. Not far into their cigars, a young reporter who is seen frequently throughout the movie busts into the restaurant. He offers to take a picture and Eliot Ness says, “Not for publication, but for us only.” And the four men get a cheery picture together. This scene emphasizes the group as a whole, and it is obviously noted that there are four main characters. In the real life Untouchables team, there was said to be eleven initial members of the squad that were selected by Ness. In Julie Bean’s “Issues of Historical Accuracy” blog, she writes about The Untouchables saying, “The Untouchables, however, were made up of agents of the Treasury Department, handpicked by Ness, after looking through all the records of the treasury agents to create a reliable team; initially consisting of fifty men, it was later reduced to fifteen and finally to just eleven trustworthy men.” This helps confirm the belief that there were only eleven men in the real life Untouchables team. It is understandable for a director to make adjustments for movie entertainment purposes. In this case, with a group so large, it is hard to base a movie around eleven main characters. It makes sense to cut the group down to a smaller size in
During the film, there were many scenes that were completely made up for entertainment reasons. When “gangster movie” comes to mind, most people think action, gore, and shooting. A tax evasion investigation movie just wouldn’t have made the cut. The director’s job was to throw in scenes that made it more entertaining, but not necessarily accurate. In the movie The Untouchables, the movie is inaccurate in depicting the events that occurred during the prohibition era in Chicago by including the smaller squad size, the train station and rooftop chase, and the death of two members in the team, but accurately depicts Capone’s violent nature by including the corner shop bombing in the opening …show more content…
In a scene depicted after a successful alcohol raid at a post office, they head down to a restaurant to celebrate and absorb what they had just accomplished. Not far into their cigars, a young reporter who is seen frequently throughout the movie busts into the restaurant. He offers to take a picture and Eliot Ness says, “Not for publication, but for us only.” And the four men get a cheery picture together. This scene emphasizes the group as a whole, and it is obviously noted that there are four main characters. In the real life Untouchables team, there was said to be eleven initial members of the squad that were selected by Ness. In Julie Bean’s “Issues of Historical Accuracy” blog, she writes about The Untouchables saying, “The Untouchables, however, were made up of agents of the Treasury Department, handpicked by Ness, after looking through all the records of the treasury agents to create a reliable team; initially consisting of fifty men, it was later reduced to fifteen and finally to just eleven trustworthy men.” This helps confirm the belief that there were only eleven men in the real life Untouchables team. It is understandable for a director to make adjustments for movie entertainment purposes. In this case, with a group so large, it is hard to base a movie around eleven main characters. It makes sense to cut the group down to a smaller size in