Cinema
The Untouchables
Brian De Palma · 1987
Synopsis
Chicago, 1930, in the midst of Prohibition. Al Capone holds the city and part of the police. Eliot Ness, a federal Treasury agent, arrives to bring him down; his first raid finds only umbrellas, some policemen having warned Capone, and the press ridicules him. He meets Jim Malone, an Irish and honest beat policeman, who advises him to fight Capone with his own weapons; they recruit George Stone, a good shot, at the police academy, and the accountant Oscar Wallace, sent from Washington, joins them. They set up an ambush against a convoy of whisky coming from Canada.
Context
The producer Art Linson, hired by Paramount's management, brought the project to De Palma, who needed a success. The film draws on Ness's memoirs published in 1957 with Oscar Fraley, and the television series taken from the same book is also among its sources. It is remembered for a cavalry charge at the Canadian border and a shootout on the staircase of Chicago's railway station, where a baby carriage rolls down the steps, a homage to a famous scene of Soviet cinema. Ennio Morricone composed the music.
Who it is for
A film of about two hours, shot partly on real locations in Chicago and Montana, which is loosely inspired by a real manhunt.
Prizes and reception
Oscar for best supporting actor for Sean Connery in 1988, and three other nominations, for art direction, costumes and music.
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