The Untouchables

The Untouchables (1987)

1 commented-on entry since 21 Dec '24, 21:12

★★★★☆

(9 votes)

Factual error: At the end of the movie, a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes is shown on Ness' desk. The circle on the pack is red. Before America entered World War Two, Lucky Strike cigarettes had a green circle. The red circle was added with the ad campaign, "Lucky Strike is going to war."

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Suggested correction: This entry is wrong.

While the correction could stand to be more specific, the entry is wrong. The Lucky Strike circle has always been red. The redesign came from switching from a green box to a white box (which Lucky Strike marketed the change as a way to support the war). The pack seen on the desk is green, indicating it's before WWII.

Bishop73

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Mistakes

Continuity mistake: When Eliot Ness is at Jim Malone's house for the first time, Malone's collar is opened, then buttoned, then open again.

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Quotes

Jimmy Malone: He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way!

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Trivia

Trivia: As the stroller is going down the stairs in the train station it is a reference to the staircase scene in "Battleship Potemkin" in which a stroller similarly falls down a flight of steps while the horrified mother looks on.

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Questions

Question: How accurate is the portrayal of the Untouchables, when it comes to names and numbers? Were there actually only four of them? Do Garcia, Connery and Smith play actual people or fictive ones?

Answer: It's about 50% truth and 50% fiction. Ness, Al Capone, and Frank Nitty are real, of course, but the characters played by Connery, Garcia, and Smith are fictional. Ness started out with 50 candidates for his 'Untouchables' force. This was whittled down to 15 finalists and from that he selected 9 agents (none of which has the same name as the characters played by Connery, Garcia, and Smith). It's true that Capone was convicted for tax evasion. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison, but received an early release because he was in the last stages of syphilis. He died shortly after being released from prison.

raywest ★

Capone lived for 8 years upon his release from prison. The 8 years being slightly longer than the actual prison time he served, which was just over 7 years. He died, having the mental capabilities of a 12-year-old.

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