The Untouchables: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery Star

If my memory serves me right, I first saw this 1987 film, directed by Brian De Palma, at the Colony Theater on Shaker Square here in Cleveland (the theater is now called Shaker Square Cinemas). The movie is only loosely based on history, as much in the film is fiction. It is set in the early 1930s, and it deals with the enforcement of Prohibition,* which, by then, was not popular with many Americans, but it was the law, although Al Capone and others used illegal alcohol to make great fortunes. The film shows the underlying feelings about booze (see Word History, below), including at the ending, as Eliot Ness, when asked what he'll do if Prohibition is repealed says, "I think I'll have a drink." Sean Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as "Malone." Real life Eliot Ness lived in Cleveland and served as the city's safety director during the 1930s. When Ness died in 1957, his body was cremated and his ashes were strewn in Lake View Cemetery here in Cleveland, and there is a memorial for him at the cemetery.** Ness died when I was a kid and after his death, he was portrayed in an ABC television series called, "The Untouchables," starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness from 1959 until 1963.

The film depicts Eliot Ness, played by Kevin Costner, as he tries to combat Al Capone's alcohol business and the violence Capone, played by Robert De Niro, used to keep his control on the Chicago market. Acting on a tip, the idealistic Ness conducts a raid, only have it turn to nothing, as Capone has also been tipped off by a corrupt policeman, and he has the alcohol removed from the warehouse. The Chicago newspapers ridicule Ness over the fiasco and Capone has a good laugh. Ness is feeling low, but then he meets an Irish beat cop, named Jim Malone, played by Sean Connery. Malone has decided to stay alive by walking the beat, rather than go up against the Chicago police department and the Chicago political system, both heavily tainted by the corruption of Al Capone's money. Malone tells Ness that it will take a fight to the finish to break Capone and the corrupt system. Malone is a wise and experienced policeman and he begins to share his wisdom with Ness, who, at first, is a crusading idealist. Together, Ness and Malone check on police recruit George Stone, played by Andy Garcia, known for his ability to handle firearms. When they ask the recruit why he wants to be a cop, he gives the standard textbook answer ("protect and serve... etc"). Malone decides to ruffle the feathers of the young officer and he mentions the officer's name, "George Stone." Malone then asks, "What's your REAL name," and the officers says, "That IS my real name." Malone presses further by saying, "I mean your name before you changed it." Now the officer turns more serious. Finally the young man utters, "Giuseppe Petri." This brings Malone to call the young officer "a lying wop *** and a member of a lying no good race." Now Stone responds by quickly drawing his pistol and telling Malone, "It's better than you, you stinking Irish pig," Malone now says, "Oh, I like him." So Stone becomes part of the team.    

Ness also meets an accountant, Oscar Wallace, played by Charles Martin Smith, sent by the federal government to investigate Capone's finances. Wallace tells Ness that Capone has not filed a tax return for several years, but Ness doesn't really understand the potential significance of the information provided by the little accountant with the big glasses. When Ness, Stone and Malone go on their first raid as s team, Malone hands the accountant, Wallace, a gun. So now Wallace is part of the team, which will eventually be called, "The Untouchables." This raid scores a big hit and Capone scores a big hit by killing a member of his own inner circle with a baseball bat for providing info to the authorities. As Malone had told Ness, this has all of the makings of a fight to the finish.

The Untouchables get info about a shipment of liquor coming from Canada and they go to the border area to arrest those involved. Not only do they kill a number of Capone's men, but they capture one of his bookkeepers, who can help tie Capone to the gangster's large net of businesses; and thus, to income tax evasion. We also see another reference to how many Americans wanted alcohol, as Wallace, an Untouchable, takes a drink of liquor streaming from a bullet hole in a keg. The bookkeeper's ledger also has names of people who have taken money from Capone (been bribed). When Wallace is taking the bookkeeper away later, both are killed by one of Capone's hitmen, Frank Nitti, played by Billy Drago.**** In Wallace's blood on the wall, Nitti scrolls, "Touchable." So now one of the team members is gone. Malone gets the chief of police, who is part of the corruption, and he forces him to tell him the whereabouts of Capone's main bookkeeper. Before Malone can act on the information, a man with a knife gets into his apartment, and Malone forces him out with a gun, but this brings him into the fire of Nitti who is waiting in ambush. Severely wounded, Malone crawls back into the house and Ness and Stone get there in time for Malone to give them the info about the main bookkeeper. Malone dies, so another team member is gone.

Ness gets the bookkeeper after a major shootout and a dead on shot by Stone at the train station and the man begins his testimony in court about Capone's massive organization. Capone, however, sits in court yawning, appearing to not have a care in the world. Nitti briefly talks with him, and Ness sees the Nitti's gun. When Ness and the bailiff escort the Nitti out of the courtroom, Ness searches him and finds a book of matches with Malone's address on it. He now knows this is Malone's killer. Nitti  takes off and gets to the roof, with Ness in hot pursuit. Ness finds Nitti as vulnerable as he could be, climbing a rope, but he decides to remain within the law and have Nitti tried for Malone's murder.  But then the cocky Nitti tells Ness that Malone "died screaming like a stuck Irish pig," and that Ness should think about that when he goes free for the murder (he knows the court system is fixed). Now Ness's emotions take hold and he pushes the son-of-bitch off of the building roof. Nitti screams and Ness shouts out, "Did he (Malone) sound anything like that?" I remember the movie audience cheered when all of this took place.

Back in court, Ness has notes from Nitti about how Capone's jury has been bribed. This is why Capone was so confident. Ness asks to speak to the judge privately and when court resumes, the judge orders the bailiff to switch juries with the courtroom next door. Capone is furious and orders his attorney to do something, which he does, he tells the judge that on behalf of Capone, he is changing Capone's "not guilty" plea, to "guilty." All hell breaks loose with the press and the people in the courtroom, as now Capone is in big trouble. The district attorney asks Ness what he told the judge. Ness says he told him his name was in the payoff list in the ledger too, but the DA says, "His name wasn't in the ledger." I take this to mean that the judge had received some "favors" from Capone, other than direct payoffs. While the film doesn't show it, in real life, Capone was convicted and sentenced to eleven years in prison, plus fines and also back taxes. Most people are probably unaware that the real life Capone "ruled" Chicago when he was only in his mid 20s to early 30s.        

* Prohibition was the ban on the production, transportation, importation and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States, as established by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. It was repealed by the 21st Amendment in late 1933.

** President James A. Garfield and his wife Lucretia are buried there, as well as billionaire oilman John D. Rockefeller, who founded his Standard Oil Company here in Cleveland. 

*** "Wop" has long been a highly derogatory term for an Italian.

**** Frank Nitti was a real person and the head of Capone's "enforcement department;" which was responsible for intimidating people, and led to some being killed or seriously injured. The scriptwriters have simply used his name for the movie, and the film does not truly mirror Nitti's life, although his character's killings in the film do symbolically show his responsibility.  

Photo is from the 2004 Paramount Home Entertainment DVD 

WORD HISTORY:
Booze-This word has both a noun (alcoholic beverage) and verb form (to drink alcohol, usually more than a small amount), but its origin is very unclear. It was borrowed in the late 1200s as, "bouse(n)," from Dutch "busen," which meant "to drink a lot of alcoholic beverages." The noun apparently was taken from the verb. Where Dutch or how Dutch got the word is unknown. The modern spelling "seems" to date from the 1700s. 

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Six

First published in September 2012, but slight edit/clarification added August 20, 2017


As noted in the previous segments to this series, during the Great Depression, Democrats assembled a coalition which kept their general philosophy the dominant one for decades. But the coalition was so varied, it is amazing that it held together for so long. Black Americans abandoned the Republican Party for the Democratic Party in the election of 1936 (incumbent Democrat Franklin Roosevelt vs. Republican Alfred Landon), where they have remained ever since. White, often "ethnic,"* workers, both union and non union, previously had often supported Republicans, especially during the Teddy Roosevelt era, but also because of  Republican support for high tariffs on imported goods from the Civil War era clear up until the beginning of the Great Depression. Democrats, on the other hand, tended to favor lower tariffs in those times.** The Great Depression brought such calamity to American industry (a nearly 50% decline by 1933!!!), and also generally overseas, that tariffs became less of an issue, and thus far less of a political advantage to Republicans. Unemployment, the depressed economy and fairer distribution of income took center stage with all workers, union and non union. Franklin Roosevelt and many Democrats and progressive Republicans clearly favored helping workers and unions, in general, and workers shifted to the Democratic Party in droves. The era of Prohibition even played a part in the political realignment of the country.*** In many of the "ethnic neighborhoods" previously mentioned, residents, often, but not always Catholic, were more tightly cemented to the Democratic Party when many Democrats advocated, and got, the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 (the 21st Amendment).(Note: Many immigrants, both Protestant and Catholic, came from cultures where alcoholic beverages, wine, beer or special liquors, were part of their every day lives. People of fundamentalist religious beliefs generally supported Prohibition. I must admit, I'm not sure how many Jewish immigrants or Asian immigrants viewed alcohol in those times.)

By the 1970s, the old Democratic coalition from the 1930s was showing more than a few strains. The Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s (supported by a majority in both parties in both Houses of Congress), but with major opposition by southern Democrats) had brought a backlash from southern whites, and the movement of many blacks northward, mainly into large industrial cites, strained relations with white working class Americans.**** In old city neighborhoods, the general prosperity of the post World War Two era gave working class people a chance to move into developing suburbs and the middle class. Interestingly, the help by progressives in both parties, but mainly in the Democratic Party in that era, in fostering a fairer distribution of income (often by supporting unions) helped make at least some, if not much, of this possible, but once in suburban areas, voters began to be much more selective in their choice of candidates, often turning more conservative and casting their lot with Republicans. To be fair, change is not always easy for people to accept quickly, but until recently, time gradually brought general acceptance of the changes, except for some who have remained angry and determined to turn back the clock. This angry segment of society, often, but not in every case, white and male, became a part of the Republican coalition, although many maintained their registration as Democrats (I told you, change is not always easy or quick), being termed "Reagan Democrats" during the 1980s. Thar's NOT to say there aren't angry members of the Democratic Party too. Remember, by essentially maintaining a two-party system, it isn't easy to keep voters happy with every position announced by respective party candidates. That's part of the coalition building needed to gain and retain political power.  

So what about women? That's next in Part Seven...

* "Ethnic" in the sense that many immigrants had poured into America from the late 1800s and well into the 1900s, often congregating in specific neighborhoods of cities or towns, where they lived and worked. The prosperity of the post-World War Two era helped many of these people, or perhaps more so their children or grandchildren, to move into then developing suburbs of the nation, which then often brought a change to their political views, as will be seen.

** I'm certainly generalizing here, as how tariffs affected markets and prosperity is another debate, but let's keep this simple and common sense. If a company in a foreign country could ship some product to the U.S. cheaper than you could make it here, either as an owner or employee, your business or job was threatened. The higher the tariffs imposed on such imported goods, the less threatened your business or job was. The theory was, with industry doing well, workers would do well, and both business people and workers would spend their earnings on goods in other businesses, thus spreading the prosperity. The main problem was, profits from "protected" industries were not often shared in any sense of a fair manner with workers. Further, the other side was, high American tariffs brought high counter tariffs by foreign countries on American goods sold overseas; so, if you were an exporter, you hated high tariffs. Tariffs were the main source of revenue for the Federal government until the early 1900s. Republicans generally saw tariffs as a "money maker" for Uncle Sam, while Democrats preferred that tariffs only be used to keep the government solvent, and that lesser tariffs could be used to promote the export of American goods.    

*** Prohibition forbid the manufacture, sale or transport of intoxicating beverages in America. It became the law of the land with the 18th Amendment, which went into effect in early 1920. It also spawned the growth and proliferation of organized crime in America, as opponents of the law, often, but not always, Catholic Americans (and hypocritical supporters who liked a little nip once and a while or more) wanted alcoholic beverages, against the law or not. "Bootlegging" soared, as various alcoholic beverages were produced in basements, bathtubs, and backyards. Some of the alcohol produced was downright dangerous, containing impurities that could cause blindness and even death. For those familiar with "The Beverly Hillbillies," the highly popular television comedy of the 1960s, you may recall how Granny kept a still to produce what she called her "rheumatiz medicine," a beverage that could eat right through the table if spilled. Son in law Jed said it was so powerful, he used it to "blow (tree) stumps." The gangster era became famous, as organized crime groups established "business" territories in cities, large and small, where they made money by the shovel full, or maybe, the "bathtub full," would be a better way of putting it. As one group tried to move into another group's territory, fighting would break out, with paid gunmen on both (or all) sides, but casualties of innocent passersby was not uncommon. Chicago's Al Capone is the most famous of the Prohibition era gangsters to most Americans.

**** The immensely popular television comedy "All In The Family" clearly demonstrated the strains in American society, as character Archie Bunker, a working class New Yorker, was appalled and angry over the changes going on around him, including the addition of a black family next door to him. While not a faithful voter (see note), Archie was a Republican, showing how white working class Americans were changing political allegiance from Democrats to Republicans. (Note: In one episode, Archie goes to vote, only to be turned away for expired registration, because he hadn't voted in such a long time.)    

WORD HISTORY:
Wheat-This word, closely related to "white," goes back to Indo European "kweytos/kwi(n)dos," which had the notion of "bright, shining." This gave Old Germanic "(k)hwaitijaz," literally "the bright or shining grain." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hwaete," which then became "whete," before the modern version. Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "Weizen," Low German Saxon has "Weet," West Frisian has "weet," Dutch has "weit," Danish has "hvede," Icelandic has "hveiti," "Norwegian has "hveti,"
and Swedish has "vete.