The Untouchables
The Untouchables was based on the memoirs of Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, and though the group which became known as the Untouchables – because they could not be touched by threats or bribes – was based on real characters the show soon forgot the history it was supposed to be presenting and devolved into complete fiction. That did not affect its popularity at its height, it was a massive success, spawned numerous imitations, inspired feature films about the mob and Al Capone, and presented Frank Nitti as the successor to Capone in control of the Chicago mob. Although this was not correct, it remains widely believed.
The show also created an immediate backlash for its portrayal of Italian Americans, creating stereotypes of them all being gangsters or corrupt officials in the pockets of gangsters. Protests by unions and other groups led to a boycott of the program’s sponsors. Frank Sinatra was loud in his support of the protests and boycott (the sponsor was Chesterfield cigarettes). Desi Arnaz, president of Desilu, issued new policies mandating how Italian Americans were to be depicted on The Untouchables and other Desilu programs, including refusing to allow any more fictional criminals to have Italian names.
The Italian American community wasn’t alone in finding the program offensive. In the series’ second episode, an indication that it was fiction through and through, Ness and the Untouchables are instrumental in the destruction of the notorious Barker Gang. In truth Ness and his group of law enforcement professionals had nothing to do with the demise of the Barker gang, it was primarily an FBI operation, and director J. Edgar Hoover demanded that the viewers be so informed when the episode was rebroadcast. Desilu complied, and the series went on.
After the conviction of Al Capone the Untouchables, which were formed for the sole purpose of taking down the Chicago mob leader, were disbanded. Ness was soon chasing bootleggers in Ohio. Paul Ricca took over the control of the Chicago Mob, with Frank Nitti as a figurehead, but with no real authority or control. But the fictionalized Untouchables went on week after week, battling organized crime in Chicago and across the country. Dutch Schultz, Lucky Luciano. Bugs Moran, and Louis Buchalter all crossed swords with the Untouchables and all came out second best to the intrepid Ness and his gang.
There really was a group of law enforcement officers who were assembled to take down Al Capone and they were really labeled the Untouchables by the Chicago press. They were really led by Eliot Ness. That’s about the sum of the television show’s relationship with the truth. Eliot Ness’s memoirs have since been questioned as well as regards to how much of Capone’s downfall was part of the efforts of his special force and how much came from other individuals, including some within the Chicago Mob. In many ways The Untouchables was a history making program, but nothing within it should be confused with history.