Original subtitles

I'm getting okay, huh?

Oh, you'll be all right, Bennie.

You got the knack for it.

Well, I suppose you boys want your commission.

Tonight's episode:

Starring Robert Stack.

Costarring Jay C. Flippin

and Darryl Hickman.

Chicago, South Side, October, 1932.

The depth of the Depression.

A time of hardship and despair for many,

of standing lines and waiting for a meal.

For some, not even a place to sleep.

A time of closed gates and "no work" signs.

A time of hope, of small, desperate hope.

Hope for a better day tomorrow and a little break today.

Any little break,

any heaven-sent little windfall,

to happen now, today, right now.

The mobsters were equal to the task

and came up with the numbers game.

On the surface, it worked like a lottery.

You chose a number from 000 to 999.

Esther, that's all you're playing today?

I never dreamed nothing last night.

Your chances to win were one in a thousand.

Four-eighty-seven, six ways, for 30 cents.

Four-eighty-seven on a combo. Right, Sammy.

If you were lucky, you got back 600 for one.

My mother says give it to you for the week.

Okay, kid. 672,

Mother's new address. I know it, kid.

Well, write it down. Now, don't forget.

If you lost, you could play again tomorrow.

In 999 times out of 1,000, you lost.

Here comes Phil!

Hey, Phil!

Hi, Phil.

Who won, Phil?

Phil.

Where's the moola?

I've got it. I've got it.

Now, where's Mrs. Pollock?

She's my ma.

Hey, Ma! Ma, he's here.

He's here.

Phil. Phil.

Did I win? Did I?

What are you waiting for? Give her the dough.

I gotta do this right, now. It's gotta be official.

"U.S. Treasury balance,

October 4th, 1932, dollars and cents."

Last three numbers: 629. Okay, let's take a look.

Mrs. A.P., that's Mrs. Alma Pollock to me.

Same date.

Remember? Yeah.

Number 629. Yeah.

Okay, pay her the dough.

Mrs. Pollock, congratulations.

For an investment of 25 cents in the numbers,

I am now returning to you the sum of $150 in cash.

Eighty, 90, 100.

And a $50 bill for good luck.

Don't spend it too fast, Mrs. Pollock.

Aw.

See how simple it is?

You pick your numbers, you win, we pay off.

A little dime brings you 60 bucks, a half brings you 300.

Anybody got a buck to spare at 600?

And we're happier than you are,

because you'll tell your friends.

And that's what we want,

a lot of happy, satisfied customers.

God bless you, Phil.

I want everybody to be as happy as Mrs. Pollock, here.

Here's mine. Here.

Sixty cents, Phil.

Number 221.

I thank you one and all. I hope everybody wins.

I want you to box it for me today. Okay, Del.

Hiya, Phil. Hello, Marty.

Say, why don't you just steal this money?

Take it right out of their pockets,

like a real honest crook, huh?

You just being a cop? What if I am?

Oh, I don't pay off.

That's all handled on the top between your boss and mine.

Didn't they tell you?

Well, why don't you have a word with my boss, Eliot Ness, huh?

Yes, sir.

Mr. Flaherty claims to be a friend of my father's.

Did he steer you on to me?

Marty tells me you're not in this racket because you like it.

All I do is take a commission for running a lottery.

In some countries, lotteries are legal.

People like to have something to look forward to.

I help give 'em that. Now, what's the crime?

You give 'em one chance in 1,000 to guess a number.

That's not a lottery, it's a swindle.

I don't set the figures, Ness.

Four hundred thousand dollars out of every million collected

goes to the syndicate.

That money's used for corruption, bribery,

booze, prostitution. Yeah, what do you want from me?

I want your help.

I want your help in getting the information we need

to break this operation.

I'm just a young man trying to get along,

and I don't think you're out to help me.

Now, my girl's over there, and she's waiting for me.

Can I leave?

Let's go, Marty.

Hi, honey.

Hi.

What did they want?

They want information.

They want the kind of information I can't give them.

Can't give them, or won't give them?

Both. If ever I want out, it's not going to be that way.

Do you want out, Phil?

I mean, have you ever thought about it?

Honey, I think all the time.

I think about you and me,

and I think about a lot of things.

This is the business room of a bank in the numbers racket.

Thousands of slips to be checked and sorted.

The day's business and the day's hits

accounted for on a master sheet.

Financial items carefully recorded

by competent bookkeepers.

And the money, collected throughout the city,

deposited here and poured into the separating machines.

The pennies, the nickels, the dimes, quarters, halves,

the endless flow of money.

Come in.

This is Mr.Sampson,

the head bookkeeper of the bank.

In his books can be found the exact tallies

of every penny of the millions flowing in.

The payoffs, the distributions, the fantastic dividends.

In his files, the names of everyone involved.

The collections from one area of the city

were now being shipped out.

The ultimate destination of this particular shipment:

Detroit, Michigan.

To Mr. Sampson, a routine transaction.

All that was needed now was to report it.

Uh... Fremont 3612.

Yes, 612, please.

Uh, this is Sampson.

You've checked the shipment through to Detroit?

This is Mr. Danning.

He holds a top post in the syndicate.

He is the key man in charge of the numbers operation.

His power to rule over this area is absolute.

And people looking for that little miracle in their lives,

a hit on the numbers, were completely unaware

that they were supporting greed, corruption and violence.

Hey, Larry, where have you been?

I've been looking for you. Where's my money?

Get your hand off of me.

Where'd you disappear?

Where you been hiding out all day?

Give me my money. I won.

Look, in this paper, my number: 629.

Pay me.

You won nothing. You had 609.

You liar. Cheater. Welcher.

This ain't no charity, I owe you nothing.

Eliot Ness and a small band of federal agents,

known as the Untouchables,

were determined to chop off this latest

and most profitable arm of the underworld octopus.

Ness' aim was to stop the enormous flow of money

from the numbers racket to the Mob.

To cut off the key sources of the millions of dollars

that was going into bribery and political corruption.

To succeed, Ness knew that he had to get evidence.

Evidence that would stand up against all the lies,

the threats, the bribes, and the killings,

against all the power of the crime lords.

Ward 1.

We concentrate everything in this area.

Everything else is canceled.

You all have your assignments.

That's it.

Marty?

Yeah?

I want you to go see your friend Al Morrisey.

Well, we didn't get anywhere with the boy.

Why should we do better with his father?

Morrisey's gonna have to answer to someone for this murder.

It happened in his district.

That's true.

He may be put under pressure.

This could be our chance to get him to talk to us.

I'm the wrong man.

Why?

There's a chance he might listen to a friend, isn't there?

Well, that's not the point, Eliot.

You asked me how come I was so friendly

with a guy in the numbers racket.

Well, he saved my life.

Do you remember my telling you that?

If you convinced him to work with us,

you might be saving his life, Marty.

How does that figure?

A murder shakes things up.

My guess is that Morrisey's in trouble.

He might want to talk to someone.

Well, he knows where I stand,

if he's ready to talk, he'll come to me.

You go down there and help him decide.

He could lead us to all the evidence we need.

Send somebody else.

I just can't put that kind of pressure on a friend.

I can, Marty.

I'm sending you.

Problems, Ness?

Federal men having problems?

What brings you here, captain?

Bailis' murder.

We could help each other, Ness.

Oh, how?

Exchange ideas, information.

All right, let's start.

Give me the name of every man on your force,

above the rank of sergeant, who's on the take.

Give me the name and the address of the cover

for the central bank of the numbers operation.

You're assuming that I have such information?

I'm sorry I came here, Ness.

If I've offended you, captain,

please be assured that I meant to.

But somebody in your police force has that information.

Al Morrisey is the controller for the first ward.

He takes money from the collectors and pays them off.

He takes out his commission and passes the money on.

It's all there?

Two hundred and forty dollars?

Give or take a couple.

I never worry about a couple.

Here's your 24.

And one for good luck.

Thanks, Mr. Morrisey.

Hey, come on, shrimp, I gotta get back to the cab.

I'll give you a lift. Yeah, sure.

Forty-seven bucks this time.

Not so hot. Trouble?

I don't know. There's a new cop that's been pushing me around.

And that's the way it's been since Larry got killed.

Maybe somebody ought to talk to the flatfoot.

Well, just stay out of his way.

He'll forget about it.

Here's 5.

See you tomorrow, fellas.

Phil.

I'm worried about that killing.

I don't like for a thing like this to happen.

Well, it's got nothing to do with us.

Larry was one of my collectors.

It's not good.

I don't want violence.

Stop worrying, Pop. Wasn't your fault.

Larry welched.

But he shouldn't have welched.

I told Larry like everybody else, no welching.

I've always been honest, Phil.

That's right, Pop. Look, stop worrying.

This is a good business

and we're going to keep it that way.

Al, just saw Mr. Flaherty coming up the walk.

Looks like he's gonna come see us.

Tell him I'll be right out.

Hi, Phil.

Hello, Morrisey. Good to see you, Flaherty.

Won't you sit down, please?

Can I get you something?

A cup of coffee? Uh, no, thanks.

This isn't just a social call.

There are a couple of things.

What is it?

Larry Bailis' murder, for one.

You're heading for trouble, Al.

What do you mean, "trouble"?

Go on, Flaherty.

There'll be an investigation. You're gonna be involved.

What's it got to do with Al?

Bailis was one of your collectors.

So what? An old guy goes off his rocker and knifes somebody.

What's that got to do with my father?

I tell you, there's gonna be trouble.

Go on, Flaherty.

Look, I've never said anything to you before

about the way you make your living,

but I'm going to now.

I'm in business like anybody else, Martin.

You're in a racket, Al.

This racket's grown so big, so fast,

it's tied in with all the other rackets now.

I work hard. I do an honest job.

You're kidding yourself, Al.

This racket's gonna be exposed and you're part of it.

If you'll just give me some information...

Once a cop, always a cop.

Don't listen to him, Pop.

Phil, Martin is our friend.

What kind of a friend?

If it wasn't for my father, you wouldn't be here.

What about that pier back in Boston

when you were walkin' a beat?

He shoulda let those hoods keep on clobbering you.

He should never have made a move,

then you wouldn't be able to put the screws on.

I'm not forgetting Boston and I'm grateful,

but I'm telling you, there's gonna...

All right, stand still.

We're searching the premises.

Go through the kitchen, the bedroom.

Where's your warrant? You got no...

Shut up! We know what we're doing.

You dirty, lousy...

I had nothing to do with this.

Yeah, you didn't.

Well, nice haul.

Morrisey, you're under arrest

for violation of the gambling laws.

No. He hasn't done anything wrong.

Where's your hat?

In the hall.

It'll be all right.

You did it.

You brought them here. You brought the police here.

It was the murder that brought the police.

You tell Ness

that he's gonna smash his head against a brick wall here.

And that's as far as he's gonna get.

Now, you get out of here!

Al Morrisey was arraigned in Cook County court.

The charge: conspiracy to violate the gambling laws,

operating a lottery.

A lawyer, unknown to him, appeared and posted bail.

Morrisey was released.

The following day, the case was quashed.

Ness and his men,

infuriated at the behind-the-scenes manipulation,

started a series of raids.

They struck wherever they suspected the syndicate

was masking the center of the numbers operation.

However ingenious the concealment,

somewhere in the city,

Ness knew there existed a central office.

It might be hidden in a backroom

behind a cigar store,

or an upstairs room in a swank café,

or even the cellar under an illegal brewery.

Somewhere, the layout had to exist,

with equipment, personnel and records.

The indisputable evidence which Ness needed.

He struck methodically and hopefully,

but without results.

Arresting Morrisey was stupid and unnecessary.

I had to show Ness I was doing the job.

Well, you showed him, didn't you?

You forced me to pull wires and get the case dismissed.

That same day, Ness was on the trail

trying to figure out who put the fix in.

He didn't get anywhere with that.

Not with his raids either.

The word's out that the heat is on my bank.

Some of the collectors are leaving me.

They're setting up their own banks.

Your collectors are getting leery

because you didn't do anything about fixing responsibility

for the Bailis murder.

That's what I came to tell you.

If I punish Morrisey,

it may throw him right into Ness' arms.

That's what the collectors figure.

Ness has you worried.

They say you don't know what your next move is.

I do now.

I want you to make an appointment for Morrisey.

Special appointment?

Special.

When?

Tonight.

Eliot Ness, anticipating that Morrisey

would be called to account by some higher up,

had detailed Flaherty and Rossi

to maintain a watch outside Morrisey's house.

Here they come.

Okay.

Do you think they're anywhere around?

Ah, they pulled the old switch.

Well, we've lost them.

Ness was right.

Well, I didn't figure they'd switch cars on us.

I'm afraid Morrisey's in real trouble now.

Mamma mia, he really is.

Listen, we gotta find the boy, bring him into the office.

Maybe he'll talk now to save his father.

Let's go.

And now, back to The Untouchables.

It's a good business.

This is a very good business.

But, Phil, I'm scared. I'm scared to death.

Honey, I've told you a dozen times,

there's nothing to worry about.

You always say that, "Nothing to worry about.

Everything is gonna be fine."

And then somebody gets killed.

Your own father gets arrested.

Please, we came here to have a good time.

Will you forget it?

I don't want you to be a part of it.

You don't know what you're talking about.

Listen, I certainly do. You didn't know my father.

He died several years ago.

But I remember him.

Even in good times, he was always broke.

Even when he had a job.

He'd spend all the extra money on those tickets.

Your kind of tickets.

First it was dimes, then it was quarters,

then it was dollars.

He was always talking about winning the jackpot.

And then when we went on relief,

he'd spent all that money, just to gamble.

We didn't even have enough to eat.

Honey, I'm sorry.

It won't be like that for us. I promise you.

Let's dance, huh?

Okay.

Flaherty wants to see you.

What about?

He'll tell you.

Well, it'll have to wait.

He wants to see you now, Phil.

Look, I can get rough.

Don't. I'll get rougher.

Okay, you mind if I put my girl in a cab?

No.

What's happening?

I'll give you a call.

At the table.

What's this all about? What's going on here?

You'll find out soon enough.

Sit down.

He's coming.

Get up.

This court is now in session.

Be seated.

Bailiff Sampson?

Yes, Your Honor?

Is the defendant present?

Yes, Your Honor.

His name?

Alfred Morrisey.

His position in the organization?

Chief collector and controller of the Wabash-Prairie section,

South Side District.

Will the defendant please rise?

Get up.

Alfred Morrisey,

you are accused of a serious crime

in the eyes of this court.

Are you ready to stand trial?

What crime?

What trial? What have I done?

Mr. Bailiff, will you read the charge?

"The accused, Alfred Morrisey, is charged with gross negligence

"in his conduct of the organization's business.

"His negligence contributed to the murder

"of one Larry Bailis, collector,

on the night of October the 4th, 1932."

I had nothing to do with the murder.

You have a right to say what you want in your defense.

Go ahead, Morrisey.

How would I know that Bailis would welch?

I've always played it straight.

I've always paid off on time.

I've always delivered my collection.

We're not talking about your past.

Then what have I done?

I'm warning you, take it easy.

Larry Bailis was in your section.

You signed him on.

You were responsible for his actions.

You should have known what was going on.

How could I know that he would welch?

I don't know how you could have known.

That was something you had to work out.

A man welched, Morrisey.

Well, is that my fault?

Yes.

Nobody cares about Bailis.

But what we can't have is this kind of publicity.

First the murder and then your arrest.

I warned Bailis like I warned all of them,

"Always play everything straight."

You did the best you could, I'm sure.

But you didn't do enough.

Half of your collectors will be handed over to another district.

You'll make collections but no more deliveries till notified.

Half of my collectors?

I've spent years building up my district.

You'll get some of them back...

when we're ready to give them back to you, do you understand?

I understand.

That's all.

You'll speak to no one.

You'll tell no one what happened here.

You're getting off easy, Morrisey.

You're gonna live.

But you're gonna remember this.

Bailiff?

Yes, Your Honor.

The defendant will get the usual reminder.

Yes, Your Honor.

Court is adjourned.

They've got Al. He's your father.

They're having a little meeting with him,

or maybe they're not meeting at all.

Maybe they're just gonna get rid of him, dump him.

Is...? Is that what you want, Phil? Don't you care?

You're wasting time, Flaherty. Let me go.

I'll find him, I'll take care of this in my own way.

We'll go along with you.

No.

Why are you loyal to a bunch of mobsters?

You ever stood in a bread line, Flaherty?

You ever see your old man being interviewed

by some charity lady?

Does your mother ever go off to scrub floors

for 25 cents an hour?

These people you call mobsters gave my father and me work.

They gave us paying work, Flaherty,

when nobody else would!

They treated us like human beings.

They gave us some self respect.

Cheating poor people out of nickels and dimes?

Giving them something to look forward to.

Giving them what nobody else can.

Look in the face of a person who's just hit a number.

Take a good look, sometime.

It's like a little miracle in their lives

and they're glad to pay for it.

Did you tell them what else they pay for?

For political corruption?

That's not my business.

I don't elect corrupt politicians.

What about police bribery?

I don't appoint crooked cops.

Well, suppose they kill your father.

Now, you know they're capable of such a thing.

You're not gonna scare me, Flaherty.

Let me go. I'll handle this in my own way.

Well, you'll need us to go along, won't you?

Do you have other friends?

Flaherty, I am not going to help you in any way!

All right. Then we understand each other.

You're on their side.

Not their side, Flaherty, my side.

Get that through your head. Not yours, not theirs, my side.

You know, you're making one big mistake.

You're really making one big mistake.

They gave you something you needed,

but it wasn't for free, there was a price.

There's a price for everything.

You're in with them, whether you like it or not.

The organization owns you, Phil, body and soul.

And that's their price. And there's no way out.

No way out now,

except to break with them, break with them completely.

Some other way. There's gotta be...

Then you do want out, is that what you're saying?

I didn't say that.

Well, you've got to decide.

Don't push me, Flaherty.

Don't push. I'll push right back.

All right. Look,

all I want is for you to decide before it's too late.

They wouldn't hurt my father, there's no reason to.

Well, I hope you're right.

Flaherty.

Right.

Your father's home.

At least he's alive.

You finished with me, Flaherty?

I'm finished. Yeah.

I spent an hour with Phil. It was a waste of time.

Let's try the old man again.

I'll talk to him if you say so.

I tried every approach the first time around.

Maybe he's been softened up since then.

You mean, now is the time to put the screws on him.

A little more pressure and he'll cave in.

Is that the way it's gotta be?

Well, Marty, one way or another,

we've got to have the information.

All right.

Does the manual give instructions

on the proper way to ride an old friend?

I just rode you, didn't I?

Was it easy, Eliot?

You stay here, Marty, I'll talk to him this time.

Morrisey? It's Eliot Ness. Open up.

No.

Morrisey, I know you're in there. I want to talk to you.

You better talk to him, you better.

What do you want here? Nobody sent for you.

I couldn't wait for an invitation.

I wasn't sure I'd find you here, Morrisey.

I wasn't even sure you'd even be alive.

Don't talk like that.

They took you away tonight. What happened?

Nothing happened.

You didn't take that beating going through a revolving door.

Tell him.

I've seen this happen a hundred times, Morrisey.

Once the organization decides you're through,

you haven't got a chance.

Oh, no.

Why don't you leave me alone?

Because we want to help you. And we need your help.

You made a mistake, Morrisey.

Maybe you didn't realize where it was taking you.

Or maybe you did.

Either way, you can make up for it now.

There's nothing I can do. You know better than that.

Help us find out where the money goes

and who it goes to.

Give us the information we need.

Then you can be free.

Please, tell him, Al.

I don't want to hear any more.

I don't want to talk about it.

I've had enough.

Think it over. Maybe you'll change your mind.

If you want to get in touch with me, there it is.

Lippy was there. He got the whole picture.

Ness showed up himself.

How did Morrisey act?

Scared.

Ness kept pressing him.

Gave him a card just before he left.

Ness doesn't give up too easily.

Get ahold of Frank and Bennie.

Tell 'em I want 'em here.

I want Morrisey taken care of.

In the morning?

Yeah.

No percentage in wasting time.

How long you gonna be gone? How long can I be gone?

I'm just going to market on the corner.

Got enough money?

Mm-hm.

Yeah, I got enough.

Where are you going?

I'll be right here. Where else would I go?

I'll go out the front way.

A beating from Danning and the pressure from Ness

had had a deep effect on Al Morrisey.

He had been confronted with his true status

in the organization.

His complete dependence on it.

And its life and death power over him.

Al Morrisey realized

that he could not go on living this way.

And so he made the decision to cooperate with Eliot Ness.

Hello, Morrisey.

Bennie, Frank.

We came by with the pick-ups last night.

We didn't stop. You weren't here.

I didn't expect you till the end of the week.

Eh, don't look like too much, I won't have to count it.

You got slips?

What good is the money without the slips?

There's 88 bucks. Call it 90?

Okay.

Ninety-five. Not bad. I'm gettin' okay, huh?

Ah, you'll be all right, Bennie.

You got the knack for it.

Well, I suppose you boys want your commission.

Oh.

The store. I was only...

Why'd they have to do it?

So many people.

They were his friends.

It's almost 1:00. Maybe you should get some sleep.

I'll stay here with you.

You better go now, Evelyn.

For ten years he did everything right.

Then one thing goes wrong

and they shoot him like a wild animal.

Don't, Phil, don't.

The dirty killers.

Why do you complain?

Isn't this what you wanted? Isn't this your business?

My business? That's not my business.

Why don't you go to Ness? For God's sake, do something

before anything else happens. I can't. I can't.

You've got to.

You don't understand. I can't go to Ness.

What's the matter? Are you afraid?

Yes, I'm afraid, but not for me,

I don't care what happens to me now. It's you and Ma.

They'll be watching me day and night.

If they find out I went to Ness,

they'll do the same thing to you they did to him.

Pay off the son. Mm-hm.

A couple of grand should do the trick.

You know what to say to keep him careful.

Put a tail on him just the same.

What about the wife?

Will she squawk?

They never do.

There'll be too much heat for a while.

We're gonna move the bank.

You've got another place?

I always have another place.

My motto, Sampson:

"Be prepared."

Where?

Couple of miles from here.

South Locust Street. Mm-hm.

South Shore Transit Corporation, our new affiliation.

When do we move?

Give the orders to the boys,

our milk company moves out tonight.

What's the name of the bank, Phil?

Golden Farms Milk Company. Milk company?

Yeah, only they don't deliver milk, just money.

What's the address?

3180 South Elm.

Ever inside?

Once.

Could you draw us a layout?

Sure, I can, but I wanna go with you.

I don't think so.

Look, I can help you.

There are a couple of wrong doors you could walk into

and get yourself splattered.

If you're gonna get the guy who controls the bank,

you've got to get Sampson first. He's the head bookkeeper.

He's the only one who knows the big boss.

And I can point him out to you.

Well, can you use me?

We can use you.

What do you want?

We came for a load.

I've never seen you before.

It's okay. Sampson sent for us.

Oh, yeah?

Raid! Raid!

Marty.

That's Sampson.

Hold it.

Let's follow him.

Wait, there's only four left.

Take care of them. All right, let's go.

There's been a raid.

I was lucky to get away with the records.

Sampson, you're a fool.

You probably brought Ness and his men right along with you.

Well, gentlemen, I'm afraid we'll have to settle up later.

Looks like the end of the game.

Best to your wife. Thank you.

Don't worry, gentlemen, we'll see each other later.

Yes, I think you will.

What is this?

Looks like a big pot.

It was becoming clear to Eliot Ness

that the fight against the organized underworld

was not going to be won in a single, decisive battle.

It could only be won by accepting the fact

of a deadly and never-ending war.