DVD Review: The Untouchables (Season 4, Volume 1 and 2)

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Eliot Ness finally met his match. After his drag out fights with Al Capone and Frank Nitti, he never counted on a network executive snuffing him and his elite Untouchables. The controversial show had toned down its act over the years. Producer Desi Arnaz had made a deal with the “Italian-American League to Combat Defamation” to make the Mafia more waspy. This wasn’t too bad of a deal since after three seasons, Ness had already busted all the Italian sounding mobsters. Luckily the violence hadn’t been completely toned down as tommyguns rattled across the small screen. The Untouchables: Season 4, Volume 1 and Volume 2 doesn’t let Ness go peacefully into the dark Chicago night.

Volume 1 starts with the most horrifying Christmas special ever presented on broadcast television. “The Night They Shot Santa Claus” is so traumatic that it aired on September 25. Guess they figure it would take three months to forget the image of Santa getting nailed with a hail of bullets. After Santa gives the good kids at an orphanage their presents, he get blown apart. This must have shocked those who thought the series would tone down. They wouldn’t have imagined the corpse of Santa. The body belonged to a minor underworld figure that Ness used for background info. He can’t allow his pal’s death go unsolved. Ed Asner (Up) has a guest part. “The Chess Game” gets classy with Richard Conte smuggling champagne into Chi-town. “The Economist” shuts down the sale of booze. This is not Ness’ work, but mob bosses looking to jack up the price of illegal liquor.

“The Pea” develops Frank Gorshin (Batman‘s The Riddler) from a small time stool pigeon to Ness to partner at a mobster targeted restaurant. Carroll O’Connor (All in the Family) is a mobster that might have Parrot Fever during “Bird in the Hand.” Harvey Korman (The Carol Burnett Show) gets a bit part. “The Eddie O’Gara Story” puts Mannix on the wrong side of the law. Mike Connors wants to revive a rival’s role to get back on top. “Elegy” complicates things when a dying mobster threatens to confess, but only if Ness can find his lost daughter. Barbara Stanwyck (The Big Valley) and Ed Asner must get on the trail with a cameo from DeForest Kelley (Star Trek). “A Fist of Five” makes Lee Marvin a tough cop in trouble for beating down hoods. He might be pounding the skulls of James Caan (The Godfather) and Roy Thinnes (The Invaders). “Search for a Dead Man” returns Stanwyck and Asner as the Missing Persons squad. Telly Savalas (Kojak) plays with fire when he sets up a scam on Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) in “The Speculator.” Ted Knight (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) gets a minor moment.

Volume 2 doesn’t scrimp on the future star power with “The Snowball.” Robert Redford pushes booze to the college kids. In another Star Trek alert, set your eyes on stun for a young Walter Koenig. “Blues for a Gone Goose” makes Robert Duvall (The Godfather) work with Ness to find a club owner’s murderer. Joseph Ruskin might have something to do with it. “An Eye for an Eye” mobs up Jack Klugman (Quincy). Joe Turkel gets to play Deuces. “The Butcher’s Boy” features ex-GIs running their own syndicate. Frank Sutton (Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.) is an enforcer with a nasty scar. “The Spoiler” returns Rip Torn (The Larry Sanders Show) to Chicago. He left after swiping money from mobster Claude Akins (Sheriff Lobo). Ness has to find Torn before Akins tears him apart.

“The Charlie Argos Story” makes Ness refuse to execute a bootlegger’s estate. The guy left it to his missing son who shows up or is it really him? Robert Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) is the lost son. “The Jazz Man” is an unintentional comedy when Ness disguises himself as a jazz bassist to bust Simon Oakland (Kolchak: The Night Stalker) for dealing smack. “Taste of Pineapple” wraps up the series with Ness blinded by a hand grenade. Can he crack his final case from the darkness? Will he recover?

The cancellation of The Untouchables came at a good time. If the show had kept going for a few seasons, they would have swapped over to color. The shadows and dark spaces would have been lost in the hues. In black and white, the episodes play like a B-movie series. Ness seemed like a cinematic character. He was larger than the small TV screens of the ’60s. Robert Stack played him as uncompromising as a man can possibly maintain in black and white. Sure during the final season they couldn’t mention any Italians as mobsters, but they didn’t make the action any less aggressive. They killed Santa Claus. The Untouchables: Season 4, Volume 1 and Volume 2 wrap up one of the best gangster shows on broadcast TV.

Volume 1
“The Night They Shot Santa Claus,” “The Cooker In The Sky,” “The Chess Game,” “The Economist,” “The Pea,” “Bird In The Hand,” “The Eddie O’Gara Story,” “Elegy,” “Come And Kill Me,” “A Fist Of Five,” “The Floyd Gibbons Story,” “Double Cross,” “Search For A Dead Man” and “The Speculator.”

Volume 2
“The Snowball,” “Jake Dance,” “Blues For A Gone Goose,” “Globe Of Death,” “An Eye For An Eye,” “Junk Man,””The Man In The Cooler,” “The Butcher’s Boy,” “The Spoiler,” “One Last Killing,” “The Giant Killer,” “The Charlie Argos Story,” “The Jazz Man,” “The Torpedo,” “Line Of Fire” and “A Taste For Pineapple.”

The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The black and white transfers bring out the grungy feel of the criminal underground. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The levels are balanced just right for Walter Winchell’s narration and the Tommyguns. Episodes are subtitled.

No bonus features.

The Untouchables: The Fourth Season, Volume 1 and Volume 2 wraps up a legendary season. The violence is still 11 as Ness and his men protect Chicago during the Prohibition era. Truly one of the classics even if it isn’t historically accurate.

CBS DVD presents The Untouchables: The Fourth Season, Volume 1 and Volume 2 Starring: Robert Stack, Walter Winchell, Nicholas Georgiade and Abel Fernandez. Boxset Contents: 30 episodes on 8 DVDs. Released: July 24, 2012. Volume 1 and Volume 2 available at Amazon.com.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.