The Untouchables (film)

The Untouchables (film)
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Name	The Untouchables
Director	Brian De Palma
Producer	Art Linson
Writer	David Mamet
Based on	The Untouchables by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley
Starring	Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy García, Robert De Niro
Music	Ennio Morricone
Cinematography	Vilmos Zsigmond
Editing	Gerald B. Greenberg
Studio	Paramount Pictures
Distributor	Paramount Pictures
Released	1987
Runtime	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Gross	$106.2 million

The Untouchables (film) is a 1987 American crime drama directed by Brian De Palma from a screenplay by David Mamet, adapted from the 1957 book by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley. The film dramatizes the federal effort to bring down Al Capone during the Prohibition era, centering on agents led by Eliot Ness and his team of incorruptible lawmen. Featuring performances by Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy García, Charles Martin Smith, and Robert De Niro, the picture interweaves period detail, stylized set pieces, and a score by Ennio Morricone. Released by Paramount Pictures, it achieved commercial success and won critical accolades, notably an Academy Award for Sean Connery.

Plot

Set during the late 1920s Prohibition era, the narrative follows federal agent Eliot Ness arriving in Chicago to confront the criminal empire of Al Capone. Ness recruits a small team including veteran agent Jim Malone, accountant-turned-agent George Stone, postal inspector Oscar Wallace, and rookie officer Jimmy Malone to pursue Capone’s operations through raids, legal maneuvers, and intelligence work. The film stages key confrontations—brutal raids, courtroom maneuvering involving the Internal Revenue Service, and a climactic shootout—culminating in Capone’s conviction on tax evasion charges and Ness’s moral reckoning with violence and justice.

Cast

The principal cast includes Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness, Sean Connery as Jim Malone, Charles Martin Smith as Oscar Wallace, Andy García as George Stone, and Robert De Niro as Al Capone. Supporting roles feature Patricia Clarkson, Richard Bradford, Bradley Whitford in early appearances, and character actors drawn from New York City and Chicago stage traditions. The ensemble was assembled from actors with backgrounds in Broadway, American Conservatory Theater, and independent film, reflecting casting influences from directors like Martin Scorsese and producers associated with Paramount Pictures.

Production

Development began with Paramount acquiring rights to the Ness narrative after interest from producers connected to Eliot Ness’s book. Screenwriter David Mamet crafted a terse script that emphasized moral dilemmas and procedural detail, while director Brian De Palma brought visual influences from Sergei Eisenstein, Alfred Hitchcock, and John Ford. Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond employed period lighting and chiaroscuro inspired by German Expressionism; production designer teams recreated Chicago streets and Prohibition-era interiors on soundstages in Culver City and location shoots in historic districts resembling North Side, Chicago. Composer Ennio Morricone scored the film, blending orchestral motifs and period pastiche; editing by Gerald B. Greenberg shaped suspense sequences, including a celebrated train-station confrontation and a mise-en-scène echoing the Battle of Waterloo-style montage favored in epic cinema.

Historical accuracy

The film adapts and fictionalizes many episodes from the real-life campaign against Al Capone. While Ness’s squad existed and Eliot Ness pursued Capone, scenes such as the dramatized frontal assault and certain character composites derive from Mamet’s dramatization and earlier cultural depictions in Ness and Capone biographies. The legal strategy to prosecute Capone through federal taxation mirrors historical work by Frank J. Wilson and investigators in the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department; however, some sequences conflate timelines and invent confrontations for cinematic impact. Historians and biographers of Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and Chicago crime during Prohibition have critiqued the film’s embellishments while acknowledging its evocation of period corruption, political patronage, and organized crime networks linked to figures depicted in contemporary investigative reporting in outlets such as The Chicago Tribune.

Release and reception

Released by Paramount Pictures in 1987, the film opened amid competition from other studio releases of the year and performed strongly at the box office, earning over $100 million worldwide. Contemporary critics praised the film’s style, performances—particularly Sean Connery’s supporting turn—and Ennio Morricone’s score, while some reviewers debated the script’s liberties with history. The film was discussed in publications such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Variety, and received year-end recognition from several critics’ circles. Retrospective appraisals place it within director Brian De Palma’s oeuvre alongside works like Scarface and Carlito's Way, noting its blend of classical crime melodrama and operatic set pieces.

Awards and nominations

The film garnered multiple nominations and awards, most prominently winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Sean Connery). It received nominations from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Golden Globe Awards, and recognition from guilds including the Directors Guild of America and the American Film Institute lists. Individual honors included awards for score and supporting performance in ceremonies organized by critics’ associations and film academies.

Legacy and influence

The film influenced portrayals of Prohibition and organized crime in subsequent cinema and television, informing aesthetics in series like Boardwalk Empire and inspiring filmmakers working with themes of law enforcement and moral ambiguity, including Martin Scorsese and directors of neo-noir revivals. Its set-piece rhythms and ensemble casting have been cited by creators of crime dramas and video game narratives centered on historical crime, and its music by Ennio Morricone remains a touchstone in scoring period pieces. The film contributed to renewed public interest in Eliot Ness and Al Capone scholarship and remains referenced in pop culture, retrospectives, and academic discussions of historical adaptation in film.

Category:1987 films Category:American crime films Category:Films directed by Brian De Palma