is one of the greatest crime fighting gangster shows of all time. Most people are more familiar with the film with Robert Deniro and Kevin Costner but I'm going to review the show first. Ironically what started the series wasn't an episode, it was a two part episode in the "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" that was later combined into a movie called...
The pilot and show takes place in Chicago during Prohibition. Instead of having a gangster be the focus, the focus is on Elliot Ness(Robert Stack) who's a Federal Agent who hires a bunch of agents to take down the Capone Mob. In most of episodes their would be a special guest star, a new villain and of course a new case. The show was a hit in the 60's and still looked at as one of the best shows of all time. In this two parted episode, this is when Elliot first hires men, find ways to break into rackets and meets his match Al Capone (Neville Brand).
Our hero played by Robert Stack, is so badass and serious that he makes the classic fictional comic strips and film versions of "Dick Tracy" look gay. He's tough, hard boiled, always keeps a serious face and is one agent that you should never ever mess around with. He's calm and has a life but he's always ready to take down Capone at any given moment. I guess the only problem I have with this character is his lousy protection he gives to people but then again he's still awesome.
Aside from Neville's not so good Italian accent, he's probably one of the best portrayals of Al Capone. We get so much build up to him that he sounds generous but very intimidating. When we finally do see him, we see him smoke his cigar with a scar on his face, beating up and yelling at his men, lusts for woman and is thinking and finding ways to try to kill Elliot and his men. Yes, we do see him as a generous man in some scenes but for the most part, he's treated more like a villain than a glorified gangster.
The supporting characters are decent. The members in Elliot's crew don't show up too much unless there's a fight and the only guys I remember is Keenan Wynn as the ex convict Joe who can speak Italian and Joe Mantell as their inside man on the Capone Mob, George. As for Capone's gang, their characters are more memorable then Ness's gang, why, because they do more and show up more than Ness's gang, however I'm sure will see more of Ness's gang members in future episodes. The female characters are memorable. I think Elliot Ness's fiance played by Pat Crowley is interesting and you can feel what she feels about the work coming between her and Elliot. The other one's a performing dumb blonde named Brandy played by Barbara Nichols, her performance is good but the character does nothing in the film and feels pointless.
What I really like is the films style. Like the James Cagney film "The Roaring 20's" it plays like a documentary mixed with a gangster and Film Noire. I enjoy the pacing, narrating style, the montages of Elliot Ness kicking ass and cracking down racketts and I enjoy the films action. OK, most of the action in the beginning is just fighting but once we get to the films finale, things really go down. I defiantly loved the climatic shoot out at the end.
It's a good start to the series and even though I feel like this is the end, it's really the beginning.
RATING 4/5
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