When you grow up in Chicago, or simply visit the city, you get the impression that Al Capone (Robert De Niro) was some kind of folk hero.  In the suburbs where I am from, you will hear of tales of the Prohibition Era gangster having a hide out in the nearby woods, or keeping a stash of loot in some other hillside.  For Catholics, there is the stereotype that, as a member of the Italian mafia, the Faith provided some kind of shelter.  Luckily, there is not a lot of that kind of nonsense in The Untouchables (1987).  There is a whole lot of nonsense in the film, but it is of a historical variety, as in little of what you see actually happened.  Capone was real enough, otherwise why else would they have city tours dedicated to his activities to this day?  His nemesis in the movie, Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner), existed too.  What I am about to describe, though, are the kinds of legends that create folk heroes, even if in reality neither Capone or Ness warrant such plaudits.

One would argue that Al Capone is one of The Untouchables at the beginning of the film, with everyone in 1930s Chicago seeking him out for his opinions on the matters of the day.  The main thing everyone wants to know is why there is so much violence in the city, and how is it connected to his well-known bootlegging activities.  His affable, tongue-in-cheek answer about being a legitimate businessman is belied in the next scene when a little girl walks into a corner tap for a bucket of beer for her family (there is a lot of historical context needed for this scene to make sense to a modern viewer) and she is blown up by a bomb left by Frank Nitti (Billy Drago), Capone’s bodyguard.  The act is carried out as a warning to other operators to accept the goods and services of Capone’s organization.  The next morning, the little girl’s picture appears on the front page of the newspaper being read by Eliot.  It is his first day working in the Chicago field office for the United States Department of Treasury, which (and this was true) had the task of enforcing the ban on alcohol known as the Volstead Act.  He goes into the office on his first day with the intention of not only following the letter of the law, but to swiftly take down the city’s biggest criminal, Capone.  Hence, he takes a group of Chicago policeman on a raid, only to find the warehouse they go into stacked with boxes full of parasols.  It is an ignominious start to his career in Chicago.  As he looks over an encouraging letter from his wife, Catherine Ness (Patricia Clakrson), he crumbles it and throws it into the Chicago River.  Observing this small act of vandalism is Officer Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery).  When he gives Eliot a hard time, the treasury agent has to identify himself.  Something about Jimmy’s straightforward demeanor impresses Eliot, and soon Eliot is trying to recruit Jimmy to be a part of a select group of law enforcement personnel he can trust in the wake of the embarrassment of the first raid.  Initially, Jimmy says no, but the next day he comes to Eliot’s office with a change of heart.  What Jimmy needs to hear is that Eliot is committed to seeing through the taking down of Capone.  It is not solely a matter of arresting the mafioso, but of matching the violence of the mob in order to demonstrate that they mean business.  If nothing else, I appreciated the fact that this conversation takes place in a Catholic church, but we will talk more about this topic later.  From there, it is a matter of building their team.  The next recruit is George Stone (Andy García), a person so dedicated to fighting crime that he has changed his name to hide his South Side Italian roots.  As somebody just entering the Chicago Police Department (CPD), he has developed a reputation for being an excellent shot.  Those skills are immediately put to the test when they, along with a Department of Treasury accountant named Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith) who has been looking into Capone’s financial records, cross the street to a post office and bust a large room full of illicit liquor.  It is their first success, and Capone is not happy when he hears the news.  In addition to taking out his ire on one of his underlings, he orders that Eliot and his family be targeted.  Eliot encounters Frank outside his home and immediately has Catherine and their child sent out of the city.  From there, the four head to the Canadian border where they have learned a large shipment of alcohol is coming into the country.  Not only are they successful in stopping the delivery, but they obtain a ledger containing a number of Capone’s shady dealings and one of his bookkeepers.  It is the evidence Oscar has been saying they need in order to charge Capone with tax evasion.  Unfortunately, as Oscar is transporting the witness through the precinct back in Chicago, they are ambushed in an elevator by Frank.  Eliot believes their case is dead, which angers Jimmy.  Instead of giving up, Jimmy convinces Eliot to go to the District Attorney (Clifton James) to delay dropping the case.  In the meantime, Jimmy confronts Chief Mike Dorsett (Richard Bradford), who had been responsible for allowing the assassination of Oscar and the witness.  After a brief struggle, Jimmy gets the location of Capone’s personal bookkeeper, George (Brad Sullivan).  Jimmy calls Eliot to come to the former’s home for the information, but Frank and another accomplice attack before Eliot arrives.  Thankfully, Jimmy lives long enough to tell Eliot the information they need to get George.  With the bookkeeper in custody, Capone is brough before a judge.  During it, the gangster looks calm until Eliot learns that Frank is passing notes to Capone regarding bribes to the jury.  Frank is killed fleeing from Eliot, but it is enough to convince judge to replace the panel.  In response, Capone’s lawyer changes the plea to guilty and an uproar ensues.  The final scene is of Eliot and Stone bidding goodbye to one another, the former’s work done.

In that parting at the conclusion of The Untouchables, Eliot hands Stone a St. Jude medallion once carried by Jimmy.  St. Jude the Apostle is one of the more well-known Catholic saints, particularly for his patronage.  He is most famous for being the patron saint of lost causes.  This would seem to fit well with the theme of the movie.  After all, it is Eliot and three other men, two of whom die, that appear to take on the whole of Chicago organized crime by themselves.  A lot of this is Jimmy’s doing, who instills in Eliot early on the notion that few people can be trusted in the CPD.  Remember what I said in the introduction about Capone being a folk hero.  The film focuses on how he is beloved by the press and comports himself in public as an upstanding businessman.  There is also the fact that many of members of Chicago’s law enforcement are on the take, as well as the city’s mayor.  Historically speaking, and something you do not see here, is the fact that Capone was also well liked by those who his criminal enterprise was not terrorizing.  This last bit is a little context should you watch the movie.  With this in mind, it is easy to see how taking on a person so entrenched in the fabric of the city could be viewed as hopeless.  However, we know that anything is possible with God.  Where this comparison meets its limit is in the fact that Eliot becomes like his enemy, willing to do whatever it takes to put the criminal behind bars.  In other words, he stops following the letter of the law as he promised in the beginning.  This attitude of the ends justifying the means is not a Christian position.  Indeed, Jesus’ Passion was the fulfillment of the law, not a stepping outside of it in order to accomplish it.  There is an oblique way of relating this back to the film.  St. Jude is also the patron saint of the CPD.  Instead of relying totally on God as St. Jude would have done, they look to their own abilities and revel in them.  It is God that is in control, not the United States Department of the Treasury.

Had I been in control of the historical aspects of The Untouchables, I would have suggested a story more faithful to actual past events.  It is kind of funny, actually, because before he is killed, Oscar is suggesting that they do precisely what eventually brings about Capone’s downfall.  Yet, people want shooting, and that is what you get in the film.  I prefer something better, as a historian.