Continuity mistake: When Ness is "escorting" Nitti off the roof of the courthouse, watch the proximity of the two to the rooftop door. When the camera cuts from the edge of the roof to Nitti and Ness and then back to the edge of the roof, you can see that they went from close to the rooftop door to really far away from it.
The Untouchables (1987)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Starring: Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia
After Nitti shoots down Malone in his own home, Ness and Stone follow Malone's last words and pursue Capone's bookkeeper to Union Station. Following a bloody shootout, the bookkeeper surrenders to Ness, giving them enough information to put Capone on trial for income tax evasion. Ness confronts Nitti in the middle of the trial; after a rooftop chase, Nitti brashly admits that he killed Malone and Ness pushes Nitti off the roof to his death. A list in Nitti's possession reveals that Capone (Robert De Niro) had the jury bribed, so Ness intimidates the judge into switching juries. When Capone's lawyers realize that the new jury hasn't been bribed, they change Capone's plea to "guilty"; Capone goes to jail. Ness closes up his office and returns to his family.
NCTanti
More mistakes in The Untouchables
Jimmy Malone: He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way!
Trivia: Andy Garcia was originally brought in to read for Frank Nitti, but he asked if he could play George Stone instead.
Question: How accurate is the portrayal of the Untouchables, when it comes to names and numbers? Were there actually only four of them? Do Garcia, Connery and Smith play actual people or fictive ones?
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: It's about 50% truth and 50% fiction. Ness, Al Capone, and Frank Nitty are real, of course, but the characters played by Connery, Garcia, and Smith are fictional. Ness started out with 50 candidates for his 'Untouchables' force. This was whittled down to 15 finalists and from that he selected 9 agents (none of which has the same name as the characters played by Connery, Garcia, and Smith). It's true that Capone was convicted for tax evasion. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison, but received an early release because he was in the last stages of syphilis. He died shortly after being released from prison.
raywest ★
Capone lived for 8 years upon his release from prison. The 8 years being slightly longer than the actual prison time he served, which was just over 7 years. He died, having the mental capabilities of a 12-year-old.