THE SCARFACE MOB

Eliot Ness and his Untouchables

THE SCARFACE MOB (1959). Director: Phil Karlson. 

With bootlegging gangsters like Al Capone (Neville Brand of Eaten Alive) -- nicknamed Scarface -- taking over Chicago, it is decided that Federal agent Eliot Ness (Robert Stack) will put together a special squad of incorruptible operatives soon to be known as the "Untouchables" because they cannot be bribed. One of the squad members is Joe Fuselli (Kennan Wynn of The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown), who served time for armed robbery but is anxious to make amends. Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) runs operations while Capote is temporarily in jail. George Ritchie (Joe Mantell), wants to impress his flirtatious wife, stripper Brandy (Barbara Nichols) -- whose uncle is a bookkeeper for Capone -- by volunteering to get info for Ness. Meanwhile the Feds set out smashing breweries, and more than one "untouchable" may come to a bad end. Ness also finds that his fiancee, Betty (Pat Crowley of There's Always Tomorrow), is in danger from the mob. 

Ness vs. Nitti: Stack with Bruce Gordon

Released in theaters, The Scarface Mob was actually the pilot for the TV show The Untouchables, originally shown in two parts on Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse and introduced by both Desi Arnaz and Walter Winchell, who provided snappy narration for the series. As a stand-alone movie, The Scarface Mob is a good if minor crime drama. Stack makes the perfect Ness, and the normally stoic actor even sheds tears when one of his operatives is killed. Pat Crowley is excellent as his fiancee turned wife, who marries Ness as much for protection as out of love (I don't believe Ness' wife was ever seen again on the TV series, although he called her on the phone frequently.) Brand, Gordon, Mantell, Wynn, and Nichols are all on target as well. Bill Williams also plays one of the Untouchables and is fine. 

Prohibition was undoubtedly one of the worst ideas in American politics. It only led to gangsters taking over the now-illegal alcohol industry and badly increased all manner of crime in Chicago and elsewhere. It was finally repealed due to public demand. 

Verdict: Credible and entertaining mob movie with very good performances. ***. 

THE CROWDED SKY

THE CROWDED SKY (1960). Director: Joseph Pevney.

While Captain Dick Barnett (Dana Andrews) and his bitter co-pilot Mike Rule (John Kerr) fly an airliner, a small Navy jet piloted by Dale Heath (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) is heading in the same general direction. Heath notes to his passenger McVey (Troy Donahue) that there are "2000 near-misses each year." As the audience tenses itself for the disaster to come, the movie features flashbacks showing the back stories of several of the characters, including crew and passengers. Rhonda Fleming [While the City Sleeps] is Heath's bored and unfaithful wife; Anne Francis is a stewardess in love with Rule; Barnett has a poor relationship with his son, Dick Jr. (Ken Currie); and so on. The Crowded Sky manages to maintain suspense not just over the plane situation, but also over the various characters' inter-relationships. Some of this is soap opera, but it is generally interesting to watch. Keenan Wynn flirts with a passenger, Jean Willes [Desire Under the Elms], whom he jilted years before and whom he doesn't recognize, while Patsy Kelly is an agent for actor Tom Gilson, both of whom feature in scenes of -- on one occasion -- inappropriate comedy relief. Joe Mantell plays the likable navigator, Louis, whose grotesque death is pretty much forgotten (shockingly) by the other characters. There is evidence that much footage was left on the cutting room floor, as Troy Donahue's role practically amounts to a bit, and another major character's death is also not given any kind of moving post script, making it all seem a rather callous exercise. One suspects there's a much better movie left somewhere, but The Crowded Sky is still quite entertaining. Freida Inescort shows up briefly as a woman who may or may not be Kerr's mother. The acting in this is perfectly okay but nobody really stands out as anything special. Pevney also directed The Strange Door.

Verdict: Stay on the ground. ***.