What Happened After THE UNTOUCHABLES

Al Capone was nothing compared to what Eliot Ness faced next...

By Ewan Paterson /

Jinxworld / Paramount Pictures

The story of Eliot Ness, the Untouchables and Al Capone is the stuff of legend. Although Ness himself died long before his exploits were mythologised in Hollywood, the lawman turned one time politician boasted one of the most extraordinary careers in US history - even going beyond his time in Chicago.

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The subject of a successful TV series in the late fifties and early sixties, Ness' legend was further cemented thanks to 1987's The Untouchables, a big screen crime drama helmed by Brian De Palma, featuring Kevin Costner as Ness, and Sean Connery as a Chicago policeman determined to end Capone's grip on the city.

Both works were adapted from Ness' autobiography of the same name, but his story goes beyond tales of night time liquor raids, police corruption and the eventual trial that landed Capone behind bars. Way beyond.

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The ending of De Palma's film ends on a relatively upbeat note for Ness, with the Prohibition agent greeting the news that the Volstead Act will be repealed by saying that he'll "have a drink". But what happened next casts doubt on the film's optimistic climax. For Eliot Ness, things were about to get much, much worse.

This is the story of what happened AFTER The Untouchables.

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