12 Movies You Didn’t Realise Were Originally TV Shows

12. The Untouchables

Brian De Palma's 1987 cinematic tour de force The Untouchables features Robert De Niro as Al Capone and Kevin Costner as Elliot Ness, the prohibition agent tasked with shutting down the gangster's bootlegging operation. Featuring an Oscar winning performance from Sean Connery, outside of the classic Scarface, The Untouchables is probably one of De Palma's most beloved films. However, many forget that while the film was not directly related to it, The Untouchables ran as a television series from 1959 to 1963 on ABC, starring Robert Stack (later of Unsolved Mysteries fame) as Ness in a role that would win him a Best Actor Emmy. The show was extremely popular, and controversial, when it aired: it was shockingly violent for its time, and the actual Capone family launched a lawsuit over its portrayal of Italian Americans, with the support of notable figures like Frank Sinatra. Through four seasons, The Untouchables had numerous high-profile (or soon to be famous) guest stars including Carroll O'Connor (Archie Bunker), Robert Redford, Peter Falk, James Caan, Lee Marvin, Ed Asner, and many others. Both the series and the movie took their name from the memoir of Elliot Ness published in 1957 (though ghostwritten, Ness approved the final text prior to his death).