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History Vs. Hollywood: The Untouchables

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History Vs. Hollywood: The Untouchables The Untouchables is an action packed movie, set in Chicago, 1920s. Crime controls the city, the system has gone corrupt, and people are dying. Chicago has a major problem, a cruel, and rich gangster named Al Capone. Capone is notorious in the city for the illegal distribution of liquor, and brutal acts of enforcing his business. Who will stop Capone from enforcing his monstrous agenda? That’s where our heroes come in. Lights, camera, action; we have The Untouchables. How does this movie compare to the real history of Al Capone and the people who hunted him down? In the movie The Untouchables, there are several similarities and differences in comparison with history. Eliot Ness and his team, and Capone …show more content…

It’s 1920, the Chicago lights gleam in the night. A dangerous night. A loud explosion is heard near Lakeshore Drive, followed by a fiery, red flame lighting up the dark, city night. Chunks of rubble make a loud splash as they are swallowed up by the waters of Lake Michigan. Al Capone’s associates have bombed another speakeasy, injuring many citizens in the process. This was life for the citizens in Chicago, everyone was kept in constant fear for their lives if they ever crossed Capone. The Federal Government knew they had to control the violent city of Chicago by eliminating the Gaffron 2 criminal that was behind it all, Al Capone. This is when our heroes enter, The Untouchables. In the movie, The Untouchables were a team assembled by Federal Treasury Officer, Eliot Ness, to help combat the massacres by mobsters in Chicago. The Federal Ban of alcohol (prohibition) led to an illegal market for liquor and in turn, more crime. Now that you have a general knowledge of the setting, we have the movie, The Untouchables. In the movie, there are four characters as part of the team. Eliot …show more content…

Eliot Ness and his team, and Capone and his associates were represented similarly, and differently in the movie vs. reality. Eliot Ness wasn’t the good cop everyone thought he was, the team in The Untouchables was all fictitious besides Ness, and Capone was just as cruel in the movie as he was in real life. The movie was a very entertaining one, packed with action that keeps you interested. Although it was a great movie, it left out many important details in the Capone investigation due to being able to make the movie more watchable for viewers and acting as a time constraint. Directors have many reasons why they change things in movies related to history, it’s always intriguing to analyze what changes are

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