"The Return of Eliot Ness" is a made for TV film that appears to be trying to possibly revive the old TV series. This isn't all htat surprising since in 1987, the movie version of "The Untouchables" scored big at the box office.
The story picks up about 15 years after the original TV series. Ness (still Robert Stack) has retired from the Treasury Department but he feels compelled back into investigating crime after an old partner of his is murdered. The killers made it look like the dick was on the take...but Ness knows better. So, he teams up with the dead man's son and begins to cause waves....hoping to learn more about the dead man's death.
So is it any good? Well, it's okay...but doesn't quite capture the original look and spirit of the old show. I think filming it in black & white, using some of the original music, and having a narrator who is reminscent of Walter Winchell would have really helped. As a result, it's interesting but nothing special...and I can see why a series never followed.
By the way, it shouldn't affect how much you enjoy the film but pretty much everything from the TV show and various movies is fictional. The real Ness wrote a book, "The Untouchables", but the various versions of his life strayed far and wide from the truth.
The Return of Eliot Ness
1991
Action / Crime / Drama
The Return of Eliot Ness
1991
Action / Crime / Drama
Plot summary
In 1947 when a cop whom Eliot Ness worked with when he was in Chicago is killed, he goes back to Chicago for the funeral. When he arrives, there's a lot of talk that his friend was dirty which Ness doesn't believe. He learns the man's own son also a cop thinks it's true. Ness was about to leave when he decides to stay and try and prove his friend is not dirty. He starts by teaming up with the man's son and investigating the case his friend was working on when he was killed, which involves one of Capone's associates.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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An attempted revival that didn't quite score.
1991 "Attempt" at Noir in Color
Good try for us Untouchables Fans. I loved the cars! But every single vehicle looked like it just rolled out of the showroom! Not a bad plot! I was totally engaged, and was thrilled that Robert Stack hadn't lost his deadpan portrayal of Elliot Ness. Too bad Walter Winchell wasn't around to narrate.