The Untouchables (1987)
- The lead role in The Untouchables was originally offered to a massive A-list star who turned it down because they didn't understand the script.
- Despite a very rocky opening weekend, The Untouchables went on to gross over 5x its initial budget thanks purely to incredible audience word-of-mouth.
- The most famous, quotable line in The Untouchables wasn't actually in the script; it was completely improvised by the actor on the third take.
The Untouchables is a 1987 American crime drama directed by Brian De Palma, based on the true story of Eliot Ness's efforts to bring down Al Capone during Prohibition-era Chicago. Kevin Costner stars as Ness, an idealistic Treasury agent who assembles a small team of incorruptible lawmen — including the veteran beat cop Jim Malone, played by Sean Connery, the young sharpshooter George Stone, played by Andy Garcia, and the accountant Oscar Wallace, played by Charles Martin Smith — to take down Capone, played by Robert De Niro, through the only avenue available: tax evasion. Sean Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his definitive portrayal of the streetwise Irish-American cop Malone, whose practical wisdom, moral courage, and devastating death scene anchored the film emotionally.
Brian De Palma's direction included the celebrated Union Station staircase shootout, an elaborate homage to the Odessa Steps sequence from Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, featuring a runaway baby carriage amid a slow-motion gunfight that became one of the most iconic action sequences of the decade. Ennio Morricone's score was a masterwork. The Untouchables earned $106 million worldwide on a $25 million budget.
