The Untouchables by Brian De Palma (1987)
Today we are talking about the film The Untouchables, which features a monumental Robert De Niro as Al Capone. De Niro prepared for this role in great detail, even going so far as to wear not only the same clothes as the notorious criminal (he even contacted Capone’s personal tailors) but also the same type of underwear.
Quote.
“It’s true, violence is practiced in Chicago, but not by me, nor by the men who work for me. And do you know why? Because it’s never good business.”
(Al Capone)
BASEBALL, WHAT A PASSION!!
Almost always, in films, certain details are modified even when telling the story of a famous character. Sometimes this is done for narrative choices, and the events shown on screen end up being slightly different from what happened in real life.
However, one of the most significant and impactful scenes in this film is inspired by a completely true event.
Al Capone, in fact, once invited all his associates to dinner at his home after receiving several death threats from them. It was May 1928. The events of that evening were of extreme brutality. All the guests were deliberately drunk and then killed, one by one, with a baseball bat. There’s no denying it: sometimes reality really does surpass fiction.
CURIOSITY
For the role of Al Capone, the production and Brian De Palma initially considered Bob Hopkins, but it was the director who insisted on having Robert De Niro for the part.
The set of the barber scene of Al Capone at the Lexington Hotel is filled with items (cologne bottles, shaving brushes) that actually belonged to the real Capone.
The Untouchables – The Untouchables by Brian De Palma (1987)
