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The Untouchables (1959) :: The Empty Chair (01x01)
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Episode Information |
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| Title: | The Empty Chair |
| Episode #: | 01x01 |
| Original Airdate: | Thursday October 15th, 1959 |
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Episode Summary |
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After Al Capone is sent to prison to serve an eleven year sentence for income tax evasion, the heirs to his criminal empire begin feuding amongst themselves to takeover Capone's empty chair. Frank "the Enforcer" Nitti kills two pretenders to the throne but Mob bookkeeper Jake Guzik calms Nitti down by urging conciliation and diversification. Meanwhile, Ness uses Guzik's niece, Brandy La France, to try to locate the whereabouts of Capone's hidden cash reserves, the location of which are known only by her uncle.
| | There are no foreign summaries for this episode: Contribute | | English Recap Available: View Here |
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Guest Stars |
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Main Cast |
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Episode Notes |
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This episode marked the first of three appearances by Nehemiah Persoff as Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik. He would return as the character in The Seventh Vote and Doublecross. Persoff also appeared in Head of Fire, Feet of Clay, The Waxey Gordon Story, and The Stryker Brothers playing other characters.
| Bruce Gordon makes his first appearance as Frank "the Enforcer" Nitti who would prove to be the Untouchables' most frequent and durable foe. All in all, Gordon appeared in 27 episodes of the series.
| In this episode we get a rare glimpse of a gangster's home life in the scenes between Jake Guzik, his sister, and his niece.
| The scene where Frank Nitti guns down three people in a barber shop with a Tommy gun marks the only time in the series that "the Enforcer" killed anyone personally. Henceforth, Nitti would have his underlings do the killing.
| Location: Chicago
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Episode Quotes |
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Flaherty: (after Capone is taken away) Good ole Al. Remind me to write him every day.
| Brandy: Why should I trust you?
Ness: Because there's nobody else you can trust.
| Nitti: What's the matter, Jake, Eliot Ness been chasin' you?
| Rico: (about Volpe and Raddi) I don't handle garbage with my bare hands.
| Nitti: You, you got any ambition?
Sammons: I want just what I got.
| Scalmone: Remarkable. This man Guzik must be a genius.
Ness: As a bookkeeper or a crook?
Scalmone: Both
| Norma: Jake's whole life was backwards.
Ness: Too many people have the same problem.
| Nitti: What you been eatin', Jake? You talk like you got a bullet proof stomach.
Guzik: I been eatin' fish. Brain food.
| Norma: I didn't know Berkowitz had an Italian brother-in-law.
Rico: It happens in the best of families.
| Ness: We want you to know you'll need all the protection we can give you.
Rico: It looks like I've got all I need right now.
| Guzik: So you declared war?
Nitti: (pulls out a gun) Yeah, it was me. Personally.
| Guzik:: You can have the money. I don't want it but I'll get it back.
Nitti: You sound pretty sure of yourself.
Guzik: I'm not sure of me. I'm sure of you.
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Episode Goofs |
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When Jake Guzik gets shot by Brandy he grabs his left side but in the next shot he's holding his right side.
| When Frank Nitti machine guns Volpe and Raddi in the barber shop it appears as though control of the Tommy gun nearly slips away from Bruce Gordon.
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Analysis |
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One of the reasons this premiere episode is so successful is the interaction between Bruce Gordon as Frank Nitti and Nehemiah Persoff as Jake Guzik, the bickering heirs to Al Capone's criminal empire. This is the first of two episode in which Gordon and Persoff appear together but there should have been more. The duo were the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of TV villains. Also take note of Nicholas Georgiade's performance as Enrico Rossi, a barber who is recruited to join the Untouchables squad. It's his best of the series. Georgiade should have been used like this more often but the supporting Untouchables were frequently given too little to do on-screen.
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Other Episode Crew |
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Featured Songs |
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Cultural References |
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Episode References |
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