Customer Reviews

The Untouchables - Season 1, Vol. 1

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Retro television shows have never done particularly well unless they were set in the Old West. Shows set in the 20's, 30's, 40's, etc, any era outside of the one in which they aired have never lasted long except in three major exceptions - Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and The Untouchables.

The Untouchables succeeded for a number of reasons. First, the veil that had been on the Mafia for a number of years was slowly but surely being peeled off due to gangland killings and the fame of gangsters such as Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, Dutch Schultz, Lucky Luciano, and others. Even before the Godfather and its outstanding first sequel, the public had a fascination and curiosity with the mob. So take some true events, ture characters, heavily fictionalize them with Hollywood gloss and pathos, and you get a very successful show that made a star out of Robert Stack and brought new fame to a Treasury agent named Eliot Ness.

The Untouchables' First Season collection should not have been split up into multiple sections. That's greed, pure and simple. But the lure of this show - its great characters, performances, grit and intelligence will draw buyers even though they know they're being ripped off. Stack's Ness is one of the best alltime detectives - fearless, relentless, and absolutely ruthless with the bad guys. His politically correct team had everything but a black guy (which would have really stretched believability too far), including a white guy (Hobson), Italian (Rossi), Native American (Youngfellow), and Jew (Rossman). The supporting casts were always excellent, and Bruce Gordon brough the right amount of humor and menace to Frank Nitti, Capone's chief lieutenant.

The Untouchables - Season One, Volume 1 is not untouchable, but it is irresistable.

It's an oddity that this stellar series was abandoned on VHS by Columbia House years ago after little more than half of the episodes were released; all of them sustaining unnecessary and tasteless cuts to their original formats. What's even worse is how long it's taken THE UNTOUCHABLES to find preservation on DVD amidst a sea of shows of lesser impact and creative significance, but that's finally changed.

Paramount's new releases are something to be proud of. While the DVD sets do not as of yet boast any bonus features (with the exception of the Desilu/Westinghouse intros for The Scarface Mob), one can surmise that a continued success of the series on DVD may inspire some additions in later releases.

The prints and sound are astoundingly clear; gone are those muddy prints from syndicated 16mm films dubbed to VHS. The DVD menus are replete with decent (but static) artwork with only a few questionable arrangements. It seems they took anything they could out of the vault to put these things together.

No chapter menus, but each commercial break becomes a new chapter, quick and easy to jump to.

The only drawback is the extended WAIT for the next installment of Season 1. We have to wait until DECEMBER 18th for the rest of the season and it's stellar episodes, where the production value heightened and writers finally found their mark (see "The Frank Nitti Story," "One Armed Bandits," or "The Unhired Assassin for proof of a show hitting its stride.)

Bring on Seasons 2 and 3, and yes, even the maligned Season 4. Get Bruce Gordon and the others together for interviews, dig through those archives for the teasers, commercicals, keep Ness and his men coming, tommy guns and brewery-smashing trucks a'blazin!

This is cinematic television worthy of study and enjoyment.

I am too young to have seen these when they aired ....I would have been about 5!, but I was curious so I purchased this set..
and
1) they are stunning transfers...crisp beautiful black and white noirish masterpieces every one!
2) The intros from Desi Arnaz and Walter Winchell on the pilot episode are nice touches
3) the packaging is sensational! All four DVDs (no flippers!) in a case the size of a normal DVD case that holds one film...so this is a fabulously small shelf space hog!
4) while the whole season would be preferred ....13 hours for about $30...is pretty good value for my money...
5) Robert Stack is and was a very unique talent and the guest stars are a who's who of great character actors and budding stars!

If you're a true fan of the Untouchables you'll know that the release of only half of the show's first season by Paramount is nothing but a cruel joke on those who've long awaited the DVD release of this classic series. Only ONE of these episodes contains the legendary Bruce Gordon as Frank "the Enforcer" Nitti, the Untouchables' greatest foe. Paramount should be ashamed. Fans of the Untouchables should demand better.

What a terrific time capsule -- choppers by the dozen, block-long Hudsons, and every hood has a fedora and a moll. This was great TV in 1959 and it holds up well even today. Robert Stack as "Eliot Ness" really didn't have to act in this show -- just react to a terrific bunch of hammy character actors. The rogue's gallery of performers in the first one-half season set includes Bruce Gordon ("Frank Nitti"), Clu Gulager ("Mad Dog Call"), Jack Elam ("Nick Bravo"), Nehemiah Persoff ("Jake Guzik"), Sinatra favorite Henry Silva ("Little Charlie Sebastiano"), Claire Trevor ("Ma Barker"), Leo Gordon ("Whitey Parno"), and Larry Dobkin ("Dutch Schultz"). This was producer Quinn Martin's first hit show, but a long string of successes would follow including, "The Fugitive," "The FBI," "Cannon," "Twelve O'Clock High," "The Invaders," "Streets of San Francisco," and "Barnaby Jones." The audio and video quality of "The Untouchables" set is first-rate, and this is a MUST HAVE for crime drama collectors.

Just received THE UNTOUCHABLES in the mail and could not
wait to open it up like a kid at Christmas. The series
which began in 1959 when I was 12...made an impression on me.
There was hardly any sub plots to get in the way of the fight
between Good (Eliot Ness and his men) and Evil (Al Capone and
the likes of Frank Nitti etc) The music would build all the time
when the next brewery would be hit or the next body would be
tossed out of a 1930s automobile at 30 miles an hour. And there
was Robert Stack in his 3 piece suit taking down the baddies in his
classic style. No need for foul language or nudity like the Sopranos.
It still delivers unbeatable entertainment value with quality sets.
Definitely worth a look for Season One, Vol. 1

The old videos have been digitally cleaned up and are highly enjoyable.Picture and sound are like first run movies.These episodes are of better quality than when I was a child and watched them on television.

In my opinion the greatest television series in the history of the medium. Decades ahead of it's time and in many ways unsurpassed still (B&W is way sexier than color). The series noired with the best of the big screen classics.

I agree with the gentleman from VA....This had better not be a tease. We'll be waiting for the remaining 3 seasons of this masterpiece.

First of all, I'l thrilled to see that "The Untouchables", Robert Stack style is FINALLY coming out on DVD! So long over due, whole new generations will absolutely fall in love with this brilliant series from Quinn Martin! For the series I give 5 STARS Plus!

However, it looks like Frank Nitti must be reporting directly to Paramount's CEO, Sumner "Sunny the Boss" Redstone with this shameful half season release. I could understand with the 1st season of Perry Mason (39 episodes) being a two volume set. But this is downright robbery, extortion and pure corporate greed. Notice that Hawaii Five-0, Season 1 is complete, and from Paramount!

Yep, looks like Frank Nitti & the Mob are back in business!

The 5 star rating is for the show itself. But, the studio execs who break shows up in this manner in order to induce every possible penny out of consumers are nothing more than greedy, uncaring, thoughtless scoundrels.
I remember how much I use to enjoy watching this show with my grandfather when I was a kid. It was his favorite program, along with another that has been horribly packaged on DVD, "The Naked City".

The Untouchables only lasted 5 seasons, but it was a very, high quality program. The Naked City, which aired during the same era, lasted 6 years. Unfortunately, this program was not put out in season sets, but in a 3-volume set, each containing 12 episodes. Obviously, a lot of great episodes are missing. In fact, there were 137 episodes altogether, so over 100 never made it to DVD.

For the reviewer who said, "Shows set in the 20's, 30's, 40's, etc, any era outside of the one in which they aired have never lasted long except in three major exceptions Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and The Untouchables." How terribly wrong you are. Ever hear of the 70's show, "The Waltons", set during the depression? This show was one of the best in television history. It won all kinds of awards and lasted 10 years. And, let's face it, the last 4 years of Happy Days and the last few years of Laverne & Shirley were garbage.