The Real 'Untouchables' Trivia Quiz

Answer: Department of Justice

In the movie directed by Brian De Palma, the Untouchables were referred to as "Treasury Agents." The real-life Untouchables were in fact comissioned by Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, but the team would operate as a special unit of the Bureau of Prohibition, which became part of the Department of Justice in 1930.

Answer: Eliot Ness

26 year-old Ness was personally selected by United States District Attorney George E. Q. Johnson to lead a small group of Prohibition agents that would target illegal breweries and the speakeasies of Chicago. Ness was given full control over what men would be a part of this team.

Answer: Al Capone

Crime lord Alphonse 'Scarface' Capone was the most powerful man in Chicago during most of the Prohibition years. He generated over 1.5 million dollars a week from sales of illegal alcohol alone.

Answer: They could not be bribed or corrupted

The Mob offered Ness $2,000 a week if he agreed to 'take it easy.' The next morning, Capone's agents tossed an envelope full of money into the car of two of Ness' men, who then tossed the envelope right back at the gangsters. Ness arranged a press conference later that afternoon, where he announced to the world that his team had refused Capone's attempted bribes. One newspaper reported that "Eliot Ness and his young agents have proved to Al Capone that they are untouchable." Soon other newspapers began referring to Ness and his men as 'The Untouchables.'

Extra trivia: According to Eliot Ness, one member of the team was a germaphobe.
Sam Seager, a 6'2" tall ex-prison guard from Sing Sing, never used a hotel bathroom before washing it down with carbolic acid. Apparently germs scared him more than bullets.

Answer: 10

Although De Palma's movie had only four Untouchables, in reality there were ten - Ness himself and nine agents of his choosing. Ness wrote that the qualities he looked for when picking his team were that they should be "single, no older than thirty, [and have] both the mental and physical stamina to work long hours and the courage and ability to use fist or gun." He was also looking for men with special skills, such as wire tapping and driving. Of course, Ness also looked for agents who were known for their honesty and integrity - rare qualities at a time when most prohibition agents and Chicago law enforcers were 'on the take', or bribed by the Mob.

Answer: False

The federal government attacked Capone's organization in two ways: First, a unit of IRS agants would gather the financial records of Capone's 'Outfit' to see if he could be prosecuted on charges of tax evasion. At the same time, another group under the Bureau of Prohibition would raid the Mob's breweries, distilleries, and speakeasies.

This second group eventually became known as the Untouchables. Thanks mostly to the work of the IRS agents, Capone was found guilty on five counts of tax evasion in 1931.

However, it was the Untouchables who crippled Capone's alcohol empire.

Answer: Bill Gardner

Gardner was a tall, talented football player of Native American descent who played for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School football team from 1904-1907. He then went on to law school and served as a private in WWI. He fathered three children with his wife Alene French, but later obtained a divorce so he could become an FBI agent in the Los Angeles division. Ness had recieved a good recommendation for Gardner, and recruited him for his team. Ironically, Gardner was the man Ness had in mind for undercover work.

Not being much of a football fan, he didn't realize just how famous Gardner was. Another member of the Untouchables pointed out that Gardener had been picked by football coach Knute Rockne as part of his all-time All-America team in the magazine 'Collier's Weekly', the very same week that he arrived in Chicago.

Answer: False

The scene in De Palma's movie 'The Untouchables' were agent Oscar Wallace is killed in an elevator never happened in real life. It is said that the movie character Wallace is loosely based on Frank Wilson, a former accountant who lead the team of IRS agents that landed Al Capone in jail for tax evasion. Capone did order Wilson's execution, but for some reason the contract was never carried out. Ness was also targeted, but fortunately escaped at least two attempted hits. None of the official Untouchables were killed by the Mob.

However, Frank Basile, a personal friend of Eliot Ness, was murdered by a gangster called Tony Napoli. Basile acted as Ness' driver and was often present at the brewery raids.

Answer: The jury pool was switched at the last minute

Unlike the judge in the 'Untouchables' movie, the one who presided over Capone's trial was completely honest. It was reported that Capone's gang was bribing and threatening the jurors, so the judge switched the jury pool just before the trial started. Capone was eventually found guilty of tax evasion. The government never prosecuted him for Prohibition violations.

Answer: True

The lawman and the crime lord did not meet face-to face until 1932. Their last meeting was in May of 1932, as the Untouchables were escorting Capone to the train that would take him to a penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. Capone told Ness that "There was too much overhead in my business anyhow, paying off all the time and replacing trucks and breweries.

They ought to make it legitimate." Ness replied, "If it was legitimate, you certainly wouldn't want anything to do with it."