The Scarface Mob

Chicago, 1929.

By law, the country was dry.

Through connivance with Al Capone, Chicago was wet.

Even now, while Al Capone served a short term

for carrying a gun in Philadelphia, the organization functioned smoothly.

Helped by corrupt officials and a public that was indifferent.

Social headquarters of the mob was the Cafe Montmartre.

This night, the night of June 17th, 1929,

the gang was to encounter its chief adversary.

A Prohibition agent named Eliot Ness.

Federal raid, stay where you are.

Plain seltzer.

My goodness, you don't think I'd be drinking hooch.

Not a thing yet.

Coming down the stairs was the man

who ran the mob while Capone was in jail.

Frank Nitti, "the Enforcer."

Hello, boys.

You got a search warrant?

- These friends of yours, Mr. Nitti? - Get lost.

This is a private social club. It's open to members and their guests.

Tell him, counselor.

If you cause damage to the premises,

I'll have to file suit on behalf of Mr. Nitti.

- Thank you, counselor. - I thought you should be advised.

- Find anything? - Not a drop.

Must have cleaned up with blotting paper.

Who could have tipped them off?

Next time, let us know you're coming.

Okay, we might as well go.

Beat it.

- Now, what was the payoff? - One grand.

A grand?

You stupido. You could have bought her for 500.

On June 24th, one week after the unsuccessful raid

on the Montmartre, Eliot Ness was summoned to the Chicago office

of the new United States District Attorney, Beecher Asbury.

The appointment was for 3 in the afternoon.

Now, this is the Capone setup, $120 million a year

pouring in from beer, booze, women and gambling.

Mainly from beer and booze.

Thirty-five million is for protection being paid out each year.

Now, before coming to Chicago, I conferred with President Hoover

and the attorney general.

We decided there were two ways of getting Capone:

One is to gather data to convict him of income tax evasion,

and the other is to close down his breweries and distilleries

and make it impossible for him to continue paying graft.

Now, do you have any ideas on that?

- Yes, I do. - Well?

We have 300 agents in the district

and the mob still has breweries all over the city.

Even run their beer trucks right through the Loop. Why?

Because out of 300 men, some can be bought.

All you have to buy is a few men.

What if you have a special squad?

Small, operating on its own. Every man thoroughly investigated.

Brought in from all parts of the country.

Men who'll spit on Capone's graft. Just a few he can't buy.

- You think you can find these men? - I think so.

Sad part is, I can't be sure.

Well, you're going to start looking for them.

On June 28th, 1929, Eliot Ness arrived in Washington.

He had full access to Prohibition Bureau files

stored in the Treasury building.

A simple assignment, given all available data

about every agent in the bureau.

Find six or seven out of these thousands

who are reliable, courageous, dedicated, honest.

Six or seven of the most honest men.

At 8:00 on the night of July 5th, 1929,

the men of the special squad met for the first time.

Six honest men.

LaMarr Kane of the Richmond bureau.

Law school graduate. Married. Two children.

Eric Hansen of the San Francisco bureau.

Former guard in San Quentin's death row.

Martin Flaherty, former Boston police officer.

Outstanding bureau arrest record.

New York's Jack Rossman, former telephone company lineman,

now a wiretap expert.

William Youngfellow, full-blooded Cherokee,

second team all-American, 1924.

Largely responsible for breakup of Oklahoma City booze ring.

Tom Kopka, Scranton bureau. Former Pennsylvania state trooper.

World War I hero.

Six honest men.

Some of you may have to familiarize yourselves with Chicago.

And the seventh, Joe Fuselli.

I'm sorry I'm late, Mr. Ness.

This is Joe Fuselli.

He's not with the Prohibition Bureau, but he'll be working with us.

Joe knows every street and alley in the city.

He's got the finest pair of driving hands in Chicago.

He also speaks the Sicilian and Neapolitan dialects.

Maybe you'd better tell them the rest, Mr. Ness.

Joe's an ex-convict.

He served five years in Joliet for armed robbery.

LaMarr Kane. Sit down, Joe.

This is Hansen.

- Flaherty. - Flaherty.

- Rossman. - Rossman.

Seven honest men against the underworld empire of Al Capone.

Oh, hello, boys.

Hello, Jake. Willy.

What's the word?

Federal boys have organized some kind of special squad

just to take care of our setups.

No kidding?

This time I hear they mean it.

Well, we ain't gonna let them get away with that, are we?

Of course not, Frank. We'll have the boys take care of it.

There you are.

There are those extra 3 grand to cover those cops on the North Side.

- Oliver? - No, no.

You don't have to worry about this stuff.

No, my wife freezes hard with me if I come home with liquor on my breath.

I'm gonna have to get another thousand, Jake.

For what?

Well, some of the boys have been doing a lot of extra work

trailing those feds for you.

That's their job.

Well, it's still extra work no matter how you look at it.

I'm not even getting my commission on this deal.

One grand here, one there, where are we gonna come out?

Now, don't start holding us up.

They shut them up for you, didn't they?

Make sure it stays that way.

Give him the grand.

While Frank Nitti was making arrangements with Chicago Police,

Eliot Ness was having a rare date with Betty Anderson,

a girl he had been going with for over a year.

Hello there.

- Stop dancing? - No.

- What's wrong? - Nothing. Why?

You don't look as though you're enjoying yourself.

I'm sorry, honey, I try to put things out of my mind...

Try harder.

No work tonight, remember?

Every time I see someone drinking a Capone booze...

No work tonight.

Nothing like a woman to get your mind off things.

Depends on what things you're talking about.

Well, you're giving me ideas.

Is that wrong?

You don't know the ideas.

What will we have for dessert?

What do you want?

Something special.

Something special.

"Marjolaine. Crêpe suzettes."

It's a pretty fancy place, Mr. Ness.

"Cherries jubilee."

- What are they? - I'll ask.

No. Let's just order them and find out.

You're on.

Excuse me.

Miss Anderson, this is Joe Fuselli.

- Pleased to meet you. - How do you do?

We got a setup.

I'm sorry, honey, we're gonna have to postpone those cherries jubilee.

Waiter.

Check.

The first Capone still wrecked by the Ness squad was in Chicago Heights.

Knocking over one wouldn't begin to shake the Capone empire.

But Ness intended to use this as a wedge

to pry open some seams in the organization.

- Come on. - You sure you're feds?

Yeah, we're feds.

Everything wrecked, 100 percent.

Get the alky cans in the car.

- Boys, what are you doing? - They're taking us in.

- I've never seen you boys before. - Who are you?

- Johnny Giannini. - What are you doing here?

Well, let's talk about that.

You that new bunch of feds?

- Oh, you heard about that? - Sure.

- Well, we wanna cooperate with you. - How?

We never been unreasonable in the past. What do you say we discuss it?

Okay. Discuss it.

Let's just say, meanwhile, we put the right sugar in the coffee.

- How much? - I gotta talk to someone.

You meet me tomorrow night, 8:00. Peach Coloni's up the block, okay?

Eight tomorrow.

Hey, what about these friends of mine?

We're taking them in, you haven't forked over yet.

Get them in the cars.

You gonna spring us?

I'll send someone. You'll be home for breakfast.

See you tomorrow night, 8:00. We'll make you happy, boys.

It's after 10:00.

I said 8:00. What's the matter? You're late. Where you been?

What do you got for us?

You know, boys, we got things fixed around here with the cops

and the Prohibition.

So we make it 100 each.

What do you got operating?

Not much cooking around here. That is about what it's worth.

We all fixed up, huh?

A hundred is chicken feed.