Gangster Theodore Newberry, strongly portrayed by actor Ken Lynch, is suave, confident, wealthy, and well-connected. His vicious chief assistant, Jerry Fanning, is played by a young Martin Landau. Fanning is a hopped-up, nervous drug addict with a stutter.
A federal inquiry into Newberry's empire of alcohol, gambling, prostitution and bribery depends on a single witness, the meek accountant Julius Imbry. Newberry sends Fanning to kill him, but instead, "the city hall boys," unwilling to be fingered for accepting bribes, but less murderous than Newberry, kidnap Imbry from protective custody and get him out of town.
Newberry develops a plan to get Imbry and Ness, and ruin the Untouchables. He uses a confederate and his own newspaper to create and publicize a fake bribery scheme to embarrass Ness. Learning that Imbry is in Mexico, he has his Mexican contacts seize Imbry, then lures Ness to Mexico to rescue him. Ness brings Spanish speaking agent Nick Delgado (actor Vince Edwards, who later played Ben Casey). Newberry sends Jerry Fanning down to make sure that Ness and Imbry are killed and their corpses put out to sea, so that it looks like Ness has taken a payoff and disappeared.
Ness falls into a trap laid by Newberry's confederate in Mexico, Achilles Guzman (actor Rodolfo Hoyos), but his wariness saves him. Delgado gets to Imbry, who was being held by Guzman's man Max Charcas, and Fanning traps them both, but is disturbed that he has not caught Ness. Working separately, Ness and Delgado save Imbry and return him to testify against Newberry. Newberry, having received a telegram proclaiming success, arrives confidently at the hearing, only to learn that it was Ness, not Fanning, who sent him the message.
A federal inquiry into Newberry's empire of alcohol, gambling, prostitution and bribery depends on a single witness, the meek accountant Julius Imbry. Newberry sends Fanning to kill him, but instead, "the city hall boys," unwilling to be fingered for accepting bribes, but less murderous than Newberry, kidnap Imbry from protective custody and get him out of town.
Newberry develops a plan to get Imbry and Ness, and ruin the Untouchables. He uses a confederate and his own newspaper to create and publicize a fake bribery scheme to embarrass Ness. Learning that Imbry is in Mexico, he has his Mexican contacts seize Imbry, then lures Ness to Mexico to rescue him. Ness brings Spanish speaking agent Nick Delgado (actor Vince Edwards, who later played Ben Casey). Newberry sends Jerry Fanning down to make sure that Ness and Imbry are killed and their corpses put out to sea, so that it looks like Ness has taken a payoff and disappeared.
Ness falls into a trap laid by Newberry's confederate in Mexico, Achilles Guzman (actor Rodolfo Hoyos), but his wariness saves him. Delgado gets to Imbry, who was being held by Guzman's man Max Charcas, and Fanning traps them both, but is disturbed that he has not caught Ness. Working separately, Ness and Delgado save Imbry and return him to testify against Newberry. Newberry, having received a telegram proclaiming success, arrives confidently at the hearing, only to learn that it was Ness, not Fanning, who sent him the message.