The Untouchables (TV Series) The Otto Frick Story (1960) User Reviews

Ness and Nazis?!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 29 February 2016]

This is one of the most unusual of all the episodes of "The Untouchables". While all the stories were HIGHLY fictionalized, this must be among the most fictionalized as I am pretty sure Federal agent Ness NEVER battled Nazis as he did in this show!

The program begins with Ness looking into the flow of drugs into America during the 1930s. Somehow, drugs were getting into the country and Ness and his men were trying to stop the flow. At first, they worked hard to determine if American drug companies were actually supplying the drugs. While some were, the vast flow led to the Nazis in this show...specifically a scum-bag named Messlinger (Frances Lederer). See how Messlinger's double-dealing and hubris led to his downfall in this exciting show.

Typical of most of the episodes up to this point, the baddies end up turning on each other while Ness actually does very little. In fact, the one cooperative witness he had, he accidentally let die!! But interesting and exciting regardless. Plus, there is a grain of truth to this one...the American Nazis DID have a huge rally at Madison Square Garden...one of the low points in our history.

THE OTTO FRICK STORY: From the Chicago 'Outfit', to the Sicilian Mafia, to 'The German-American Volks Bund, The Untouchables prove to be Equal Opportunity Feds!

[redryan64 · 7/10 · 25 July 2007]

Well, well that Mr. Ness sure was everywhere doing just about everything. He bagged "Big Al" Capone in Chicago. He tangled with the likes of "Dutch Schultz" and Charles "Lucky" Luciano in New York. He and the Untouchables even brought Ma Barker and her Boys in to their proper and swift punishment under the law.

As we've previously stated, the various Episodes of this weekly series of Cops & Robbers show, varied greatly in the content. Some were really quite close to the real, historical. Others wandered far off of the path of veracity to the road of being far fetched, at least for a unit of Treasury Men! The question of Jurisdiction comes into play in a lot of these hour long teleplays. Just why exactly, would the Federal Men get all involved in the the investigations of such varied non Federal areas as gambling, narcotics and prostitution. and unlawful gambling. The Feds would not get so involved with local and State Laws. The only way would be when there was some violation of their precious old Volsted Act (National Prohibition).

Yes, I hear you asking what about Federal Narcotics Laws, wouldn't Ness enforce the Federal Code in this area? The answer would have to be yes, but a qualified yes. As Federal Law Enfoecement Agents, they would enforce any and all Federal Laws. But that would generally be in those incidents where their contact with the drug violator was due to a violation of Prohibition or some other Federal liquor law or regulation, comprende Amigo? On the positive side for this story which began with a link between the importation of illicit drugs being linked to some operatives of the relatively new Third Reich of Germany. The bad guys this time weren't from the Sicilian Mafia or the Chicago 'Outfit', but they were genuine Espionage Agents of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. That's Nazi for short.

To their credit the Production Team did do us all a great favor. There was this movement in the good old USA during the mid 1930's which was called The German-American Volks Bund. It was ostensibly a club for Americans of German Ancestory to foster the continued observance and practice of those things of German Music, Art, Literature and all things related to German History and Culture. These sounded like mighty lofty goals, but they were essentially true. There other purposes of the Bund which were not disclosed. Namely to disseminate and to cultivate the principles of the Superiority of the Aryan Super Race and all the other beliefs and 'laws' of Nazism.

Well friend, perhaps it wasn't that Ness and his guys who were involved in the conduct of the investigation and apprehension of these Nazis on our own soil, here in America. But it sure was somebody. It would seem that Desilu Productions provided a sort of video "History Lesson"! The UNTOUCHABLES TV Series was the venue for telling a story about it. It was the first time that this writer had heard of such a subversive movement. If it was true for me, just think of how many other thousands of little "boomers"*were so enlightened.

As for the story, it was dynamic and action filled. It had a truly National Theme, as it took one from Chicago to New York to Los Angeles, then back to New York's Madison Square Garden for the big pro Hitler Rally.

Well, this was 1935. Prohibition was all over. The boys had to have something to do. My rating for this OTTO FRICK STORY is **1/2. It is worth your investing an hour. Besides, Agent Jack Rossman (Steve London) has a line of dialog. While trailing a suspect into a Rathskellar Bar, he takes a seat at a table and says, "Beer!"

Lest we ever forget

[dontspamme-76078 · 8/10 · 21 August 2020]

People in America today don't believe how strong the pro-nazi sentiment in the US was during the 30s, or how hard FDR tried to take action against it. I firmly believe that if the Pearl Harbor attack had not happened, the US would probably have left Germany and Japan alone to conquer the world. Or worse, become their allies.

People criticize this episode because Ness would not have fought nazis. In fact he doesn't. He's fighting drug smuggling. The only interaction he has with nazis is when he tries to save the life of one (unsuccessfully).

The timelines are a bit messed up. It starts on May 3, 1934, and ends on Jan 31 (1935?). I suppose the events could have transpired over 9 months. But the real Madison Square Garden Bund rally took place in Feb 1939 (over 4 years after the show's rally).

The clips of the rally in the show are from the real 1939 rally.

Chilling.

A Different Kind Of Crime Story

[ccthemovieman-1 · 20 September 2011]

The rise of the American Nazi Party, and of drug traffic, are the subjects here in this episode, which is kind of different because of the political angle. Usually it's just Eliott Ness and his guys fighting crime but here it is a combination of crime and politics.

Without spoiling anything, it turns that Otto Frick isn't the big villain in this story but a man named "Walter Messlinger," played by Francis Lederer. Oh, "Frick" and others have key roles in this story but Messlinger is the top gangster/Nazi here. All the characters are pretty interesting from Frick (Jack Warden) to the gullible thug "Hans Eberhardt" (Richard Jaekel) to sexy-and-evil "Hedda Messlinger" (Erika Peters).

We even get real-life footage of a Nazi rally held in Madison Square Garden! Note: Many times the stories revolve around a certain criminal I've never heard of, so I look him up on the Internet. I usually find the man, but I could not find anything on Otto Frick, making me wonder if that was just a fictional character. As much as I love this show, I realize a lot of it is fiction....at least involving Elliot Ness.

Nothing the Nazis wouldn't stoop to

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 22 October 2013]

This episode must have been near and dear to narrator Walter Winchell's heart. During the Thirties columnist Winchell was one of the very first to report on the activities of the German American Bund and had Eliot Ness really been involved with dealing with subversives he would have been as lauded by Winchell as J. Edgar Hoover was.

This story involves The Untouchables in New York investigating Jack Warden a narcotics peddler of German descent who made his headquarters in the Yorkville section of Manhattan. His investigation shows that he's getting his supplies directly from the Nazis in Europe to fund their American propaganda efforts.

The contact man is Francis Lederer who has much bigger game in mind than getting rich off junkies. He wants Warden to help him organize the German American community and start a protection racket therein. Of course in Nazi fashion the initial targets will be Jews. For said effort, Warden lends Lederer his top enforcer young Richard Jaeckel. And the lovely young Erika Peters who is Lederer's 'niece' truly sweetens the deal for Jaeckel.

Back in the day Winchell used to refer to domestic Nazi sympathizers as 'Hitler rooters'. This episode proves that there's nothing the Hilter rooters wouldn't stoop to in order to gain their objective.

Segues from illegal drugs to Nazi thugs...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 6 March 2022]

... in this most unusual episode of The Untouchables. It starts out like a typical episode of The Untouchables with Otto Frick (Jack Warden), who deals drugs, escaping from Eliot Ness and the Untouchables who are closing in on him at a county fair.

Ness tries to track down the origin of Frick's drugs, as he has shut down his Canadian and Mexican sources, and finds they are now coming from Nazi Germany. A kind of roving ambassador for Germany, Walter Messlinger (Francis Lederer), tells Frick that the new deal is that he can get his drugs for free if he agrees to be the muscle for the Nazis in America. Now Frick is not an idealist, he is a capitalist, so no appeals to his ancestral homeland are going to work on him, but he agrees to the terms strictly as a business proposition. Thus Messlinger turns his proselytizing attention to Frick's young assistant, also of German descent, Hans Eberhardt (Richard Jaeckel), who turns out to be more malleable much easier to manipulate than Frick.

Jack Warden's gruff style worked for him as the strictly business gangster. Francis Lederer was capable of giving subtle performances. He did so in many films of the 30s and 40s such as in "Romance In Manhattan" where he portrayed an optimistic immigrant during the Great Depression. But here he is almost cartoonish in his impersonation of a Nazi agent. Given the last words of the episode by narrator Walter Winchell -"even now the totalitarian voices are not silenced...you can hear them if you listen" - this was probably not just all about the Nazis, who had long been vanquished. It was probably instead trying to equate the Nazis with the Communists. I can find no other meaning for that final narration.

The Untouchables struggle in two-pronged matters!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 5 December 2022]

Usually the Eliot Ness task force had an everlasting fighting against all sort of the criminals, smugglers, burglars, mobsters, gambling and so on, by now meanwhile they chase a hidden dealer of heroin, when randomly the Untouchables stumble in a political matter that takes place in 1934 about a Nazi German who have a mission to gather all immigrants from Germany or descending to create a self-called Aryan cell at American ground lead by Walter Messlinger (Francis Lederer) that envisages in the drug dealer Otto Frick (Jack Warden) a potential leader of the whole process.

The greedy Otto actually had German blood from their parents, so Messlinger quickly provides a large portion of heroin from another kinsman, as time went on Messlinger perceives that Otto wasn't so high-minded as he supposed to be so he heads toward Otto's young fellow Hans (Richard Jaeckel) in order to recruit under his heavy hands method all Germans which wouldn't want to make part of the brotherhood.

In this episode is blatant the screenplay anti-Nazi oriented on American country, anyway make sense due the intention of the third Reich rising on Germany, wrongly the producers over casting Jack Warden once more, somewhat it discredit the whole show for the viewers more mindful.

Thanks for reading.

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First watch: 2022 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25.