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How Useful Is the Film 'The Untouchables' to A HOW USEFUL IS THE FILM ‘THE UNTOUCHABLES’ TO A Word Count: 1897 HISTORIAN STUDYING PROHIBITION IN THE USA? Figure 1 (left): Author Unknown, 2011, MovieGoods, Inc., 6 November 2011, http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_product_static.asp?master_movie_id=8477&sku=405 240 Figure 2 (right): Author Unknown, 2011, Chicago History Online, 6 November 2011, http://chicagohistoryonline.wordpress.com/roaring -twenties/al-capone/ A. Plan of the Investigation In this investigation I will seek to answer the question, “How useful is the film “The Untouchables”1 to a Historian studying Prohibition in the USA?”. I have chosen to investigate this era because I am intrigued by the factors which led to Prohibition, such as the ‘Woman’s Christian Temperance Union’2 and how Prohibition led to several Public Enemies such as Al Capone and John Dillinger. This era also influenced several Hollywood movies and Jazz musicians. The subject is still relevant today because it brought police investigations to a completely new level, forcing the police to advance in strategies for criminal investigations. In order to understand the Prohibition era, my analysis will start with an overview of the factors which led to the banning of alcohol sale and manufacture. In the main body of the analysis I will discuss the values and limitations of the film ‘The Untouchables’ alongside other sources that describe life during the Prohibition era, such as the ‘Studs Lonigan: trilogy’3, ‘His Master’s Voice’4 and ‘No Beer, No Work’5. Word Count: 171 1 The Untouchables, 1987, motion picture, Paramount Pictures, Directed by Brian De Palma, Starring Robert De Niro and Keven Costner 2 Women’s Christian Temperance Movement: An organization that combated against the influence of alcohol on family and society. 3 James T. Farrell, 1932, 1934, 1935, Studs Lonigan (trilogy), Penguin Putnam Inc. New York, (ISBN 0-14- 11-8673-9), p. 237 4 Taylor Hales, Nikolas Kazmers, 2004, ‘His Master’s Voice’ (cartoon), University of Michigan, 22 August 2011, http://www.umich.edu/~eng217/student_projects/nkazmers/prohibition1.html 5 Song, ‘NO BEER, NO WORK’, Music and Lyrics by Sammy Edwards, 1919, 1 | Page B. Summary of Sources On the 16th of January 1920, the United States made a drastic change to their country, the 18th Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution, banning the sale, manufacture, and transport of alcohol. All their distilleries, saloons and breweries were obligated to shut down. Prohibition was led by several movements, for example the Anti-Saloon League and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. The Anti-Saloon League6 worked alongside with the American Issue Printing Company which helped spread their campaign. They created several stories and songs to reach out to the people, “Dispel the wrong, enthrone the right, and mark the whole world dry, we’ll work for Prohibition…”.7 The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union also played an important role, they worried about the social problems caused by the use of alcohol such as child abuse and wife beatings. They made several campaigns against alcohol for example the “Lips that touch liquor shall not touch ours”.8 Carry A. Nation was at the time seen by many as “Crazy Carry” but now is considered, “hatchet-wielding… an outspoken advocate for women’s rights”.9 She is famously known for vandalizing saloons and with a hatchet, “I felt invincible. I smashed five saloons with rocks before I ever took a hatchet”.10 Even industrialist leaders like Henry Ford were worried about the alcohol’s effect on work efficiency, “the [18th Amendment] greatest force for the comfort and prosperity of the U. S.”.11 Before the 18th Amendment, war was also used to back-up prohibition, “a number of breweries around the country which are owned in part by alien enemies [Germans]”.12 The 18th Amendment turned out to be very difficult to enforce, the American Government estimated enforcement to cost around $300 million. Many people made their own alcohol at home, for example Yak-Yak Bourbon, Wood Alcohol, Pumpkin Wine, and Bathtub Gin13, others smuggled alcohol into the country. One of the most famous “bootleggers” was Al Capone who 6 Anti-Saloon League: organization against Prohibitions 7 Quote from song, “The World Is Going Dry”, Lyrics by J.H. Lakimore, Music by G. G. Grabill 8 Prof. David J. Hanson PhD, 2011, Lips that touch liquor shall not touch ours (Image) State University of New York Potsdam, NY 13676, 22 August 2011, http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/FunFacts/Prohibition.html 9 Fran Grace, 2001, Carry A. Nation: Retelling the Life, Indiana University Press, (ISBN 0-253-33846-8) p.4 10 Kansas Historical Society, 2010, Kansapedia, 18 November 2011, http://www.kshs.org/index.php?url=kansapedia/carry-a-nation/15502 11 Author Unknown, 1930, The Times U.S. Magazine, 18 November 2011, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,738875,00.html 12 Wayne Wheeler (lobbyist for the Anti-Saloon League), Steven Mintz, 2011, the Department of History and the College of Education at the University of Houston, August 15th, 2011, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=441 13 Yak-Yak Bourbon: homemade liquor fermented in old whisky barrels that became extremely popular in Philadelphia; Wood Alcohol: a dangerous form of alcohol made during prohibition; Pumpkin Wine: wine that was fermented inside a pumpkin; Bathtub Gin: homemade liquor mixed in a bathtub 2 | Page based in Chicago, in the film ‘The Untouchables’14 his well-known dreadful reputation and elimination of other rival gangs was explored. The St Valentine’s Day Massacre on the 14th of February 1929 was one of the well-remembered examples of his brutality as he machine gunned 11 members of the ‘Bugs’ Moran Mob, “seven men lay dead or dying, their bodies riddled with at least one-hundred machine-gun bullets”.15 Culture was also influenced by Prohibition, movies such as ‘Little Caesar’16, ‘Scarface’17 and ‘The Public Enemy’18 were inspired by Americans public enemies, Al Capone, John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie and Clyde. Jazz music was extremely popular during Prohibition, many famous jazz singers like Duke Ellington, and Bojangles Robinson went to perform in speakeasies19. As a result of this many people considered jazz music “a Bolshevik element protesting against law and order” and “an influence for evil in society”.20 With the USA entering the Great Depression in 1929, “consumption [meant] economic opportunities… created jobs for hundreds of thousands of people… pumps billions of tax dollars into federal, state, and local economies”.21 During Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1932 campaign for New York Governor he went against Prohibition to gain more votes. On December 5th, 1933 the 21st Amendment was passed after 36 states approved the repeal of Prohibition. Word Count: 529 14 The Untouchables, 1987, motion picture, Paramount Pictures, Directed by Brian De Palma, Starring Robert De Niro and Keven Costner 15 Olivia Mahoney, 2010, Chicago History Museum, 22 August 2011, http://blog.chicagohistory.org/index.php/2010/02/st-valentines-day-massacre/ 16 Little Caesar, 1931, motion picture, First National Pictures, Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, Staring Edward G. Robinson 17 Scarface, 1932, motion picture, Universal Pictures and Caddo Company, Directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson, Starring Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley 18 The Public Enemy, 1931, motion picture, Warner Bros. Pictures, Directed by William A. Wellman, Starring James Cagney and Jean Harlow 19 Speakeasies: A place were alcohol was sold illegally, also called Blind Pig or Blind Tiger 20 Cathy Richard, 2011, Oracle Thinkquest Education Foundation, 19 August 2011, http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00492/ 21 Mr. Garrett Peck, 2009, The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America from Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, (ISBN 978-0-8135-4592-9) p.3 3 | Page C. Evaluation of Sources Source 1: ‘The Untouchables’ (film), by Paramount Pictures, 1987 I am going to analyze how useful the source ‘The Untouchables’22 is to a historian studying the U.S. Prohibition. In terms of origin, the film was made in 1987 and filmed in the USA inspired by the book written by Eliot Ness23, ‘The Untouchables24, and the T.V. series, ‘The Untouchables’25. The purpose of this film was purely to entertain, many scenes were historically inaccurate, such as the scene Eliot Ness throws Frank Nitti26 off a building and he falls inside a car. In the ‘Chicago tribune’ newspaper article it states Nitti actually committed suicide, “put a gun to his head while in a stupor alongside a railroad embankment in North Riverside”.27 The film is valuable to a Historian because it shows Al Capone’s brutal reputation, such as the scene Capone kills a member of his gang with a baseball bat because he betrayed his trust, or when he says, “I want him [Eliot Ness] DEAD! I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES!”. The film also shows Al Capone confidence, “People are gonna drink! You know that, I know that, we all know that, and all I do is act on that. I'm a businessman!”.28 Al Capone’s brutality and self-confidence is seen in other sources, “to engorge his will, Capone had an army of sluggers, bombers and machine gunners”.29However the film fails to show the life of ordinary people during prohibition and focuses on Al Capone’s and Elliot Ness’s character. Word Count: 239 22 The Untouchables, 1987, motion picture, Paramount Pictures, Directed by Brian De Palma, Starring Robert De Niro and Keven Costner 23 Eliot Ness: Prohibition Agent of the U.S. Treasury Department 24 Eliot Ness, Oscar Fraley, 1957, The Untouchables, Buccaneer Books, Cutchogue, New York, (ISBN 1- 56849-198-0) 25 The Untouchables, 1959-63, television series, Desilu Productions and Langford Productions, Director unknown, Starring Robert Stack and Walter Winchell.
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