The Return of Eliot Ness

"The Return of Eliot Ness" is a made for TV film that appears to be trying to possibly revive the old TV series. This isn't all htat surprising since in 1987, the movie version of "The Untouchables" scored big at the box office.

The story picks up about 15 years after the original TV series. Ness (still Robert Stack) has retired from the Treasury Department but he feels compelled back into investigating crime after an old partner of his is murdered. The killers made it look like the dick was on the take...but Ness knows better. So, he teams up with the dead man's son and begins to cause waves....hoping to learn more about the dead man's death.

So is it any good? Well, it's okay...but doesn't quite capture the original look and spirit of the old show. I think filming it in black & white, using some of the original music, and having a narrator who is reminscent of Walter Winchell would have really helped. As a result, it's interesting but nothing special...and I can see why a series never followed.

By the way, it shouldn't affect how much you enjoy the film but pretty much everything from the TV show and various movies is fictional. The real Ness wrote a book, "The Untouchables", but the various versions of his life strayed far and wide from the truth.