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Bruce Gordon as Frank Nitti

J

johnbasalla

While watching "The Untouchables" on Me-TV or on DVDs I have, I've come to the conclusion that actor Bruce Gordon is a better "Frank Nitti" then the real Frank Nitti was! Gordon goes all the way with his portrayal of a no-nonsense hoodlum from the 1930s. Here's an example of greatness, in which we have to credit the writers too. "Nitti", along with his machine-gun carrying body guard, is expecting to see booze come flowing "like the Mississippi" out of pipes constructed by workers for "Mikes Bass" played by Telly Savalas. Bass just tested it before Nitti's arrival and it worked perfectly. So, he says..."Go ahead Frank, turn on any faucet". Nitti tries three of them, and nothing comes out. Nitti, in anger, menacingly approaches Bass and says... "Hey! Is this some sort of gag? I've got better things to do then come down here in the middle of the night..." Then comes a classic line delivered expertly from Gordon... "Nitti" yells: "You've got 5 minutes. If I don't see booze coming out of these three holes, I'm going to have (name of body guard) put 3 holes in each of you!". I actually laughed out loud because it was such great stereotypical hoodlum talk.

The real Frank Nitti, even though he was known as "The Enforcer" (of Al Capone's gang), was primarily the face of this organized crime unit after Capone's imprisonment. The real decision maker was a different guy who was never characterized on "The Untouchables" TV show probably because he was still alive.

Further, Telly Savalas played a very menacing and calculating hoodlum. He made a much better bad guy then he did as a cop on "Kojak".
 
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johnbasalla said:
Further, Telly Savalas played a very menacing and calculating hoodlum. He made a much better bad guy then he did as a cop on "Kojak".
Click to expand...

Telly's primary roles prior to Kojak were all as heavies. He was probably the person producers looked for after the untimely death of Theo Marcuse in November 1967.

As far as Gordon, he also specialized in heavies. In 1966, the Lucy Show (a Desilu production which had also produced The Untouchables) had something of a mini-reunion of the show that included Gordon (albeit with a MUCH lighter take)--one of the Untouchables DVD's has this episode on it.
 
Yes, I've got the DVD set that has "The Lucy Show" episode which had Robert Stack and Bruce Gordon reprising their roles, although I recall Gordon didn't use the name "Frank Nitti", although that was who he reminded viewers of, and I don't think Stack specifically played "Eliot Ness", although he too technically played the Eliot character. They must have done it in front of a live audience because they did 'stage-talk', delivered louder then normal.
 
Bruce Gordon essentially satirized that portrayal when he played the main villain on Run, Buddy, Run (the unsuccessful parody of The Fugitive).
 
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