It consists of the pilot episodes for the TV series The Untouchables (1959) that originally screened as a two-part installment of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse on April 20 and 27 1959.
Desi Arnaz optioned the rights to Eliot Ness' book about fighting Al Capone and decided to turn it into a two-part episode of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse under the title of "The Untouchables".
Arnaz was willing to risk the short fall in order to get greater production values and highly regarded cast like Robert Stack and Neville Brand.
[5] Stack later wrote that Phil Karlson was "ideally suited" to direct the show because "he can deal in violence and brutality on the screen, and some of his work was regarded as the precursor of Sam Peckinpah's.
But he's a quiet, gentle man who wears a ratty-looking red sweater which he thinks brings him luck... His personal, Joe Milquetoast manner contrasted sharply with the controlled mayhem of his product.
"[6] Stack said Brand, a real life war hero, was "schooled in violence and perfect as Capone... even though his Italian accent left something to be desired.
Reviewing the original episodes, the Los Angeles Times called it "about the slickest two hours of warfare ever shown on the tube.