Murder Under Glass

Luther Adler once again shines in a guest-starring role, playing the debonair-but-deadly "Emile Bouchard".

There were several main crooks in this story: the aforementioned "Bouchard," "Pete Konitz" (Carl Milletaire), "Gil Haller" (Dennis Patrick) and "Frank Nitti," played effectively (as always) by Bruce Gordon. Not only are their multiple criminals involved, Elliott Ness and the boys do some traveling down south to New Orleans to solve this narcotics case.

Bouchard winds up being caught in the middle and it turns very dicey for him as both Nitti and Ness are watching him closely. It gets very tense.

As Walter Winchell points out to us at the beginning, the promised repeal of Prohibition has forced the Capone mob, minus Capone to rethink its mission if you could call it. In organized crime like everything else you have to stay on the cutting edge.

So now Bruce Gordon and the mob are going into narcotics which is most unlikely to be legalized. But they have a problem with their main supplier Luther Adler who is playing games with Frank Nitti. They're down in New Orleans to size up the situation.

Which brings Eliot Ness and The Untouchables down to New Orleans to investigate as well. What everyone is concerned about is two hijacked shipments of uncut heroin.

Luther Adler who on the big and small screen played so many ethnic types that many could forget his origins in the Yiddish theater plays the French cajun boss of New Orleans crime with a good accent. I'm surprised in this Louisiana based story that Huey Long wasn't brought in somehow as he was Senator at the time. Of course that could be because Russell Long was the current Senator and Allen Ellender who was Speaker of the Louisiana house and a Long supporter was the other Senator.

It's always good to see Luther Adler in anything, check this out.