Sightlines · reception
How The Untouchables was received
1987 · Brian De Palma · The Untouchables on Sightlines
The arc
A big summer hit in 1987 that won Sean Connery his only Oscar, it's since settled into a curious spot: the most mainstream, crowd-pleasing film of De Palma's career — which is exactly why some De Palma diehards rank it lower than his weirder work.
What’s debated
The eternal fan fight: Connery's Oscar-winning Irish cop delivered in an unbudging Scottish accent — beloved performance or the most charming miscasting ever rewarded?
Its footprint
"He pulls a knife, you pull a gun... that's the Chicago way" is permanent quote-canon, and the Union Station staircase shootout with the baby carriage is one of the most referenced and parodied set pieces in American movies.
Where it stands
A dad-movie staple and gateway De Palma — the one everyone's seen, even people who couldn't name another De Palma film.
Did you know? Bob Hoskins was paid a reported six figures as a standby Al Capone in case Robert De Niro fell through — and when the check arrived anyway, Hoskins phoned De Palma to ask if there were any other films he didn't want him in.
Named by the director
- Battleship Potemkin (1925) — De Palma has openly acknowledged the station staircase sequence as an homage to Eisenstein's Odessa Steps.