"The Untouchables" Element of Danger (TV Episode 1962) Poster

(TV Series)

(1962)

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7/10
Better highs through chemistry
bkoganbing18 December 2013
Lee Marvin's bravura performance as a gangster who's latched on to a way of converting opium to heroin with a cheap chemical process dominates this Untouchables episode. Marvin has the guts of a burglar in this, during a raid he shoots both an Untouchable and a police officer and then stays around pretending he was an innocent bystander.

All this is disturbing Marvin's partner Victor Jory who's played many a dangerous crook himself on the big screen and small. Jory's decided he's to volatile to be in business with. He does however make two big mistakes in deciding both that Eliot Ness could be bought and to have Marvin hit.

On that turns the story and for fans of Lee Marvin this Untouchables episode is an absolute must.
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9/10
Honestly, Mr. Ness!...
AlsExGal30 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
... At this point I've seen almost three seasons of Eliot Ness always making the smart move and yet here he brings in somebody he knows is a murderer and addicted to risk taking AND he turns the lights out in a room full of machine guns AND puts an unarmed young woman directly in front of the suspect AND makes him feel cornered and Ness is surprised at what happens??? Did anybody review this script??? But enough of my rant. That and I doubt that moviemaking technology was available on a small fast scale even to the feds during the early 1930s.

This episode is about an organization fronted by a legitimate chemical business that is converting opium to heroin and making a fortune. Ness and his men discover the warehouse full of opium when an agent who is actually on loan from the Chicago police is killed nearby. The culprit is the previously mentioned risk taker, in a terrifically raw explosive performance by Lee Marvin, that I mentioned in the first paragraph. He is partnered with rather buttoned down businessman Arnold Stegler (Victor Jory) who would like to rid himself of this powder keg of a person, and this is the conflict that Ness uses to trap everyone concerned. With Lee Marvin chewing enough scenery to make ecology an issue 60 years ago, and costarring Howard Culver as Mr. Science.
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9/10
Lee Marvin plays a sensational thug in this episode....
planktonrules16 March 2016
"Element of Danger" is well worth seeing--mostly because Lee Marvin is simply terrific playing one of the nastiest thugs in "The Untouchables" four-year run.

Victor Rait (Marvin) makes his fortune with heroin, so you know he's a real sweetheart! But how vicious and quick-thinking he is becomes apparent when cops come upon Rait and his men transporting drugs. Rait murders them and then pretends to be a good Samaritan trying to stop the 'real killers'. Ness and his men are fooled at first, but when Rait's insane anger keeps getting the better of him, they realize he's no angel. In the meantime, Rait's 'friend', Arnold Stegler (Victor Jory) wants to get rid of this competition and approaches Ness with a deal to rat out Rait. When Rait discovers this, his anger takes over and you know there will be the Devil to pay for this betrayal!!

Lee Marvin is so enthralling to watch and so bigger than life, this makes this episode among the best of season three. He eats up the scenery but you can't stop from watching him...and it's entertaining as can be.
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