"The Untouchables" The Genna Brothers (TV Episode 1961) Poster

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Don't Mess With The Genna Boys!
ccthemovieman-17 October 2011
Wow, these Genna brothers are tough guys. They aren't just some crooks off the boat battling the cops and the Feds. They'll take on anybody, even Al Capone! Just don't get in their way of providing illegal liquor and illegal aliens.

Their downfall begins when they get a little too violent, a little too greedy and overconfident - the downfall of many crooks. Eillot Ness's sidekick "Rico" is emotionally involved in this caper as the "good Italian" opposed by the "bad Italian" Genna boys who make fun of him because he's on the other side of the law. A few times, Ness has to calm his fellow Fed down.

The story has the usual shootouts and action and some interesting minor characters, all of which helped make "The Untouchables" so entertaining each week.

Frank Puglia as "Carlo Giovanni" was a good as one of the guest stars and Arlene Martel was sexy playing his daughter.
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4/10
Genna Family Values
bkoganbing25 November 2013
The Untouchables managed to get involved with every known criminal with some kind of reputation in the lore of gangland. That is according to the TV series. However here it was a bit much because the Gennas were involved in the early years of the 20s before Al Capone emerged as the gangland kingpin of Chicago. The Untouchables were not even an idea at that point.

From 1921 to 1925 the six Genna brothers maintained a tight control over Chicago's Little Italy and what you see about the way they had the immigrants many of whom were illegal distilling the whiskey. The rest is all nonsense. One of them hit Dion O'Bannion and in turn was gunned down by Bugs Moran. Two were killed and the other three fled Chicago and drifted into obscurity.

Marc Lawrence is a mean and nasty Mike Genna head of the clan. Normally I let the lack of truth in The Untouchables stories go, but this one was a bit much.

Besides that having both Paul Picerni and Nicholas Georgiade as part of The Untouchables at that point is a real lack of continuity. They both joined the squad and the series after the show took off. By all rights Jerry Paris as Robert Stack's number 2 should have been brought back for this episode.

Continuity was not a strong suit for The Untouchables series.
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4/10
History books and continuity be darned!!!
planktonrules2 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
The TV series "The Untouchables" often played very fast and very loose with the truth. A history lesson it is not! Many times, the only real things in the episodes are the names of the criminals...but their exploits, personalities and even looks are nothing like the real life folks. So the fact that the show got the notorious Genna Brothers so wrong isn't all that surprising. What IS surprising is that they weren't even a factor during Ness' time with the Treasury Department in the 1930s. These thugs were either killed in the mid-1920s or faded into obscurity...but there is no way Ness would have had any dealings with these Chicago gangsters! Also, the show talks about Capone like he's still in power...even though he was sent off to prison in the show's pilot episode!! Wow...great job in the continuity department, folks.

The show begins with the Gennas beating up on a street peddler. One of Ness' men tries to intervene and gets beaten up for his trouble...the Gennas apparently fear or respect no one. It's obvious later when they kill folks and hold illegal aliens hostage and force them to home brew for the Genna gang. These guys are real sweethearts! Ness sees an honest Italian immigrant, Carlo Giovanni, as an ally in his fight against the Genna's. Imagine his and Carlo's surprise when Carlo's daughter begins dating the youngest Genna!

Overall this is modestly entertaining but among the very worst of the episodes when it comes to historical accuracy and continuity. Why they had to call them 'Genna' is beyond me...otherwise it would have been a better episode. Also, incidentally, more Gennas were killed in the final shootout with Ness than were killed for real by gang violence in all the 1920s.
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