◆ SpookStack

7 e x Tae oe Sam anc ae Ane + agate nal a ti ama art a tant ak tang A tt all AE ie Lie met ee eee se. slam» ser a ee ae a ‘Memo DeLoach to Tolson 7: en “2° 10-17-59 My memorandum to you dated October 16, 1959, reflected that if "The Untouchables" dealt with the Barker case October 22, 1959, it must. necessarily deal with the FBI in order to be historically accurate in that we were the primary Federal Agency involved in handling this case. We have had no prior information from Desilu or any other source that The Untouchables" would start involving the FBI as would appear to be the case in this instance, It was, therefore, recommended, approval given by the Director, to have the SAC, Los Angeles . of October 22, 1959, and, if so, why Desilu did not have the courtesy to contact us regarding this matter. ‘The SAC was told that if the FBI is not to be depicted in "The Untouchables," dealing with the Barkers, then the program would . oe necessarily be historically inaccurate and give the public the impression that the | contact Desilu and ascertain if the FBI is to be depicted in the scheduled program | night, October 16, (The attached teletype is in confirmation of this call.) SAC Burke | sunny Florida morning. In a combined operation, Elliot Ness and his special agents ' ry Treasury Department handled this major case. ; ‘SAC Burke, Los Angeles, called me at home at 10PM, Friday \ "y and a Special Agent, upon receipt of our instructions, as mentioned above, contacted Desilu Productions, a! "The Untouchables" admitted that their schedule ober 22, » Program would be entitled ''Ma Barke and her Boys."' He further admitted that the FBI was mentioned in the opening — narration which is to be done by Walter Winchell. The FBI is to be mentioned in this manner--"On January 16, 1935, there took place one of the most incredible episodes in the annals of American crime...It began at 7 o'clock on a warm, joined with the FBI, state troopers and local police in a surprise visit to a quiet . resort colony near the town of Oklawaha... What followed made front page headlines ; all over the world... ."qNZRMM told Burke the program does not identify Elliot Nes and his special agents as being connected with the Treasury Department but refers to then only as Federal Agents A§MMpadmitted that most people will probably . consider Ness and his agents as FBI Agents. i . _ SAC Burke told Q§jjpthat the opening narration differentiates | between Ness, his agents, and the FBI. He told QM hat the scriptwas st completely unfactual and credits other agéncies with work done by the FBI. SAC © Burke added it is bad enough to do something like this and worse to have the FBI in the supporting role. told SAC Burke that he realizes he has made a — rrible error and that he would remove the words "the FBI” from the opening ye narration. He stated that in this manner the Federal Agents would not be identified |: in any manner other than the audience's recollection from the original programs in 1958 which identified these men as Treasury Agents, =: 303823. 885.0 8.08000 i: