Emphasis Preaching Journal

In the Kevin Costner movie, The Untouchables, G-man Elliot Ness tries to catch and convict gangster Al Capone. Sean Connery plays James Malone, Elliot Ness' mentor in law enforcement. At one point Malone threatens George, a Capone henchman, with the words, "You're gonna hang higher than Haman unless you cooperate." Less than ten movie minutes later, George is dead at the hands of another Capone henchman, Frank Nitti. Nitti then sets a trap and kills James Malone. While Capone is on trial, Ness and Nitti shoot at each other in one of those exciting movie fight/chase scenes. On the roof of a tall building, Ness gets the upper hand over Nitti, finding him on a rope climbing down the side of a building where Nitti can find no windows open and he can't reach the ground. While Ness struggles with himself -- and wins (he can't bring himself to shoot the helpless hit-man) -- Nitti climbs back up the rope to the roof where Ness waits. All the while Nitti taunts the federal officer with his helplessness because he has sworn to obey the law. As a final dig, Nitti admits he was the one who killed Malone. The angered Ness finally breaks and pushes Nitti off the roof. This time Nitti doesn't hang because this time he doesn't have a rope to hang onto. And he would have lived if he hadn't taunted Ness. Hoisted on his own petard. But not all the crooks in the movie hang as high as Haman. Capone was sentenced to 11 years in the federal prison for income tax evasion. And Ness feels himself condemned for the terrible price he must pay for so little justice. -- Mosley