Nehemiah Persoff played his second real life mobster of the series in Waxey Gordon (real name-Irving Wexler) after appearing as Jake Guzik in Season One's The Empty Chair. Persoff is over the top at times here but for the most part it works for the character. Frank DeKova also does well in a brief appearance as a doomed rival of Waxey.
This one is pretty average throughout but is partially redeemed at the end in a blazing shootout in brewery between the Untouchables and Waxey's men. For a minute there I thought I was watching an episode of Batman the way Ness and the boys came charging into that brewery.
Incidentally, there is one glaring historical inaccuracy about the character of Waxey Gordon. Instead of the womanizer he's portrayed to be in the episode he was in reality a devoted family man who did his best to shield his family from his criminal activities. Gordon's oldest son, Steve, was an honor student at the University of North Carolina who died in a car crash while traveling north to attend his father's trial for income tax evasion.moreless
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Episode Summary
Mob boss Waxey Gordon is waging a gang war to eliminate rival gangsters for control of the New Jersey beer market, which brings Ness and his agents into what could turn to bloodshed in the streets if it's not stopped.
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Robert Stack
Eliot Ness
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Paul Picerni
Agent Lee Hobson
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Abel Fernandez
Agent William Youngfellow
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Trivia
ADD TRIVIA- Waxey Gordon suffered through a real life personal tragedy during his trial for income tax evasion. Waxey's son was an honor student at the University of North Carolina who was killed in a car wreck while driving from Chapel Hill NC to New York in order to attend his father's trial. Edit
- Waxey Gordon would later file bankruptcy to avoid paying the back taxes he owed to the government. Contrast this to another notorious tax cheat--Al Capone. Capone paid the government every cent he owed them in back taxes, fines, and penalties. Edit
- Waxey Gordon's real name was Irving Wexler. He served six years in prison for income tax evasion which was detailed in this episode. Several years later Gordon was arrested and convicted of narcotics trafficking. In 1952 he agreed to testify against several other members of the nationwide drug syndicate and was taken to the West Coast where he was housed at the Alcatraz prison hospital due to his declining health. Gordon died there of a heart attack. Edit
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RIP Bruce Gordon
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