Take 5: 'The Untouchables' still can't be touched

Watching the Prohibition-era shenanigans on HBO's great "Boardwalk Empire" puts us in mind of "The Untouchables." That 1959-63 series was set in Chicago (not Atlantic City), but for a large part of its run, it focused on the same war between the Feds (led by Robert Stack's incorruptible Eliot Ness) and the bad guys like Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) and Al Capone (Neville Brand). Here are five things you may not know about "The Untouchables":

1. Van Johnson was originally going to play Ness, but he backed out the weekend before filming was to start in a dispute about money.

2. Stack was then recruited on Sunday morning. Producers found him at a Hollywood eatery at 2 a.m., fitted him for costumes that afternoon, and started filming Monday morning.

3. Long before "The Sopranos," the show was heavily criticized by many Italian-Americans (including Frank Sinatra) for what they said were its negative stereotypes of Italian-Americans as mobsters.

4. The estate of Al Capone sued the show for $1 million for using his name and likeness for profit.

5. The show had dozens of prominent (or soon-to-be famous) guest stars, including Edward Asner, Carroll O'Connor, Robert Duvall and Robert Redford.