Listen on SoundCloud

DESCRIPTION: This week we are joined by bestselling novelist Matthew Pearl (“The Dante Club,” “The Poe Shadow”) and we talk about his research into Eliot Ness and the connection he made between “The Untouchables” Odessa steps sequence and the climax of the original “Mission: Impossible.” We discuss other connections between the films, go over some unused script pages, and Pearl brings up a fascinating “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” mystery. Released January 15th, 2021.

SHOW NOTES: As described in the episode, here are David Mamet’s script pages for the train sequence that was never filmed for Brian De Palma’s “The Untouchables”...

Instead, they ended up filming the famous train station sequence...

You can find out where to watch “The Untouchables” here.

Also, check out Truly Adventurous, an online treasure trove of incredible true stories written by amazing writers, which was conceived by Matthew Pearl.

You can also visit Matthew’s website, where you can read about all the books he’s written and order a signed copy!

As discussed in the episode, here’s the MTV news report about David Fincher’s “Torso” adaptation.