This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This week's theme is "Police Detectives", with the word "police" being used here to distinguish from private investigators.
OK, not quite like this
There are a lot of police movies out there, so I decided to come up with a theme-within-a-theme, and pick three movies in which the person investigating the crime -- or at least one of the people investigating the crime -- is a fish out of water from another jurisdiction:
Coogan's Bluff (1968). Clint Eastwood plays an Arizona sheriff's deputy who gets sent to New York City to bring back a man being extradited to Arizona. Of course, the man escapes, and Eastwood tries to capture the man himself without particularly consulting his NYPD liaisons, led by Lee J. Cobb.
Brannigan (1975). John Wayne plays the title character, a Chicago policeman who gets sent to London to bring back a mobster (John Vernon) being extradited to America. Once again, the mobster escapes, and Wayne has to play detective to find him, albeit with a bit more help from his liaison in Scotland Yard (Richard Attenborough).
Gorky Park (1983). Three bodies are found in Moscow's Gorky Park, and a Moscow detective who's the son of a now-dead bigwig in the Communist party (William Hurt) investigates. One of the dead turns out to be an American, which brings fur dealer Lee Marvin into the case, as well as New York cop Brian Dennehy, who happens to be related to one of the victims. He and Hurt investigate more or less together, although of course Dennehy isn't officially on the case.
3 comments:
Nice theme within the theme.
I wasn't crazy about Gorky Park but Coogan's Bluff benefits from Clint's cool imperturbability and a solid cast surrounding him.
We match on Brannigan. It's one of John Wayne's later pictures that I find the most satisfying to watch.
I also did a theme within the theme going with all single titled character named films from the 70's.
Serpico (1973)-Based on the autobiographical book of the same name this looks at honest NYPD cop Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) and his struggles against the corruption that permeated the department in the 60’s and his ultimate role of whistleblower after earning his detective shield. Gritty drama anchored by Pacino’s Oscar nominated performance captures the feeling of a grimy corruption plagued New York City.
Brannigan (1975)-Chicago police detective Jim Brannigan (John Wayne) hops a plane to England to extradite American gangster Ben Larkin (John Vernon). His brash ways clash with the more reserved British methods of Scotland Yard Commander Swann (Richard Attenborough) but when Larkin is kidnapped before Brannigan can take him into custody rough and tumble cop takes off on a manhunt through the streets of London assisted by Detective Sergeant Jennifer Thatcher (Judy Geeson). Fun actioner was one of the Duke’s final films, the fresh locale invigorating his performance.
Stone (1974)-In 70’s Australia members of the biker gang The GraveDiggers witness a political assassination while under the influence of hallucinogenics and shortly afterwards begin to be killed one by one. Police detective Stone (Ken Shorter) goes undercover within the gang to try and ferret out the killer. He bonds somewhat with the members but when he uncovers a conspiracy, he must make a choice between his job and loyalty to the gang. VERY 70’s film is more concerned with footage of motorcycles, skinny dipping and exploitation than telling a really cohesive story.
I have seen all 3 and enjoyed each one, Brannigan is a perfect choice. Coogan’s Bluff is a good Eastwood film which is a great film of his. Gorky Park is dark and I felt bad for Br8an Denehy in this film. What a shame we lost him last year.
Oh, I love that you included that clip from the Simpsons!
Post a Comment