Blade, il duro della Criminalpol

Blade is an incompetently directed, horrendously photographed Dirty Harry rip-off. Filmed with a hand held camera, it looks like a home movie, half the shots are out of focus. Many times half the faces of actors aren't even in the frame, and it's not a pan & scan problem! A slew of familiar TV character actors all have thankless, underdeveloped roles. Ernie Pintoff never made even a half decent feature, he should have remained in animation. Blade is amateurish and boring.

Not bad little cop thriller, not to be confused with the Wesley Snipes vampire movie of 1998, stars John Marley ("Dead of Night", "The Godfather", "The Car") as a remarkably easygoing yet still pretty tenacious detective trailing a brutal killer. Complicating matters is the fact that the initial victim was the daughter of a senator running for re-election, and the senator's aide is determined to keep too many details from leaking to the public.

One thing we notice right up front is that there's no attempt to hide who the killer is, and we basically watch the movie to see how long it will take our protagonist to catch up with us, as he tracks down one lead after another. The movie does get off to an odd start as the opening murder set piece is accompanied by rather unlikely music. The movie has a rather unhurried pace to it, with generally entertaining characters in a fairly twist-laden story, co-written by director Ernest Pintoff (Oscar winner for the animated short "The Critic", and director of such live action features as "Dynamite Chicken" and "Jaguar Lives!") with cult director Jeff Lieberman ("Squirm", "Blue Sunshine").

It is a little tedious at times, but it has its moments too, particularly an interview with a character unsubtly dubbed "Fat Man". There are some sexy ladies on hand, including Karen Machon, Raina Barrett, and Jeanne Lange, and it will be of interest to some that that there are some appreciable topless shots. The score by John Cacavas is well done if a little much at times.

With Pintoff having done quite a bit of work in TV, it's not surprising that so much of the supporting cast contains familiar TV faces: Jon Cypher ('Hill Street Blues') as the killer, Joe Santos ('The Rockford Files'), John Schuck ('McMillan and Wife'), Michael McGuire ('Dark Shadows'), Ted Lange ('The Love Boat'), Steve Landesberg ('Barney Miller'), and Keene Curtis ('Cheers'). Kathryn Walker, as our heros' substantially younger wife, has little to do besides banter with Marley. The film is certainly worth a look for seeing the younger Rue McClanahan and Morgan Freeman in noticeable small parts.

While overall this story - with racial, social and political overtones - is rather forgettable, the movie is still reasonably watchable with the detective taking a fair amount of physical punishment during the finale.

Six out of 10.

There is a lot of incomplete and misinformation out there about this movie; I hope to help fellow viewers. Yes, it is the story of a NYC detective working on the case of first one, then more, murders of women; each has been brutally beaten to death (not knifed), and the police do not see the motive or connection between the victims - we don't either at first, but there is one. The first victim is the daughter of a congressman running for reelection who is, on the one hand, a law-and-order man, and, on the other, willing to use his power and influence to manipulate the very judicial process he proclaims to support. Our detective is forced (by evidence and circumstances) to arrest the first victim's boyfriend, and faces pressure from the black community to free him. Our detective is also up against (1) a boss who doesn't like him and kowtows to the congressman, (2) the congressman himself - the two have a mutual distrust of each other, and (3) a crooked cop working for the congressman and his henchman, who are trying to derail the discovery of the identity of the real criminal. As we begin to see why, the real criminal then focuses on our detective himself. The tension really does build up to a dramatic climax, followed by a cynical ending, demanded in the 1970's.

There are frustrations with this movie. The script and direction really, well, stink, even if forgiving it a bit for being made in 1973. The lighting and handheld camera work are terrible. The music includes a good enough theme, but it is overworked. There are some nice views of NYC locales (Shea Stadium especially). All of these aspects are covered in other reviews. My biggest frustration was in figuring out who all the characters were - what their names are, and what their roles are, separate from the attention given in most discussions about who the actors are and why they are familiar to us. So here is a guide:

James/Jim/Jimmy (NOT Tommy) Blade (John Marley) is the detective. His wife is Maggie (Kathryn Walker). His partner is Spinelli (Joe Santos). He reports to Reardon (John Schuck). Another cop is Quincy (Michael McGuire).

Powers (William Prince) is the Congressman. Steiner (Keene Curtis) is his henchman. Melinda was his daughter and is the first victim.

Henry Watson (Ted Lange) is Melinda's boyfriend, arrested for her murder. Chris (Morgan Freeman) is a militant leader demanding his release.

Frederick Peterson (Jon Cypher) is the real murderer, and he works in an office with a not-so-nice guy named Bert Freund (Peter White) and Freund's secretary Joann Connors (Karen Machon). Gail (Rue McClanahan) is her friend who looks up information for Joann.

There are other characters, but these are the main ones. I hope this is helpful.

Blade (1973) does not compare with the other movies of the same title. Then again it is not trying to. What Blade is is a short thriller/drama about a tough cop trying to solve a murder case. This setting sounds a little like The French Connection (ala Popeye Doyale) and the movie could be considered a poor-mans version of that movie. Blade also has Morgan Freeman in one of his earlier roles and is a quality rent. Nothing spectacular, but nothing utterly disappointing either. viewed/owned on VHS

Gritty thriller.

Underrated detective film about an experienced cop on the edge of retiring who is trying to solve one more case before his career is all over. John Marley is excellent in the lead. The supporting cast is also quite good.

This film's not particularly well shot. I think this adds to the grittiness of the look. That being said, this film would have benefited from better cinematography. I enjoyed the sound track. The film kept my attention the whole time. I definitely recommend giving it a watch if you can find it!