All Coppers Are...

All coppers are has a lot going for it. Set in gritty London of the 70s. Its the story of 2 men on opposing sides of the law. It features a strong cast and even a fresh faced David Essex. But the it tends to lack the courage of its convictions. Where the story should have been at its strongest the makers seemed to have lacked the courage to carry it through. Also most of the characters are very unsympathetic. The film does have its moments but it could have been so much better.

Not really watchable as entertainment but fairly revealing if we're looking for insight into the varying mindsets of film makers of the time. Peter Rogers, whose company produced this, had put out Carru On Camping a couple of years before. That film had ended with a scene where a bunch of hippies were driven from a field by the film's main protagonists. In other words a victory for the sensible silent majority over the unwashed hordes threatening to corrupt society. It was part of a trend in the later Carry Ons where they became part of a kind of mainstream reactionary backlash against the 'counter culture'. In this film there is a 'protest demo' scene which continues this theme and tries to replicate the same type of battle in a more serious setting and besides being appallingly badly done it is unashamedly biased. Waving a banner about student grants , the protesters isolate a police officer and in cold blood surround him and badly beat him. Because of their grants, presumably. It makes those dreadful old political cartoons by Cummings in the Express look enlightened. Some interesting external shots though.

This has the feel of the Sweeney and Up the Junction rolled into one, but doesn't really work.

The poster is a real spoiler. It depicts what is going to happen and makes it obvious the way the storyline is going to go.

Julia Foster talks and acts working class, but has a different outfit in every scene.

It's watchable, but nothing more.

Famed British journeyman director Sidney Hayers is responsible for creating some truly outstanding genre cinema, including razor-edged thrillers 'Revenge', 'Assault' and Peter Wyngarde creepy occult horror classic 'Night of The Eagle', with 'All Coppers Are...' perhaps, being one of the versatile director's more neglected works. It's interesting to see Martin Potter play straight laced copper Joe, since he is better known for more outré performances in Fellini's Satyricon and Julian in the deliciously eccentric psychodrama 'Goodbye Gemini', with the always likeable Nicky Henson on familiar ground as randy small-time villain Barry, with the vivacious, breathtakingly beautiful Julia Foster being the most sympathetic character as boozy, tough-luck, beguilingly buxom bombshell Sue who genuinely falls for handsome, true-blue copper Joe, but somewhat fatefully ends up in the not so loving clutches of gregarious bad boy Barry.

'All Coppers Are...' could be seen as a rather more glum, kitchen sink version of 'Jules et Jim', with Joe, Barry and Sue's brief ménage a trois forming the catalyst for the increasingly dramatic rift between the ill-matched trio. And for the most part Hayers surprisingly gritty 70s drama remains an entertaining watch, having more artistic credibility than mere nostalgia. While the characters are only lightly sketched, the performances are dynamic, with Julia Foster eliciting some earnest pathos, and the peripheral characters are engagingly played by UK film/TV luminaries Ian Hendry, David Essex, Eddie Burn, and Glynn Edwards, even featuring a delightfully churlish cameo by bawdy British B-Movie icon Robin Askwith! My far from subjective fondness for under-represented 70s British cinema means this film is already preaching to the perverted, but it objectively exudes boodles of period charm, a slinky array of nifty outfits, fabulous shots of the city, some quality banter and a genuinely exciting, surprisingly impactful climax.

This has the makings of a good film but never quite delivers. it has a good visual sense with some nice camera work and solid location shooting but the story has too many faults.

The plot concerns a working-class criminal and a married cop going after the same girl. The cop and the crim get along well at first but that changes after they know what each other does for a living and it ends in a final confrontation that ends tragically.

The basic fault with the plot is that it's too contrived and relies on far too many coincidences of the main characters running into each other to keep the plotline going. It seems that whenever the cop is on his beat he always seems to run into the criminal and the girl.

Also, the central character is the cop but because the actor playing him fails to inject much charisma into the role the crim comes off as the much more sympathetic and interesting (and better acted) character.

Still, all in all not a bad film.