The Blue Knight

I saw this mini series when it first aired back in the seventies before the days of the vcrs. The only time I ever saw it again was after it was cut down to a 90 min. TV Movie with most of the "bite" taken out of it. I think that it was this movie that made me realize how good an actor William Holden was. I certainly would like this entire min-series put on a DVD. I would buy it in a heartbeat.

I also saw this NBC mini series in its original uncut network run in the fall of 1973 and then saw it repeated in 1975, but that's it. Yes, it needs to be released on DVD or VHS in its original state because this is classic landmark adult TV. This was the re-birth of William Holden's career and he was beyond memorable as Bumper Morgan. The characters ran better here than in print and that was hard to top because Wambaugh wrote a great first person character analysis with his novel of the final works days of a dinosaured LAPD street cop. Overlooked was the supporting mastery of Joe Santos, Vic Tayback and Sam Elliot. Along with KOJAK, this was TV's best of 1973.

This movie was terrific in it's view of what police work was like at that time, before the handcuffs were put on the police more than they were on the criminals. Bumper Morgan was the kind of cop I trained under, and each of them, and he, were real characters. The most memorable line to me was, when Morgan (William Holden) told the State's Attorney, after screwing up in court and being asked why "Because I'm 50 lousy years old, and I just can't cut it anymore!" Only people who have been in law enforcement can understand the truth in that admission...... This is a wonderful movie on many levels. It shows how police work used to be done in another era, it may make some people realize that maybe it was better done that way, it may scare some people, and it truly sheds light on the dilemma that faces a man in the twilight of his chosen career. A stellar performance by Holden, who was in his twilight at the time it was filmed. Perhaps he brought more to the role than even he realized. His personal decline was mirrored in his portrayal of the kind of cop we all want when we are the victim, but never, ever want to face as the offender. Darkly brilliant !

The film has a gritty realism. Holden gives, I think one of his best performances. Lee Remick is wonderful as the love intrest. You'll be surprised to see a very young Sam Elliot in the role of the rookie cop.

William Holden makes a very credible character out of the aging policeman who after twenty years decides to retire, although he knows nothing else. Yes, he has a girl, Lee Remick, but the job gets between him and her. It's an interesting almost documentary study of regular policeman's work on the off beat streets of Los Angeles with hookers and drug dealers and bookies and what not, and he finds it his mission to keep the crap at bay. It is a rather bleak story and typically melancholy for a William Holden film, and he makes it one of his best films, although there are so many of them. It is in a way a study of life in the gutter, and someone appropriately tells him that he is married to the gutter. He wants to leave it and get away from it, but the film and the story never tells if and in that case how he really succeeds. It is actually two films that can be watched separately, but watching them in one stretch is fully rewarding. The music by Nelson Riddle is excellent and adds to the fascinating genuineness of the whole. It is not an edifying film, no entertainment, no great action, but the more interesting for actually being profoundly human providing an indispensable insight into the truth of a naked city.