A small-time hood is murdered just as he is about to blow the whistle on an organized crime ring.A small-time hood is murdered just as he is about to blow the whistle on an organized crime ring.A small-time hood is murdered just as he is about to blow the whistle on an organized crime ring.
- Louise Trenier
- (as Kathy Lloyd)
- Ernesto De La Pina
- (as Valentine De Vargas)
- Court Clerk
- (as Jay McIntosh)
Featured reviews
The Good,, The Bad,, and The Ugly,,,,
The BAD The three leads James Olson (Never have liked him much although he was quite good in "The Andromeda Strain" due more to Robert's Wise's wonderful direction and a great script), David Canary ( He was quickly back in soap operas again after this) and Robert Pine ( He was in the TV show "Chips" after this gig) ,anyways the three leads are all milquetoast in this made for TV movie...
The Good But this guilty pleasure does have a few things going for it...1st of all its Shatner playing the a total slime ball ( I can not recall him playing such a lowlife in any other role, but your the expert in that dept)... No one emotes despair quite like Bill in his ridiculous mustache, lamb chop sideburns and bad oily hairpiece. Be sure to check out the sexy 70s outfit Bill's goodtime girl is sporting...
The Ugly,,,, And there's Richard Castellano, you know him from the "Godfather"...there has never been a more miserable character who exudes uncomfort and misery as Richard here, the Mob lowlife turned snitch...Smoking cigs down to the filter,,, sweating and panting after taking 3 steps,,,He almost busts his ass a few times when he has to do some physical things on film... I think this is more of a Richard really being this character than acting... He garners so much screen time in this , so you might as well enjoy his performance,,, kinda like watching Curly Howard in a wool suit two sizes too small.. Be sure to check out his life and death chase scene from a Street Sweeper!!!
and lots of familiar faces in lesser roles adding to the 70s feel of this flick..John Kerr,Gilbert Rowland,Wesley Lau...There's pre "Charlies Angels" David Doyle ( who once again proves he couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag)..Murray Hamilton (playing a lowlife so well as he had to all of his acting life,,,Did Murray do a guest shot on every TV show in the 60s???, it sure seemed like it)....Kathy Lloyd (who fares OK in a small role),,, and last but not least there is Jennifer Kulik as Ann , which proves Director Buzz Kulik was not above casting his own daughter in the film...
For Shatner's and Castellano's performances,,, this is worth a look...
Crime in the mayor's office, The Portland Project, the mob, suicide, the DA's office, murder, actors most of us that remembers from the 1970s and William Shatner (the biggest attraction in the film with a 1970s thick mustache and sideburns).
It's not the best 1970s TV Movie - but it's not the worst - most definitely a watchable film.
4/10
It has a large cast but focuses on a few characters. Paul Hamilton Jr (Robert Pine) is anew recruit in the Justice department's office in Manhattan. He does not want to convict marijuana users but the big dealers and traffickers. Joe Dubbs (James Olson) is their stern but fair boss whose job is to mouth platitudes.
The main plot is ADA Peter Gallagher (David Canary) is contacted by Frank Romeo (Richard Castellano.) He works for mobster Dominic Leopold and Frank has the dirt on him. So did Frank's brother but Leopold had him killed with an ice pick. That's what you do to squealers.
Even then Frank is unsure whether to be a grass, so the DA's office play hardball to get Frank to talk. The weak link are two local government officials Deaver Wallace (William Shatner) and Edmund Schilling (Murray Hamilton) who are on the take from Leopold. They are also unwittingly in hock to Leopold having taken loans from a company he owns.
A starry cast. Castellano was in The Godfather. Robert Pine is the father of Chris Pine and here we have the original Captain Kirk.
The story is humdrum though. Castellano essentially trying to make his mind up while a hitman is stalking him. The story could had wrapped in a hour.
Plot involves two law school grads (David Canary of 'All My Children' and Robert Pine) who take on their first big cases as prosecutors for the federal government. David Canary's case involves convincing a marked mobster to blow the whistle on local politicians on the take from organized crime. Robert Pine's case is about whether or not to prosecute a seemingly clean cut family man of being the bag man in a drug deal.
Nothing extraordinary about this piece, but decent TV quality fare, especially if you're a collector of all things William Shatner, Robert Pine or David Canary. Good period piece of 1973 depicting life in the big city at the time complete with rotary telephones, phone booths where you you could call for a dime (remember those?) 16mm news cameras before the age of mobile color video recorders and giant cars back in the days when everything on the road was made by GM, Ford and Chrysler.
I was particularly interested in the limousine owned by the bad guy, appeared to be a rare 1970 Imperial Lebaron sedan limousine.
Yet, there are enough twists and turns in the plotting, adequate to very good performances (check out Kathleen Lloyd's face as she quietly, with dignity lets an assistant US attorney know what's in her future), and avoidance of relentless shoot-em-ups to make you take this old, failed pilot for a series seriously (although the attack on one character by an assassin in a street-sweeper is ludicrous and the bombing of the same guy later on is pretty nauseating, considering you see a shower of blood and gunk go kersplash!).
So, plunk down your buck the next time you're in the check out aisle at Wal-Mart. You might just figure you got a rebate
Did you know
- GoofsFrank Romeo refers to the theft of a 1957 Edsel. Edsels were made only between 1958 and 1960.
- Quotes
Joe Dubbs: Now you're the bad guy, the defendant's the good guy, he always is, he looks like a good guy: played ball once, clean cut, looks you right in the eye, his wife and kid are there, they look nice, great, kid's cute, wife's as pretty as your sister, she looks you right in the eye too. Everybody looks you in the eye and feels sorry for him, the judge, clerk, jury, press, every one of them, you're a bum, he's a hero, the whole thing's a mistake. But there you are, you've got the indictment right in your hand; Blue Eyes is accused of violating the law, your job is to enforce the law. That's what you swore you'd do when you accepted this appointment as Assistant United States Attorney, for $14,600 per annum. So you get up in the morning, you put you pants on, you come down here and you spend your whole day, a lot of days, and a lot of nights, also a lot of weekends. You married?
Paul Hamilton Jr: No.
Joe Dubbs: Good. Trying to put Blue Eyes in jail, you're a terrible man, awful, do you know how terrible and awful you are? You're the one who decided to prosecute, you, you made the decision, you went in front of the Grand Jury, you asked for the indictment. You're responsible for the cleanest cut, biggest blue-eyed all-American American anybody ever saw, standing there at the Bar of Justice looking everybody in the eye. You did it pal, you, so before you open your mouth, before you say one word, before you threaten that man's life, his work, his dreams, his hopes, before you try to put him behind bars, take away his freedom, separate him from those he loves, deprive him of his liberty, lock him up, you check the facts of the case, backwards, forwards, up, down, sideways, inside out, every way you can figure out. And before you stand up and say you represent the United States government, you make sure every damn word that comes out of your mouth is fact.
[points to U.S. flag]
Joe Dubbs: THAT is your client.
Details
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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