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)
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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.
As an early1970's made-for-TV movie, it suffers from the ravages of time, yet manages to remain entertaining.
William Shatner co-stars as Deaver Wallace, a sleazy real estate developer in cahoots with the mob. Personally, I find him to be the best part of the movie. With his mammoth sideburns (more like side pelts!) and a droopy mustache resembling a fruit bat perched under his nose, Shatner plays the same role he plays in most, if not all of his movies. Namely, himself!
Also, watch for a pre-JAWS Murray Hamilton and Kathleen Lloyd...
This YAWN law drama centers on some dude trying to beat a heroin rap and a mob hit which leads to....more boring stuff. You know this is bad when you can't even tell the characters' names and the acting is stressed to make the law terms seem more dramatic when it really bored me like lectures up at Binghamton. I only recall Leopold since it was said about 100 times and Wallace played by Ham Shatner. I gave an extra point just for the funny mustache Shat was sporting. There's also some lady dying of some disease but that's quickly forgotten and a cool mob hit featuring a giant street sweeper.
Dog turd is more exciting than this crappy Dark Street borer.
This "NBC Saturday Night Movie" was the pilot for E. Jack Neuman's lawyer series "The Prosecutors".
The DVD sleeve description probably meant "small time hood" as "Incident on a Dark Street" is clearly shot in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Also, the synopsis (quoted above) is slightly inaccurate. Mr. Pine (as Paul Hamilton Jr.) is the lone rookie, handling a subplot instead of the film's major story. The main plot is handled by Mr. Canary (as Peter "Pete" Gallagher). Canary, who made strong impressions with stints on "Peyton Place" and "Bonanza", must have been a leading candidate for his own nighttime series. His twin characterizations on the daytime series "All My Children" are uncommonly strong.
The likewise hard-working Pine and an accomplished Mr. Olson ("Don't call me sir!") round out the cast. The three are fine individual actors, but don't "click" as a team. Wearing thick hair and moustache, Mr. Shatner obviously takes charge of the guest cast list. Silent film veteran Gilbert Roland (as Dominic Leopold), Richard S. Castellano (as Frank Romeo), and Murray Hamilton (Edmund "Ed" Schilling) lend their support. Director Buzz Kulik was best known for "Brian's Song".
**** Incident on a Dark Street (1/13/73) Buzz Kulik ~ David Canary, Robert Pine, James Olson, William Shatner
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