Runtime: 114 minutes
Directed by: Gordon Douglas
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker, Jack Klugman, Lloyd Bochner
From: 20th Century Fox
Yes, I watched this for the Die Hard connection. Author Roderick Thorp wrote the novel The Detective a few years before it was made to this movie. Years later came Nothing Lasts Forever, the sequel to the first book. That was adapted with quite a few changes into Die Hard. Due to contract reasons, Sinatra had to actually be offered the role of John McClane first, even though his answer would be obvious. No way would he crawl around in air ducts in a white tank top talking about TV dinners... the name of the detective was changed between this movie and Die Hard. Joe Leland and John McClane do have their differences although both at least are honest hard-working cops despite some faults and having struggles w/ romantic relationships. Heck, Leland is even socially conscious and thinks it BS that poor minorities are kept in the ghetto by The Man and law enforcement has to enforce The Man's policies.
The main plot has Ol' Blue Eyes as Leland, who investigates the death of a homosexual man. The movie was advertised as “An adult look at a police detective” and that it was. Shortly before this the Production Code was finally replaced by the MPAA rating system and Hollywood could be explicit. This results in a storyline revolving around homosexuality, which thankfully wasn't as tasteless as it could have been. Also, Sinatra could curse—I almost fell out of my seat when he mentioned SEMEN STAINS early on. But, later on Jacqueline Bisset enters the picture and asks Ol' Blue Eyes to investigate what she thinks is the suspicious “suicide” death of her husband.
It is a serious police drama, something that I dig-at least when it's films from the late 60's through the early 80's-even though there are many in recent years who have rather negative views of law enforcement. This does have dirty cops so that won't change their opinions... for a movie I recorded off of Fox Movie Channel recently due to hearing some discourse about it, The Detective was pretty good and thankfully better than expected. A key subplot is Leland's failed relationship w/ his wife Karen, played by Lee Remick. Note that there are two LONG flashback sequences which help illustrate that pairing. While it is always made clear what is a flashback, you may be surprised at first that each one has to be at least 10 minutes long. The cast as a whole is fine; note that it has an early role for Robert Duvall and for a few minutes, Tom Atkins is present in his first movie. Amusing to me is that Hart Bochner's dad Lloyd is in this in an important part.
The movie is not a cheery upbeat affair, but that was what I expected w/ this particular niche. Even if it's not as great as Serpico, Dirty Harry, or Bullitt, The Detective was still rather satisfying. Another idea for the future that may not be successfully implemented (also known as A Typical Idea For Future Movie Watching Made By Myself) is to see more movies from Frank Sinatra. His music is not a genre I usually listen to yet I can dig it along with what an iconic figure he was... and still is. His personal life I don't know that much about-and this may be for the best-but what an entertainer.
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