Hickey & Boggs

Hickey & Boggs (1972)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Robert Culp

Starring: Culp, Bill Cosby, Rosalind Cash, Vincent Gardenia, Carmen

From: United Artists

Finally, I checked out a movie that’s been on my figurative watchlist for years. As it’s a 70’s crime drama involving private investigators, there shouldn’t have been this long a delay, even if the lead is… ahem, Bill Cosby. Even with him, I can separate the art from the artist.

He and Robert Culp (who also directed) are Los Angeles private eyes who investigate the case of a missing woman, which of course is far more complicated than it first appears. A recent mutual on Letterboxd could write about this far better than I, but the script (from Walter Hill!) wasn’t written to have the pair be Black and white.

Cosby’s character was the focus, and it was refreshing for an early 70’s movie for him to not be presented differently due to skin color. He was an average Joe (or Al, in this case) who smoked stogies, ate chili dogs, had a fractured relationship w/ his girl-the same as his partner-and was an equal. There’s also a subplot involving a Black Power group; in addition, there are several “Chicanos,” to use the nomenclature present in the end credits.

I never saw the 60’s show I Spy-starring the two leads of this film-even in reruns as a little kid in the 80’s yet I understand the show was light in tone-in contrast, Hickey & Boggs was gritty and dark at times. Hill’s script was naturally changed for the film and he wasn’t entirely satisfied. Me, I enjoyed the movie for what it was.

There’s scenic SoCal locations, the usage of two iconic sporting venues (LA Memorial Coliseum, Dodger Stadium), shootouts, familiar faces in supporting parts-everyone from Isabel Sanford and Rosalind Cash to (briefly) Ed Lauter and James Woods-speaking of separating the art from the artist. If Cosby isn’t a deterrent to you watching the film, you’ll see that he did a rather good job in a dramatic role where he had to be mean & looking for revenge in the final act after a calamitous moment. Otherwise, this is the sort of 70’s movie I dig and should have tackled years ago.