The First Deadly Sin

The First Deadly Sin (1980)

Runtime: 112 minutes

Directed by: Brian G. Hutton

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Faye Dunaway, David Dukes, George Coe, Brenda Vaccaro

From: Artanis Productions, Inc./Filmways Productions

The First Deadly Sin is a Christmas movie.

I’ve known of this motion picture for years; when it recently played on Turner Classic Movies, a DVR recording was made. Frank Sinatra (in his final starring role) in a crime thriller where he is nearing retirement and investigates what he believes is a serial killer… “color me intrigued” was my opinion all those years.

Now, I can say the film is fine; it’s not the best police procedural of its era-and heck, Sinatra’s 1968 movie where he portrays a similar character (The Detective) is better yet was still interesting. He’s a Sergeant a few weeks from retirement, which usually portends doom in entertainment. The viewer knows who the killer is immediately-we get to see the lead do the standard groundwork to crack the case, despite the protests of his new A-hole boss. I know how some feel about cops in general-I’m sure you’ll question how Ol’ Blue Eyes doesn’t follow the rules, bribes Joe Spinell to enter a suspect’s apartment, & uses civilians instead of his colleagues to do the groundwork in determining the murder weapon (which is on the poster but I won’t reveal here as the ID of the weapon is a subplot) and whittling down the list of suspects.

Yet, it’s not a character you hate; no one believes there is a serial killer due to his moving around different boroughs in New York City-necessitating this lone wolf quest-he has a loving wife in Faye Dunaway, has a tuxedo cat named Rocky, and who doesn’t want to see a crazed serial killer be stopped? We don’t know much about David Dukes as the villain except that I was reminded of Patrick Bateman, only on a surface level as the bad guy has a nice job & nicer apartment but is mentally ill but can hide it or no one notices he is troubled.

Seeing Sinatra in a film like this-where the opening is straight out of a horror film-was wild. He was swell as the weary, weathered cop who wants to solve this case before he retires. Faye Dunaway as the wife… I won’t say the role is thankless as they do have a nice, caring relationship but she is bedridden w/ illness the entire picture. The cast is fine; Anthony Zerbe has a one scene cameo & other faces I knew (sometimes “That Guy” actors) included Brenda Vaccaro, Jeffrey DeMunn, George Coe, Martin Gabel and James Whitmore, he playing the typical coroner w/ a pitch-black sense of humor. 

Yes, I also knew for ages that Bruce Willis appeared for a second; it’s in the third act, as Frankie leaves a restaurant-Bruce is walking in but much of his face is obscured by a hat so you’ll miss him unless you know this detail.

This is another film featuring a methodical pace which naturally won’t appeal to everyone. However, I enjoyed this downbeat flick directed by Brian G. Hutton, his first film in 7 years. This project was in development for a long while. In fact, the original director was… Polanski. However, his legal problems and subsequent fleeing of the United States happened so that had to change. Only speaking of him as a director and not a person, who knows how different this movie would have been. As is, Hutton did a good job here.