Matrixston
Wow! Such a good movie.
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Red-Barracuda
I first saw this one back in the early 90's when it showed up on midweek daytime TV here in the UK. I remembered it being an enjoyable enough, if unremarkable, effort. Having just seen it again I do have to say that that original assessment still holds. Brock is a burnt-out NYC cop who retires from life in the firing line of the Big Apple and retires to a ranch in the Californian countryside. On arrival, his Native American ranch hand is arrested for the murder of the local sheriff. The situation appears fishy though and before long Brock is recruited to investigate.This is one of a very specific type of TV movie which was a pilot for a series that never was. I can see why they thought they might have a workable idea to be honest, as detective dramas were ten-a-penny back in the 70's, while the whole fish-out-of-water idea is one in which many plot-lines can sprout from. Yet it remained a one-off film and was not picked up. Truthfully, they could have worked out a better story-line I reckon, as the central mystery is not especially interesting. Nevertheless, it's still a decent enough film which benefits from its TV movie charm and, in Richard Widmark, it had a good main star.
tlandrum-792-876355
"Spoiler Warning!" This movie was filmed in the City of Coachella and the Coachella Police Department was used as back prop. Les O'Neil was COP, and I was one of the escorting officers during the making of the movie and can say that Mr. Widmark was total professional during the entire time. I enjoyed watching him work, along with Henry Darrow and Mike Burns, who showed quite a bit of interest in the operations of the police department. During the making of the movie, I took approximately 100-150 pictures and it does bring back memories. One of the best was the court room with Dub Taylor and Beth Brickell, when she shot the arrow into the picture of Dub Taylor over the entrance into the court. My wife and I sat in the courtroom when that was done. I had that picture up until a couple of years ago, when it finally came apart and I had to throw it away. All the cast and crew members were fun to work with and were professionals.
malcolmgsw
This film was recently aired on Channel 5.It is at its best when it is based in New York.Although there is the usual fun when a city dweller goes to the country it starts to run rapidly downhill at this time.The action sequences are to my mind tedious and seem to go on for eternity without really reaching any climax.By the time this film reaches its finale one simply does not care about who is the culprit and his motives.The one thing that shines out of this film is Widmarks professionalism and sheer durability.He was always a favourite of mine.It is a shame that he is now retired and so we have no more Richard Widmark films to look forward to.
Brian W. Fairbanks
One of those NBC-TV "World Premiere" movies that also served as the pilot for a series. Richard Widmark plays Brock, a weary N.Y.C. detective who retires to a farm in California where he hopes to grow oranges, but, wouldn't you know it?, he finds crime there, too. Widmark is good, as always, as is Henry Darrow, whom the tough former cop assists when he is framed for murder, but the best moments are at the beginning when Widmark is still on the Manhattan beat, finding the average law-abiding citizen as disagreeable as the criminals. It's little wonder that when Widmark did enter the TV series sweepstakes, it was as "Madigan," the N.Y.C. detective he had memorably played several years earlier in a Universal theatrical film.