Alicia I love this movie so much

Harockerce What a beautiful movie!

Prolabas Deeper than the descriptions

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

alexanderdavies-99382 "Madigan" is a copy thriller from the same director who gave us "Dirty Harry" - Don Siegel. The plot is solid and fairly streamlined. Richard Widmark is great in the title character as the cop who is given 72 hours to find a known killer who is loose on the streets of New York. Henry Fonda, James Whitmore, Stella Stevens and Harry Guardino provide excellent support. There are some scenes that were filmed on the studio's backlot which dilutes any kind of gritty edge this film strives for. However, there is a good deal of location photography around New York. The pace is good but perhaps there should have been a bit more action. The climax certainly compensates for this, even if the ending is unnecessarily downbeat. This isn't quite as good as "The Detective" or "The Boston Strangler" but "Madigan" is still very watchable.

writers_reign Despite being slightly unbalanced - it was based on a novel entitled The Commissioner in which the detective Madigan was a subsidiary character - this is still an excellent police drama deftly handled by Don Siegel, who managed to find roles for two of his favourites, Susan Clark and Don Stroud, both of whom appeared that same year in Sigel's Coogan's bluff. One thing the screenplay needed to get around was the story of Henry Fonda's Commissioner Anthony X Russell, whom the novel had revolved around, and who scarcely came into contact with Madigan. Fonda later claimed that he signed the contract under false pretenses, assuming that he would have the main role; however, having appeared with Widmark in Warlock and having respect for the actor he remained in the lesser role. In actual fact the two characters meet only fleetingly so that the impression is that we are getting two films for the price of one. Despite the slight disappointment of this we still have a fine, entertaining movie to enjoy.

jeremy3 A great movie with many different points, but the main thing is that this movie was done in 1968. Although I was being born then, I understand this was the year that the U.S. changed quite a lot. Madigan is an aging cop who is clearly a product of the "old days". Detectives still wore suits and ties and were not "politically correct". Madigan is struggling in a new World of hippies, parties, wives and mistresses who have their own needs, and race relations. None of this is very blatant in the movie. It is always there, though, part of the side story. The main thing is that Madigan (Richard Widmark) and his partner (Harry Guardino) are humiliated on a routing arrest when the suspect grabs his gun and escapes. It is apparent that the police department is under more and more scrutiny during the Vietnam War Era. The commissioner (Henry Fonda) is a calm and fair man who has to deal with the fallout of his botched arrest. Madigan has to restore his lost honor and pride. It becomes clear that his whole life revolves around his work, and his wife is extremely depressed by the low pay and long hours. It becomes Madigan's obsession to capture the suspect that he was humiliated by. In the end, he pays with his life to do that. This movie really touched me in very subtle ways. Don Stroud plays a long haired street hustler (not sure what he was exactly - possibly a drug dealer),and he brilliantly represents someone who struggles between being a hippy and being a man of the past - tough guy. Harry Bellaver from The Naked City has a minor role as a man who once may have been something, but now is just a lonely old alcoholic. Madigan is so frustrated and impatient that when the suspect is cornered, he refuses to wear a vest. He pays with his life for this. It is a very symbolic action, because he feels that he has lost his honor and has to restore it at all costs. His wife scolding the commissioner at the end shows that there is no easy solution and answer in the tough World of being a cop and being the commissioner (who has to soft pedal the whole thing).

monticellomeadow I saw Madigan when it came out, some 40 years ago. Revisited it again recently on DVD. Wow, what a disappointment! As others have pointed out, above, they just didn't know what they wanted to do with the film. The story is absolutely atrocious, full of loopholes and lack of exposition. The notes on the DVD said that Henry Fonda's Commissioner character was supposed to be the lead - and why he took the part. Then they changed it to Widmark's Madigan character. They had to force the two to have some relationship to make any sense of the story, but it was thin, very thin. A quick note about the music. It was, indeed, awful and inappropriate. But at least it was jarring enough that it woke you up during the numerous dull parts! What you can see here is the struggle to make the transition from the heroic cop/detectives of the previous decades (though clearly not the film noir types)to what became Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry. This "struggle" in Madigan was painful to watch. It was never clear why Madigan was considered such a rogue. (Can you say that about Harry Callahan? NO!) Just an offhand remark that he had an incident or two in the past, quickly countered by James Whitmore's character saying "He's a good cop." And the opening scene where Inhat's (SP?) character gets the best of Widmark and Guardino made absolutely no sense. Why was the villain so bad? Why all the scorn for Widmark and Guardino when they were just "doing Brooklyn a favor" by picking up this guy? And never explained why the villain was so heinous other than that he shot some guy. They had to have him shoot two cops later to make you think, "Ooooooooooooh, he is very bad." Come on! And inserting all of the women into each of the character's lives, then giving them the most shallow of development and no explanation of, say, Sheree North's character, inserted into one scene so you know Madigan once had a mistress but now "loves his wife." On and on. Absolutely terrible writing. A high school level. Fonda (59) and Widmark (54) were too old for their roles. But again, it was a transition time in Hollywood. Still trying to use the older stars until the next generation - and a very different style of detective films - came along. Ugh!