Madigan
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Movie Reviews of Madigan
Movie Review: GOLD STANDARD FOR ITS TIME
Summary: 5 Stars
Richard Dougherty's THE COMMISSIONER, upon which MADIGAN, is based was one of the first works of fiction to accurately portray cops problems away from the station house. MADIGAN, one of the best films of 1968, is true to that part of the book and Don Siegel implants his own brand of genius on the rest. MADIGAN shows a not too distant era when there were blood-and-guts hat wearing detectives who worked their own angles to solve their cases. The portrayls by Widmark and Guardino are lasting and solid to the core. For it's time, MADIGAN was a gold standard in police procedurals. The NYC landscape bolstered by the Don Costa soundtrack is stunning.Movie Review: Great service
Summary: 5 Stars
Received DVD in just four days and in perfect condition. I especially like the free first class mail upgrade. Can't beat that!Movie Review: Dual Character Study of Two Cops with Different Ideals and Responsibilities.
Summary: 4 Stars
"Madigan" is one of the most critically acclaimed of director Don Siegel's films, low-key and introverted by the standards of Siegel's action oeuvre. Dan Madigan (Richard Widmark) is a fine New York cop who likes to show off and freely admits to enjoying the occasional perk of the job. Police Commissioner Tony Russell (Henry Fonda) doesn't like Madigan's type. Russell is a real straight arrow, insisting that his officers be scrupulous in their own respect for the law. Madigan and his partner Rocco Bonaro (Harry Guardino) burst into the apartment of Barney Benesch (Steve Ihnat), a hood they want to take in for questioning. Benesch gets the upper hand and flees. The Commissioner puts the cops under pressure to capture Benesch before the weekend is out, while he copes with other potentially embarrassing problems in the department.
"Madigan" is based on the book "The Commissioner" by Richard Dougherty, but the focus has been shifted from the Commissioner to Madigan, as the titles imply. The action takes place over the course of 3 days, cutting back and forth between Madigan and Bonaro's efforts to track down Benesch and the Commissioner under similar pressure to deal with politically volatile issues of alleged racism and possible corruption on the part of his old friend, Chief Inspector Charlie Kane (James Whitmore). The film is talky. It's a dual character study, much of the characters being revealed in conversation. Madigan and the Commissioner are men of very different temperament, and they each have their pressures and foibles to deal with. We essentially observe how these men act under pressure. It's an unusual formula, but two great leading actors make it well worth watching.
The DVD (Universal 1999): Bonus features are a theatrical trailer (2 1/2 min), cast and filmmaker bios and selective filmographies (text), and Product Notes (text) that include comments on the conflict between director Don Siegel and producer Frank Rosenberg and some of Widmark's memories about the production. Captioning is available in English, subtitles in Spanish. Dubbing available in French.
Movie Review: Gritty 60's cop movie
Summary: 4 Stars
This actionful New York set cops and robbers movie was co-scripted by the once blacklisted leftist writer Abraham Polonsky and this may ,together with the anti-establishmant modes of thinking current at the time of its making ,be responsible for its strongly critical stance on police corruption and morality .
Madigan (Richard Widmark)and his partner Bonaro (Harry Guardino)go to arrest a hoodlum wanted for murder ,one Benech(Steve Inhat).They find him in bed with a woman and using the fact that they are distracted by this he steals Madigan's gun and makes his getaway.Police Commissioner Russell (Henry Fonda) givbes them 72 hours to nail him and restore the prestige the department has lost by the fiasco
Russell has other weighty matters on his mind .He is having an affair with a married woman (Susan Clark).A prominent black minister (Raymond St Jacques) is hassling him over the death of the minister's son ,an "activist"who has been beaten by racist cops.Plus ,he is on the take from local brothel owners to ensure their businesses are undisturbed by the police .
Madigan also has problems outside his work life namely his domestic situation .His socialite wife (Inger Stevens)is pressurising him to leave the force and take up more remunerataive work .The crisis worsens when Benech uses Madigan's gun to kill two people .
Don Siegal directs splendidly ,in a semi-documentary style ,and this contributes to a realistic and gritty movie with an authentic feel to its depiction of police work on the streets of (mainly Spanish )Manhattan.The acting is uniformally excellent with Richard Widmark especially outstanding ,
There is a technical problem which some may find impairs enjoyment slightly -the Techniscope process used by Universal gives a certain grainy quality to night scenes but in some ways this is appropriate to the ambience of the movie
This is a very good movie if a tad heavy on the leftist propaganda at times
Movie Review: THE MISSING GUN
Summary: 4 Stars
What a cast ! Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, James Whitmore, Inger Stevens and Don Stroud in the same movie. De... Delicious ! Furthermore Donald Siegel's MADIGAN is a movie one can watch from different perspectives. Who can ask for anything more in this cinematographically indigent period we live.Today we are used to motion pictures depicting the everyday life of downtown policemen so perhaps we won't appreciate MADIGAN in the same manner as the 1968 audience did. Anyway MADIGAN is a basically good cop movie with a solid plot. It's also a film trying to explore some moral questions as this one : is a police office who accepts little extra-advantages that his position can procure him more guilty than his superior who goes out with a married woman ?
But I must admit that, in my opinion, another aspect of MADIGAN is more interesting. The sexual one. The metaphorical sexual one, I mean ; don't forget that we are in 1968. If one considers that revolvers are symbols of men's sexual power, let's observe what happens to Richard MADIGAN Widmark since the moment his gun has been robbed. He's febrile, he can't answer to women's advances anymore, his wife tries to cheat on him and he blushes like a kid in front of his superior Henry Fonda. And finally, where is he wounded ? You'll have to see MADIGAN to answer that question.
Great performances from the actors with a special mention to Don Stroud in a pimp's role.
Above-average extra features with a trailer, interesting production notes and cast bio-filmographies.
A movie dedicated to women.