The Laughing Policeman (1973)
1h 52m | PG-13
When a gunman opens fire on a crowded city bus in San Francisco, Detective Dave Evans is killed, along with the man he'd been following in relation to a murder. Evans' partner, Sgt. Jake Martin, becomes obsessed with solving the case.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama
Video: 720p
Cast
Walter Matthau
as Sgt. Jake Martin SFPD
Bruce Dern
as Insp. Leo Larsen SFPD
Louis Gossett Jr.
as Insp. James Larrimore SFPD
Albert Paulsen
as Henry Camerero
Anthony Zerbe
as Lt. Nat Steiner SFPD
Val Avery
as Insp. John Pappas SFPD
Reviews
From the early-70's zenith of crime and police-centered films, 'The Laughing Policeman' deserves credit, respect and recognition as a fine, gritty, accurate work that shows the way real officers interact and go through their work-days and solve crimes. Walter Matthau, mostly known for his astute comedic touch, is excellent, as is Bruce Dern, who's promoted to an uneasy partnership with Matthau, when the latter's partner, who was on vacation yet took an unsolved case home with him, is at the wrong place at the wrong time, part of a brutal mass murder on board a bus. The well-directed script shows how alienated a good policeman is from his family, how hated he is by most of the community, and the blind alleys and dead ends he has to go through in order to solve the case, and have it hold up in a court of law. It's 'Dirty Harry' or the 'French Connection' films done honestly, not as a fever dream of wish fulfillment from the policeman's perspective (though I must admit I love those too!)...