Discover
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Thomas Rickman
Screenplay -
Stuart Rosenberg
Director -
Per Wahlöö
Novel -
Charles Fox
Original Music Composer -
Maj Sjöwall
Novel -
David M. Walsh
Director of Photography -
Joyce Selznick
Casting -
Doug von Koss
Set Decoration
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talisencrw 6/23/2021 3:57:44 PM
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!)...
Bruce Dern
Insp. Leo Larsen SFPDJoanna Cassidy
Monica, Beth's RoomateLouis Gossett Jr.
Insp. James Larrimore SFPDWalter Matthau
Sgt. Jake Martin SFPDVal Avery
Insp. John Pappas SFPDAlbert Paulsen
Henry CamereroMatt Clark
CoronorAnthony Zerbe
Lt. Nat Steiner SFPD