Films: Cops & Robbers
Annotation:An obsessed Glenn Ford is out to bust some politically-connected gangsters, including a vicious Lee Marvin, in this gritty noir flick directed by Fritz Lang.
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Annotation:Steve McQueen assays one of his most famous roles as police detective Bullitt, in a movie that offers one of cinema’s most famous car chases.
Annotation:Bruce Willis became an instant movie star in this tale of an average, Joe Blow cop who ends up fighting a running battle with a gang of highly sophisticated terrorists after the latter seize control of a high-rise office building. The library also owns the film’s three sequels.
Annotation:Clint Eastwood plays cinema’s greatest cop, San Francisco detective Harry Callahan, who is assigned all the city’s dirtiest cases. (He must have known Bullitt and Virgil Tibbs, who both also worked in San Francisco!) Eastwood’s “Do you feel lucky?” speech is one of the most iconic film scenes ever. The picture was directed with genuine panache by veteran helmer Don Siegel. Eastwood went on to play Harry in four other movies.
Annotation:Jonny Depp plays the title undercover cop, who walks a precarious tightrope when he starts identifying with the gang of mobsters he’s infiltrated. The able supporting cast includes Al Pacino, Michael Madsen, Anne Heche and Bruno Kirby.
Annotation:The Coen brothers wrote and directed this wonderfully quirky seriocomic film about a small town (and very pregnant) female sheriff who finds herself investigating a scam that spins murderously out of control. Star Francis McDormand, Joel Coen’s wife, won Best Actress for the picture.
Annotation:1971 was a good year for cop movies. Gene Hackman plays real New York detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, who grows increasingly obsessed with breaking up the titular drug ring. Aside from its many other attractions, including a terrific supporting performance by Roy Scheider, the film features arguably the best car chase ever. The picture won five Oscars; Best Picture, Best Actor (Hackman), Best Director (William Friedkin), Best Editing and Best Screenplay.
Annotation:This madcap, hyperviolent parody of madcap, hyperviolent ‘80s buddy cop films sees a London supercop reassigned to an overly peaceful rural English village. He learns, however, that things are not nearly as serene as they appear. From the makers of the zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead.
Annotation:Sidney Poitier is Virgil Tibbs (a role he played twice more), a big city homicide detective roped into a personally dangerous murder investigation in the very deep and very racist south. Rod Steiger, playing a baffled Southern sheriff, won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance here, and the film itself won Best Picture.
Annotation:Noir doesn’t get any grittier than this stellar adaptation of James Ellroy’s pitch dark novel of murder and corruption. The knockout cast includes Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger and Kevin Spacey. Many film buffs howled when the movie lost that year’s Best Picture Oscar to James Cameron’s Titanic.
Annotation:Barry Fitzgerald is the leader of a team of cops hunting for a murderer. The film, shot in a semi-documentary fashion on location in New York, inspired a well regarded TV program of the same name. “There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.”
Annotation:Peter Weller plays the iconic cyborg cop in this satirical sci-fi action classic. Warning: The film’s violence is extremely graphic, and not everyone’s cup of tea.
Annotation:This archetypical ‘80s buddy cop movie stars Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as detectives out to bust drug lord Jimmy Smits (!) before they retire. Much of the film was shot in location in Chicago.
Annotation:Peter Seller’s Inspector Clouseau is one of cinema’s great comed figures, and was arguably never funnier than here, as he tries to solve a series of Agatha Christie-esque murders. Co-starring Elke Sommer and George Sanders, the film also features a terrific score by Henry Mancini.
Annotation:Denzel Washington took a break from playing the hero and won a Best Actor Oscar for it, for this gritty tale of a naïve rookie cop (Ethan Hawke) taken under the wing of rogue detective Washington. Co-stars Scott Glenn and Tom Berenger.
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Description
Hollywood loves cops, as indicated by the number of Oscars bestowed upon many of the films mentioned below. From penetrating social dramas to outrageous action vehicles to loony comedies, police officers can always be counted on to be doing something interesting—at least in the movies. The Park Ridge Library offers many classics of the genre on DVD, including the following.
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