Madigan (1968)

Siegel's pre Dirty Harry

Before he directed "Dirty Harry", the late Don Siegel made this gritty New York City thriller about a maverick cop(the late Richard Widmark) who along with his partner (Harry Guardino) loses their guns to a psychopathetic killer. In contrast to "Harry", "Madigan" focuses on the lives of the various people in the Police Department, the Commissioner (Henry Fonda), Madigan's troubled marriage, a corrupt veteran cop (James Whitmore), and of course the pursuit of the killer interwined with the various subplots. It plays almost like a police soap opera but a fine cast of pros (Widmark, Fonda, Whitmore) bring it to life. According to sources, Fonda was particularly displeased that the movie focused more on the maverick cop than his character, nevertheless the film proved to be a hit commercially and critically and even spawned a TV series also starring Widmark. As he has recently passed, this film marks one of the late actor's best roles (the others being "Night and the City", "The Bedford Incident" and "Kiss of Death"). Don Costa contributed a nifty score and the film is never boring. Recommended for Widmark fans and lovers of cop flicks!! June 20, 2008

Cops in Hats

The second Don Siegel movie from 1968 about a cop in NYC hunting the killer who stole his gun. (Paging Dr. Freud.) Great NYC location work is mixed with some dreay backlot stuff in this otherwise good policer. We get a little too much of the cops' homelives, but there's a hard-hitting climax. (Plus the last line in the picture provides ironic resonance to the city's racial issues with law enforcement that haven't gone away since the picture's release. ) Nice brassy Don Costa score. May 21, 2008

Gritty 60's cop movie

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 November 26, 2007

Lively, well-characterized police thriller with excellent locations...

In the late Sixties there has been a tendency towards rough cops who are up against the system - whatever that is - yet who win through despite all odds... Richard Widmark was one of them...

In "Madigan" he is a solid, touchy New York detective who, like Quinn in "Across 110th Street," knows the people on his patch and knows how to handle them...

Unlike the Quinn character, however, he is honest to the nth degree... He will kill, beat and cheat to destroy the big villains, yet retains a curious affection for the little crooks that cross his path... One feels that if Madigan took a bribe, it would be secretly witnessed and the evidence produced in court to the ruination of some baddie...

January 8, 2007

Dated Melodrama

Madigan was a critical success at the time (late 60's). It was not a box office success. It has the look and feel of another Don Siegel movie ( "The Killers". Meant to be a TV Movie. Madigan even continued as a series of TV Movies). Over time it has not aged all that well. The Don Costa score is way overblown and very dated. It was considered to be gritty and realistic at the time. After not having seen it for about 30 years, it came as quite a shock to see that it now plays like a parody of the era. The print however is in great condition. October 18, 2005

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