The Blue Knight (1973 TV Movie) User Reviews

Bumper's last week

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 28 April 2019]

Some of William Holden's best work from the 70s is in this made for TV movie The Blue Knight. It came out at the time that Joseph Wambaugh was being celebrated for his work involving police. The Blue Knight was a best selling novel and one of Wambaugh's best.

Holden perfectly captures the aging Bumper Morgan on the last week of his job hoping to go out on top against the criminals. A prostitute he knew from his beat is found murdered.

That in itself is interesting because police as a rule don't give too much attention to crimes against hookers. But Holden is apparently thought of enough that they make an effort on this one.

Holden is keeping company with college professor Lee Remick who would like to marry and settle down with him. Holden is at loose ends though contemplating his retirement.

Some praise should go to Sam Elliott as the homicide detective who is assigned the hooker case. He and Holden don't get along, but by the end respect each other. Also to young Sergeant Joe Santos who the following year would be another sergeant, Dennis Becker on The Rockford Files who serves kind of as Bumper's alter ego and better self.

What I liked best about this film is that we really have no idea what Holden's future will be. You can speculate for a week about it.

A Golden Globe for Lee Remick and an Emmy for William Holden as Best Actor to go with his Best Actor Oscar for Stalag 17. The Blue Knight is one of the best made for TV films out there.

Good acting, thin story, ultimately pointless

[adrianovasconcelos · 7/10 · 8 April 2022]

Director Robert Butler concocted together this 188-minute TV series, which may have been the blueprint for the better known and orchestrated HILL STREET BLUES series that enjoyed some considerable success in the 1980s.

Cinematography is strictly competent and fitting, featuring mostly drab surroundings and down and outers in the seedier parts of a major US city.

William Holden holds those 188 minutes together thanks to a masterful performance and dry delivery. It is a pity that an actor of his immense quality should have made so many poor choices, but certainly THE BLUE KNIGHT deserves watching for his contribution alone.

The script is rather thin. Nothing much happens. The character of Bumper Morgan, the street cop played by Holden, is fairly well etched and credible. I found it more difficult to understand Lee Remick's part. Beautiful woman that she was, a university lecturer to boot, why would she bother with a bottom of the barrel cop struggling with ghosts from the past like his failed marriage and his dead son? And when he seems to have made a place for her and a kid in his life, he kicks it all out and goes back to his lonely street cop job even though he is on his last day and about to hang up holster, gun and badge. Baffling, to say the least.

I give this a very generous 7/10 because of Holden. The rest is completely forgettable.

Good TV version of Wambaugh Novel

[rmckevr-97674 · 6/10 · 2 April 2022]

William Holden, a truly fine actor appeared in the Blue Knight and played Joseph Wambaugh's fictional veteran street cop Bumper Morgan in the 1973 Made for TV movie based on Wambaugh's Novel .In the movie, Morgan is a veteran cop who is close to retirement to begin a new life with a law professor portrayed by Lee Remick. Holden, however did not age well during the last years of his life and looks ten years older than his actual age at the time of the film's release on TV (He was 55). Consequently, his character looked very old. Too old, in fact to continue walking a beat.

Bumper Morgan is a hardcore, no nonsense cop of the old school and is often viewed as a dinosauer and he even comes into conflict with other police officers, like Sam Damon's character, a young detective. The one scene I truly detested was Bumper's distasteful interaction with one of his girlfriend's law students, A young african american woman who treated Morgan with a notable lack of courtesy during a party his girlfriend invited him to. Morgan should have told off the ill mannered, condescending young law student, yet he basically tolerated the arrogant young black woman's lack of courtesy, and civility as he related to her his experiences in dealing with law breakers.. I found that rather sickening to watch, and thought that Morgan should have told that arrogant student to go to hell. His girlfriend should have intervened to stop her student from continuing to treat Bumper with contempt, but remained silent.

That scene was completely disposable. Otherwise, it was fun to watch Morgan interact with fellow cops played by Joe Santos (Who went on to play Sergeant/Lieutenant Dennis Becker in the Rockford Files), and Vic Tayback (who later played Diner owner Mel in Alice).along with his activities in the field plying his trade and not caring what liberal minded folks thought.

As the movie progressed, Holden's character had to give more thought regarding his future with his girlfriend and wondered if he really wanted to step down from the force. Watch it and find out.

Terrific !

[sonomabeets · 29 November 2004]

This movie was terrific in it's view of what police work was like at that time, before the handcuffs were put on the police more than they were on the criminals. Bumper Morgan was the kind of cop I trained under, and each of them, and he, were real characters. The most memorable line to me was, when Morgan (William Holden) told the State's Attorney, after screwing up in court and being asked why "Because I'm 50 lousy years old, and I just can't cut it anymore!" Only people who have been in law enforcement can understand the truth in that admission...... This is a wonderful movie on many levels. It shows how police work used to be done in another era, it may make some people realize that maybe it was better done that way, it may scare some people, and it truly sheds light on the dilemma that faces a man in the twilight of his chosen career. A stellar performance by Holden, who was in his twilight at the time it was filmed. Perhaps he brought more to the role than even he realized. His personal decline was mirrored in his portrayal of the kind of cop we all want when we are the victim, but never, ever want to face as the offender. Darkly brilliant !

TV's first mini-series

[jdeitz · 10/10 · 24 August 2001]

Truly one of the best mini-series ever, with a monumental, Emmy-winning performance by William Holden. I sure wish I knew who to bug about getting this out on DVD, because if you weren't around in 1973, you missed a wonderful, gripping series. Holden is fantastic. Please, please put this on DVD!!!

A retiring police veteran on the last round of his job

[clanciai · 9/10 · 14 March 2022]

William Holden makes a very credible character out of the aging policeman who after twenty years decides to retire, although he knows nothing else. Yes, he has a girl, Lee Remick, but the job gets between him and her. It's an interesting almost documentary study of regular policeman's work on the off beat streets of Los Angeles with hookers and drug dealers and bookies and what not, and he finds it his mission to keep the crap at bay. It is a rather bleak story and typically melancholy for a William Holden film, and he makes it one of his best films, although there are so many of them. It is in a way a study of life in the gutter, and someone appropriately tells him that he is married to the gutter. He wants to leave it and get away from it, but the film and the story never tells if and in that case how he really succeeds. It is actually two films that can be watched separately, but watching them in one stretch is fully rewarding. The music by Nelson Riddle is excellent and adds to the fascinating genuineness of the whole. It is not an edifying film, no entertainment, no great action, but the more interesting for actually being profoundly human providing an indispensable insight into the truth of a naked city.

Ood Movie

[cderoche · 10/10 · 28 November 2020]

I'm a big Bill Holden fan. I relate to his character in many ways.

Holden Perfect

[gps642 · 9/10 · 22 September 2022]

L. A. P. D detective/author's novel brought faithfully to the screen. The Los Angeles street scene of the 70s excellent argument for on-location filmmaking. Holden, 54 when this was filmed, perfect as Bumper Morgan. Holden, in real life, mirrored his character in that he himself had become craggy, tired, and looked it. His portrayal of Morgan literate, believable. A burned-out cop on the beat. Have followed Holden's career going back to Our Town and the Golden Boy. Workmanlike direction, screenplay, production values. No superficiality here. Holden's career marked by he not being pigeonholed. Could convincingly do drama, comedy, you name it.

Watchable, hardly worthwhile.

[bombersflyup · 4/10 · 9 April 2024]

In the Blue Knight, Bumper Morgan is a veteran Los Angeles Police Department street cop. He is due to retire after twenty years on the job, but is not letting up on the criminal element on his beat.

It's is a very long and uneventful TV-Movie, that manages to hold the attention somehow. With down to earth realism I suppose, but hardly anything to get excited about or that evokes. The scene at the party where he's interrogated by the teaching body is indicative of modern times, of those claiming righteousness, but merely undermine the values of those who do a hard days work. Though praising Holden's performance here's simply going too far.

CLASSIC ADULT TV

[mibailiff · 4 October 2001]

I also saw this NBC mini series in its original uncut network run in the fall of 1973 and then saw it repeated in 1975, but that's it. Yes, it needs to be released on DVD or VHS in its original state because this is classic landmark adult TV. This was the re-birth of William Holden's career and he was beyond memorable as Bumper Morgan. The characters ran better here than in print and that was hard to top because Wambaugh wrote a great first person character analysis with his novel of the final works days of a dinosaured LAPD street cop. Overlooked was the supporting mastery of Joe Santos, Vic Tayback and Sam Elliot. Along with KOJAK, this was TV's best of 1973.

Terriffic mini-series

[TC-4 · 30 April 2000]

I saw this mini series when it first aired back in the seventies before the days of the vcrs. The only time I ever saw it again was after it was cut down to a 90 min. TV Movie with most of the "bite" taken out of it. I think that it was this movie that made me realize how good an actor William Holden was. I certainly would like this entire min-series put on a DVD. I would buy it in a heartbeat.

the blue knight

[tadloml · 14 June 2006]

I have read the book so many times I forgot how many, it was that good! I saw the TV movie when it first came out in the days before video staring William Holden and the TV show staring George Kennedy, Holden had the moxie that Wambaugh describe in his book but Kennedy had the build, Bumper Morgan weighing in at 275 pounds, the TV series was played down more than the movie was as far as attitude and Bumper way of thumping on people, but they were both excellent films and were way ahead of their time. You had to wait for Hill street Blues to come to TV before you got another true life cop show. Blue Knight was on TV in 1973 and 1975-76, Hill street did not come on tell late 80's I believe, that left a lot of years without good police shows on TV. now people are use to good shows with Law & Order and others but I remember a time when on a Saturday night at 7pm all you had to watch was Lawerance Welk, he-ha, and bugs bunny,! I choose the Bunny..

This is vintage Holden, a tour de force!

[michbenmacuk · 12 July 2002]

The film has a gritty realism. Holden gives, I think one of his best performances. Lee Remick is wonderful as the love intrest. You'll be surprised to see a very young Sam Elliot in the role of the rookie cop.

The Name of the Blue Knight's Dog

[kewpie-4 · 14 May 2006]

My friend & me were discussing old TV shows & she remembered a great detective/police show starring William Holden that she viewed back in the 70's. She couldn't remember the name of it so I told her I would go online & find out the show's name & the information for her, which I did at this site. She loved the show & watched it even though the series didn't last as long as she would have liked. She also said the show included a dog which was his companion. I did discover that the dogs name was Leo & that it was a Bulldog/Terrier mix. I noticed this information was not on the other comments & thought maybe some of the readers would enjoy knowing this. Thanks so much for this great site!