Serpico (1973)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

Peter Maas (book)
Waldo Salt (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 maaliskuu 1974 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Many of his fellow officers considered him the most dangerous man alive - An honest cop.

Plot:

The true story about an honest New York cop who blew the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

Plot Keywords:

Undercover | Corruption | 1960s | Hippie | Policeman

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Al Pacino	...	Officer Frank Serpico
John Randolph	...	Chief Sidney Green
Jack Kehoe	...	Tom Keough
Biff McGuire	...	Capt. Insp. McClain
Barbara Eda-Young	...	Laurie
Cornelia Sharpe	...	Leslie Lane
Tony Roberts	...	Bob Blair
John Medici	...	Pasquale
Allan Rich	...	Dist. Atty. Herman Tauber
Norman Ornellas	...	Don Rubello
Edward Grover	...	Insp. Lombardo (as Ed Grover)
Albert Henderson	...	Peluce (as Al Henderson)
Hank Garrett	...	Malone
Damien Leake	...	Joey
Joseph Bova	...	Potts (as Joe Bova)

Runtime:

129 min | Spain:113 min

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

English | Spanish | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 (re-rating) (2006) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Artists Entertainment Complex

Trivia:

The film was shot in reverse order. Al Pacino began with long hair and a beard, then for each scene, his hair and beard were trimmed bit by bit until he became clean-cut.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening sequence of the movie that shows Serpico having been shot, it is raining heavily while he is being rushed to the hospital in the police cruiser. Towards the end of the movie where this sequence of events picks up again, it is not raining.

Quotes:

Rudy Corsaro: [being arrested by Serpico, who's having trouble finding his badge] Where have they been hidin' you, kid?
Frank Serpico: Wouldn't you like to know?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'Dog Day Afternoon': Casting the Controversy (2006) (V)

honest filmaking, good and true story of corruption in NY police department

Sidney Lumet is a director who captures something crucial in city based dramas surrounding legal and political affairs; with films like '12 angry men', 'the verdict', 'nightfalls on Manhattan' and 'Q & A' he shows an excellent grasp of the power plays in civic politics. In 'Serpico' he uses an excellent script to tell the story of an unorthodox character in Frank Serpico, a hippie in a time when most cops were square as a doorway but whose honesty when faced with police corruption marks him out as a man of remarkable character. Unflinching in its depiction of Serpico, the film portrays warts and all, over the period in which he refuses to take money and shows his extraordinary political vindication at an official investigation into NYPD corruption. The story of civic corruption is cogent in any time, one only has to look at great empires like Rome to understand how much corruption plays a part in the shaping of so called civilizations; where the very foundation stones have bodies, so to speak, buried under them or even within them. This film is both informative and honest in much the way 'All the Presidents Men' would be in the following year. Winning Al Pacino a deserved Oscar nomination in the years between the Godfather's Part I and II; it demonstrates the range of an actor who would go on to portray a character in Michael Corleone soon afterwards who is the very nemisis of the character in Serpico. In Serpico there is a dramadocumentary that calls to mind Shakespeares history plays in its depiction of a classical situation of a man ostracized and driven by noble sentiments to embody something of the civic value one expects of servants of the public trust. Brilliant film. 10 out of 10.