Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

MartinHafer Only moments after this film began, I knew this was NOT your typical 1960s film! The film begins with a naked dead man being examined by detectives. Apparently he'd been murdered--and viciously so. I'd talk about that further, but IMDb has limits on the sort of words you are allowed to use in reviews--really. I read from one of the other reviews that this film was X-rated. While by today's standards it might only be rated PG-13, it still is pretty intense stuff. Additionally, the recurring theme of homosexuality make this a very interesting film-- its candor is shocking for 1968 but I appreciated it.The detective investigating the crime is played by Frank Sinatra. Sinatra is odd in that although he's a very good cop he's also stuck with a liberal conscience--and his conscience troubles him throughout the film. What also bothers him is that although he's extremely effective on his job, other cops seem willing to do almost anything to rack up the same arrest and conviction statistics as Sinatra--and he soon gets sick of this. His disgust, however, is a lot to get a lot worse--when a case involving corruption in his department and in the city drops into his lap.I really liked this film. Much of it was because although it was very adult, it never really seemed gratuitous. It also brought up a lot of wonderful moral questions about being a cop--and clearly was the influence for such later films as "McQ", "Dirty Harry" and "Serpico" (though this last one is based on a real case). Well worth seeing-- and an excellent performance by Sinatra. In fact, it's all so good that I am shocked that its overall IMDb score is less than 7. This film is anything but ordinary.By the way, this film is very blunt and crude on occasions when it talks about homosexuals--and is sure to offend some. However, despite this, it's a very progressive film for its time and actually is quite sympathetic in how it deals with the subject....sympathetic and sad.

Lechuguilla Moody and slow-moving, "The Detective" tells the story of an uncompromisingly moral New York City detective named Joe Leland (Frank Sinatra) whose life pivots around his police work, dealing with petty criminals, murder cases, fellow cops biased against gays, and police corruption. It's a tough environment that can best be described as seedy, dreary, and depressing. But Joe is a tough cookie, smart, and up to the job. In his spare time he manages to find time for a little romance, but among the jaded and confused, what he finds is not entirely satisfying.The first sixty seconds sets up the film's overall tone: dark, gritty, seedy, and very urban, a tone reflected well in Jerry Goldsmith's jazzy score. Also notable is the film's production design, with its drab, sterile, greenish-gray interiors of the police department.Joe's police work, and much of the plot, centers on "homosexuals", described thusly: "twisted faces, outcasts, lives lived in shadows always prey to a million dangers" (cue depressing music and sinister images). If nothing else, the film shows how much cultural attitudes toward gays have changed in the intervening forty years. Also conspicuous in the film is the absence of computers and cell phones. All of which makes the film seem quite dated.The script is heavy on dialogue, with its emphasis on characterization instead of action. Scenes are drawn-out, and the pace is slow.Overall acting is average, though the wailing performance of Tony Musante as a sleazy homosexual is laughable.Conspicuously dated, "The Detective" at least gives us a benchmark for urban police work and attitudes of the 1960s. It's a dreary movie whose story is filled with alienated and guilt-prone characters. But that too provides some historical perspective.

edwagreen Excellent film with Frank Sinatra as a police officer with a conscience and a heart. This picture is riveting in that it exposes a city and its police department for corruption and anti-gay bias.Lee Remick is the enigma in this gritty film. She plays Sinatra's wife, an orphan who became a psychology professor, but yet has some pretty severe emotional hang-ups.The Police Department honors its own when they produce. It seems as if the Department couldn't care less how the results are retrieved.The film also offers a strong criticism of the death penalty. Emotional factors of the defendant were ignored here and a tragedy resulted.The picture ties in the killing of an innocent man and corruption of city officials very well. The fear of being labeled a homosexual is still another theme in this remarkable film.

JLRMovieReviews I really didn't know what to expect from this film, except that Frank is going to be a detective and probably tough, with lots of girls around him. What I got was an intelligent and realistic look at the police dept. in the 60s probing into society's sexual differences in the death of a homosexual. It has a great cast, including Lee Remick, who's always great and who seems to be attracted to movies of this ilk, like Experiment in Terror and No Way to Treat a Lady. It makes good use of time and place, and its use of flashbacks comes off surprisingly well, to portray the courtship of Frank and Lee, which you don't expect in a movie with a violent subplot in it. (But which is the subplot?) But I did appreciate its time in telling his own personal life, rather than just centering on his case. And, he's not surrounded by girls. So, if you're looking for something flashy like Dean Martin's Matt Helm, this isn't for you. It's better; it's a mature film with real life consequences. (But, yes, there is a murder to solve and Frank does it in 60s style.)