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The Detective |  | Director: Gordon Douglas
Actors: Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker, Jack Klugman, Horace McMahon
Category: DVD
Buy New: $11.25
as of 3/21/2010 20:18 EDT details
New (3) Used (3) from $9.48
Seller: moviemars
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 237420
Format: NTSC
Language: English (Unknown)
Region: 1
Running Time: 114 Minutes
UPC: 024543177388
EAN: 0024543177388
ASIN: B0007QS23Y
Theatrical Release Date: May 28, 1968
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Frank Sinatra's 1968 film The Detective was a serious attempt at a social statement sandwiched between the chairman's two lighthearted detective films Tony Rome and Lady in Cement. Directed by Gordon Douglas (who also directed the Tony Rome films), the plot centers around Detective Joe Leland (Sinatra) and his investigation of the murder of a prominent businessman's gay son. The film was notable at the time for openly depicting the gay community; however, it still falls back on the same tired stereotypes. Rounding out the cast is Lee Remick as Sinatra's nympho-wife, Robert Duvall as a violent homophobic cop, and Jack "the Klugster" Klugman as Sinatra's only honest ally on the force. Off screen, the film was notable for causing the irreparable rift between Sinatra and then-bride Mia Farrow, when she opted to star in Rosemary's Baby instead of this film. Obviously a wise choice, but The Detective is still a solid effort, with a great Jerry Goldsmith score and solid performances from all involved. Interestingly, this film could be considered the unofficial prequel to Die Hard. Both films were based on the same series of detective novels by Roderick Thorpe. --Kristian St. Clair
Description
Police detective Joe Leland (Frank Sinatra) investigates the murder of a homosexual man. While investigating, he discovers links to official corruption in New York City in this drama that delves into a world of sex and drugs. Based on the Roderick Thorpe novel.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
 Its Ok ! January 8, 2010
Charles Mymit
The Dectective is an interesting movie with a story line a little ahead of its time. Sinatra does a good job in acting-and I feel he was an underrated actor.The movie score by Jerry Goldsmith has that haunting thematic sound to it.
 Sexually Frank November 30, 2008
EddieLove (NYC, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Here's one of the pictures where Frank isn't just passing through, but seems to be making an effort. He's good as a tough NYC cop on the way up, if his anti-authority attitudes and compassion for gays and minorities don't sideline him. This is similar to Madigan, and like that movie we get too much of the cop's home life as Frank ruminates on his marriage to nyphomanical Lee Remick. She's effective in her big scene, but a cloying distraction elsewhere. The rest of the cast is pretty solid with Frank squaring off with Ralph Meeker, Lloyd Bochner and a young Robert Duvall as a gay-bashing thug on the force. These scenes are the picture's coolest as Frank matter-of-factly shoots down the other characters' homophobia. He's got his "own bag. " These scene's are way ahead of their time and make pictures like Cruising made years later seem antique by comparison. (They also may be why this picture has fallen by the wayside.)
No Nonsense, gritty acting. Really impressed.... August 6, 2008
Jerry C. Lewey (Everywhere)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
THE DETECTIVE is apart of those movies from the late sixties that are the beginning of modern movie making. I had been wanting to see this for a long time for its taboo subject matter. At least taboo for the times. To see this movie because you might think it is a "gay" movie and to see the shock value is wrong. This movie is much more than that. It is Frank Sinatra at his best. He's a little aged, but still one of the coolest cats ever.
I was impressed with the way Sinatra's character was played. He was so calm and cool under pressure. The best example is the interrogation of the "insane" gay man. The other cops were trying to scare it out of him but Sinatra told everyone to leave and he took care of it his way, calm and cool. Just like Sinatra was. The movie was even able to weave in a love story between Sinatra and his girlfriend/wife. They are going through rough times, but by the end of the movie, you assume they are going to get back together.
Another great part of THE DETECTIVE is the flashbacks and the final scene that is narrated by an important character. The flashbacks are great for the back story on Sinatra's wife and their problems.
The only negative about the movie is for just a few minutes I remember thinking this should have been cut out or re-edited. But it's not a big problem. Also, the gay men are portrayed incorrectly, but that was the public opinion then, so that's the route they took. Overall, a great, great film that I plan to watch again soon.
Interesting Primarily As A Portrait Of 1960s Homophobia February 23, 2008
Gary F. Taylor (Biloxi, MS USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Based on the 1966 novel by Roderick Thorp, THE DETECTIVE was among the highest grossing films of both 1968 and one of the most popular of Frank Sinatra's film career. At the time it was considered remarkably honest in its portrait of a no-nonsense cop who finds himself trapped between a series of compromises and his own sense of integrity. Today, however, it chiefly notable for its unintentional window onto 1960s homophobia.
Joe Leland (Frank Sinatra) is a third generation New York City police officer who begins the film with two victories: in his private life, he has wooed and won a remarkably beautiful wife, Karen (Lee Remick); in his professional life, he is assigned to a particularly notorious murder case that he quickly solves and which results in a major promotion. But both explode in his face in particularly unsavory ways. Although flawless on the surface, Karen is a distinctly disturbed woman who shatters their marriage through a series of compulsive affairs. And although it seems solved, the case on which Joe's promotion rests may not be nearly as simple as every one thought at the time.
The case involves the brutal murder of a gay man who is found with his head battered in and sexually mutilated--a circumstance that leads Joe and his co-workers to prowl 'known homosexual hangouts' such as gyms and the waterfront. In the process, the film creates a portrait of the gay community that says considerably less about the gay community than the way in which heterosexual America thought of it at the time. The gay men themselves are improbable, being pulled out of group gropes from the back of cargo trucks, flexing muscles in tawny-colored gyms, frequenting bars notable for satin and velvet, and lounging about in silk robes. They come in two basic varities, victim and predator. They are weak and are routinely brutalized by both each other and the police, the latter of which positively delight in knocking them around.
This is not particularly unusual for films of the 1960s and the 1970s; it is much the same portrait presented by such diverse films as ADVISE AND CONSENT and CRUISING. What is unusual is Joe's attitude toward them: unlike his co-workers, he dislikes seeing them mistreated and prefers to see them (and indeed all other suspects) accorded a certain basic respect as human beings. It was a very, very bold stance for a film to take at the time. Even so, it does not counterbalance the portrait itself, which is intrinsically demeaning, or the story, which ultimately pivots on a version of "gay panic"--a heterosexual myth used here with a slight spin.
The chief grace of the film is the performances of Sinatra and Remick. Today Sinatra is best recalled as a singer, but he had some significant acting chops, and he proves more than able to over the shortcomings of the script. Lee Remick, a much-admired actress, is flawlessly cast as the perfidious wife Karen, a woman who superficial qualities conceal an unraveling personality. The supporting cast, which features Jacqueline Bissett, Jack Klugman, and Robert Duvall, is also quite fine. But the script is weak, the story choppy, the film is a shade too glossy for its subject--and its incredibly niave portrait of gay men tends to overpower everything.
All films must be considered in the context of their eras, but even so a good film can transcend its era. THE DETECTIVE doesn't manage to do that: sometimes ridiculous to the point of being amusing, sometimes so grotesque that it becomes a bit embarassing. All the same, it remains interesting primarily because it offers a window on what mainstream Americans of the 1960s thought homosexuals were like. The DVD offers the film in original widescreen format; the transfer, however, is merely acceptable. Recommended primarily to Sinatra fans and film historians interested in Hollywood's frequently off-the-wall portray of gay men.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Good basic story, but needs editing August 12, 2007
James M. Parker (Carmichael, CA)
The Detective suffers from excess baggage that detracts from the main story. I would have eliminated most if not all of the Lee Remick character. The reminiscences regarding the beginning and deterioration of Joe Leland's relationship with Karen are too long and break up the progression of the plot. The director has forgotten that his main story is that Detective Leland coerced a confession from a man he describes as a psycho, and he's guilt ridden over it. He failed check out the veracity of the confession because he saw a quick case closure to be a ticket to a promotion denied to his father. For example, he knows a good detective would have matched fingerprints on the murder weapon, but this clearly was not done. Another weakness was an over-reliance of 1960's liberal social values. For example, there was really no relevance of NYC ghetto housing failures to Detective Leland's poor police work or police corruption in general. Moreover, it was a gratuitous slap to any hard-working police officer to imply that they would watch Nazi concentration camp documentaries to gather effective interrogation strategies such as removing a suspect's clothes and questioning him while he was nude.
Get rid of Lee Remick, remove the needless social preaching, and you're left with a pretty entertaining drama. The director also would have had more time to develop the rainbow conspiracy (which had far more potential than a half naked Lee Remick). If you know the scene progression, you can use the bathroom or get some microwave popcorn going without using the pause.
Ralph Meeker was good as a sleazeball corrupt cop, and William Wendon (Commander Matt Dekker from an episode in Star Trek) was also very believable. When Sinatra wasn't being misused as some Great Society mouthpiece, he also was quite credible. It could be remade, but I would suggest LA Confidential if this was almost what you were looking for, but somewhat disappointing.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 12
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