I first watched this in 2005, curious to see Frank Sinatra play a detective in one of the very first R-rated movies (in the United States, "R" means - "Restricted to persons 18 years of age and over).Frank plays a detective in this crime drama, but the tone of the movie feels like it's made for television. The French Connection had not yet come out.
Frank investigates a case where a homosexual is killed. He first inspects a room with a corpse...and takes notes of what he finds: "Male Caucasian. Lying nude on floor....Penis cut off...side of skull smashed in...cuts on face and chest...fingers shredded...semen stains on the sheets". It's unusual to hear Frank Sinatra recite those lines.
In small roles are Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Duvall, Jack Klugman and Al Freeman Jr. ("Malcolm X").
There's some softer moments with his love interest, played by Lee Remick, but I wasn't convinced they were really interested in each other.
Duvall plays a tough cop who goes to a gay hangout to find a suspect, and then beats one of the suspects. Sinatra then calls him a miserable son-of-a-b-----.
There are strange moments like that throughout this film, which is otherwise unmemorable, and doesn't portray the gay community very positively. I was reminded of 1992 when there was alot of protest over similar crime films with gay suspects such as Basic Instinct and Silence of the Lambs.
This is probably a film that may be best enjoyed by fans of Frank Sinatra.
From 20th Century Fox films.
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