Wie ein Panther in der Nacht

Being a huge fan of gritty New York films from the 70s and 80s, I was quite excited to chance upon this film. Starring Robert Duvall, a stalwart of this era, and involving an angry cop in 70s NYC, I had my aims set high. Unfortunately, aside from some nice footage from the era, this felt to be a waste of time.

Robert Duvall is a racist, grizzled cop, suspended from the force after a suspect falls off a roof whilst escaping arrest. Following his suspension, his partner Gigi turns up dead in Brooklyn with his throat cut. Turns out that Gigi had been doing some sneaky deals relating to a shipment of arms going to Puerto Rico.

Badge 373 was notable for upsetting some of the Puerto Rican community, who had called for the film not to be released. Duvall's character is unpleasant, racist and not at all sympathetic, however, the Puerto Rican characters are mainly made up of hoodrats, petty criminals, crime bosses and junkie hookers, often Caucasians in brown make-up, and none at all redeemable. In the film's defence, the scene where Duvall visits a 'libra Puerto Rico!' rally does give valuable screen time to portray the pressures and frustrations that mainland US Puerto Ricans were facing at that time, and I get the feeling from this that the director did not intend to make a racist film, possibly even sympathetic towards Puerto Ricans, but just made an incredibly clumsy effort at portraying racial relations at that time.

Coming from the year that gave us Serpico and The Seven-Ups, Badge 373 also feels very dated, even in comparison to Bullitt or Point Blank some 5 years earlier. The soundtrack and Batman-style fight scenes hark back to family friendly 60s TV shows like Dragnet or The Untouchables, the bus chase scene, for some the highlight of the film was well conceived, but is just goofy in practice, more reminiscent of one of the Smokey And The Bandit films.

Badge 373 is a rather embarrassing watch, especially for Duvall who was in his prime as an actor at this time. Strictly only for genre completists.

At some stage during the movie, all cop "on the edge" dramas have to have the obligatory 'give me your badge and your gun' scene. - When Badge 373 started with this, I just knew I was in for a good time. Duvall is magnificent as Eddie Ryan - cop on a mission - and from the "Chocolate covered speedway" remark to the bus chase - he is simply the epitome of "TOUGH COP".

Based on the true story of officer Eddie Egan,, who also has a small part in this movie,, I found it to be urban gritty, and to the point,, after he get's suspended from the force for causing the death of a bad guy,, he takes up bartending part time.. he later find out that his partner was viciously gunned down,, now he must take action 'Dirty Harry" style,, he sets out on a mission with only one thing in mind,, get the man or men that killed his partner,, the bad guys are led by a character named "Sweet William" , and now the battle is on good vs. evil,, sure this isn't gonna win any awards by no stretch of the imagination and certainly pales compared to the French Connection,, but this is a movie worthwhile of you're time.

Useless to say that this crime drama is a pure product of the seventies, any idiot and not even a movie buff, could confirm. Everything here, everything is connected to the seventies style: dialogues, music, haircuts, subject, violence, everything. Robert Duvall, as in THE OUTFIT, is excellent in this role inspired by DIRTY HARRY and also FRENCH CONNECTION. I often confound this film with SEVEN UPS, I don't know why.... It is fast paced, gritty, violent, how could it be else? I like this film very much and am very happy to see it once more. I read the novelization written by Mike Roote, the same guy who did the same with SCORPIO.

In the early 70s, and for a brief period, it was a popular trend in US action cinema to bring real-life and middle-class American heroes to the podium. These everyday heroes were usually actual policeman that wrote their life experiences down in a novel or into a screenplay and were then hired as technical consults for the film adaptations. The best-known example is probably Buford Pusser and the "Walking Tall" films, but also a couple of highly acclaimed blockbusters are based on observations of real street cops. There's "The New Centurions" by former LAPD Officer Joseph Wambaugh, and even the legendary Popeye Doyle character from "The French Connection" is inspired by an authentic rogue copper named Eddie Egan.

"Badge 373" can be included in the same list. Robert Duvall's character is based on this same Eddie Egan, the entire film is promoted as "based on the exploits of Eddie Egan", and the man himself appears in a supportive role and worked as technical advisor. And yet, it's plain obvious to see when the films mentioned in the first paragraph are considered great classics, whereas hardly anyone has ever heard of "Badge 373".

Apart from another stellar performance by the always-reliable Duvall, this is a dull and derivative New York action/thriller, badly suffering from all the dreadful clichés in the book (suspended cop, avenging the dead partner, corruption in the department, wife killed, politics involved, etc.) and showcasing a very racist attitude towards the Hispanic - notably Puerto Rican - community living in NY. Allegedly, Robert Duval accepted the role as a statement against racism, but it's very well possible that he played the role to finally get the first top-billing of his career.

"Badge 373" is too long, too predictable, and too full of pointless and overlong sequences, like when Eddie takes his wife to a cabin outside of New York for a retreat. The few action and spectacle sequences, like the bus chase footage, are okay - I guess - but at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in Italy, they handled this sort of stunt work a lot better and more exciting.