Deadly Hero

Don Murray, in an intense, forceful performance, plays Ed Lacy, a well-regarded NYC law officer and 18 year veteran of the force. One night, he shoots and kills Rabbit (James Earl Jones), a flamboyant extortionist who terrorizes conductor / musician Sally (Diahn Williams) inside her apartment. The twist is that Sally soon develops doubts about her saviour; as her memory of that night returns, she believes that Rabbit was unarmed when he was gunned down. When she changes her story, an increasingly unhinged Lacy resorts to threatening and scaring her.

This is a good, gritty NYC cop drama, directed in efficient no-frills fashion by Ivan Nagy. It gets most of its juice from commanding central performances. While at first one might feel some sympathy towards Lacy, as they see a promising career go down the drain, he ultimately reveals a very dark side to his personality. The lovely Diahn Williams is appealing, while Jones gets to have some fun playing a decidedly offbeat antagonist. Several familiar faces in the cast include Lilia Skala, Treat Williams (playing Lacy's partner, in his film debut), Hank Garrett, Dick Anthony Williams, Conchata Ferrell, and Josh Mostel. Danny DeVito is listed in the end credits, but is hard to spot.

The film is admittedly violent, but the narrative (by Don Petersen, inspired by a real life story) is compelling, especially when it's told from Lacy's perspective. Location shooting and a vibrant music score by Brad Fiedel & Tom Mandel are definite assets (this was one of the earliest scores for Fiedel, who's best known for his "Terminator" theme).

This seems to be a largely forgotten film nowadays, but any movie lover who's fond of 70s cop / crime cinema will likely find it interesting if they seek it out.

Seven out of 10.

I've read the other reviews of Deadly Hero and I must confess I have little memory of this film. I saw it on HBO in the late 70's, when Horrible Body Odor showed all sorts of fun B movies that you never would see in your small town. The reviewers are of one mind, that the film was quite good and that it was similar to 1992's Unlawful Entry.

I do recollect that Don Murray's policeman is a sympathetic character and that there are several actors who went on to bigger and better things (which can be a joy by itself), but my overriding impression is that the film had some sort of ugly and/or weak ending. I'd like to see this movie again, but I live in a town so small the main drag is a transvestite (I've always wanted to say that in a movie review!) and there simply is no way the decently stocked video place twelve miles away is going to have this flick.

So, I'm left intrigued by the glowing reviews by my peers. It's either a mail order rental company (?!) or finding it on "ebay" (Amazon doesn't carry it).

Oh, well. Wish me luck and if the other reviewers are right, and you can find a copy, enjoy this almost unheard of movie for me!

A cop saves a woman from being kidnapped and raped and possibly murdered but she feels sorry for her poor black attacker and ruins crazy cop Lacey's career. I still couldn't wait for her to die. We need more cops like Lacey. Zero tolerance because it's a horrible scary world out there. Should we keep giving criminals a slap on the wrist? Hell no. This film could have been better it does get a little slow but it was a good watch. It's on youtube right now.

I found this movie for 50p in a second-hand shop, and it's taken me a few months to get round and watch it, but i'm glad i did!

DON MURRAY is excellent in this movie, and i can feel for his character (untill maybe the final 10 minutes, or so) as a cop with 18 years clean service, a glittering side career ahead of him (championing a would-be mayor) and a loving wife and daughter. When this (seemingly, by-the-numbers) cop guns down an un-armed kidnapper (JAMES EARL JONES) during the act, the kidnapped lady (DIAHN WILLIAMS) feels a little uneasy about her saviors methods, and decides to change her statement to the D.A. The disgraced cop, finds his world crumbling around him (his mayor friend wants nothing to do with him, and his police precinct suspend him) so he decides to 'pursuade' the women, to re-think her statement. Unfortunately his methods border on psychotic.

To give away anything else, would be a crime (though i will say, it has a great ending!) as i watched the movie knowing nothing about it, whatsoever (the video i bought was such an old pre-certificate copy, it consisted of a front inlay card in a VHS cover. I'd say circa 1980, on the 'MAGNETIC' video label) and for a movie made in 1975, it is certainly gritty enough (the language and violence are quite coarse at times) but is a must for fans of 'bad-cop' cinema.

With not one bad performance throughout, this also marks TREAT WILLIAMS debut (plus a completely un-noticed one by a credited DANNY DE VITO) The movie can be seen as an early blueprint for 1992's UNLAWFUL ENTRY (with RAY LIOTTA, KURT RUSSEL) in that, we witness a gradual breakdown of a respected cop. But plot wise, this is a very daring movie for it's time (and would still be deemed too controversial today!) lacking the total sleaze and religious subtext as BAD LIEUTENANT, it is more of a rarely seen curio, on lines with ORDER OF DEATH (with HARVEY KIETEL and JOHN LYDON) But is also a stunning (yet little-seen) classic, which poses the question of police rights and police wrongs. A great movie, made all the more meaningful for it's apparent obscurity.

10 out of 10, seek it out now (a DVD release would also be welcomed!)

A surprising cast for a small movie tries hard but the result seems a bit unfocused. Several scenes seem redundant and really unnecessary. As rogue cop movies go "Deadly Hero" hits the mark almost but it just feels somewhat choppy. For instance, James Earl Jones character has zero back story as to his motivation. The scenes with children in class singing appear several times and do nothing to move the story forward. I liked it but think the film needed more focus on the story and less on time fillers. MERK.