The Laughing Policeman (1 Viewer)

[Brent Avery]

When I noticed this film (1973)was being released by Fox on Feb.1 I figured it was worth purchasing, considering the under $10 price. And to think that they are still including an insert! It is great to see Fox come out with some obscure or offbeat titles and I hope they will continue this practise as it puts them up at the top with Warners as far as I'm concerned. As for this release - just picked it up and it has both Widescreen and Full Frame versions on a flip disc. OAR is 1:85 and it is of course Anamorphic. I do not recall having ever watched this movie but I will give an overview for anyone who may not know the storyline: (from the dvd itself)

" It's a tough beat for San Fransisco police lieutenant Jake Martin (Walter Matthau) when he has to investigate a city bus massacre in which a madman opened machine gunfire on eight people. It's even worse when Martin discovers his former partner, Detective Dave Evans, is one of the victims. But as he investigates the grisly murders, Martin not only discovers unsavory things about Evans, but he finds that many of the victims had shady lives, which shrouds the killer's identity even more. Also starring Louis Gosset Jr. and Bruce Dern, The Laughing Policeman is filled with plot twists, suspense and fascinating fun." It mentions the audio as 4.0 Dolby Surround.

I find it amazing of Walter Matthau that he could make the transistion from drama to comedy so effortlessly. Whenever I watch a film with him in it regardless of the character played he never managed to seem typecast - you just went with the storyline and enjoyed the film. Jack Lemmon was great with that as well.

Hopefully the transfer itself will be above average.I'll check it out tonight.

 

[David_Blackwell]

This movie wasn't bad. I bought a used VHS of this movie back in 2003. I'm still waiting for the Inspector Beck movies to be rleased in the US. OK, I'll back up a moment and say The Laughing Policeman is based on a novel of the same name from Sweden. Walter Mathau is in the Inspector Beck role. The novel takes place in Stockholm. Many original Beck TV and theater movies have been made in the last 10-15 years.