Movie Details
| Title: | Madigan | |
| Director: | Don Siegel | |
| Year: | 1968 | |
| Genre: | Cop | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 03.03.23 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (9)
- The Beguiled
- Charley Varrick
- Coogan's Bluff
- Dirty Harry
- Escape from Alcatraz
- The Lineup
- Private Hell 36
- Riot in Cell Block 11
- Two Mules for Sister Sara
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 03.03.23 | Internet | From The Lineup, we're jumping 10 years and trading San Francisco for New York City. This one stars Richard Widmark as the titular cop as well as Henry Fonda as the police commissioner who... kinda knows him? I didn't like this one nearly as much for several reasons, but a big one was Fonda's scenes. This felt much more like a tv movie to me where there was an A story with Madigan and his partner given 3 days to find the murderer who stole their guns, and a B story with the commissioner finding out his friend and chief of detectives is morally compromised. I did think it was cool how they had both characters talking about each other as a gauge of respect or suspicion, but mostly... I mean the movie's called Madigan, right? I don't care about the commissioner's affair. The movie is really split because of how much time Fonda gets and, to me, it made the film feel twice as long and half as interesting. My favorite moments came from day players with hilarious single lines like "what do I want a lawyer for?" and "nobody tells me I look like a guy from Cincinnati". Other than that, it felt a bit stagnant. Never mind Widmark's age as both a detective and a husband to this swedish blonde model twenty years younger than him. Otherwise, I suppose it's notable for the ending and for being a kind of proto- Dirty Harry where Madigan alllmost doesn't play by the rules. As usual, the location scenes feel great but there's a lot more sets here that feel kinda cheap and dated. In particular there's a "night club" where I guess the stage is obscured by hanging plastic bead curtains? In the end, it just didn't pop like Siegel's best work. Now having seen both, I'll probably continue to get this confused with Brannigan. Halfway through our marathon here, we're getting on the Clint Eastwood train and riding it for the rest of the day. But... not in a gross way or anything. Bad metaphor. |
