Movies:
Fort Apache, the Bronx
DVD Release
- Release Date: 2001
- Interactive menus
- Chapter selections
- Language/subtitles
- Cast bios
- Rating:
- Genre: Drama
- Movie Type: Docudrama, Police Drama
- Themes: Social Injustice, Whistleblowers, Fighting the System
- Director: Daniel Petrie
- Main Cast: Paul Newman, Ed Asner, Ken Wahl, Danny Aiello, Rachel Ticotin
- Release Year: 1981
- Country: US
- Run Time: 125 minutes
- MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Paul Newman stars as an essentially decent cop patrolling that decimated, drug-and-gang-ridden borough known on the city maps as the Bronx, but known to its denizens as "Fort Apache". While Newman tries to hold on to his basic humanity and to treat even the sorriest of the people on his beat with dignity, he can't do much to convince his superiors that blind brutality is not the answer to social blight. When he witnesses fellow-cop Danny Aiello cold-bloodedly murdering a crime suspect, Newman is advised to sweep the whole incident under the rug. He refuses to do so, and as a result becomes "persona non grata" to his former friends on the force. Ed Asner co-stars as the beleaguered captain who has given up trying to treat his job as anything but a necessary evil, while Rachel Ticotin is Newman's love interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideReview
Leading men and serious actors like Jack Nicholson and James Caan took career nosedives as adult roles evaporated in the youth-dominated cinema of the late '70s and early '80s, but classics like Paul Newman just kept soldiering on. Here the cool hand plays a beat cop patrolling a South Bronx wasteland of crushing poverty, drugs, and crime. How does a man keep his head about him when all around him people are losing theirs? Newman adroitly answers the question in this flinty but otherwise forgettable character study, with Ken Wahl and Ed Asner providing effective contrast as Newman's young partner and no-nonsense precinct captain. Fort Apache was filmed on location to good effect; unfortunately, the foxy Pam Grier is wasted as a murderous prostitute. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie GuideCast
- Paul Newman - Murphy
- Ed Asner - Connolly
- Ken Wahl - Corelli
- Danny Aiello - Morgan
- Rachel Ticotin - Isabella
Pam Grier - Charlotte; Kathleen Beller - Theresa; Miguel Piñero - Hernando; Jaime Tirelli - Jose; Lance William Guecia - Track Star; Rony Clanton - Pimp; Clifford David - Dacey; Sully Boyar - Dugan; Frank Adu - Clendennon; John Aquino - Finley; Thomas A. Carlin - Man with Flat Tire; Dominic Chianese - Corelli's Father; Rik Colitti - Pantuzzi; Kim Delgado - Suspect #1; Cleavant Derricks - Suspect; Tony di Benedetto - Moran; Darryl Edwards - Black Rookie; Erik Estrada; Paul Gleason - Detective; Tito Goya - Jumper/Detective; Michael Higgins - Hefferman; Gloria Irizarry - Drug Dealer; Gilbert Lewis - Mob Leader; Norman Matlock - Lincoln; Raynaldo Medina - Detective; Irving Metzman - Applebaum; Santos Morales - Girl's Father; John Ring - Donohue; Manuel Santiago - Intern; Fred Strother - Hospital Buyer; Sylvia "Kuumba" Williams - Bartender; Marvin Cohen - Cop at Bar; Randy Jurgensen - Cop at Bar; Donald Petrie - White Rookie; Dadi Pinero; Frederick Allen - Corelli's Brother; Sandi Franklin - Hooker; Jose Rabelo - Girl's Uncle
