Hickey & Boggs

• Director: Robert Culp
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Detective Film, Melodrama
• Themes: Private Eyes
• Main Cast: Matt Bennett, Bill Cosby, Robert Culp, Rosalind Cash, Carmen, Louis Moreno
• Release Year: 1972
• Country: US
• Run Time: 111 minutes
• MPAA Rating: PG

Plot

The stars of the witty TV series I Spy were reunited for this downbeat crime thriller, which takes a much darker and more violent look at the lives of two detectives for hire. Al Hickey (Bill Cosby) and Frank Boggs (Robert Culp) are a pair of private eyes who are approached by an attorney to find his girlfriend, who has gone missing. Their investigation leads them to a large sum of money from a Pittsburgh bank robbery. It seems that the woman in question has married the leader of a leftist radical group, which is now trying to find a buyer for the tainted money. An attempt to recover both the money and the girl goes awry when Hickey and Boggs infiltrate a meeting with the radicals; the girl slips away and takes the burgled cash with her. Adding to the disaster, the meeting tips off the identity of the detectives to mobsters dealing with the radicals, and the gangsters execute Hickey's wife in an effort to keep him away from their activities. Hickey and Boggs also features Rosalind Cash, Michael Moriarity, Vincent Gardenia, Isabel Sanford, and James Woods. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Review

Viewers approaching Hickey and Boggs and expecting it to be a replay of the stars' popular I Spy series will be disappointed, but many film noir enthusiasts will find a lot to appreciate in this early '70s recreation and deconstruction of the hardboiled private eye film. Hickey is a serious, somber, downbeat, and violent film, and these attributes will turn off many who initially tune in to it. But others will find it a rewarding experience, a time capsule that captures a certain mood of nihilism from the 1970s, as well as a great deal of confusion about good and evil and the ability of an individual to make a difference when fighting forces larger than himself. Hickey might have been more successful (artistically as well as financially) with two other stars. In addition to the fact that fans expected something different from Bill Cosby and Robert Culp, the truth is that neither seems entirely comfortable in Hickey -- as if they also expected something different from themselves. However, whatever his weaknesses as an actor here, Culp shines as a director, with a definite feel for mood and pacing, a deft way with his supporting cast, and a very good eye for staging action sequences. Culp displays such promise behind the camera that it's a shame Hickey and Boggs was his only feature. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Bill Cosby - Al Hickey
• Robert Culp - Frank Boggs
• Rosalind Cash - Nyona
• Carmen - Mary Jane
• Louis Moreno - Quemando, prisoner

Michael Moriarty - Ballard; Ta-Ronce Allen - Nyona's Daughter; Jack Colvin - Shaw; Jason Culp - Mary Jane's Son; Lester Fletcher - Rice; Lou Frizzell - Lawyer; Vincent Gardenia - Papadakis; Ron Henriques - Quemando, Florist; Bill Hickman - Monte; Nancy Howard - Apartment Manager's Wife; Ed Lauter - Ted; Robert Mandan - Mr. Brill; Bernard Nedell - Used Car Salesman; Denise Renfro - Brill's Daughter; Cary Sanchez - Mary Jane's Daughter; Isabel Sanford - Nyona's Mother; Bernie Schwartz - Bernie; Tom Signorelli - Nick; Dean Smith - Bagman; Wanda Spell - Playground Kid; Gilchrist Stuart - Farrow; Sheila Sullivan - Edith Boggs; Jerry Summers - Bledsoe; James Woods - Lt. Wyatt; Gerald Saunderson Peters - Jack; Syl Words - Mr. Leroy; Joe E. Tata - Coroner's Assistant; Matt Bennett - Fatboy

Credit

Lynn Stalmaster - Casting, William Theiss - Costume Designer, Pauline Campbell - Costume Designer, Bill Thiese - Costume Designer, Edward Teets - First Assistant Director, Robert Culp - Director, David Berlatsky - Editor, Ted Ashford - Composer (Music Score), George Edwards - Songwriter, Bill Butler - Cinematographer, Fouad Said - Producer, Joe Lombardi - Special Effects, Gene S. Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, Walter Hill - Screenwriter

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