Law and Disorder

• Director: Ivan Passer
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Comedy
• Movie Type: Crime Comedy
• Themes: Rookie Cops, Vigilantes
• Main Cast: Adam Lessuck, Ed Madsen, Bill Richert, Sydney Sherrif
• Release Year: 1974
• Country: US
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Fed up with an escalating crime rate and an increasingly ineffective police force, blue-collar New Yorkers Willie and Cy (Carroll O'Connor and Ernest Borgnine) join a citizen's vigilante group. Their efforts to act as an auxiliary police force are comically inept, but director Ivan Passer lulls us into laughter only to catch us unprepared when he wants to play things in dead seriousness. After finally proving their worth as after-hours cops, Willie and Cy are euphoric; this lasts just long enough for Cy to be killed. Constantly changing its tone and point of view, Law and Disorder struck just the right nihilistic note in the 1970s. Modern viewers may not be quite as responsive, though many will cheer Willie's final act of defiance against the Big Apple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Leslie Ackerman - Karen; Allan Arbus - Dr. Richter; Teodorino Bello - Chico's Mother; Ernest Borgnine - Cy; Pat Corley - Ken; Anita Dangler - Irene; Jay Fletcher - Jogger; Rita Gam - Woman in Cab; Edward Grover - Capt. Malloy; Jack Kehoe - Elliott; J. Frank Lucas - Flasher; Michael Medwin - Man in Cab; Carroll O'Connor - Willie; Lionel Pina - Chico; Joe Ragno - Peter; David Spielberg - Bobby; Gary Springer - F.U. Kid; Ann Wedgeworth - Sally; Pepper Wormser - Yablonsky; Karen Black - Gloria; Jack Stamberger - Morris; Adam Lessuck - Eddie; Ed Madsen - Frank; Bill Richert - Desk Sergeant; Sydney Sherrif - Ralph

Credit

Gene Rudolf - Art Director, Ann Roth - Costume Designer, Alan Hopkins - First Assistant Director, Ivan Passer - Director, Anthony Protenza - Editor, Angelo Badalamenti - Composer (Music Score), Andy Badale - Composer (Music Score), Arthur Ornitz - Cinematographer, Michael Medwin - Producer, Fred Caruso - Producer, William Richert - Producer, Edgar J. Scherick - Producer, Paul Vogt - Set Designer, Christopher Newman - Sound Mixer, Ivan Passer - Screenwriter, William Richert - Screenwriter

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