''Deadly Hero'' is a 1975 American neo noir

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

starring Don Murray, Diahn Williams,

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

Lilia Skala Lilia Skala (née Sofer; 28 November 1896 – 18 December 1994) was an Austrian-American architect and actress known for her role in the film '' Lilies of the Field'' (1963), for which she received critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination ...

and

Treat Williams Richard Treat Williams (born December 1, 1951) is an American actor, writer and aviator who has appeared on film, stage and television in over 120 credits. He first became well known for his starring role in the 1979 musical film '' Hair'', and la ...

(in his film debut). It was directed by Ivan Nagy from a screenplay by George Wislocki and Don Petersen. Released in limited locales in 1975 with an R rating from the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

, it was distributed by

AVCO Embassy Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution studio responsible for such films as ''The Graduate'', '' The Produc ...

. It ''o''pened to mixed, mostly negative reviews, and was considered a commercial failure.

Plot

Officer Lacy is an 18-year veteran of the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

who finds himself demoted from detective back to patrol duty for his violent, racist tendencies and trigger-happy behavior. He still has friends on the job and is ingratiating himself as a booster for a politician named Reilly who is looking to become Mayor of the city. Responding to a call on Manhattan's

West Side West Side or Westside may refer to: Places Canada * West Side, a neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario * West Side, a neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * West Side, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Westside, Birmingham E ...

, he finds a young musician named Sally has been abducted by a mugger named Rabbit. Rabbit holds Sally hostage and scares her badly but doesn't actually hurt her physically. When her neighbor figures out something is wrong and calls the cops, Officer Lacy shows up and finds Rabbit holding Sally at knifepoint in the hallway. Rabbit quickly surrenders when Lacy threatens to shoot him, but during the arrest Lacy hits Rabbit and then angrily shoots him twice in the chest, killing him. Lacy asks Sally to lie to the detectives that Rabbit was holding the knife when he was shot, and she agrees to this. Lacy becomes a city hero and Reilly makes him a key part of his campaign. However, Sally feels guilty about lying and eventually tells the detectives that Lacy killed Rabbit while he was unarmed and had surrendered. Lacy tries to charm Sally into reverting fully into her original story, but she refuses. Lacy then becomes a public pariah and is forced to go on unpaid suspension, while Reilly cuts all ties with him. Lacy then becomes unhinged, threatening Sally directly and having a sleazy ex-cop "scare" her in a bungled plot that leaves two civilians dead. With nothing left to lose, Lacy kills the ex-cop and then tracks Sally down to the Manhattan school where she works and kidnaps her and takes her out of the city to a pet graveyard. He ties her up and plans to shoot and bury her in the graveyard but she gets loose and severely wounds him, getting away into a forest. Lacy runs after her and the final shot of the movie shows him either dead and holding his gun in a failed attempt to kill her when she's in his sights, or about to die but ready to shoot and kill her before he does die. The film then ends without a resolution.

Cast

* Don Murray ... Lacy * Diahn Williams ... Sally *

... Rabbit *

... Mrs. Broderick *

Conchata Ferrell Conchata Galen Ferrell (March 28, 1943October 12, 2020) was an American actress. Although she was a regular cast member of five TV sitcoms, she was best known for playing Berta the housekeeper for all 12 seasons of ''Two and a Half Men''. For he ...

... Slugger Ann *

George S. Irving George S. Irving (born Irving Shelasky; November 1, 1922 – December 26, 2016) was an American actor known primarily for his character roles on Broadway theatre, Broadway and as the voice of Heat Miser in the American Christmas television spe ...

... Reilly * Ron Weyand ... Captain Stark *

... Billings *

Hank Garrett Hank Garrett (born Henry Greenberg Cohen Sandler Weinblatt, October 26, 1931) is an American actor, comedian, author, speaker, teacher, mixed martial artist and retired professional wrestler best known for the television role of Officer Nicholson ...

... Buckley *

Dick Anthony Williams Richard Anthony Williams (August 9, 1934 – February 16, 2012) was an American actor. Williams is best known for his starring performances on Broadway in ''The Poison Tree'', ''What the Wine-Sellers Buy'' and ''Black Picture Show''. Williams also ...

... D. A. Winston The cast also includes performances by

Josh Mostel Joshua Mostel (born December 21, 1946) is an American actor with numerous film and Broadway credits. The son of Zero Mostel, he is best known for his supporting roles in films such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1973), ''Harry and Tonto'' (1974) ...

as "Victor",

Rutanya Alda Rutanya Alda (born Rūta Skrastiņa; October 13, 1942) is a Latvian-American actress. She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting parts in ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), ''Rocky II'' (1979), and ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981). S ...

as "Apple Mary",

Charles Siebert Charles Alan Siebert (March 9, 1938 – May 1, 2022) was an American actor and television director. As an actor, he is probably best known for his role as Dr. Stanley Riverside II on the television series ''Trapper John, M.D.'', a role he portra ...

as "Baker", plus

Beverly Johnson Beverly Ann Johnson (born October 13, 1952) is an American model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. Johnson rose to fame when she became the first African-American model to appear on the cover of American ''Vogue'' in August 1974. In 1975, Jo ...

Chu Chu Malave Edwin Malave (born August 4, 1950, New York City), better known as Chu Chu Malave, is a former professional boxer and an actor. Boxing career On February 23, 1970, at the age of 19, Malave, a two-time Golden New York Gloves champ, had his first ...

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

, and an uncredited

Deborah Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

, lead singer from the city's

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

/ new wave-ers Blondie as a singer. ''Deadly Hero'' is Treat Williams' first motion picture appearance.

Production info

''Deadly Hero'' was directed by Ivan Nagy from a screenplay by George Wislocki and Don Petersen. The film was produced by Thomas J. McGrath and distributed by

AVCO Embassy Pictures Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution studio responsible for such fil ...

. The film's cinematographer was

Andrzej Bartkowiak Andrzej Bartkowiak, A.S.C. (born 6 March 1950) is a Polish cinematographer and film director. Career In the early 1980s, Bartkowiak was cinematographer on three films that received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture: ''The Verdict'', ' ...

, with editing by Susan Steinberg, music by Brad

Fiedel The vielle is a European bowed stringed instrument used in the medieval period, similar to a modern violin but with a somewhat longer and deeper body, three to five gut strings, and a leaf-shaped pegbox with frontal tuning pegs, sometimes with ...

and

Tommy Mandel Tommy Mandel (born June 2, 1949) is a keyboardist most notable for playing with Bryan Adams from 1981 to 1998, starting with the album ''You Want It You Got It''. Life and career Prior to joining Bryan Adams' band, Mandel released a self-titled ...

, and art direction by Alan Herman. ''Deadly Hero'' was filmed entirely on location in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The 102-minute film was released as R-rated (Restricted) from the

Reception

Critical reaction

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

wrote in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' that the film is "a small triumph" but qualifying that praise by noting, "Of course, expecting nothing helps." A reviewer for the Cineman Syndicate felt that "moments of suspense" helped elevate the "thin script and moody photography". A.H. Weiler of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described ''Deadly Hero'' as a "fairly derivative Manhattan melodrama" with the supporting cast "wasted in brief, broad portrayals". ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' reviewer Linda Gross called the film "gritty" and "intriguing" but ultimately found it "predictable and pessimistic". Modern critics have been kinder with ''VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever'' describing it as both "gripping" and "chilling" while rating the film three (out of a possible four) bones.

Popular reaction

A commercial failure, George Anderson wrote in the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' that the violent film "suffered sudden death at the box office."

Home media

''Deadly Hero'' was released on VHS in the 1980s by

Magnetic Video Magnetic Video Corporation was a home video/home audio duplication service that operated between 1968 and 1982. History Magnetic Video Corporation was established by the co-founder Andre Blay, an American film producer in 1968 with Leon Nichols ...

and in 1986 by

Embassy Home Entertainment A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

on August 7, 2007, by Trinity Home Entertainment. On December 22, 2015, it was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

by Code Red Entertainment through Screen Archives Entertainment Exclusive.

References

External links

* * * * {{Ivan Nagy 1975 films 1970s crime drama films 1970s crime thriller films American crime drama films American crime thriller films Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Films about the New York City Police Department Films directed by Ivan Nagy Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City American neo-noir films Films scored by Brad Fiedel Embassy Pictures films 1975 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films