''Report to the Commissioner'' is a 1975 American
crime drama
Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
film based on
James Mills' 1972 novel. It involves a rookie cop (
Michael Moriarty) in the
New York City Police Department
The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
who is assigned a special
missing person
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as Life, alive or Death, dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accide ...
case, which in fact is meant to be a
wild-goose chase to back up an
undercover female police officer's role as the girlfriend of a drug dealer.
The film was
directed
Direct may refer to:
Mathematics
* Directed set, in order theory
* Direct limit of (pre), sheaves
* Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces
Computing
* Direct access (disambiguation), a ...
by
Milton Katselas and features a
musical score by
Elmer Bernstein. The script is by two Oscar-winning screenwriters,
Abby Mann
Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer.
Life and career
The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Mann was born as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia. He grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Dou ...
(''
Judgment at Nuremberg'') and
Ernest Tidyman (''
The French Connection''). It marked
Richard Gere's film debut.
Plot
Beauregard "Bo" Lockley (
Michael Moriarty), long-haired and thoughtful, is a new type of
undercover detective in the New York City Police Department. He is assigned to find a missing young woman (
Susan Blakely), but he is not told she is actually an undercover officer whose latest assignment is to get close to a
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
dealer, Thomas 'Stick' Henderson (
Tony King), that the department has long been wanting to stop.
Lockley finds her living with the dealer in the
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
, area. Frustrated by his presence, as it jeopardizes her assignment, she arranges to meet with Lockley the following morning. However, when she misses the appointment, he goes to where she and Henderson are living, and in the confused shoot-out that follows, Lockley accidentally shoots her dead.
Lockley chases Henderson through the streets and into the
Saks Fifth Avenue department store, and the two end up trapped in an elevator between floors, holding guns on each other. The two men bond during the fruitless negotiations that follow. They eventually agree to try to exit the elevator car through the trapdoor in its ceiling. However, the entire area is surrounded by heavily armed police, who shoot Henderson, killing him.
Lockley's and the policewoman's superior officers, determined to save their careers, scramble to come up with a story that would be minimally embarrassing to the department. They claim that Lockley, the woman and the dealer were involved in a lovers’ triangle and that Lockley shot her out of jealousy.
Cast
*
Michael Moriarty - Bo Lockley
*
Yaphet Kotto - Richard 'Crunch' Blackstone
*
Susan Blakely - Patty Butler
*
Héctor Elizondo - Captain D'Angelo
*
Tony King - Thomas 'Stick' Henderson
*
Michael McGuire - Lt. Hanson
*
Edward Grover - Captain Strichter
*
Dana Elcar - Chief Perna
*
Bob Balaban - Joey Egan (as Robert Balaban)
*
William Devane - Asst. D.A. Jackson
*
Stephen Elliott - Police Commissioner
*
Richard Gere - Billy
*
Vic Tayback - Lt. Seidensticker
*
Albert Seedman - Detective Schulman
*
Mark Margolis
Mark Margolis (, ; November 26, 1939 – August 3, 2023) was an American actor known for his portrayal of the character Hector Salamanca in ''Breaking Bad'' (2009–2011) and '' Better Call Saul'' (2016–2022). His performance in ''Breaking Ba ...
- Bartender (uncredited)
*Noelle North - Samantha
Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics.
See also
*
List of American films of 1975
References
External links
*
*
{{Milton Katselas
1975 films
1975 crime drama films
American crime drama films
Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department
Films about the New York City Police Department
Films scored by Elmer Bernstein
Films based on American novels
Films based on crime novels
Films set in New York City
United Artists films
1970s English-language films
Films directed by Milton Katselas
1970s American films
English-language crime drama films
Films with screenplays by Ernest Tidyman