Badge 373

Badge 373

The first thing to realize about “Badge 373” is that it’s a strange movie. It’s not just that it has a crime in it; there are plenty of thoughtful and intelligent films about crime. What’s odd is watching two such movies back to back at the same theater.

“Badge 373,” based on the adventures of New York detective Eddie (“The French Connection”) Egan, has followed “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” into United Artists and Badge 373 is a tough movie with some interesting things to say about cops-and-robbers morality.

It seems to be based on Egan’s adventures, I guess in roughly the same way that “Lady Sings the Blues” was based on Billie Holiday’s life: The facts were not allowed to interfere. For instance, I can believe that Egan really set out after his partner’s murderer. But I somehow think that their last confrontation did not take place hundreds of feet up on a crane in the Brooklyn Navy Yard or that it was not with a machine-gun-toting killer who had several philosophical points to make about the Puerto Rican experience.

No, I think the philosophy came from Pete Hamill, who wrote the movie, and Howard Koch, who produced and directed it provided the location. But I can believe that Robert Duvall played by Egan himself because Egan displays elsewhere in this film. He plays a vice detective and looks like one: beefy but swift, with a wise-tough Irish face; fast on his feet and probably boozy when occasion required; uncanny resemblance to Tom Fitzpatrick would suggest he should miss no movies; but if he goes to this one and doesn’t like Eddie Egan I might get into trouble.

Duvall plays Egan as well as best friend of Egan which must have been slightly confusing during shooting but looks good onscreen. The plot concerns Eddie avenging his best pal and partner’s death which leads him somehow through $3 million worth of machine guns being shipped off to Puerto Rico for revolutionary purposes; only thing is that Eddie couldn’t care less about revolution except for fact that gun seller killed his partner in order keep quiet.

Koch shot mostly on location without first cleaning streets thereby capturing nicely textured New York City; also included obligatory chase scene though there wasn’t any need since follow-up film shouldn’t have one following another so closely behind each other like they did here specifically involving school bus truck three cars bus commandeered by Eddie escaping gangsters thugs very unlikely paper chase works due Duvall acting indeed looking man actually trying escape commandeered bus having little trouble shifting gears anybody else would too.

His performance overall fine tough man few words capacity total violence coiled somewhere inside

He’s a man of few words, but if there is one flaw in the film, it’s that it talks too much. This issue also occurred with another great Hamill screenplay, “Doc,” which was a Western about Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. Hamill knows how to tell a story well, but he hasn’t mastered trusting his visuals yet; the final scene is bogged down by all the dialogue that the gun salesman has to remember. If you’re going to tell us what it feels like being Puerto Rican, then let him do so in a nice quiet conversation midway through instead of holding up the final shootout.

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