Review: The Laughing Policeman

Weary-looking, borderline monosyllabic cop Walter Matthau is called in to investigate the massacre of a busload of passengers in San Francisco. One of the deceased just so happened to be Matthau’s partner, who was supposed to be on sick leave, something his girlfriend protests, saying he had gone off to work every day. Matthau knows this to not be true, so just what was the guy up to and how did he end up on the bus and among the dead? It’s up to Matthau and his abrasive, smart-arse new partner Bruce Dern (in one of his best roles to date) to find out, but it may be somehow connected to a case Matthau and the deceased worked on a few years back. They might just solve the case...if they don’t kill each other first. Matt Clark plays a coroner, Clifton James and Lou Gossett Jr. play cops (the former with the bomb squad), Anthony Zerbe plays the no-nonsense superior officer, Joanna Cassidy plays a nurse important to the case, Paul Koslo plays a scummy drug-dealer with stringy blond hair, Mario Gallo plays a snitch (perfect casting), and Val Avery plays another cop.

 

An interesting, ironically titled cop movie from 1973, directed and co-written by Stuart Rosenberg (“Cool Hand Luke”, the underrated “Voyage of the Damned”) and his co-writer Thomas Rickman (“Coal Miner’s Daughter”) that doesn't get talked about all that often. The title character played by Walter Matthau never once cracks a smile, and of all the cop movies of the late 60s and early 70s, this might just be the grimmest, most dour of the bunch. It’s almost as if these cops are just shy of being driven insane by their job. This makes it more believable than a “Dirty Harry”, even if the film isn’t up to the standard of “The French Connection”.

 

It certainly shows how dangerous the job can be, as there’s plenty of bodies on both sides of the law here, possibly having a higher body count than in some “Rambo” movies. The opening in particular is quite bloody and memorable, but here even the suicide jumpers follow through on their plans (which never happens in these sorts of movies). Even for 1973, the violent content must’ve been quite startling for some audiences. But the film also shows how dull, dry, and draining police work can be. Boy are these some seriously burned-out cops, and perhaps the film will be too slow and low-key for some, but I rather liked its more realistic approach. This was never meant to be “The French Connection” or “Bullitt”.

 

Wry, hangdog-looking Matthau is excellent in a fairly brooding and melancholic role, while both he and the abrasive, tactless Bruce Dern are perfectly matched. Great 70s supporting cast includes solid work by Matt Clark (who despite being a well-known character actor, goes uncredited in the opening), Mario Gallo, Anthony Zerbe, Clifton James, Paul Koslo, and especially Lou Gossett Jr.

 

Based on a late 60s Swedish novel (but seamlessly transplanted to San Francisco), this is a sorely underrated police procedural in dire need of rediscovery and fresh appraisal. If you’re a fan of 60s-70s cop movies, here’s one you might’ve missed.

 

Rating: B-