Prince of the City
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| Prince of the City | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Sidney Lumet |
| Produced by | Burtt Harris |
| Written by | Sidney Lumet Jay Presson Allen(screenplay) Robert Daley (book) |
| Starring | Treat Williams Jerry Orbach Richard Foronjy Lindsay Crouse |
| Music by | Paul Chihara |
| Cinematography | Andrzej Bartkowiak |
| Editing by | Jack Fitzstephens |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures and Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | August 21, 1981 |
| Running time | 167 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8,600,000 |
| Gross revenue | $8,124,257 (USA) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Prince of the City is a 1981 film about an NYPD officer who chooses to expose corruption. It stars Treat Williams and Jerry Orbach and was directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on Robert Daley's 1978 book of the same title.
The DVD was released on May 22, 2007, without the commentary by Sidney Lumet that had been announced in an online chat on February 21, 2006 on the Home Theater Forum by a Warner Home Video representative. However, Lumet appears on the DVD in a companion featurette by Laurent Bouzereau.
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[edit] Taglines
- A cop is turning. Nobody's safe.
- He broke the one law no cop could violate: he betrayed his partners.
[edit] Production
Orion Pictures bought Robert Daley's book for $500,000 in 1978.[1] Daley was a former New York Deputy Police Commissioner for Public Affairs who wrote about Robert Leuci, an NYPD detective whose testimony and secret tape recordings helped indict 52 members of the Special Investigation Unit and convict them of income tax evasion.[1] Originally, Brian De Palma was going to direct with David Rabe adapting the book[2] and Robert De Niro playing Leuci but the project fell through.[3] Sidney Lumet came aboard to direct under two conditions: he did not want a big name movie star playing Leuci because he did not "want to spend two reels getting over past associations,"[3] and the movie's running time would be at least three hours long.[2] Lumet cast Treat Williams after spending three weeks talking to him and listening to the actor read the script and then reading it again with 50 other cast members.[4] In order to research the role, the actor spent a month learning about police work, hung out at 23rd Precinct in New York City, went on a drug bust and lived with Leuci for some time.[5] By the time rehearsals started, Williams said, "I was thinking like a cop."[5] Lumet felt guilty about the two-dimensional way he treated cops in Serpico and said that Prince of the City was his way to rectify this depiction.[4] He and Jay Presson Allen wrote a 240-page script in 30 days.[2] The film was budgeted at $10 million but the director was able to bring it in for under $8.6 million.[4]
[edit] Reaction
Orion decided to open the film initially in select theaters in order to allow good reviews and word-of-mouth to build.[1] They were unable to buy television advertising because of the cost and relied heavily on print ads, including an unusual three-page spread in the New York Times.[1]
Some law enforcement officials criticized the film for glamorizing Leuci and other corrupt detectives while portraying most of the prosecutors who uncovered the crimes negatively.[6] John Guido, Chief of Inspectional Services said, "The corrupt guys are the only good guys in the film."[6] Nicholas Scoppetta, the Special Prosecutor who helped convince Leuci to go undercover against his fellow officers, said, "In the film, it seems to be the prosecutors who are disregarding the issue of where real justice lies and the prosecutors seem to be as bad or worse than the corrupt police."[6]
The film was so authentic that the head of the DEA called Lumet and wanted a copy of the movie for their training program.[4]
[edit] Trivia
- The character of Daniel Ciello is based on real-life NYPD Narcotics Detective Bob Leuci. After he quit the job, Leuci turned novelist and wrote the gritty police dramas Snitch, Odessa Beach and Captain Butterfly.
- The film originally premiered on TV in a 4-hour version, introducing new material that had been cut for the theatrical release, which runs 167 minutes. This material isn't featured on the "Special Edition" double DVD.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Harmetz, Aljean. "How Prince of the City is being "platformed"", New York Times, July 18, 1981.
- ^ a b c Ansen, David. "New York's Finest", Newsweek, August 24, 1981.
- ^ a b Corry, John. "Prince of the City Explores a Cop's Anguish", New York Times, August 9, 1981.
- ^ a b c d Scott, Jay. "Director Sidney Lumet Fears for the Future of "Real" Films", Globe and Mail, August 19, 1981.
- ^ a b Lawson, Carol. "Treat Williams: For the moment, Prince of the City", New York Times, August 18, 1981.
- ^ a b c Raab, Selwyn. "Movie critcized as glamorizing police corruption", New York Times, August 30, 1981.
[edit] External links
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