| Freebie and The Bean | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Rush |
| Produced by | Richard Rush |
| Written by | Robert Kaufman Floyd Mutrux |
| Starring | James Caan Alan Arkin Loretta Swit Jack Kruschen Mike Kellin Alex Rocco Linda Marsh Valerie Harper |
| Cinematography | László Kovács |
| Editing by | Michael McLean Fredric Steinkamp |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | December 25, 1974 |
| Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Freebie and The Bean is a 1974 action-comedy film about two San Francisco police detectives who have one goal in life, bringing down a local hijacking boss. The picture, a precursor to the buddy cop film genre popularized a decade later, stars James Caan, Alan Arkin, Loretta Swit and Valerie Harper. Harper was nominated for the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year.[1] The film was directed by Richard Rush. Stanley Kubrick called Freebie and the Bean the best film of 1974. Arkin and Caan would not appear in another movie together again until the 2008 film adaptation of Get Smart.
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Freebie and Bean are detectives with the San Francisco police. While distracted by his suspicions that his wife is having affair, Bean and his partner investigate racketeer Red Meyers, only to learn that a hit man is after Meyers as well.
Key scenes were shot on location in early 1973 in San Francisco at Candlestick Park, then home of the Major League Baseball San Francisco Giants, and now the home of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers. One memorable chase sequence was filmed on the (now-demolished) Embarcadero Freeway, which ends with Caan and Arkin's car crashing into an apartment building next to the freeway. After the car lands in an elderly couple's bedroom as they are watching television, Caan and Arkin exit the car and nonchalantly walk out of the apartment. The husband remarks, "Television is getting too violent."
Plans to distribute the film in early 1974 were shelved due to concerns about competition with Peter Hyams' similar Busting. Freebie and the Bean was finally issued as a Christmas release, and became a substantial box office success.
The film was finally released on DVD in 2009 through Warner Home Video's Warner Archive label.
A short-lived television series based on the film and sharing its title, starring Tom Mason and Hector Elizondo in the title roles, was broadcast on CBS on Saturday nights at 9:00 PM in December 1980 and January 1981.[2][3]
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