Stars: John Wayne, Richard Attenborough & Judy Gesson
Genre: Action/Crime
MPAA Rating: PG
Running Time: 111Mins
Tagline: "Detective-Lieutenant Brannigan is in London...God save the Queen!"
Discussion
I was sitting down watching the original True Grit and I was pondering how many actors have the tendency to be typecasted throughout their career. Wayne in my opining was such actor, typecasted as “The Duke of Westerns”. Without a doubt he was magnificent in westerns, yet I always wanted to see him take other roles, he seemed like a versatile actor. Anyways, during the height of crime films like Bullitt and French Connection, Wayne was offered the role of Dirty Harry, unfortunately he refused the part. I believe that in many ways he worked on this film and McQ (Another Cop Themed film) as a way of regret for not collaborating on Dirty Harry. Many actually claim that both of these movies are exact carbon copies of Dirty Harry. I beg to differ; I have yet to see Mc Q, but “Brannigan” even if it is a cop themed movie it has a completely different tone from Dirty Harry
So into the movie, Brannigan is a cop who is on the look for a wanted criminal named Ben Larkin; wanted by the Chicago Police for extortion, bribery, prostitution, and black mail. Larkin, who knows they are on his tail is out to London hiding; little does Larkin know there is an order to get him extra dictated from the country. The order to extradite Larkin is given to Brannigan, ofcourse with pleasure he takes the case. On his arrival at London, he meets Jennifer, a young lady who works for the New Scotland Yard. She takes Brannigan to meet the Commander in charge of the extradition played by a younger Richard Attenborough. But before they can take a lead on the case they find out that Larkin has been kidnapped by some thugs. Making matters more complicated. They think at first that it could be a staged kidnapped, but when they receive one of Larkin’s fingers…they know the matter is indeed serious and not staged. Brannigan and the Scotland yard team up to find out the reasons for the kidnapping, but Brannigan is also being targeted by a contracted killer, hired by Larkin.
I have to admit, even if I indeed wanted to see Wayne take on something different than a western, it is kind of funny/weird seeing him in another type of film that doesn’t concern to cowboys and gunslingers…still I enjoyed it. One of the best things about the movie is that is lighter in tone and quite comical, not taking itself too seriously. I found hilarious Brannigan’s entrances: “Knock, Knock” after breaking down a door. Or how he always mentions he is hungry and wants a bite, yet never gets any sort of food. I was also cracking up how he doesn’t say “Oh Shit” he instead says “Oh Nuts” Also, not to mention the ridiculous, unnecessary yet comical bar fight scene. Honestly, this movie wasn’t all too bad, even if it was a generic and formulaic action vehicle. For Wayne fans, you won’t be disappointed. theatrical trailer
DVD
I got this movie pretty cheap on Amazon; you can find it there for no more than 6 dollars, got mine for $6.51. The only bad thing about this DVD is that it’s bare bones, not special features.
Video
For an older generation DVD, the picture quality wasn’t all too bad. The source material seemed to be in good shape because I can’t notice any scratches or bloats on the screen. I did notice softness in the picture that could have been retouched.
Audio
The audio was pretty mediocre, it is the original mono. If you have a surround sound systems don’t expect any clear audio here. I had to raise my volume to 34 to get a clear range from both the dialogue and action.
Bottom Line
I would buy it, I don’t think rental stores or Netflix carry this movie, and besides the movie has John Wayne, which you honestly can’t lose.
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