The Detective

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gordon Douglas directs. Joseph F. Biroc behind the camera. Jerry Goldsmith scores. Robert L. Simpson cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $4.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 258 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by Gordon Douglas, shot by Joseph F. Biroc. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Jerry Goldsmith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Robert L. Simpson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Frank Sinatra and Lee Remick and Ralph Meeker carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "An adult look at a police detective.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0062883 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 79 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Joseph F. Biroc

Original score

Jerry Goldsmith

Editing

Robert L. Simpson

Costume design

Donald Brooks

Makeup / hair

Layne Britton

Runtime

114 min · 1h 54m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$4,490,000

Box office

$6,500,000

Return

145% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

The Detective (1968) ↗

Also by

Gordon Douglas

• 
  Pay As You Exit

  1936 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Fishy Tales

  1937 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Feed 'em and Weep

  1938 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Glove Taps

  1937 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Fortunes of Captain Blood

  1950 · ★ 7.3
• 
  If You Knew Susie

  1948 · ★ 7.3

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Detective (1968) - Theatrical Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• talisencrw2016-08-04
  ★ 8/10

  As I neared the big 5,000 in terms of movies watched (at least according to my admittedly-crapola memory and IMDb), for some odd reason, I thought of Frank Sinatra, whose films I had seen quite a few of recently, and I decided to check out the private-eye films he made in the 60's, when his superstar status, both in terms of acting and performing, began to wane, as tastes changed in that tumultuous decade. Apart from 'Them!', 'In Like Flint' and a truckload of Our Gang comedic shorts from way back when, I hadn't seen any of director Douglas' works, though he's fine with the material and does quite a good, if craftmanlike, job here. Sinatra must have been comfortable with him--they worked together earlier in films as diverse as Doris Day's 'So This Is Love' and the Rat Pack's 'Robin and the 7 Hoods'. I loved how he was obviously fascinated with Lee Remick's eyes and really took advantage of Panavision's 2.35:1 aspect ratio to show how captivated she was with Sinatra's Joe Leland and therefore couldn't dismiss him entirely from her life. It struck me, after recently seeing films from just a few years before, like 'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'Some Came Running', how Sinatra's party days were starting here to catch up with him, but his work here was solid, and I would heartily recommend it, both for fans of his work and of detective tales from the period in general. I now look forward to others he did in the era (also for Douglas): 'Tony Rome' and its sequel, 'Lady in Cement'. Odd that he wanted his wife-at-the-time, Mia Farrow, to play the part that eventually went to Jacqueline Bisset, that she refused (the film she was working on was behind schedule), so he went to the set of 'Rosemary's Baby' and served her divorce papers! Ouch!

  Read full review ↓
• John Chard2019-01-02
  ★ 7/10

  Joe Leland - A decent cop on a murky landscape. The Detective is directed by Gordon Douglas and adapted to screenplay by Abby Mann from the novel written by Roderick Thorp. It stars Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker, Jack Klugman, Horace MacMahon, Lloyd Bochner and Jacqueline Bissset. A Panavision/Deluxe Color production with photography by Joseph Biroc and music by Jerry Goldsmith. When a homosexual man is found mutilated and murdered, top New York detective Joe Leland (Sinatra) identifies who he believes is the perpetrator and coerces a confessional out of him. With the suspect tried, convicted and executed it appears case closed. Yet as Leland's moral compass gets bent out of shape, he finds his life, the company he keeps, and the case itself are revealing distortions of life changing proportions. Roderick Thorp would become a known name in the 80s when his novel "Nothing Lasts Forever" was adapted to screen as Die Hard. "The Detective" in written form is not as good as that novel is, so it's not surprising that screen writer Abby Mann took some liberties to smooth out the novel and produce a more serious and focussed narrative. There's no getting away from the "dated" tag that is bandied about for this picture, the attitudes to homosexuality and the policing of the era ensures that is a case. However, if you can accept the time the film was made then it's an engrossing character study that simultaneously lifts up rocks to find corruption and brutality underneath. Pic is boosted by a superb cast, where along with the big name headliners we find the likes of Robert Duval and Tom Atkins in support. But it is Sinatra holding court, he is nicely restrained, not making Leland a caricature who is given over to histrionics. Leland's cynicism and romantic turmoil is essayed superbly by Sinatra, so much so you easily buy into his conflict of interests. Remick also shines, some of her best work is here playing a frustratingly complex love interest. Both actors benefit from being under the watchful eye of a good old pro like Gordon Douglas. The story holds strong as a mystery due to having another case for Leland to solve, where sure enough it links to the first case that opens up a can of worms across the board. The social climate being exposed here in New York is not pleasant, but always it's fascinating, as is the back and forth examination of Leland's personal life. It's arguably a film of awkward blends? part hardboiled policer, part tender character study of a man at odds with not only those around him, but also of a society changing rapidly. Yet it definitely works on both of those terms and therefore comes very much recommended. 7/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• AR

  Arcola Pictures

  US

• 

  20th Century Fox

  US

Key crew

• ProducerAaron Rosenberg
• Visual EffectsArt Cruickshank
• Visual EffectsL.B. Abbott
• Assistant DirectorRichard Lang
• Unit Production ManagerDavid Silver
• SoundDavid Dockendorf
• SoundHarry Lindgren
• OrchestratorWarren Barker
• Costume DesignDonald Brooks
• Set DecorationJerry Wunderlich
• Makeup ArtistLayne Britton
• HairstylistEdith Lindon
• Makeup ArtistDaniel C. Striepeke
• Art DirectionWilliam J. Creber
• Costume DesignMoss Mabry
• EditorRobert L. Simpson
• Set DecorationWalter M. Scott
• Makeup ArtistBen Nye
• Art DirectionJack Martin Smith
• NovelRoderick Thorp

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• homophobia
• police detective
• lgbt
• gay theme

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1968-05-28PG

Also known as

International titles

• Crime Sem PerdãoBR