defendant were ignored here and a tragedy resulted.The picture ties in the killing of an innocent man and corruption of city officials very well. The fear of being labeled a homosexual is still another theme in this remarkable film.

idealistic officer named Det. Sgt. Joe Leland Frank Sinatra . He is the son of a policeman and believes in his work. The victim is the son of a prominent politician, who has been is brutally murdered. What Leland discovers in his investigation is far more than the murdered man's sexual preference, but rather the lengths others will go to cover it up. With Dave Schoenstein Jack Klugman as his partner, they inadvertently discover a powerful and ruthless organization called 'Rainbo'. Key to the murder, a puzzling suicide and to Rainbo are Dr. Wendell Roberts Lloyd Bochner and William Windom. If you'll look closely, you see a young Robert Duvall and Tony Musante. The importance of this film are the taboo subjects explored as the investigation continues. Unlike today, such subjects did not warrant prominence and yet this film offers them up raw and unfettered. Lee Remick gives a stirring performance as Karen Leland. All in all, an excellent film from a changing time. ****

backed by a good script and fine supporting cast, including Lee Remick one of my favourite actresses as his soon-to-be ex-wife, battling problems of her own, dealt with in flashbacks again, probably simplistically, but at least with some style and intelligence ; and Lloyd Bochner as the doctor with the high-price clientele and secrets he'd rather not share. Not to mention an outstanding and sadly forgotten theme by Jerry Goldsmith. Yes, it's very sixties, but it's *good* sixties; and in the best traditions of film noir too. All in all, it reminds me of a quote from Lee Remick herself: "I make movies for grownups. When Hollywood starts making them again, I'll start acting in them again".Amen.

but I appreciated it.The detective investigating the crime is played by Frank Sinatra. Sinatra is odd in that although he's a very good cop he's also stuck with a liberal conscience--and his conscience troubles him throughout the film. What also bothers him is that although he's extremely effective on his job, other cops seem willing to do almost anything to rack up the same arrest and conviction statistics as Sinatra--and he soon gets sick of this. His disgust, however, is a lot to get a lot worse--when a case involving corruption in his department and in the city drops into his lap.I really liked this film. Much of it was because although it was very adult, it never really seemed gratuitous. It also brought up a lot of wonderful moral questions about being a cop--and clearly was the influence for such later films as "McQ", "Dirty Harry" and "Serpico" though this last one is based on a real case . Well worth seeing-- and an excellent performance by Sinatra. In fact, it's all so good that I am shocked that its overall IMDb score is less than 7. This film is anything but ordinary.By the way, this film is very blunt and crude on occasions when it talks about homosexuals--and is sure to offend some. However, despite this, it's a very progressive film for its time and actually is quite sympathetic in how it deals with the subject....sympathetic and sad.

random police raids, usually because the cops didn't get their payoffs. In those days just being in one of those places could constitute an arrest for disorderly conduct and if you touched a member of the same sex and not necessarily in a sexual way that could land you in jail for some time, unless you had the money to pay your way out.A man's been killed and suspicion falls on a street punk played by Tony Musante. Frank Sinatra plays a cop who has a specialty in extracting confessions and he does it the hard way, without the rubber hose. Miranda was new at the time, so they can't beat it out of Musante as per normal. Musante confesses he gets convicted and he gets the still operative electric chair.But right after Musante is killed, prominent citizen William Windom jumps to his death from the roof at Aqueduct racetrack. Sinatra is again the detective and connections are established with the two deaths. Sinatra's investigations are opening a lot of doors powerful folks just don't want opened. In this he has the support of Windom's widow Jacqueline Bisset.Sinatra's dealing with some personal problems at the same time. His marriage is breaking up because it turns out his wife, Lee Remick is a nymphomaniac. Still it's the story of the two gay related deaths that dominate the film.The Detective boasts one of Frank Sinatra's best latter film performances. Sinatra eschews the hipster mannerisms and delivers a straightforward performance as an honest Serpico like cop in the midst of big town corruption. In the supporting cast I liked Ralph Meeker as a sleazy cop on the take who's quite willing to stop Sinatra any way he can. Also Jack Klugman as Frank's honest sidekick and Renee Taylor as his wife.Forty years after The Detective came out who would have thought in 1968 that we would have something called the Gay Officers Action League among the police fraternal societies in New York and many other metropolitan police forces. Their organized presence in police departments have gone a long way in bringing a sensitivity and awareness for the GLBT community.And this review is dedicated to two out police officers now retired from the job that I knew and worked with in New York City when I was at Crime Victims Board. To Detectives Vanessa Ferro and Mark Caruso who are the finest of the finest in New York and to all the other out gay law enforcement officials.

catch the killer. The police check out places that Leikman usually went to like bars waterfront piers and gyms and come up with someone that was seen hanging out with Teddy most of the time a young street hustler named Felix Tesla, Tony Musante. Tracked down to Coney Island in a boardwalk hotel Felix is apprehended and taken into the police station for questioning. A the police station Det. Leland's skillful interrogation of Felix gets him to break down and confess to Leikman's murder. Later convicted of murder and sentenced to death we see Felix strapped down in the electric chair and being executed. Det.Leland is one of the witnesses to Felix's execution. Some time later a young woman Norma Maciver, Jacqueline Bisset, sees Det. Leland at the police station about the death of her husband Colin, William Windon. Colin was killed when he jumped or fell to his death from the roof of the grandstand of a racetrack and his death was determined by he police to be a suicide, Norma says that Colin was murdered and wants Det. Leland to re-open the case.Det. Leland agrees to look into Colins death thinking that it would just be a routine matter for him to confirm the original police report and put the thoughts out of Norma's mind that her husband was murdered to rest once in for all. As Det. Leland begins to investigate Colin Maciver's death he starts to realize that he was wrong, shockingly wrong, about what happened to Colin Macvier! Even worse towards the end of the movie Det. Leland sees that in some way, in Colin Macivers suicide, he had a connection to his death that goes back to the Liekman/Tesla case that he solved some time ago! A good and well rounder story with very good acting especially from Mr.Sinatra makes "The Detective" stand out today above the scores of crime and police movies made back in the 1960's and even much later. The film really hits the mark with a ground-breaking script about issues, like closet homosexually and police and political corruption, that just weren't addressed in motion pictures back then. there's also in the film a good supporting cast, with future stars, that's just too numerous to mention here.Not to be overlooked is Llyod Bochner, Dr. Wendell Roberts, who in a small but important role reveals the truth about Norma's husbands, Colin Maciver's, tragic death that leaves Det. Joe Leland almost speechless! The shocking revelations that Dr. Roberts brings out has Let. Leland wonder if being a cop is worth all the dangers risks as well as surprises that the Teddy Leikman/Filex Tesla case eventually brought for him! And most of all it has Det. Leland also wonder if police work is what he's really cut out to do!

world of the late 60's, with some fascinating scenes shot at one of the bars, with a few faces that have been seen in other films, and a surreal atmosphere. Some have called this gay-bashing, though it seems more to be a portrayal of the secretive and closeted world of that time. In any event, the threat of being outed is an essential part of the story, and that element is quite dramatic and well done, with William Windom quite believable as the closeted and married gay man at the center of Rainbow. A tough movie of a detective caught up in a weird world of public corruption and personal crisis, catch it if you can.