When Paul Newman says about one of the cops in Fort Apache The Bronx that 'he thinks I'm a liberal' he means liberal for the NYPD. I doubt if Paul Newman would have ever voted for Murphy the irreverent uniformed police officer if he ran for public office.
Still Newman has got some real issues to deal with assigned to the infamous Fort Apache or as it is known officially in the film and in real life the 41 Precinct of the South Bronx. That neighborhood came into the public consciousness during a trip through it by President Jimmy Carter in his administration. The lawlessness of the South Bronx area became well known as well.
Newman's been there and seen it all, he's even been a detective for a while, but his irreverent attitude got some guy with juice all bent out of shape with him and calls were made. He takes the neighborhood for what it is, his fellow officers for what they are, and people in general. It's really the right way to live. He respects the blue wall of silence about ratting out his fellow officers for infractions, minor and some major.
The blue wall of silence however isn't a license to murder and when to of his fellow officers throw a young Latino man off an apartment roof during a riot, that's where it has to stop. Still it's not easy to snitch on any fellow officer for any reason.
A big part of the problem is caused by the simultaneous murder of two uniformed officers at the same of an arrival of a new captain in the 41 played by Ed Asner. Asner's one hardnosed by the book type of cop who causes more problems than he cures. It's during a riot that his policies spark that the murder of the young man occurs. A key scene in the film is with Asner and Sully Boyar the captain he's replacing. Reminds me very much of when Humphrey Bogart took over the Caine from Tom Tully.
Newman and Ken Wahl have a nice easy chemistry as the older and younger cops in the squad cars. Their scenes are little more earthy than what you might see on Dragnet or Adam-12, still they make for good viewing. Wahl's a decent young kid as well, sadly mindful of what snitching on fellow officers could do to his career and he's not as far along as Newman towards that pension.
One major flaw of the film is that it doesn't show any of the decent citizens in the area. The bad guys and the rioters are all you see in the area. Even the one somewhat decent character, a Puerto Rican nurse played by Rachel Ticotin who gets involved with Newman, has a heroin habit. The film was rightly criticized by Hispanic groups, something that probably the very liberal Mr. Newman was taken aback with.
A more balanced portrayal of the citizenry of the South Bronx could have made this film a classic.
Still Newman has got some real issues to deal with assigned to the infamous Fort Apache or as it is known officially in the film and in real life the 41 Precinct of the South Bronx. That neighborhood came into the public consciousness during a trip through it by President Jimmy Carter in his administration. The lawlessness of the South Bronx area became well known as well.
Newman's been there and seen it all, he's even been a detective for a while, but his irreverent attitude got some guy with juice all bent out of shape with him and calls were made. He takes the neighborhood for what it is, his fellow officers for what they are, and people in general. It's really the right way to live. He respects the blue wall of silence about ratting out his fellow officers for infractions, minor and some major.
The blue wall of silence however isn't a license to murder and when to of his fellow officers throw a young Latino man off an apartment roof during a riot, that's where it has to stop. Still it's not easy to snitch on any fellow officer for any reason.
A big part of the problem is caused by the simultaneous murder of two uniformed officers at the same of an arrival of a new captain in the 41 played by Ed Asner. Asner's one hardnosed by the book type of cop who causes more problems than he cures. It's during a riot that his policies spark that the murder of the young man occurs. A key scene in the film is with Asner and Sully Boyar the captain he's replacing. Reminds me very much of when Humphrey Bogart took over the Caine from Tom Tully.
Newman and Ken Wahl have a nice easy chemistry as the older and younger cops in the squad cars. Their scenes are little more earthy than what you might see on Dragnet or Adam-12, still they make for good viewing. Wahl's a decent young kid as well, sadly mindful of what snitching on fellow officers could do to his career and he's not as far along as Newman towards that pension.
One major flaw of the film is that it doesn't show any of the decent citizens in the area. The bad guys and the rioters are all you see in the area. Even the one somewhat decent character, a Puerto Rican nurse played by Rachel Ticotin who gets involved with Newman, has a heroin habit. The film was rightly criticized by Hispanic groups, something that probably the very liberal Mr. Newman was taken aback with.
A more balanced portrayal of the citizenry of the South Bronx could have made this film a classic.