This thrilling movie is a genuine ripping yarn with intrigue , mystery , tension , shotguns , car crashes , and outstanding plot twists . An enjoyable all action seventies nostalgia trip , being fast paced and rightly developed . The picture is packed with a stuffed ragbag of stash , special arms , cash and cars . Here Big John Wayne/Jim Brannigan takes on London in Chicago Style . As Chicago police lieutenant Jim Brannigan is sent to the UK , as he travels across the Atlantic to London . His mission : to arrest and to escort organized crime boss Ben Larkin (John Vernon) back to the USA but Larkin's hit-men (Daniel Pilon , James Booth) prepare an ambush for Brannigan . Along the way , Branningan is helped by two British Police Inspectors : Cmdr. Swann (Richard Attenborough) and Jennifer (Judy Geeson) .
Nice and agreeable thriller with a great cast and a sensational John Wayne against his nemesis magnificently played by John Vernon in one of his meatiest roles as a villain who has fled the States rather than face a grand jury indictment . Humor , noisy action , thrills and suspense abound in this fun film . One of Duke's last movies with a more work modern day assignment than most , here he stars in the somewhat unfamiliar character of a two-fisted and violent Chicago police officer in ¨Dirty Harry¨ style . Stepping out of his ordinary Westerns and into the character of a tough police man , Big Duke goes in search of revenge on the mobster who killed his rookie colleague . John Wayne starred in this film , along with ¨McQ¨ , because he missed out on starring in Dirty Harry (1971) . Although , it was originally intended as a vehicle for Steve McQueen , it was heavily rewritten for John Wayne . Here Wayne fits perfectly to this peculiar role , giving a top-notch and sympathetic acting , as usual . Wayne's image still remained impervious during the seventies surviving through an overlong career . Wayne unmistakeably a legendary figure of the West and by that time he would go playing good Westerns , as he triumphantly survived his own era with titles as ¨True grit¨ in which he won an Academy Award ,¨Big Jake¨, ¨Train robbers¨ , ¨The cowboys¨ , ¨Rooster Cogburn¨ , his last film ¨The Shootist¨, and , of course , his two final thrillers : ¨McQ¨ and ¨Brannigan¨ . Even more old-fashioned that Wayne's former police drama ¨McQ¨(here playing a Chigago Police cop) , ¨Brannigan is also more amusing and entertaining . It rambles a bit , but then it does have full of suspense , intrigue and action . In ¨Brannigan¨ there are also brawls and punches at a typical London pub . Along with spectacular car races , bounds and leaps across Tower Bridge . Stirring film in which there are nail-biting action scenes , intrigue , blasts , suspenseful set pieces and a big star as well as an excellent plethora of secondaries such as : Judy Geeson , Richard Attenborough , Mel Ferrer , Ralph Meeker , Daniel Pilon , James Booth , Bruce Glover and brief acting by Lesley Anne Down as a prostitute . It packs a colorful cinematography by Gerry Fisher , showing splendidly the habitual London sightseeing : Big Ben , Parliament , Trafalgar Square , Regency Street , Buckingham Palace , Piccadilly Circus , Tower Bridge , among others . Besides, a moving as well as exciting musical score by Dominic Frontiere .
This tough crime drama was well directed by Douglas Hickock who was quoted at the time as saying that he just wanted to make a John Wayne film . Hickock was an expert at blazing action scenes and realizing acceptable films until his early death at 59 , being his film debut : ¨It's All Over Town¨ and his final ¨Dirty Dozen: The Series¨, TV series . Being Father of directors Anthony Hickox and James D.R. Hickox . Douglas began as an assistant director and second unit director in the 1950's . Before working on feature films , he also directed hundreds of commercials . As part of a bequest , the Douglas Hickox Award is given to a British director on their debut feature . Douglas made all kinds of genres and playing them known actors , such as Drama : ¨Sins¨ with Joan Collins , ¨Mistral's daughter¨ with Stacy Keach ; Black comedy : ¨Entertaining Mr Sloane¨ with Harry Andrews ; Monster movie : ¨Behemoth , the sea monster¨ co-directed by Eugene Lorie with Gene Evans ; Action : ¨Sky riders¨ with James Coburn ; Thriller : ¨blackout¨ with Richard Widmark , ¨Sitting Target¨ with Oliver Reed ; Warlike : ¨Zulu dawn¨ with Peter O'Toole ; a Sherlock movie : ¨The Hound of Baskervilles¨ with Ian Richardson and his best film was ¨Theatre of blood¨ an ironical terror/comedy with Vincent Price .
Nice and agreeable thriller with a great cast and a sensational John Wayne against his nemesis magnificently played by John Vernon in one of his meatiest roles as a villain who has fled the States rather than face a grand jury indictment . Humor , noisy action , thrills and suspense abound in this fun film . One of Duke's last movies with a more work modern day assignment than most , here he stars in the somewhat unfamiliar character of a two-fisted and violent Chicago police officer in ¨Dirty Harry¨ style . Stepping out of his ordinary Westerns and into the character of a tough police man , Big Duke goes in search of revenge on the mobster who killed his rookie colleague . John Wayne starred in this film , along with ¨McQ¨ , because he missed out on starring in Dirty Harry (1971) . Although , it was originally intended as a vehicle for Steve McQueen , it was heavily rewritten for John Wayne . Here Wayne fits perfectly to this peculiar role , giving a top-notch and sympathetic acting , as usual . Wayne's image still remained impervious during the seventies surviving through an overlong career . Wayne unmistakeably a legendary figure of the West and by that time he would go playing good Westerns , as he triumphantly survived his own era with titles as ¨True grit¨ in which he won an Academy Award ,¨Big Jake¨, ¨Train robbers¨ , ¨The cowboys¨ , ¨Rooster Cogburn¨ , his last film ¨The Shootist¨, and , of course , his two final thrillers : ¨McQ¨ and ¨Brannigan¨ . Even more old-fashioned that Wayne's former police drama ¨McQ¨(here playing a Chigago Police cop) , ¨Brannigan is also more amusing and entertaining . It rambles a bit , but then it does have full of suspense , intrigue and action . In ¨Brannigan¨ there are also brawls and punches at a typical London pub . Along with spectacular car races , bounds and leaps across Tower Bridge . Stirring film in which there are nail-biting action scenes , intrigue , blasts , suspenseful set pieces and a big star as well as an excellent plethora of secondaries such as : Judy Geeson , Richard Attenborough , Mel Ferrer , Ralph Meeker , Daniel Pilon , James Booth , Bruce Glover and brief acting by Lesley Anne Down as a prostitute . It packs a colorful cinematography by Gerry Fisher , showing splendidly the habitual London sightseeing : Big Ben , Parliament , Trafalgar Square , Regency Street , Buckingham Palace , Piccadilly Circus , Tower Bridge , among others . Besides, a moving as well as exciting musical score by Dominic Frontiere .
This tough crime drama was well directed by Douglas Hickock who was quoted at the time as saying that he just wanted to make a John Wayne film . Hickock was an expert at blazing action scenes and realizing acceptable films until his early death at 59 , being his film debut : ¨It's All Over Town¨ and his final ¨Dirty Dozen: The Series¨, TV series . Being Father of directors Anthony Hickox and James D.R. Hickox . Douglas began as an assistant director and second unit director in the 1950's . Before working on feature films , he also directed hundreds of commercials . As part of a bequest , the Douglas Hickox Award is given to a British director on their debut feature . Douglas made all kinds of genres and playing them known actors , such as Drama : ¨Sins¨ with Joan Collins , ¨Mistral's daughter¨ with Stacy Keach ; Black comedy : ¨Entertaining Mr Sloane¨ with Harry Andrews ; Monster movie : ¨Behemoth , the sea monster¨ co-directed by Eugene Lorie with Gene Evans ; Action : ¨Sky riders¨ with James Coburn ; Thriller : ¨blackout¨ with Richard Widmark , ¨Sitting Target¨ with Oliver Reed ; Warlike : ¨Zulu dawn¨ with Peter O'Toole ; a Sherlock movie : ¨The Hound of Baskervilles¨ with Ian Richardson and his best film was ¨Theatre of blood¨ an ironical terror/comedy with Vincent Price .