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IMDb > Madigan (1968)
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Madigan (1968) -- Open-ended Trailer from Universal Home Video

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Overview

User Rating:
6.7/10   1,043 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 19% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Don Siegel
Writers:
Richard Dougherty (novel)
Abraham Polonsky (screenplay)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Madigan on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
March 1968 (Austria) more
Genre:
Crime | Drama more
Tagline:
"If Detective Madigan kept his eyes on the killer instead of the broad..." more
Plot:
Policemen Bonaro and Madigan lose their guns to fugitive Barney Benesch. As compensation, the two NYC... more | full synopsis
User Comments:
Great bookends, sagging middle more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Richard Widmark ... Det. Daniel Madigan

Henry Fonda ... Commissioner Anthony X. Russell

Inger Stevens ... Julia Madigan
Harry Guardino ... Det. Rocco Bonaro
James Whitmore ... Chief Insp. Charles Kane
Susan Clark ... Tricia Bentley
Michael Dunn ... Midget Castiglione
Steve Ihnat ... Barney Benesch
Don Stroud ... Hughie
Sheree North ... Jonesy
Warren Stevens ... Capt. Ben Williams
Raymond St. Jacques ... Dr. Taylor
Bert Freed ... Chief of Detectives Hap Lynch
Harry Bellaver ... Mickey Dunn
Frank Marth ... Lt. James Price
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Additional Details

Runtime:
101 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The Portrait hanging in Commissioner Russell's office is of Theodore Roosevelt, who at one time was New York City Police Commissioner. more
Movie Connections:
References Citizen Kane (1941) more

FAQ

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful:-
Great bookends, sagging middle, 1 February 2005
6/10
Author: Brandt Sponseller from New York City

Detective Daniel Madigan (Richard Widmark) and Detective Rocco Bonaro (Harry Guardino) enter a squalid Manhattan apartment building to pick up Barney Benesch (Steve Ihnat), who is wanted for questioning on a case in Brooklyn. When Benesch manages to take Madigan and Bonaro's guns away and escape, Police Commissioner Anthony X Russell (Henry Fonda) tells them that they have 72 hours to get Benesch back, or else.

Out of all of the Don Siegel-directed films I've seen to date, this was the biggest disappointment. The film begins and ends with fantastic action sequences--well directed, well shot, with a nice, gritty feel, but in between the film felt overlong, overly complex, and far too soap-opera-like for my tastes.

It could be due to Madigan being adapted from a novel, but Abraham Polonsky and Howard Rodman's ("Henri Simoun" here) script includes so many different threads, most of them inconsequential to the outcome of the film, that it almost begins to lose coherence in the middle. It's a bad sign when the major arc of the story is completed, but characters still have to engage in a number of "But what about so and so?" verbal tags at the end of the film to try to satisfy the audience.

It feels almost as if Madigan is made for two entirely different crowds--one, fans of gritty crime action films, and the other, fans of realist dramas cum soap operas. I can't imagine the former caring about most of the material in the middle (unless it had a pay off towards their genre), and I can't imagine the latter being interested in the action scenes. Most of the material in the middle, although it has some more than admirable dialogue and decent performances, hinges on a complex web of personal and professional relationships--various romantic affairs, questionable relations between the police and citizens, and so on. It all comes to naught in the end. Also not helping is Henry Fonda's odd aloofness. Again, it might work if it had some other payoff, but it doesn't.

Still, the positive aspects were good enough to not bring my score below a 6. The film might also play better on a second viewing, where you better know how to adjust your expectations as it goes along. On a first, uninformed viewing, the beginning is likely to gear you up for a great, suspenseful and witty ride, leaving you disappointed in the middle, until you finally adjust and then you're awakened again with action at the end.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Madigan (1968)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
how was madigan brought back to life for the tv show? spencer21215
Note the extra scene at the end; 'happy' ending chris-rogers2
Inger Stevens Noir-It-All
TV trivia odoinn
Widmark borrowed from his bag of tricks Noir-It-All
The French title claude-rouyer
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