Brock's Last Case (1973) (TV)

Director:

David Lowell Rich

Writers:

Martin Donaldson (writer)
Alex Gordon (writer)

Release Date:

5 March 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A New York City cop who has retired to a small Western town is drawn into the local case of an Indian who is accused of murdering a sheriff. |

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Native American | Framed For Murder | Police Detective | Retirement

Cast

Richard Widmark	...	Lieutenant Max Brock
Henry Darrow	...	Arthur Goldencorn
Beth Brickell	...	Ellen Ashley
David Huddleston	...	Jack Dawson
Henry Beckman	...	Jake Hinkley
Will Geer	...	J. Smiley Krenshaw
John Anderson	...	Joe Cuspis
Michael Burns	...	Stretch Willis
Pat Morita	...	Sam Wong
Victor Mohica	...	Red-Eye
Jean Allison	...	Alma Gamm
Vaughn Taylor	...	Doc Walters
Dub Taylor	...	Judge Robbins
Rudy Bond	...	McNulty
Richard Hale	...	Hathaway

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG

Company:

Norton Simon Inc.

Trivia:

Originally meant to serve as the pilot for star Richard Widmark's first (and only) television series, "Brock's Last Case" met with indifference at NBC, and the network instead asked Widmark to reprise "Madigan" from the 1968 Universal theatrical film that earned high ratings when telecast on the network. Widmark and Universal agreed, and the star made his TV series bow in the "Madigan" segment of the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie which aired in the 1972-1973 season. "Brock's Last Case" aired as a "World Premiere Movie" on NBC during the same season.

Busted pilot

One of those NBC-TV "World Premiere" movies that also served as the pilot for a series. Richard Widmark plays Brock, a weary N.Y.C. detective who retires to a farm in California where he hopes to grow oranges, but, wouldn't you know it?, he finds crime there, too. Widmark is good, as always, as is Henry Darrow, whom the tough former cop assists when he is framed for murder, but the best moments are at the beginning when Widmark is still on the Manhattan beat, finding the average law-abiding citizen as disagreeable as the criminals. It's little wonder that when Widmark did enter the TV series sweepstakes, it was as "Madigan," the N.Y.C. detective he had memorably played several years earlier in a Universal theatrical film.