The Laughing Policeman (1973)

In San Francisco, one victim in a mass murder is a police detective. His partner and a new partner investigate in the city's seamy side.

Director:

Stuart Rosenberg

Writers:

Thomas Rickman (screenplay), Per Wahlöö (based on the novel "Den skrattande polisen" by),

Stars:

Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Louis Gossett Jr.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Walter Matthau	...	Sgt. Jake Martin SFPD
Bruce Dern	...	Insp. Leo Larsen SFPD
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Insp. James Larrimore SFPD (as Lou Gossett)
Albert Paulsen	...	Henry Camerero
Anthony Zerbe	...	Lt. Nat Steiner SFPD
Val Avery	...	Insp. John Pappas SFPD
Cathy Lee Crosby	...	Kay Butler
Mario Gallo	...	Bobby Mow, Snitch
Joanna Cassidy	...	Monica, Beth's Roomate
Shirley Ballard	...	Grace Martin
William Hansen	...	Mr. Schwermer, Bus Vicitm
Don Borisenko	...	Det. Mike Collins (as Jonas Wolfe)
Paul Koslo	...	Duane Haygood, Drug Pusher
Louis Guss	...	Gus Niles / Andrew Medford - Bus Victim
Frances Lee McCain	...	Prostitute (as Lee McCain)

Storyline

A policeman is among the victims when the passengers of a late-night bus are machine-gunned. With only one semi- conscious survivor and no other witnesses, the detectives try to learn from the identities of the dead why this happened and who the killer could be. Climax includes excellent chase.

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Plot Keywords:

killer | bus | detective | mass murder | city | 

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Taglines:

Eight people know who the killer is - and they're all dead!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 1974 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

An Investigation of a Murder

Filming Locations:

1727 Laguna Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the original screenplay, Martin was supposed to laugh at the end, true to the film's title. This idea was abandoned, either by director Stuart Rosenberg or Walter Matthau during shooting.

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Goofs

When Larsen follows Henry Camerero into the back door of a gay bar, the sign outside it says "The Ramrod". However, when Camerero exits the bar through the front door a few minutes later, the sign above the door says "The Frolic Room".

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Quotes

Insp. James Larrimore SFPD: Now you got three choices: you can either go to the morgue, the hospital, or you can get in that car. The decision is yours.

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Connections

Referenced in Mikey and Nicky (1976)

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Soundtracks

"Ain't We Got Fun"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Lyrics by Ray Egan and Gus Kahn
Sung by the street performers

User Reviews

Not even close

On the strength of Walter Matthau's ability with a character, the strong cast list, and the original Swedish crime novel-which was excellent-I watched the whole thing, unfortunately. As someone else on this forum noted, it works well for about the first 15-20 minutes, then decays into pointlessness. The main character's partner, played by Bruce Dern, is brought up short repeatedly when he makes wrong moves with witnesses, or says the wrong thing, so often that I expected an explosion. Which never came, and that thread finally went nowhere. A meeting with a group of Hell's Angels went nowhere, at least for the story. I could handle the dated costumes and social norms, but after an hour or so, it seemed as if that's all the film had to offer-a tour of SF's colorful corners in the Haight-Ashbury era, with a tacked-on murder mystery that came to no satisfying conclusion. It isn't necessary for every film-made-from-a-novel to stick exactly to the original, word-for-word, but the only good part of this film was that first 15-20 minutes, which is transported fairly closely from Stockholm, where the original was set, to San Francisco. Once the bus has crashed, and the dead passengers have been identified, It goes rolling straight down Potrero Hill and into the Bay.