The Offence (1972)

A burned-out British police detective finally snaps while interrogating a suspected child molester.

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

John Hopkins (play), John Hopkins (screenplay)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, Vivien Merchant

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sean Connery	...	Detective Sergeant Johnson
Trevor Howard	...	Lieutenant Cartwright, Detective Superintendant
Vivien Merchant	...	Maureen Johnson
Ian Bannen	...	Kenneth Baxter
Peter Bowles	...	Detective Inspector Cameron
Derek Newark	...	Frank Jessard
Ronald Radd	...	Lawson
John Hallam	...	Panton
Richard Moore	...	Garrett
Anthony Sagar	...	Hill
Maxine Gordon	...	Janie Edmonds, the Raped Girl
Hilda Fenemore	...	Woman on Common
Rhoda Lewis	...	Woman at School
Cynthia Lund	...	Child at School
Howard Goorney	...	Lambert

Storyline

In Sidney Lumet's harrowing portrayal of police brutality, Detective Sergeant Johnson has been with the British Police Force for 20 years. In that time, the countless murders, rapes and other serious crimes he has had to investigate has left a terrible mark on him. His anger and aggression that had been suppressed for years finally surfaces when interviewing a suspect, Baxter, whom Johnson is convinced is the man that has been carrying out a series of brutal attacks on young girls. Throughout the interview Johnson brutally beats Baxter and during this ordeal he inadvertently reveals that the state of his own mind is probably no better than that of the offenders who committed the crimes that disgusted Johnson originally.

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Plot Keywords:

police | police brutality | murder | child molester | pedophile | 

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Taglines:

After 20 years what Detective-Sergeant Johnson has seen and done is destroying him.

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1973 (Turkey)

Also Known As:

A Sevícia

Filming Locations:

Arncliffe, Wildridings, Bracknell, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tantallon

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last film of Anthony Sagar.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Detective Sergeant Johnson: God! Oh God!

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Connections

Featured in Inside 'Diamonds Are Forever' (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Groupie"
(uncredited)
Music by Barry Stoller
De Wolfe Music Ltd

User Reviews

A Universal Police Story

The Offence came out in 1972 as Sean Connery was desperately trying to break away from his James Bond image. It became sadly one of long list of critically acclaimed performances that flopped badly at the box office.

That's a pity because he's really quite a marvel in this role as detective sergeant Johnson one of a number of investigators on the trail of a serial rapist.

When the perpetrator is caught Connery interrogates him alone and so loses it he ends up beating the suspect to death. The rest of the film explains the reason for his mental breakdown.

Although Connery received the critical acclaim here, my favorite in this film is Ian Bannen as the perpetrator. The best scenes in the film are Connery interrogating Bannen and even though it costs him his life, Bannen manages to lay Connery's soul open to the bone.

Sidney Lumet did many films with Sean Connery with greater and lesser success critically and commercially. Though the location is in the United Kingdom, this could have been set in any large municipal police department. In fact The Offence bears no small resemblance to William Wyler's classic The Detective Story.

In another way this resembles Nightmare Alley which Tyrone Power begged Darryl Zanuck to let him do so he could expand his range and get away from the image of the caped swashbuckling hero. Zanuck let him do it, but like with Connery in The Offence, the public stayed away in droves.

Sad because they missed something really good. But then again Connery was trying to break from his identification with James Bond.