McQ (1974)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

John Sturges

Writer:

Lawrence Roman (written by)

Release Date:

6 February 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Crime

Tagline:

The cop no one can stop. Even the cops. [DVD]

Plot:

Police Lieutenant Lon McQ investigates the killing of his best friend and uncovers corrupt elements...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Drugs | Hitman | Detective | Private Detective

Cast

John Wayne	...	Det. Lt. Lon McQ
Eddie Albert	...	Capt. Ed Kosterman
Diana Muldaur	...	Lois Boyle
Colleen Dewhurst	...	Myra
Clu Gulager	...	Franklin Toms
David Huddleston	...	Edward M. 'Pinky' Farrow
Jim Watkins	...	J.C. Davis
Al Lettieri	...	Manny Santiago
Julie Adams	...	Elaine Forrester
Roger E. Mosley	...	Rosey
William Bryant	...	Sgt. Stan Boyle
Richard Kelton	...	Radical

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Aberdeen, Washington, USA

Company:

Batjac Productions

Trivia:

The hospital where the drug heist takes place is now the Seattle headquarters of Amazon.com.

Goofs:

Continuity: After McQ shows Myra the balloons of cocaine in his handkerchief, and gets up from the chair, the balloons roll off the handkerchief and onto the floor. When he is rebuffed by Myra, and returns to the chair, the cocaine is back on the handkerchief and not on the floor.

Quotes:

Manny Santiago: [speaking on a pay phone in the men's room] So, one less detective to worry about.
[McQ grabs him from behind and puts him in a headlock]
Det. Lt. Lon McQ: Yeah, one less detective to worry about! I got a message from Patty Samuels! He's sorry he blew it on McQ but he rang it up with Boyle!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hot Fuzz (2007)

Wayne's weirdest role since Genghis Khan!

The elderly John Wayne as a Dirty Harry type renegade cop? It's hard to accept him in the seedy underworld of the 1970's - he seems a creature from another world, certainly another time. But this incongruity is the most interesting thing about this tired, cliched "corrupt cops and drugs" yarn, with its obligatory car chases and violence.

There is one scene though that shows how good an actor the Duke had become, and how well he may have responded to better material. That is the superb scene he has with the magnificent Colleen Dewhurst - a scene heavy with sexual tension and sub-text. Did he ever make a straight drama? This scene shows that he certainly could have. I am thankful that they cut away before the sex though - I don't think I could have taken seeing Wayne humiliate himself with the usual bare-assed seventies gratuitous sex scene!