McQ (1974)

Seattle cop is caught up in a corrupt police force that he is trying to make right. McQ is a cop with a mission.

Director:

John Sturges

Writer:

Lawrence Roman

Stars:

John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Wayne	...	Lon McQ
Eddie Albert	...	Ed Kosterman
Diana Muldaur	...	Lois Boyle
Colleen Dewhurst	...	Myra
Clu Gulager	...	Franklin Toms aka Frank
David Huddleston	...	Edward W. Farrow aka Pinky
Julian Christopher	...	J.C. Davis (as Jim Watkins)
Al Lettieri	...	Manny Santiago
Julie Adams	...	Elaine
Roger E. Mosley	...	Rosey
William Bryant	...	Stan Boyle
Richard Kelton	...	Radical
Joe Tornatore	...	LaSalle
Dick Friel	...	Bob Mahoney
Richard Eastham	...	Walter Forrester

Storyline

Police Lieutenant Lon McQ investigates the killing of his best friend and uncovers corrupt elements of the police department dealing in confiscated drugs.

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Plot Keywords:

police officer | pontiac trans am | hitman | pacific northwest | silencer | 

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Taglines:

McQ-he's a busted cop, his gun is unlicensed, his methods are unlawful and his story is incredible!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the only movie westerns director John Sturges and westerns film actor John Wayne made together.

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Goofs

When McQ goes to visit Pinky (David Huddleston) for the first time in Pinky's office, when they get up to leave, the microphone wire can be seen taped under Pinky's dress shirt.

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Quotes

Pinky: [as McQ fills out paperwork to become a PI] Kosterman's gonna be awful mad.
McQ: [smiling broadly] Yeah...

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Alternate Versions

The 1980s Warner Home Video VHS master was made from a 16mm TV print missing ten seconds of footage including during the car chase involving a laundry truck, an additional punch from Santiago when he confronts McQ in his office, and the introduction of Santiago's henchman before the final chase on the beach. The later video releases and DVD are uncut.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Mitchell (1993)

User Reviews

Corruption in the Seattle PD

I've always felt that John Wayne did his two police films McQ and Brannigan for a combination of reasons. Some of his last westerns before these like The Train Robbers and Cahill were really not up to standard and didn't get the reception at the box office Wayne films could usually expect. I also think those rugged western locations were becoming a problem healthwise. And of course Wayne was bowing to the public's new taste in heroes.

In McQ Wayne is investigating the death of his partner, the way Humphrey Bogart investigated the shooting death of Jerome Cowan in the Maltese Falcon. He has to go private to do it, he actually resigns from the Seattle PD and gets a private license, courtesy of a friend, David Huddleston. The investigation leads him to some surprising and not welcome conclusions.

John Wayne is always the great symbol of law and order and at first glance you would think this might not be a role for him, investigating crooked cops. But when you think about it in films like Tall in the Saddle and Rio Lobo he dealt with crooked sheriffs in the usual Wayne manner. In fact the whole point of Rio Lobo is Wayne putting his whole life on hold to find a couple of guys who betrayed him and their country during the Civil War. So McQ is definitely in line with both of those films.

In the supporting cast my favorite is Al Lettieri the drug kingpin of Seattle. Lettieri's death a few years after this film was a great loss to cinema. During the first half of the Seventies, ever since playing Virgil Sollozzo in The Godfather, Lettieri created some really outstanding villains and Manny Santiago here is one of them.

The ending will surprise you and its more Maltese Falcon than you would think.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 February 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

McQ

Filming Locations:

Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$240,350

Company Credits

Production Co:

Batjac Productions, Levy-Gardner

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1