Contract on Cherry Street (1977)

When his partner is killed, NYC detective Frank Hovannes and his organized-crime squad go against the mob, despite strong objections from his superiors and the legal-departmental restrictions that hinder him.

Director:

William A. Graham

Writers:

Edward Anhalt (written for television by), Philip Rosenberg (novel) (as Phillip Rosenberg)

Stars:

Frank Sinatra, Martin Balsam, Jay Black

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Frank Sinatra	...	Dep. Insp. Frank Hovannes
Martin Balsam	...	Capt. Ernie Weinberg
Jay Black	...	Tommy Sindardos
Verna Bloom	...	Emily Hovannes
Joe De Santis	...	Vincenzo Seruto
Martin Gabel	...	Baruch 'Bob' Waldman
Harry Guardino	...	Ron Polito
James Luisi	...	Al Palmini / Arnold Palmer
Michael Nouri	...	Lou Savage
Marco St. John	...	Eddie Manzaro
Henry Silva	...	Roberto Obregon
Richard Ward	...	Jack Kittens
Addison Powell	...	Bob Halloran
Steve Inwood	...	Fran Marks
Johnny Barnes	...	Otis Washington

Storyline

The partner--and best friend--of a tough New York detective is murdered by killers working for a local mob. Infuriated at the inability of the Police Department to bring in the murderers, he decides--with the help of a few of his fellow detectives--to operate on his own, using whatever means necessary, to destroy the gang.

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Plot Keywords:

detective | shoot out | criminal justice system | frustration | corruption | 

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Taglines:

Sinatra in his first TV movie !

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 November 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stakeout on Cherry Street

Filming Locations:

Wall Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artanis Productions Inc., Columbia Pictures Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was made by Sinatra because of his late mother's fondness for the novel, Contract on Cherry Street.

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Connections

Referenced in Laugh-In: Episode #1.3 (1977)

User Reviews

A fine example from the era of "made for TV movies"

In the 1970s, the TV networks put a lot of money into creating their own collection of original films. The rationale was that they were about as cheap as a series pilot (indeed some, like "Marcus Nelson Murders" did become exactly that -- for "Kojak"; "The Night Stalker/Strangler" for the Kolchak series), and did not entail open-ended commitments like a series would.

This flick is certainly at the high-end of these (the low-end was things like "The Hard Ride" - - motorcycle-gang members with machine guns in Vietnam, in a low budget, low brow version of "Missing in Action"; the immortal "Killdozer"). Frank Sinatra shows his acting chops again (nearly for the last time, from here on there was only one episode of Magnum PI to be proud of), surrounded by the usual suspects of series TV and made-for-TV-movies (notably Harry Guardino, good as always.) The soundtrack is certainly movie-quality (as were most of this era's TV-movies.)

The movie suffers from having an enforced length -- 145 minutes to fill a 3-hour timeslot -- and thus there is painfully unnecessary padding of scenes and dialog, and long traveling shots with the obligatory shoe-leather-sound-effects. But there's a cracking good 90-100 minute movie in here.