Cruising (1980)

A police detective goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.

Director:

William Friedkin

Writers:

William Friedkin, Gerald Walker (novel)

Stars:

Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Steve Burns
Paul Sorvino	...	Capt. Edelson
Karen Allen	...	Nancy
Richard Cox	...	Stuart Richards
Don Scardino	...	Ted Bailey
Joe Spinell	...	Patrolman DiSimone
Jay Acovone	...	Skip Lee
Randy Jurgensen	...	Det. Lefransky
Barton Heyman	...	Dr. Rifkin
Gene Davis	...	DaVinci
Arnaldo Santana	...	Loren Lukas
Larry Atlas	...	Eric Rossman
Allan Miller	...	Chief of Detectives
Sonny Grosso	...	Det. Blasio
Ed O'Neill	...	Det. Schreiber (as Edward O'Neil)

Storyline

A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in New York's S&M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns is sent undercover onto the streets as decoy for the murderer. Working almost completely isolated from his department, he has to learn and practice the complex rules and signals of this little society. While barely seeing his girlfriend Nancy anymore, the work starts changing him.

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Plot Keywords:

jock strap | male objectification | man wearing a tank top | gay | subculture | 

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Taglines:

Al Pacino is Cruising for a killer.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA West Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

William Friedkin's Cruising

Filming Locations:

Hotel St. James, 109 West 45th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$19,798,718, 31 December 1995

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lorimar Film Entertainment, CiP - Europaische Treuhand AG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The plot, about murders of the patrons of gay nightclubs, caused many to protest the release of the film. In fact, organized protests by gay groups were planned on the day the film was released. The public largely ignored the protests.

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Goofs

Blonde transvestite hooker DaVinci and his brunette transvestite hooker friend are forced into Patrolemen DiSimone and Dresher's police car. When DiSimone, DaVinci and DaVinci's friend are in the back seat, Dresher orders DaVinci into the front seat for implied fellatio. Later, at the police station, DaVinci erroneously says it was DiSimone who forced him to perform fellatio.

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Quotes

Stuart Richards: How big are ya?
Steve Burns: Party size.

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Crazy Credits

The film only opens with the title in large letters, across the screen. It is only at the end where the filmmakers are credited.

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Alternate Versions

The CBS/FOX video release (now out of print) was the most complete version available. It has about 45 seconds of footage of SM bondage and sex (during the Police Night scene) that has been deleted from the Warner Video release, and two lines of dialogue near the end of the film when detectives are searching the killer's dorm room and mention the killers father has been dead for ten years

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Connections

References Golden Boys of the S.S. (1976)

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Soundtracks

Heat of the Moment
Performed by Willy DeVille

User Reviews

One of the Most Ambiguous Conclusions of an American Movie

In New York, the ambitious police officer Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is assigned by his Captain Edelson (Paul Sorvino) to work uncover in the gay S&M underworld to seek out the serial-killer that is killing and severing the members of gays since he has the same appearance of the victims. Steve has the objective to be promoted to detective and get his golden shield and Capt. Edelson is the only one in the department who knows Steve's assignment.

Steve does not tell to his girlfriend Nancy (Karen Allen) his mission and he needs to learn the behavior of this community. During the investigation, Steve is affected by the discoveries in this new world, but Captain Edelson does not want him to quit his assignment.

In the 70's and 80's, Al Pacino was among my favorite American actors with his magnificent performances. "Cruising" is an original movie that discloses part of the society unknown to straight persons like me: the gay S&M world of New York in the late 70's.

I have seen this film at least four time and today for the first time on DVD, and my greatest question is how far a person would go to be promoted. Steve Burns dreams on having a golden shield and when he has his chance, he accepts a dangerous psychological mission to find the serial-killer that is killing gays and affects his personal life and his relationship with his girlfriend. The conclusion is one of the most ambiguous that I have ever seen in an American movie, when Steve looks at his image on the mirror. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Parceiros da Noite" ("Night Partners")