Prince of the City (1981)

A New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption. However, he soon discovers that he's in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

Jay Presson Allen (screenplay), Sidney Lumet (screenplay)

Stars:

Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Treat Williams	...	Detective Daniel Ciello
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Gus Levy
Richard Foronjy	...	Detective Joe Marinaro
Don Billett	...	Detective Bill Mayo
Kenny Marino	...	Dom Bando
Carmine Caridi	...	Detective Gino Mascone
Tony Page	...	Detective Raf Alvarez
Norman Parker	...	Assistant U.S. Atty. Rick Cappalino
Paul Roebling	...	Assistant U.S. Atty. Brooks Paige
Bob Balaban	...	Santimassino
James Tolkan	...	Assistant U.S. Atty. George Polito
Steve Inwood	...	Assistant U.S. Atty. Mario Vincente
Lindsay Crouse	...	Carla Ciello
Matthew Laurance	...	Ronnie Ciello
Tony Turco	...	Socks Ciello

Storyline

New York City cop Daniel Ciello is involved in some questionable police practices. He is approached by internal affairs and in exchange for him potentially being let off the hook, he is instructed to begin to expose the inner workings of police corruption. Danny agrees as long as he does not have to turn in his partners but he soon learns that he cannot trust anyone and he must decide whose side he is on and who is on his.

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Plot Keywords:

neo noir | police | city | police corruption | new york city | 

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Taglines:

A cop is turning. Nobody's safe.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Italian

Release Date:

21 August 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

El príncipe de la ciudad

Filming Locations:

New York County Courthouse - 60 Centre Street, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,600,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$64,713, 23 August 1981, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$8,124,257

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

167 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sidney Lumet said that he did not want to take a directorial stance about whether or not the leading character was a hero or a villain. He wanted to leave that question for the audience to decide for themselves.

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Goofs

Gino Mascone's wife's name is listed as Ann in the credits, but she is repeatedly referred to and addressed as Rose in the film.

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Quotes

Daniel Ciello: I'll see you around.
The King: Do look likely.
Tug Barnes: Looks like we better add that one to the list
[of possible threats; referring to The King]
Tug Barnes: .
Daniel Ciello: He's not a doer, he's a talker, which is probably worse.
Tug Barnes: He talks, you deny
[referring to Ciello's upcoming testmonies in court]
Tug Barnes: .

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Alternate Versions

The film originally premiered on TV in a version broadcast over 4 hours (running no longer than 196 minutes), including previously unseen material which had been cut from the 167-minute theatrical release. Among the restored scenes is one that makes more sense of the DiBenadetto Case (the character Ciello's first rat-job).

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Connections

Referenced in By Sidney Lumet (2015)

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Soundtracks

Love Will Keep Us Together
(uncredited)
Written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield
Performed by Captain & Tennille

User Reviews

One of Lumet's best!

Prince of the City is probably Sidney Lumet's best film to date. It is better then Serpico because it shows how dirty police corruption can get. Everyone is guilty in this film to some degree, there are no hero's. The viewer is taken inside the world of drug addicts and drug dealers, cops, lawyers and judges and is shown how easy it is for them to sell out and how sad it is when they do sell out. While "Prince of the City is a very long film and sometimes gets a little slowed down, it is a great story that is worth watching.