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 only briefly has a shot of the sky. All other shots are in the dark, inside or gloomy.

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Goofs

When Barnes is picking up the Ciello family at their home, Barnes puts his hat - a brown fedora - on Ciello's young child's head. In the next shot, when Barnes takes his hat back from the child, it is not the fedora he had just put on the child but instead is a dark hunting hat with a long baseball cap like bill and no brim.

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Quotes

Carl Alagretti: Dave's been calling all over town about you. Why do you always have to shoot off your mouth, Ciello? I heard he's talkin' about some cop who's squealin' to the Chase Commission.
Daniel Ciello: Carl, let's not sit so close to the TV set. I can't get any kind of recording here.
Carl Alagretti: Man, that's not funny.
Daniel Ciello: Listen, you oughta think about comin' over, Carl. Lotta cops are doin' it. You see that waitress over there? The one with no tits? She's been wearin' a wire for six months. She's got a transmitter stuffed right up ...

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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 Tales from the Future: In the Beginning (2010)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

The Best of the New York Cop Pictures

The best of the Lumet NY cop pictures. PRINCE OF THE CITY has an excellent script by Jay Presson Allen and a fine cast lead by Treat Williams and the best of NY's local actors. Danny Ciello, a NYC narcotics cop, deals with the conflict between his "moral compass" and the realities of drug law enforcement. The film is about Ciello clearing his conscience and suffering the consequences of seeing his police colleagues burned in the process. Supporting perfs are superb with special notice to Jerry Orbach as Ciello's partner and Lane Smith as the FBI agent that befriends Ciello's confused wife. Haunting score by Paul Chihara adds the finishing touch to this fine film about "doing the right thing" even when the consequences are so high.

Hope this film is soon released on DVD for everyone to enjoy...