IMDb plot summary: A New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon realises he's in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.
Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, and Don Billett.
This is directed by Sidney Lumet, who less than a decade earlier directed Serpico, also about a solo police officer fighting corruption, and it's hard not to compare the two. Daniel Ciello is a much less heroic figure than Frank Serpico, and we see his story play out less in terms of abstract rights and wrongs and more of how it affects him and his relationships on a personal level. This version of the story is less black-and-white overall, as so much of the corruption is clearly not just a matter of greed but passionately defended as the only way save the city in a world where corruption elsewhere allows the "bad guys" to wriggle out. Is it better to use corrupt methods against them yourself in the name of the greater good? This is something the film touches on in a very interesting way, and I found myself thinking longer and harder about these questions after this film than I did Serpico.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Prince of the City > To Be or Not to Be
Prince of the City < The Black Cat
Prince of the City < Ramona and Beezus
Prince of the City > An Affair to Remember
Prince of the City > Never a Dull Moment
Prince of the City > War Horse
Prince of the City < Young Frankenstein
Prince of the City < The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
Prince of the City > Loins of Punjab Presents
Prince of the City < Mother Night
Prince of the City > Brick
Final spot: #1287 out of 3319, or 61%.
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