Deadly Hero

Deadly Hero
Original film poster
Directed byIván Nagy
Written byGeorge Wislocki
Don Petersen[1]
Produced byThomas J. McGrath
Starring
CinematographyAndrzej Bartkowiak
Edited bySusan Steinberg
Music byBrad Fiedel
Tommy Mandel
Production
company
City Time Partners
Distributed byAVCO Embassy Pictures
Release date
  • December 14, 1975 (1975-12-14)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Deadly Hero is a 1975 American neo-noir thriller film directed by Iván Nagy, and starring Don Murray, Diahn Williams, James Earl Jones, Lilia Skala and Treat Williams in his film debut.[2] Murray portrays a distrusted New York City police officer who becomes a cause célèbre after killing a perp, but comes under increasing scrutiny when the true circumstances of the killing are revealed.

The film was released by AVCO Embassy Pictures on December 14, 1975. It opened to mixed reviews, and was considered a commercial failure.

Plot

Ed Lacy is an 18-year veteran of the New York City Police Department who finds himself demoted from detective back to patrol duty for his violent, racist tendencies and trigger-happy behavior.[3][4] He still has friends on the job and is ingratiating himself as a booster for a politician named Kevin Reilly who is looking to become the next Mayor of the city.

Responding to a call on Manhattan's West Side, he finds a young musician named Sally has been abducted by a mentally unbalanced, Black stalker named Rabbit Shazam.[5][6] Rabbit holds Sally hostage and threatens and scares her badly but does not actually hurt her physically. When her neighbor figures out something is wrong and calls the cops, Officer Lacy shows up and finds Rabbit holding Sally at knifepoint in the hallway. Rabbit quickly surrenders when Lacy threatens to shoot him, but during the arrest Lacy hits Rabbit and then angrily shoots him twice in the chest, killing him. In shock, Sally does not remember what happened and Lacy tells the detectives that Rabbit was holding the knife when he was shot, and she agrees to this. Lacy becomes a city hero and Reilly makes him a key part of his campaign.

However, Sally eventually recalls what really happened and tells the detectives that Lacy killed Rabbit while he was unarmed and had surrendered. Lacy tries to charm Sally into reverting fully into her original story, but she refuses. Lacy then becomes a public pariah and is forced to go on unpaid suspension, while Reilly cuts all ties with him. Lacy then becomes unhinged, threatening Sally directly and having a sleazy ex-cop "scare" her in a failed plot that leaves two civilians dead. With nothing left to lose, Lacy kills the ex-cop and then tracks Sally down to the Manhattan school where she works and kidnaps her and takes her out of the city to a pet graveyard. He ties her up and plans to shoot and bury her in the graveyard but she gets loose and stabs him with the pointed stand on her cello, severely wounding him and getting away into a forest. Sally stumbles across him holding a gun, but realizes he's died of blood loss.[7][2]

Cast

Model Beverly Johnson and boxer Chu Chu Malave appear in bit parts. Punk/New Wave band Blondie[8] and singer Iggy Pop[2] appear as themselves.

Production

Deadly Hero was directed by Ivan Nagy from a screenplay by George Wislocki and Don Petersen.[1][3] It was shot entirely on location in New York City.[5] It is Treat Williams' first motion picture appearance,[8][9] as well as the first feature film of cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak. The working title of the film was Troubled Times.[2]

Release

Released in limited locales in 1975 with an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America,[6] it was distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures.

Home media

Deadly Hero was released on VHS in the 1980s by Magnetic Video and in 1986 by Embassy Home Entertainment. The film was released on DVD on August 7, 2007, by Trinity Home Entertainment. On December 22, 2015, it was released on Blu-ray by Code Red Entertainment through Screen Archives Entertainment Exclusive.[10]

Reception

Box office

A commercial failure, George Anderson wrote in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the violent film "suffered sudden death at the box office."[11]

Critical reaction

Gene Siskel wrote in the Chicago Tribune that the film is "a small triumph" but qualifying that praise by noting, "Of course, expecting nothing helps."[12] A reviewer for the Cineman Syndicate felt that "moments of suspense" helped elevate the "thin script and moody photography".[4] A.H. Weiler of The New York Times described Deadly Hero as a "fairly derivative Manhattan melodrama" with the supporting cast "wasted in brief, broad portrayals".[3] Los Angeles Times reviewer Linda Gross called the film "gritty" and "intriguing" but ultimately found it "predictable and pessimistic".[13] Modern critics have been kinder with VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever describing it as both "gripping" and "chilling" while rating the film three (out of a possible four) bones.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Guslow, Mel (May 3, 1988). "Don Petersen, 70, Playwright and Screenwriter". The New York Times. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d "Deadly Hero (1975)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  3. ^ a b c Weiler, A.H. (October 16, 1976). "Screen: 'Deadly Hero,' a Manhattan Melodrama". The New York Times. p. 13. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Mini Movie Reviews: Deadly Hero". Bangor Daily News. Cineman Syndicate. November 5, 1976. p. ME2. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  5. ^ a b Variety Staff (May 1976). "Film Reviews: Deadly Hero". Daily Variety. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Deadly Hero (1976)". TCM Movie Database. Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  7. ^ "Television: Saturday Evening". Lakeland Ledger. November 19, 1977. p. 5B. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  8. ^ a b Maltin, Leonard (September 1992). Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 1993. New York, NY: Signet Books. p. 285. ISBN 0-451-17381-3.
  9. ^ a b "Bad Charleston Charlie". VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 1996. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press. 1996. p. 327. ISBN 0-7876-0626-X.
  10. ^ "Deadly Hero". kinolorber.com. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  11. ^ Anderson, George (January 11, 1977). "Some Coming Attractions That Never Came". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 6. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  12. ^ Siskel, Gene (May 5, 1976). "Six films with no Oscar hopes--or much of anything else". Chicago Tribune. p. C4. Retrieved December 3, 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. ^ Gross, Linda (December 8, 1977). "A Cop Cracks Up in 'Deadly Hero'". Los Angeles Times. p. H46. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
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