Buzz Kulik – Incident on a Dark Street (1973)

adminNovember 13, 2022

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By no means a great work, this television movie – a pilot for a series that was never made – does have some strong moments.

The plot focuses on a team of Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles trying to take down a mobster and a corrupt civil servant. James Olmos plays the straight arrow US Attorney, David Canary is his younger assistant, and Robert Pine (later to land a starring role in CHiPs), the naïve young law school graduate. Together they doggedly pursue Mafia boss Dominic Leopold (Gilbert Roland), piece by piece.

Of particular note is William Shatner as a bent Director of Utilities, and best of all, Richard S Castellano. He plays a minor mafioso who, after his brother falls foul of the big guys, tries to eke out some semblance of justice from a messed up situation. It’s after The Godfather, and he plays a wholly different kind of character to Clemenza – with nervousness, uncertainty, fear, and a basic decency.

It’s directed by journeyman Buzz Kulik, with too many talky two-shots, but the occasional flourish (such as the scenes at the familiar concrete basin of the LA River ). Director of photography is Charles F Wheeler, who had previously DPed Silent Running, and would later reteam with Kulik on The Pursuit Of DB Cooper. Elmer Bernstein contributes an of-its-time jazzy soundtrack, complete with callbacks to his score for The Great Escape.