McQ
McQ | |
---|---|
Directed by | John Sturges |
Written by | Lawrence Roman |
Produced by | Arthur Gardner Jules V. Levy |
Starring | John Wayne Eddie Albert Diana Muldaur Colleen Dewhurst Clu Gulager |
Cinematography | Harry Stradling Jr. |
Edited by | William H. Ziegler |
Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates | February 6, 1974 |
Running time | 111 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
McQ is a 1974 crime drama starring John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur, and Colleen Dewhurst. The film made extensive use of actual Seattle locations. The beach scenes were filmed on the Pacific coast at Moclips.
The film features a young Roger E. Mosley as a police informer, Colleen Dewhurst as a cocaine addict and Al Lettieri as the principal villain of the film, the drug king Santiago, in one of Lettieri's final roles.
Wayne had been passed over for the lead in Dirty Harry a few years prior to this film.[1] The producers of that film chose Seattle as its location in an earlier version of the script; it was later changed to San Francisco when Clint Eastwood became connected with the project. The film also has a dramatic car chase, with Wayne in a 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, influenced by Steve McQueen in Bullitt.[2]
Plot synopsis
Lieutenant Lon McQ (Wayne), a detective with the Seattle Police Department, investigates the murder of his longtime friend and partner. In so doing, he faces corruption in the police department related to confiscated illegal drugs, going so far as to tender his resignation in order to investigate the case privately.
Cast
- John Wayne ... Det. Lt. Lon McQ
- Eddie Albert ... Capt. Ed Kosterman
- Diana Muldaur ... Lois Boyle
- Colleen Dewhurst ... Myra
- Clu Gulager ... Franklin Toms
- David Huddleston ... Edward M. 'Pinky' Farrow
- Jim Watkins ... J.C. Davis
- Al Lettieri ... Manny Santiago
- Julie Adams ... Elaine Forrester
- Roger E. Mosley ... Rosey
- William Bryant ... Sgt. Stan Boyle
- Richard Kelton ... Radical
Reaction
One other noteworthy element of the film was its introduction of the MAC-10 submachine gun to the general public and creating a demand for it. [3]
Notes
- ^ Dowell, Pat. - "John Wayne, Man and Myth". - (book review of: John Wayne, American by Randy Roberts and James S. Olson). - Washington Post. - September 25, 1995. - Retrieved: 2008-08-05
- ^ Clark, Mike - "Behind the scenes with John Wayne". - USA Today. - May 22, 2007. - Retrieved: 2008-08-05
- ^ Larson, Erik (January 1993). "The Story of a Gun". The Atlantic Monthly. The Atlantic Monthly Group.
See also
External links