The First Deadly Sin
Encyclopedia
The First Deadly Sin is a 1980 American film produced by and starring Frank Sinatra
, along with Faye Dunaway
, David Dukes
, Brenda Vaccaro
, James Whitmore
, Martin Gabel
in his final acting role, and Bruce Willis
in his film debut. The First Deadly Sin was based on the novel of the same name, first of a series of popular novels by Lawrence Sanders
, and was originally slated to be directed by Roman Polanski
, who was dropped by Columbia Pictures
after statutory rape charges were brought against him.
The last of nine films produced by Sinatra and his final starring performance, he plays a troubled New York City homicide cop, Detective Sergeant Edward X. Delaney. Dunaway has a small role as the detective's ailing wife, hospitalized during the entire story with a rare kidney affliction. A then-unknown Willis has a bit part, virtually unrecognizable as a hat covers most of his face.
The First Deadly Sin was the third production by Sinatra's Artanis production company and was shot on location in New York City. It premiered on October 23, 1980 at Loew's State Theatre
in Times Square
as part of a benefit for the Mother Cabrini Medical Centre. The musical score was provided by composer and arranger Gordon Jenkins
, who first worked with Sinatra on the 1957 album "Where Are You?"
Delaney tries to cross-section the recent killing with other murders in various parts of the city, looking for a common link. A lack of solid leads leaves Delaney at a loose end until he recruits assistance from an enthusiastic museum curator, a coroner, and the victim's wife.
The investigation leads Delaney to a man named Blank, a seemingly normal businessman who is leading a secret life. Delaney uses psychological warfare in an attempt to trap the killer, all while the condition of the policeman's wife deteriorates by the hour.
The ending was changed from the novel in which the killer Daniel Blank retreated to a bluff called Devil's Needle in upstate New York where he died of dehydration before Delaney and the State Troopers were able to bring him down. Here, a more subtle approach allowed the ending to be more in tune with the rest of the film. Critics Roger Ebert
and Leonard Maltin
both praised Sinatra's performance as one of his best, while daughter Nancy Sinatra
commented in her book Sinatra: An American Legend that this was a film her father was very excited about.
"Who would have thought, in all honesty, that Frank Sinatra still had this performance in him?" wrote Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. "The movie is one of the season's pleasant surprises." Maltin wrote: "Sinatra in good form in one of his better serious vehicles."
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, along with Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
, David Dukes
David Dukes
David Coleman Dukes was an American character actor.-Life:Dukes was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a highway patrolman...
, Brenda Vaccaro
Brenda Vaccaro
Brenda Buell Vaccaro is an American stage, television and film actress.-Early life:Vaccaro was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Christine M. and Mario A. Vaccaro , both of whom were pioneers in Italian cuisine...
, James Whitmore
James Whitmore
James Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
, Martin Gabel
Martin Gabel
Martin Gabel was an American actor, film director and film producer.-Life and career:Gabel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ruth and Israel Gabel, who was a jeweler...
in his final acting role, and Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
in his film debut. The First Deadly Sin was based on the novel of the same name, first of a series of popular novels by Lawrence Sanders
Lawrence Sanders
Lawrence Sanders was an American novelist and short story writer.Lawrence Sanders was born in Brooklyn in New York City. After public school he attended Wabash College, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then returned to New York and worked at Macy's Department Store...
, and was originally slated to be directed by Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
, who was dropped by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
after statutory rape charges were brought against him.
The last of nine films produced by Sinatra and his final starring performance, he plays a troubled New York City homicide cop, Detective Sergeant Edward X. Delaney. Dunaway has a small role as the detective's ailing wife, hospitalized during the entire story with a rare kidney affliction. A then-unknown Willis has a bit part, virtually unrecognizable as a hat covers most of his face.
The First Deadly Sin was the third production by Sinatra's Artanis production company and was shot on location in New York City. It premiered on October 23, 1980 at Loew's State Theatre
Loew's State Theatre
Loew's State Theatre is an historic site at 220 Weybosset Street in Providence, Rhode Island.The site was built in 1928 by Rapp and Rapp and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977...
in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
as part of a benefit for the Mother Cabrini Medical Centre. The musical score was provided by composer and arranger Gordon Jenkins
Gordon Jenkins
Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...
, who first worked with Sinatra on the 1957 album "Where Are You?"
Plot
New York police Sgt. Edward Delaney is at the scene of a brutal murder when news comes that his hospitalized wife's kidney illness has worsened after an operation. Approaching retirement, with a growing depression in the face of his wife's condition, Delaney throws himself into the murder case. He is fascinated by a crime committed with what seems to be a very unusual weapon.Delaney tries to cross-section the recent killing with other murders in various parts of the city, looking for a common link. A lack of solid leads leaves Delaney at a loose end until he recruits assistance from an enthusiastic museum curator, a coroner, and the victim's wife.
The investigation leads Delaney to a man named Blank, a seemingly normal businessman who is leading a secret life. Delaney uses psychological warfare in an attempt to trap the killer, all while the condition of the policeman's wife deteriorates by the hour.
Cast
- Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
as Edward X. Delaney - Faye DunawayFaye DunawayFaye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
as Barbara Delaney - David DukesDavid DukesDavid Coleman Dukes was an American character actor.-Life:Dukes was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a highway patrolman...
as Daniel Blank - George CoeGeorge CoeGeorge Coe is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for having been a cast member on the first three episodes of Saturday Night Live, as well as for his work on various television shows.-Career:...
as Dr. Bernardi - Brenda VaccaroBrenda VaccaroBrenda Buell Vaccaro is an American stage, television and film actress.-Early life:Vaccaro was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Christine M. and Mario A. Vaccaro , both of whom were pioneers in Italian cuisine...
as Monica Gilbert - Martin GabelMartin GabelMartin Gabel was an American actor, film director and film producer.-Life and career:Gabel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ruth and Israel Gabel, who was a jeweler...
as Christopher Langley - Bruce WillisBruce WillisWalter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
as Man Entering Diner (uncredited)
Critical reception
The First Deadly Sin failed to make much of an impression at the box office, while some critics were left cold by a slow-burning picture that tried to focus more on character and plot without succumbing to action scenes and shootouts.The ending was changed from the novel in which the killer Daniel Blank retreated to a bluff called Devil's Needle in upstate New York where he died of dehydration before Delaney and the State Troopers were able to bring him down. Here, a more subtle approach allowed the ending to be more in tune with the rest of the film. Critics Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
and Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
both praised Sinatra's performance as one of his best, while daughter Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
commented in her book Sinatra: An American Legend that this was a film her father was very excited about.
"Who would have thought, in all honesty, that Frank Sinatra still had this performance in him?" wrote Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. "The movie is one of the season's pleasant surprises." Maltin wrote: "Sinatra in good form in one of his better serious vehicles."
Accolades
- Nominated: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA Best Supporting Actor, Martin Gabel
- Nominated: Edgar Allan Poe Awards, The Edgar AwardEdgar AwardThe Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Best Picture - 1st Golden Raspberry Award
- Nominated: Worst Actor (Faye DunawayFaye DunawayFaye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
)