The Laughing Policeman (film)
Encyclopedia
The Laughing Policeman is an American police procedural
film loosely based on the novel The Laughing Policeman
by Sjöwall and Wahlöö
. The setting of the story is transplanted from Stockholm
to San Francisco. It was directed by Stuart Rosenberg
and features Walter Matthau
as Detective Jake Martin (the literary Martin Beck).
Evans was the partner of Detective Sergeant Jake Martin, a veteran but cynical member of the Homicide Detail working the bus massacre investigation. Jake originally investigated the Teresa Camarero case and been obsessed with his failure to "make" Camarero for the murder. Jake returns to it after many dead-end leads in the bus investigation. Niles was killed on the bus as well, and it was Niles who provided the alibi
that enabled Camarero to cover up his wife's murder.
The sullen Jake and enthusiastic but impulsive Inspector
Leo Larsen are paired to interview suspects. Jake shuts out Larsen from his deductions, while Larsen, despite a loose-on-the-rules and brutal side, tries to understand and gain the confidence of his new partner. Defying the orders of their police superior Lt. Steiner, they seek, find and then smoke out Camarero, leading to a chase through the streets of San Francisco and a confrontation aboard another bus.
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
film loosely based on the novel The Laughing Policeman
The Laughing Policeman (novel)
The Laughing Policeman , by Sjöwall and Wahlöö, is the fourth police detective novel, in the ten-part 'Martin Beck' series. Originally published in Sweden in 1968 as Den skrattande polisen, it is the first novel in the series to criticize the shortcomings of the Swedish welfare state...
by Sjöwall and Wahlöö
Sjöwall and Wahlöö
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, a common-law wife and husband team of detective writers from Sweden. Together they conceived and wrote a series of ten novels about the exploits of detectives from the special homicide commission of the national police in which the character of Martin Beck was the...
. The setting of the story is transplanted from Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
to San Francisco. It was directed by Stuart Rosenberg
Stuart Rosenberg
Stuart Rosenberg was an American film and television director whose notable works included the movies Cool Hand Luke , Voyage of the Damned , The Amityville Horror , and The Pope of Greenwich Village .-Early life and career:Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Rosenberg studied Irish...
and features Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
as Detective Jake Martin (the literary Martin Beck).
Plot summary
A busload of passengers, including off-duty police detective Dave Evans, is gunned down and killed. Evans, on his own time, has been following a man named Gus Niles in search of information linking businessman Henry Camarero to the murder of his wife, Teresa, two years earlier.Evans was the partner of Detective Sergeant Jake Martin, a veteran but cynical member of the Homicide Detail working the bus massacre investigation. Jake originally investigated the Teresa Camarero case and been obsessed with his failure to "make" Camarero for the murder. Jake returns to it after many dead-end leads in the bus investigation. Niles was killed on the bus as well, and it was Niles who provided the alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
that enabled Camarero to cover up his wife's murder.
The sullen Jake and enthusiastic but impulsive Inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
Leo Larsen are paired to interview suspects. Jake shuts out Larsen from his deductions, while Larsen, despite a loose-on-the-rules and brutal side, tries to understand and gain the confidence of his new partner. Defying the orders of their police superior Lt. Steiner, they seek, find and then smoke out Camarero, leading to a chase through the streets of San Francisco and a confrontation aboard another bus.
Cast
- Walter MatthauWalter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
as Sgt. Jake Martin - Bruce DernBruce DernBruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
as Insp. Leo Larsen - Louis Gossett, Jr.Louis Gossett, Jr.Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and Fiddler in the 1970s television miniseries Roots...
as Insp. James Larrimore - Anthony ZerbeAnthony ZerbeAnthony Jared Zerbe is an American stage, film and Emmy-winning television actor. Notable film roles include the post-apocalyptic cult leader Matthias in The Omega Man, a 1971 film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel, I Am Legend; Milton Krest in the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill;...
as Lt. Nat Steiner - Albert PaulsenAlbert PaulsenAlbert Paulsen was an Ecuadorian-American actor who appeared in many United States television series beginning in the 1960s, playing characters primarily of European origin. He died from natural causes at the age of 78...
as Henry Camerero - Val AveryVal AveryVal Avery was an American character actor who appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows since the 1950s. In a career that spanned 50 years, Avery appeared in over 100 films and had appearances in over 300 television series.-Early life:Avery was born in Philadelphia...
as Insp. John Pappas - Paul KosloPaul KosloPaul Koslo is a German-Canadian actor.-Career:Koslo started his career in such 1970's cult films as Nam's Angels a.k.a. The Losers, , Mr. Majestyk, Vanishing Point, Joe Kidd and The Stone Killer...
as Duane Haygood - Cathy Lee CrosbyCathy Lee CrosbyCathy Lee Crosby is an American actress. She achieved TV and film success in the 1980s and was a co-host of the television series That's Incredible!. -Personal life:...
as Kay Butler - Joanna CassidyJoanna CassidyJoanna Cassidy is an American film and television actress. She is known for her role as the replicant Zhora in the Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner...
as Monica