Beyond the Law - Blue
Brief Synopsis
Drama about what goe in one of New York City's police precinct houses on a given night.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Norman Mailer
Director
Rip Torn
Popcorn
George Plimpton
The mayor
Norman Mailer
Lieut. Francis Xavier Pope
Mickey Knox
Detective Mickey Berk
Buzz Farbar
Detective Rocco Gibraltar
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Crime
Drama
Release Date
Jan
1968
Premiere Information
New York opening: 23 Oct 1968
Production Company
Supreme Mix
Distribution Company
Grove Press
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 50m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Synopsis
While detectives Mickey Berk and Rocco Gibraltar are having dinner with their dates, Marcia Stillwell and Judy Grundy, they talk about their jobs at a New York City precinct. Early in the evening, Lieutenant Francis X. Pope brutishly interrogates several suspects--an accused child molester, a suspected homosexual, a married couple who run a "whipping club," a mugger named José, and a man who admittedly ax-murdered his wife. The intense investigations being conducted by Pope and an assistant district attorney are suspended, however, when two motorcyclists, Popcorn and Grahr, are dragged in for questioning and start a free-for-all by attacking the detectives. Soon thereafter, the mayor of the city arrives, ostensibly on a walking tour; but he actually has come because of complaints about the mistreatment of minorities. When José supplies the bruises on his face as evidence, Pope admits that his men do get "a little over-eager" at times, but he promises to take care of the matter. Once the mayor has left, Pope goes to a nearby restaurant for dinner with his wife, Mary. Expressing her unhappiness over Pope's being, in effect, "married to the police force," she asks for a divorce and states that she has been having an affair with detective Gibraltar. Now drunk, Pope spots Gibraltar and questions him privately about the affair. After Pope's obnoxious behavior has chased Marcia and Judy away, he also leaves. Although he soon returns with Lee, a prostitute he had questioned earlier, Mary gets rid of the woman and reconciles her problems with Pope. By this time, however, he is too inebriated to do anything more than prop himself up on the bar and trade tired quips with Berk and Gibraltar.
Director
Norman Mailer
Director
Cast
Rip Torn
Popcorn
George Plimpton
The mayor
Norman Mailer
Lieut. Francis Xavier Pope
Mickey Knox
Detective Mickey Berk
Buzz Farbar
Detective Rocco Gibraltar
Beverly Bentley
Mary Pope
Mara Lynn
Ilse Fuchs
José Torres
José
Tom Baker
Irish
Lee Roscoe
Lee Ray Rogers
Marcia Mason
Marcia Stillwell
Mary Wilson Price
Judy Grundy
Noel Parmentel
Assistant district attorney
Jack Richardson
Jack Scott
Harold Conrad
Perry Fuchs
Joe Shaw
Joe Brown
Tom Quinn
Tom Finley
Roger Donahue
Detective
Michael Mcclure
Grahr
Edward Bonetti
Wife-killer
Peter Rosoff
Subway arrestee
John Maloon
John Francis
Jimmy Reardon
Detective Callahan
Tim Hickey
Buffalo
Bryan Hamill
Buffalo's kid brother
Pedro Ortiz
Mario
Dolores Elbert
Dolores
Sylvia Allen
Sylvia
Crew
Frank Conroy
Music
Tim Cunningham
Sound
Buzz Farbar
Producer
Peter Hansen
Sound
Lana Jokel
Film Editor
Norman Mailer
Film Editor
Norman Mailer
Producer
Norman Mailer
Improvised by the actors from a story outline by
D. A. Pennebaker
Director of Photography
Nina Schulman
Sound
Jan Welt
Film Editor
Jan Welt
Director of Photography
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Crime
Drama
Release Date
Jan
1968
Premiere Information
New York opening: 23 Oct 1968
Production Company
Supreme Mix
Distribution Company
Grove Press
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 50m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Articles
George Plimpton, 1927-2003
George Plimpton, the wry, self-effacing author whose engaging film appearances enlivened many movies over the years, died of a heart attack on September 25 in his Manhattan apartment. He was 76. George Ames Plimpton was born on March 18, 1927 in New York City. The son of a diplomat, he was well connected to high society. A scholarly man of the letters, hip, urbane bohemians knew him for decades as the unpaid editor to the much respected literary quarterly, The Paris Review, which introduced emerging authors such as Gore Vidal and Jack Kerouac. In 1963, the gaunt, unassuming Plimpton documented his time training with the Detroit Lions, and turned the antics into a shrewd, witty piece of sports fulfillment, Paper Lion. The film was adapted for the big screen by Alex March in 1968 with Alan Alda playing the role of Plimpton. That same year, he made his film debut as a reporter in Gordon Douglas' police thriller The Detective (1968) starring Frank Sinatra and followed that up with an amusing cameo as a gunman shot my John Wayne in Howard Hawks' Rio Lobo (1970). A few more cameos came up over the years, but it wasn't until the '90s that he proved he himself a capable performer and found regular film work: an appropriate role as a talk show moderator in Jodie Foster's Little Man Tate's (1991), the president's lawyer in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995); a psychologist in Gus Van Zandt's Good Will Hunting (1997); a clubgoer in Whit Stillman's discursive drama The Last Day's of Disco (1998); and a very comical doctor in Jean- Marie Poire's Just Visiting</I&! gt; (2001). His acceptance as a pop culture icon came to a full head when he appeared in an episode of The Simpsons playing a professor who runs a fixed spelling bee! He is survived by his wife Sara Whitehead Dudley and four children. Michael T. Toole
George Plimpton, 1927-2003
George Plimpton, the wry, self-effacing author whose engaging film appearances enlivened many movies over the years, died of a heart attack on September 25 in his Manhattan apartment. He was 76. George Ames Plimpton was born on March 18, 1927 in New York City. The son of a diplomat, he was well connected to high society. A scholarly man of the letters, hip, urbane bohemians knew him for decades as the unpaid editor to the much respected literary quarterly, The Paris Review, which introduced emerging authors such as Gore Vidal and Jack Kerouac. In 1963, the gaunt, unassuming Plimpton documented his time training with the Detroit Lions, and turned the antics into a shrewd, witty piece of sports fulfillment, Paper Lion. The film was adapted for the big screen by Alex March in 1968 with Alan Alda playing the role of Plimpton. That same year, he made his film debut as a reporter in Gordon Douglas' police thriller The Detective (1968) starring Frank Sinatra and followed that up with an amusing cameo as a gunman shot my John Wayne in Howard Hawks' Rio Lobo (1970). A few more cameos came up over the years, but it wasn't until the '90s that he proved he himself a capable performer and found regular film work: an appropriate role as a talk show moderator in Jodie Foster's Little Man Tate's (1991), the president's lawyer in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995); a psychologist in Gus Van Zandt's Good Will Hunting (1997); a clubgoer in Whit Stillman's discursive drama The Last Day's of Disco (1998); and a very comical doctor in Jean- Marie Poire's Just Visiting</I&! gt; (2001). His acceptance as a pop culture icon came to a full head when he appeared in an episode of The Simpsons playing a professor who runs a fixed spelling bee! He is survived by his wife Sara Whitehead Dudley and four children. Michael T. Toole
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Filmed in New York City in 16mm and blown up to 35mm. Released as an Evergreen Film. Rereleased in 1972 as Beyond the Law-Blue, a reedited version running 100 min and containing sex exploitation footage.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States September 28, 1968
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1968
Shown at New York Film Festival September 28, 1968.
The actual screenplay was improvised out of a story created by Norman Mailer.
Re-released in 1972 under the title "Beyond the Law - Blue."
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1968
Released in United States September 28, 1968 (Shown at New York Film Festival September 28, 1968.)
