Only 72 hours left

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Movie
German title Only 72 hours left
Original title Madigan
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1968
length 101 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Don Siegel
script Abraham Polonsky
Howard Rodman
production Frank P. Rosenberg
music Don Costa
camera Russell Metty
cut Milton Shifman
occupation

Only 72 hours left (Original title: Madigan ) is an American police film directed by Don Siegel from 1968 . It is based on the novel The Commissioner by Richard Dougherty.

action

The New York Police Department officials Dan Madigan and Rocco Bonaro penetrate the early morning into an apartment. They meet the criminal Barney Benesch in bed with a young girl and want to take him to a nearby police station for interrogation. Madigan and Bonaro do not yet know at this point that the psychopath is already wanted for robbery and murder. With the help of his playmate, Benesch can distract and dup the police officers. He got hold of his own weapon, took the revolver from the officers and fled. Shortly afterwards, when the chief superior of the two detectives, Police Commissioner Anthony X. Russell, learns of the unsuccessful operation, he gives them 72 hours to arrest Benesch. The escaped murderer is not Russell's only problem; his young, married lover wants to separate from him, Chief Inspector Kane is suspected of bribery , and a well-known black pastor accuses the police of racist violence against his son.

In the following, the officers, who have come under pressure from the police hierarchy, try to fulfill their difficult task. They restlessly graze the urban jungle for information. Exhausted, Madigan goes to a nightclub and at least for a short time finds solace in alcohol and the encouragement of an old friend who lets the tired detective spend the night with her. Madigan's much younger, good-looking wife Julia, as bored as she is demanding, gives him increasing problems. In contrast, the impulsive but disciplined Bonaro leads a happy marriage with his wife and children.

Madigan is pressured by his wife to take her to a police officers' party. At the entrance of the hotel he promptly runs into Russell, which does not make his situation any easier. He found his wife as a dance partner for an unmarried colleague and went back to find Benesch. Later that evening, Madigan's wife - heavily drunk - almost makes a mistake. But at the last moment she backs away from it and lets the man take her to the hotel.

Benesch shoots a patrol officer with Madigan's revolver who tries to stop him on the street. Finally, with the help of an informant, the detectives can identify Benesch's new hiding place. A large contingent of police circles the criminal who is holding a young girl hostage there. Madigan and Bonaro storm the apartment. Benesch fatally wounds Madigan in a firefight before he himself is shot by Bonaro. At the end of the film, Madigan's embittered widow confronts the commissioner with serious allegations about his management methods.

Television series

Following the film's success, NBC produced a television series of the same name with Richard Widmark in the lead role. The series was discontinued after six episodes.

Reviews

Allmovie writes that it is a great film, actually two films in one.

Die Zeit : “The fight against crime becomes an obsessive, even neurotic matter. The heroes do what they have to do. Don Siegel, however, links their actions with the feelings that these actions trigger, and thus shows how quickly even the toughest fellows get out of whack. "

The Evangelische Film-Beobachter accuses the work of being a “relatively awkwardly constructed and meaningless film”, but then comments positively that it is compensated by “the honest portrayal of New York and the play by Richard Widmark”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John J. Goldman: Richard Dougherty, 65; Ex-Times Bureau Chief . Article dated January 2, 1987, published on latimes.com. Retrieved April 27, 2018
  2. ↑ http://www.zeit.de/1991/19/meister-der-demut
  3. ↑ Evangelical Press Association Munich, Review No. 149/1968