Badge of the Assassin | |
---|---|
![]() Original film poster of "Badge of the Assassin". | |
Genre | Crime Thriller |
Written by | Robert K. Tanenbaum (book) Philip Rosenberg (book) Lawrence Roman (screenplay) |
Directed by | Mel Damski |
Starring | James Woods Yaphet Kotto Alex Rocco David Harris Steven Keats Larry Riley Kene Holliday Pam Grier Rae Dawn Chong Richard Bradford |
Theme music composer | Tom Scott |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | Daniel H. Blatt Robert Singer Robert K. Tanenbaum (co-executive producer) |
Producer | Pixie Lamppu (associate producer) |
Cinematography | John Lindley |
Editor | Andrew L. Cohen |
Running time | 120 minutes |
Production company | Blatt-Singer Productions |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | November 2, 1985 |
Badge of the Assassin is a 1985 television film starring James Woods, Yaphet Kotto and Alex Rocco. It was directed by Mel Damski. The film first aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System network on November 2, 1985. [1] The film's production company was Blatt-Singer Productions. [2]
Three black revolutionaries (Anthony Bottom, Albert "Nuh" Washington, and Herman Bell) gun down two New York City police officers. The policemen were gunned down in cold blood by the self-styled terrorists, who first elude to the law and then, for want of crucial evidence, conviction for their crime. Assistant District Attorney, Robert Tanenbaum, the man responsible for bringing the three cop killers to justice leads a tireless nationwide investigation that moves to San Francisco, New Orleans and Mississippi and finally back to a climax in a New York City courtroom, during the desperate search for the killers. Tanenbaum is aided by his partner, a resourceful and equally determined detective, Cliff Fenton. [3] [4]
Based on the true story that took place in Harlem during 1971, the telefilm, Badge of the Assassin, is based on the 1979 book of the same name – a true-crime account from the former district attorney and New York Times bestselling author Robert K. Tanenbaum and Philip Rosenberg. [5] Woods played Tanenbaum in the film, whilst Tanenbaum was a co-executive producer. [6] Writer Lawrence Roman transferred the book into a script for a television film. The film is an account of the detective work and prosecution that resulted in the convictions in 1975 of the Black Liberation Army members who, four years earlier, had shot to death two New York City police officers, Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini, in an unprovoked attack. [7]
Sandra Brennan of Allmovie gave the film three out of five stars. [8] Digiguide.tv gave the film three out of five stars. [9] In the Blockbuster Video Guide to Movies and Videos, 1996, published by Dell Pub. on 1 August 1995, the film was given a four out of five star rating. [10]
On November 1, 1985, the New York Times writer Lawrence Van Gelder reviewed the film under the article headline "Police Murders Dramatized in Badge of the Assassin", where he stated "On screen, Mr. Tanenbaum, who pursued the case through two trials -the first ending in a hung jury, the second in murder convictions - is portrayed with a nice mixture of intensity, warmth, subdued humor and occasional self-doubt by James Woods. He is well supported by Yaphet Kotto and Alex Rocco as the New York detectives assigned to the case, and the cast also includes Rae Dawn Chong and Pam Grier as women associated with the killers. Badge of the Assassin wastes no time on subplots, nor does it exaggerate its intrinsic drama; neither does it seek to appraise or analyze from the vantage point of the 1980's the racial rage that was a characteristic of the time that produced the murders. Perhaps the fact that the case is revisited nearly 15 years later as typical television entertainment for a Saturday night is comment enough." [7]
In The Pittsburgh Press of November 1, 1985, writer Barbara Holsopple stated "Badge of the Assassin is well-written, performed and produced, but it lacks the tension, suspense and horror of its era. Performers can't reproduce that, Yaphet Kotto said, if nobody remembers." [11]
As quoted on the film's original publicity poster and VHS release, Leonard of Entertainment Tonight said "Bristling police drama about real life... played with nervous intensity by James Woods." [12]
The Stop Button webzine reviewed the film in 2007, and stated "Mel Damski, if Badge of the Assassin is any indication, might be the finest TV movie director ever (who never went on to good theatrical films anyway). He understands composition, camera movement, editing–how to let actors do what actors do–beautifully. Badge of the Assassin looks like a TV movie and that description is, thanks in large part to Damski, not at all a pejorative. Admittedly, he has a lot of help. The film's perfectly as cast, top to bottom. Alex Rocco, Larry Riley, Richard Bradford, all three are particularly good, but there are no bad performances. David Harris is real good too. But the film really belongs to Yaphet Kotto. Even though James Woods gets a lot to do, he never gets as much to do as Kotto... and he doesn't get to do it as long. Regardless of what a terrible film McQ is... screenwriter Lawrence Roman is of a definite pedigree and his influence is probably significant. The script is another area Badge really makes a model TV movie. The character content, which is considerable–scenes with Rocco, Woods and Kotto all have a lot of weight–occurs over a really long time. Adding to the film is the location shooting. It helps immensely, forcing the viewer to engage with the reality of what's on the screen in front of him or her. In the end, Badge of the Assassin sort of runs out of time. It doesn't run out of story so much as it runs out of scenes it can enact well. It's a good looking film, though, with some great acting." [13]
The film was released in America and the UK, and has never received a DVD release. In the UK it was released onto VHS with an exclusive artwork. [14] In America, the film has received a number of VHS releases. On August 10, 1992, the film was released on VHS via Anchor Bay, [15] whilst in 1993 and again in 1998, Lions Gate Home Entertainment released the film on VHS again. [16] [12] In 1995, it was also issued on VHS by Vidmark Entertainment. [2] All releases featured the same artwork as the original movie poster. The film was also issued on Laserdisc. [17]
Yaphet Frederick Kotto was an American actor for film and television. He starred in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999) as Lieutenant Al Giardello. His films include the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), the science-fiction action film The Running Man (1987), the James Bond film Live and Let Die (1973), in which he portrayed the main villain Dr. Kananga, and the action comedy Midnight Run (1988) opposite Robert De Niro.
Pamela Suzette Grier is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star, she achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action, blaxploitation and women in prison films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures. Her accolades include nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Satellite Award and a Saturn Award.
Midnight Run is a 1988 American action comedy film directed by Martin Brest and starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina, Joe Pantoliano, and Philip Baker Hall play supporting roles.
Robert K. Tanenbaum is an American trial attorney, novelist, and former mayor of Beverly Hills, California.
Black Mama White Mama, also known as Women in Chains, Hot, Hard and Mean and Chained Women, is a 1973 women in prison film directed by Eddie Romero and starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov. The film has elements of blaxploitation.
The Arena, also known as Naked Warriors, is a 1974 gladiator exploitation film directed by Steve Carver and starring Margaret Markov and Pam Grier. Joe D'Amato, the film's cinematographer, has stated that he took over direction of the fight scenes in the film.
Truck Turner, also known as Black Bullet, is a 1974 blaxploitation film, starring Isaac Hayes and Yaphet Kotto, and directed by Jonathan Kaplan. The screenplay was written by Michael Allin, Leigh Chapman, and Oscar Williams. Hayes also scored the music for the soundtrack. The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Foxy Brown.
The Star Chamber is a 1983 American crime thriller film starring Michael Douglas, Hal Holbrook, Yaphet Kotto, Sharon Gless, James B. Sikking, and Joe Regalbuto. The film was written by Roderick Taylor and Peter Hyams and directed by Hyams. Its title is taken from the name of the Star Chamber, a 15th−17th-century English court.
Kenneth Earl Holliday is an American actor of stage, film, and television. He is known for his role as Ben Matlock's original private investigator, Tyler Hudson, on Matlock, and as Sgt. Curtis Baker on Carter Country from 1977 until 1979. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the film Great World of Sound.
Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 American documentary film about horror films, including slasher films and crime thrillers. The film is directed by Andrew J. Kuehn, and hosted by Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen. The original music score is composed by John Beal.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, sometimes called The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents, is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1985 to 1986 and on the USA Network from 1987 to 1989. The series is an updated version of the 1955 eponymous series.
Melvin Damski is an American director and producer of film and television.
The Park Is Mine is a Canadian-American drama television film based on the novel of the same name by Stephen Peters. The film focuses on Vietnam War veteran, Mitch, who takes forceful control of Central Park to remember those who served and died in the Vietnam War and draw attention to veterans' issues.
Friday Foster is a 1975 American blaxploitation film directed by Arthur Marks and starring Pam Grier in the title role. Yaphet Kotto, Eartha Kitt, Scatman Crothers and Carl Weathers co-starred. It is an adaptation of the 1970–74 syndicated newspaper comic strip of the same name, scripted by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Jorge Longarón. This was Grier's final film with American International Pictures. The tagline on the film's poster is "Wham! Bam! Here comes Pam!"
Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s, after the demand of the Black Panthers for black artists to reclaim the power and rights to their image from the UCLA, and the new rating system within Hollywood allowed up and coming black film makers and actors to create black films for black audiences. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president of the Beverly Hills–Hollywood NAACP branch. He claimed the genre was "proliferating offenses" to the black community in its perpetuation of stereotypes often involved in crime. After the race films of the 1940s and 1960s, the genre emerged as one of the first in which black characters and communities were protagonists, rather than sidekicks, supportive characters, or victims of brutality. The genre's inception coincides with the rethinking of race relations in the 1970s.
Paul John Perri is an American-Canadian film and television actor. Perri is best known for portraying Edwards and Skinless Parker in Hellraiser: Bloodline, Harry Hume from Chaos, and as Dr. Sidney Bloom from Manhunter.
Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies is a 1997 American short documentary film directed by Mel Damski. It was nominated at the 70th Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short Subject. It features The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, which was formerly staged at the Palm Springs, California Plaza Theatre.
Orville H. Hampton was an American screenwriter who worked mostly in low-budget films, particularly for producers Robert E. Kent and Edward Small. A screenplay that he and Raphael Hayes wrote for One Potato, Two Potato (1964) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Arthur Ronald Marks was an American film and television director, writer, producer and distributor best known for his work in the blaxploitation genre, directing films such as Bonnie's Kids, Detroit 9000, Friday Foster, Bucktown, The Monkey Hu$tle and J. D.'s Revenge. He also directed and produced numerous episodes of the American legal drama Perry Mason, as well as episodes of Starsky & Hutch, Mannix, I Spy, My Friend Tony, The Dukes of Hazzard, Steve Canyon, and Young Daniel Boone.
On the Edge is a 1986 American drama film directed by Rob Nilsson and written by Roy Kissin and Rob Nilsson. The film stars Bruce Dern, Pam Grier, Bill Bailey, Jim Haynie, John Marley and Marty Liquori. The film was released on May 2, 1986, by Skouras Pictures.