Freebie and the Bean

Last updated
Freebie and the Bean
Freebie and The Bean.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Richard Rush
Screenplay by Robert Kaufman
Story by Floyd Mutrux
Produced byRichard Rush
Starring James Caan
Alan Arkin
Loretta Swit
Jack Kruschen
Mike Kellin
Alex Rocco
Valerie Harper
Cinematography László Kovács
Edited by Michael McLean
Fredric Steinkamp
Music by Dominic Frontiere
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • December 25, 1974 (1974-12-25)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million [1]
Box office$12.5 million in the United States and Canada [2]

Freebie and the Bean is a 1974 American buddy cop black comedy action film starring James Caan and Alan Arkin, and directed by Richard Rush. The film follows two police detectives who wreak havoc in San Francisco attempting to bring down an organized crime boss. The film, which had been originally scripted as a serious crime drama, morphed into what is now known as the "buddy-cop" genre due to the bantering, improvisational nature of the acting by Caan and Arkin. Reportedly, by the end of filming, both actors were confused by the purpose of the movie, not knowing that they had stumbled into a successful character formula. The film was popular enough to spawn various other successful film franchises such as, Lethal Weapon , 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop . Loretta Swit and Valerie Harper appeared in supporting roles.

Contents

Plot

Freebie and Bean are a pair of maverick detectives with the San Francisco Police Department Intelligence Squad. The volatile, gratuity-seeking Freebie is trying to get promoted to the vice squad to garner perks for his retirement while the neurotic and fastidious Bean has ambitions to make lieutenant. Against a backdrop of the Super Bowl weekend in San Francisco, the partners are trying to conclude a 14-month investigation, digging through garbage to gather evidence against well-connected racketeer Red Meyers, when they discover that a hit man from Detroit is after Meyers as well. After rejecting their pretext arrest of Meyers to protect him, the district attorney orders them to keep him alive until Monday.

After locating and shooting the primary hit man, and distracted by Bean's suspicions that his wife is having an affair with the landscaper, they continue their investigation seeking a key witness against Meyers who can explain and corroborate the evidence. In the midst of this, they foil a second hit on Meyers by a backup team, leading to a destructive vehicle and foot pursuit through the city, after which they learn that Meyers is planning to fly to Miami before Monday. Tailing him, they receive word that their witness has been located and a warrant issued for Meyers' arrest. Unknown to them, a woman Meyers picked up at a local park is a female impersonator looking to rob him.

During the arrest attempt at Candlestick Park, Bean is shot by the thief, who flees with Meyers into the stadium where the Super Bowl is underway. Freebie corners the thief in a women's restroom. Despite being shot himself, he rescues a hostage and kills the thief after he nearly bests Freebie with his unexpected martial arts skills. The D.A. arrives after the shootings and tells Freebie that the warrant is canceled because the witness was assassinated on the way to the station. Freebie goes nuts and demands to be allowed to arrest Meyers, which is granted by the lieutenant in command of his squad, only to find that Meyers has died of a heart attack. Freebie is further demoralized to learn that the evidence they gathered was planted by Meyers' wife in an extra-marital conspiracy with his lieutenant.

Bean is not dead after all, however, and in the ambulance the two wounded partners engage in a free-for-all when Freebie thinks Bean has been playing a joke on him, causing yet another accident.

Cast

Production

Development

The film was based on an original script by Floyd Mutrux, who originally intended to produce his own property. In April 1972, he sold it to Warner Bros. [3]

Mutrux maintained he had gotten offers from other studios but elected to go to Warners because he felt studio vice president Richard Zanuck was "the straightest shooter I've ever known." [4]

The comedy followed on the heels of two popular action films about the San Francisco Police, Bullitt (1968) and Dirty Harry (1971), and incorporates plot elements prominent in both. James Caan later called the film "sort of The Odd Couple in a squad car, detectives, hopefully funny." [5]

Mutrux claims Al Pacino was offered one of the leads but his agent requested $250,000 plus a percentage of the profits, so Warners went with James Caan. This casting happened in June. [4] By August Richard Rush was attached to direct. [6]

Rush described the original script as about:

Two corrupt cops who ride around in a police car, quarreling with each other like an old married couple. You were never sure which one was the wife and which one was the husband. They became interchangeable. There was also the somewhat clumsy, rough skeleton of the plot concerning a criminal that they must keep alive to testify while assassins are contracted to kill him, which survived through our final film screenplay. I liked these ideas but there was nothing else there to make a movie work. [7]

Rush says John Calley, head of Warners, told the director he could turn it into a "Dick Rush picture...He was very generous and promised the studio would be very agreeable. It was the kind of offer that you can't refuse." [7]

Mutrux left the project and Rush rewrote the script with Robert Kaufman. The director says "we wrote a new screenplay about two bickering cops that became a prototype of the buddy cop movie. I put a lot of meat on the bones, with the unstereotypical wife of Freebie tormenting him with jealousy and the comic relief of their relationship." [7]

In October, Alan Arkin signed to costar with Caan. [8] Rush says Calley, who had worked with Arkin on Catch-22, warned the director that Arkin was "a director killer", but Rush insisted. [7]

Before filming, Rush worked on the script with the two stars and Kaufman in several improvisational sessions. Rush says "at my suggestion they turned what had originally been serious drama into bizarre comedy. Slowly their relationship took on the pains and pleasures of a friendship neither could live with or without." [9]

Arkin admits that it was Rush's idea to turn the film into a comedy. "I hadn't thought about it. I didn't see it in the script." [9]

Shooting

Filming took 11 weeks in 1973. It was a difficult shoot, in part because Arkin and Caan felt their characters were being made secondary to stunts and action sequences. [9]

Arkin said his relationship with Caan "was great. There is a very exciting interaction between us. Jimmy pushes me and forces me to change...But a lot of the time we've taken a back seat to the action." [9]

There were difficulties between Rush and Arkin/Caan. Rush says "the main factor was Arkin. Caan was a copycat. He was Arkin's buddy and would do anything Arkin did...Arkin needed conflict as part of his method, and it was horribly disruptive, but it didn't show in his work." [7]

Key scenes were shot on location in San Francisco at Candlestick Park. Dealing with local authorities reportedly was difficult for the crew. [9]

The plot includes the protagonists’ repeated "totaling" of a series of their own unmarked police vehicles during three different chase-crash sequences. One sequence was filmed on an elevated portion of the since-demolished Embarcadero Freeway, ending with their police vehicle car crashing into an apartment building. After the car lands in an elderly couple's bedroom as they are watching television, Arkin's character collapses from nervous shock against the wall as Caan's character calls for a tow truck, adding that their location is “on the third floor”. The couple retains their aplomb throughout. [10]

Rush said he "shot the film partly in a Tom and Jerry style, with lots of car chases and car crashes, and the heroes are being indestructible. The audience is laughing and enjoying themselves and suddenly Freebie would drive around the corner into a marching band of kids, and just sloughed through them. The audience thought Wait a minute. What am I laughing at?, and the style of the film had changed to stark realism. There was a lot of game-playing in the picture." [7]

"I never actually knew what Rush wanted," said Arkin at the end of filming. "He [Rush] is so uncertain it's hard to handle," said Caan. [9]

Release

Plans to distribute the film in early 1974 were shelved due to concerns about competition with Peter Hyams' similar Busting . The film opened the 1974 Chicago Film Festival. [11] Freebie and the Bean was issued as a Christmas release.

Home media

The film was released on DVD in 2009 through Warner Home Video's Warner Archive label. [12]

Reception and legacy

The film was panned by critics upon release. A.D. Murphy of Variety called it a "tasteless 'comedy' about two dumb cops breaking the law". [11]

Peter O'Toole agreed to be in The Stunt Man on the basis of Rush's work on Freebie and the Bean. [13]

The film was featured in the 1995 documentary film The Celluloid Closet . [14]

A 2018 article in Rolling Stone alleged that Stanley Kubrick called Freebie and the Bean the best film of 1974. [15]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 23% of 26 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10.The website's consensus reads: "A sour blend of misguided comedy and all-out action,[ when? ]Freebie and the Bean is a buddy cop picture that's far less than arresting entertainment." [16]

Box office

The film became a substantial box office success. [10] Through early 1976 it had earned rentals of $12.5 million in the United States and Canada. [2] [17] It was one of Caan's most successful movies after The Godfather. [18]

Television

A short-lived nine-episode television series based on the film and sharing its title, starring Tom Mason and Héctor Elizondo in the title roles, was broadcast on CBS on Saturday nights at 9:00 PM in December 1980 and January 1981. [19] [20]

Accolades

Harper was nominated for the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year for playing the Hispanic wife of Alan Arkin. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Caan</span> American actor (1940–2022)

James Edmund Caan was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972) – a performance that earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He received a motion-picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.

<i>Rush Hour</i> (1998 film) 1998 American action comedy film by Brett Ratner

Rush Hour is a 1998 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and written by Jim Kouf and Ross LaManna from a story by LaManna. It stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as mismatched police officers who are assigned to rescue a Chinese diplomat's abducted daughter. Tom Wilkinson, Chris Penn and Elizabeth Peña play supporting roles. Released on September 18, 1998, the film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed over $244 million worldwide. Its box office commercial success led to two sequels: Rush Hour 2 (2001) and Rush Hour 3 (2007).

<i>Beverly Hills Cop</i> 1984 film directed by Martin Brest

Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, with a screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., and story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr. It stars Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit detective who visits Beverly Hills, California, to solve the murder of his best friend. Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Ronny Cox, Lisa Eilbacher, Steven Berkoff, Paul Reiser, and Jonathan Banks appear in supporting roles.

<i>Blue Streak</i> (film) 1999 film by Les Mayfield

Blue Streak is a 1999 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Les Mayfield. Inspired by the 1965 film The Big Job, the film stars Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson, Dave Chappelle, Peter Greene, Nicole Ari Parker and William Forsythe. Lawrence plays Miles, a jewel thief who tries to retrieve a diamond he left at a police station, whereupon he disguises himself as a detective and gets paired with a real policeman to investigate burglaries. The film was shot on location in California. The prime shooting spot was Sony Pictures Studios, which is located in Culver City, California.

Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. The two are normally either police officers (cops) or secret agents, but some films or TV series that are not about two officers may still be referred to as buddy cop films/TV series. It is a subgenre of buddy films. They can be either comedies or action-thrillers.

<i>Beverly Hills Cop II</i> 1987 buddy cop film directed by Tony Scott

Beverly Hills Cop II is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tony Scott, written by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren, and starring Eddie Murphy. It is the sequel to the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop and the second installment in the Beverly Hills Cop film series. Murphy returns as Detroit police detective Axel Foley, who reunites with Beverly Hills detectives Billy Rosewood and John Taggart to stop a criminal organization after Captain Andrew Bogomil is shot and seriously wounded.

<i>Bulletproof</i> (1996 film) 1996 American film

Bulletproof is a 1996 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Ernest Dickerson and starring Damon Wayans, Adam Sandler, James Farentino and James Caan.

<i>K-9</i> (film) 1989 film by Rod Daniel

K-9 is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film starring Jim Belushi and Mel Harris. It was directed by Rod Daniel, written by Steven Siegel and Scott Myers, produced by Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon, and released by Universal Pictures.

Andrew Bergman is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. His best-known films include Blazing Saddles, The In-Laws, The Freshman and Striptease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddy film</span> Film genre in which two people of the same sex are non-romantically paired

The buddy film is a subgenre of romantic comedy, a combination of the romance, adventure and comedy film in which two people, bonded through some kind of affection or love for each other, go on an adventure, mission, or road trip. The two typically are males with contrasting personalities. The contrast is sometimes accentuated by an ethnic difference between the two. The buddy film is commonplace in Western cinema; unlike some other film genres, it endured through the 20th century with different pairings and different themes.

<i>Tango & Cash</i> 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film

Tango & Cash is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance, and Teri Hatcher. The film follows the titular pair of rival police detectives who are forced to work together after a criminal mastermind frames them for murder.

<i>48 Hrs.</i> 1982 film by Walter Hill

48 Hrs. is a 1982 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Walter Hill, from a screenplay co-written with Larry Gross, Steven E. de Souza and Roger Spottiswoode. It stars Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy as a cop and a convict, respectively, who team up to catch two hardened criminals. Titled after the amount of time the duo has to solve the crime, 48 Hrs. was Joel Silver's first title as a producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Rush (director)</span> American film director (1929–2021)

Richard Rush was an American film director, scriptwriter, and producer. He is known for directing The Stunt Man, for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director. His film Color of Night won a Golden Raspberry Award as the worst film of 1994, but Maxim magazine also singled the film out as having the best sex scene in film history. Rush, whose directing career began in 1960, also directed Freebie and the Bean, a police buddy comedy/drama starring Alan Arkin and James Caan. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1990 film Air America.

<i>Partners</i> (1982 film) 1982 gay-themed buddy comedy directed by James Burrows

Partners is a 1982 American gay-themed buddy comedy film directed by James Burrows and starring Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt as a mismatched pair of cops.

<i>The Seven-Ups</i> 1973 film by Philip DAntoni

The Seven-Ups is a 1973 American neo-noir mystery action thriller film produced and directed by Philip D'Antoni. It stars Roy Scheider as a crusading policeman who is the leader of the Seven-Ups, a squad of plainclothes officers who use dirty, unorthodox tactics to snare their quarry on charges leading to prison sentences of seven years or more upon prosecution, hence the name of the team.

<i>Busting</i> 1974 American crime film by Peter Hyams

Busting is a 1974 American buddy cop film, directed by Peter Hyams in his theatrical directorial debut, starring Elliott Gould and Robert Blake as police detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The film was the main inspiration for the cop series Starsky & Hutch, which premiered in 1975 and, like this film, also featured Antonio Fargas.

<i>A Boy Called Hate</i> 1995 film by Mitch Marcus

A Boy Called Hate is a 1995 American crime drama film written and directed by Mitch Marcus in his directorial debut. It stars Scott Caan in the title role, with Missy Crider, Elliott Gould, Adam Beach, and James Caan in supporting roles. It follows a maladjusted teenager who, after a run-in with the law, starts calling himself "Hate".

<i>Fuzz</i> (film) 1972 film by Richard A. Colla

Fuzz is a 1972 American action comedy film directed by Richard A. Colla and starring Burt Reynolds, Yul Brynner, Raquel Welch, Tom Skerritt, and Jack Weston.

<i>Harry and Walter Go to New York</i> 1976 American comedy film

Harry and Walter Go to New York is a 1976 American period comedy film written by John Byrum and Robert Kaufman, directed by Mark Rydell, and starring James Caan, Elliott Gould, Michael Caine, Diane Keaton, Charles Durning and Lesley Ann Warren. In the film, two dimwitted con-men try to pull off the biggest heist ever seen in late nineteenth-century New York City. They are opposed by the greatest bank robber of the day, and aided by a crusading newspaper editor.

<i>Ride Along</i> (film) American buddy cop comedy film

Ride Along is a 2014 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tim Story and starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart.

References

  1. ↑ "McElwaine Has 22 Readying; Finds Forgotten WB Coppola". Variety . November 12, 1975. p. 6. Retrieved June 27, 2022– via Archive.org.
  2. 1 2 "All-time Film Rental Champs". Variety . January 7, 1976. p. 20.
  3. ↑ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Rohmer Shooting in Paris Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 7 Apr 1972: g20.
  4. 1 2 Another Joanna for Johnny Carson? Haber, Joyce. Los Angeles Times 22 June 1972: g19.
  5. ↑ James Caan: Hollywood's Jock of All Trades, Haber, Joyce. Los Angeles Times 27 May 1973: o11
  6. ↑ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Peck, Desi Jr. Set for 'Billy Two Hats', Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 21 Aug 1972: f17.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rowlands, Paul. "AN INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD RUSH (PART 3 OF 4)". Money Into Light. Archived from the original on 2019-08-29. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  8. ↑ MOVIE CALL SHEET: Trio Signed for New 'Love Bug' Escapade, Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 25 Oct 1972: e11.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Murphy, Mary (3 June 1973). "Movies: They Almost Called the Cops on a Cops-and-Robbers Film". Los Angeles Times. p. q22.
  10. 1 2 Clement, Nick (17 September 2017). "Moviedrome Redux: 'Freebie And The Bean' (1974)". wearecult.rocks. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  11. 1 2 Murphy, A.D. (November 13, 1974). "Film reviews: Freebie and the Bean". Variety . p. 36.
  12. ↑ "Warner Archive Collection". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  13. ↑ Stunt that beat GoliathLucas, John. The Observer 4 Jan 1981: 30.
  14. ↑ Sub-Cult 2.0 # 10 Freebie and the Bean (1974) — Nathan Rabin's Happy Place
  15. ↑ Nick Wrigley Updated: 8 February 2018 (2018-02-08). "Stanley Kubrick, cinephile". BFI. Archived from the original on 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2018-08-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "Freebie and the Bean". Rotten Tomatoes .
  17. ↑ FIRST ANNUAL 'GROSSES GLOSS', Byron, Stuart. Film Comment; New York Vol. 12, Iss. 2, (Mar/Apr 1976): 30-31.
  18. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (September 27, 2022). "The Stardom of James Caan". Filmink.
  19. ↑ Richard Meyers (1981). A.S. Barnes (ed.). TV detectives. p. 276.
  20. ↑ Vincent Terrace (1985). Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials: 1974-1984. VNR AG. p. 154.
  21. ↑ "The Hollywood Foreign Press Association". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.