Hear No Evil (1982 film)

Last updated

Hear No Evil
GenreCrime
Drama
Written by Tom Lazarus
Directed byHarry Falk Jr.
Starring
ComposerLance Rubin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerPaul Pompian
CinematographyMichael P. Joyce
EditorAnn E. Mills
Running time120 minutes (with commercials)
Production companies
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseNovember 20, 1982 (1982-11-20)

Hear No Evil is a 1982 made-for-television-film directed by Harry Falk Jr. [1] [2] and written by Tom Lazarus. [2] The TV film stars Gil Gerard, Bernie Casey, Wings Hauser, Mimi Rogers, Christina Hart, Brion James, Ron Karabatsos, Mickey Jones, Raven De La Croix, and Robert Dryer. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Plot

After a cop becomes deaf in a fight, he tries to break up a drug ring run by bikers.

Cast

Production

Hear No Evil is based on the true story of William O. "Bill" Zerby, a former Marine who, as a Solano County Sherriff's Office narcotics detective, aggressively perused members of the Hells Angels suspected of producing and distributing methamphetamine in the San Francisco Bay Area. [5] Zerby was injured, suffered severe hearing loss and was forced to retire from his law enforcement agency as a result of an explosive device detonated as he was entering his car in front of his home on January 30, 1978. [6] He was en route to court for a prehearing in the methamphetamine possession trial of Oakland Hells Angels chapter vice-president James Ezekiel "Jim-Jim" Brandes at the time. [7] Brandes, who had previously been found to be in possession of a military handbook on booby traps and an address book containing the address, phone number and the license-plate number of Zerby when he was arrested on drug charges by Zerby and another detective on November 14, 1977, stated to a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine in or around November 1978 that "Zerby drew a line and stepped over it. I don't take that from anybody in the streets, and I sure ain't gonna take that from him. I don't let nobody come around and shove me around. I don't think anyone does if he's a man." [8] [9] The following year, Brandes and Kenneth Jay "K.O." Owen, a member of the Vallejo Hells Angels who had previously been arrested after a raid on his home led by Zerby uncovered narcotics and prohibited firearms on June 21, 1977, were charged with the attempted murder of Zerby as part of a racketeering case. [10] Brandes and Owen were ultimately acquitted of the attempt on Zerby's life. [11] Brandes later committed suicide by hanging himself in prison circa 1994. [12] Owen died July 4, 2016, [13] and Zerby died in 2021 at the age of seventy-nine. [14]

Producer Paul Pompian heard of the Zerby incident while filming a TV pilot in San Francisco and decided to pursue the idea of translating the events into a teleplay. [15] Paul Pompian Productions and MGM Television produced the television film which could have become a television series. [4] [16]

Reception

Critical response

Film critic John J. O'Connor of The New York Times wrote in his review: "TRAINING for a new gimmick in the old police-drama formula, Hear No Evil, tomorrow's television movie on CBS, Channel 2, at 9, comes up with a deaf cop." [17] Staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote: "Gil Gerard as Bill Dragon in a routine cop drama with a banal script and what only approximates acting. Even the central gimmick of permanently deafening the hero in an explosion seems to have been transferred by rubbings from ancient stones." [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mimi Rogers</span> American actress (born 1956)

Miriam Rogers is an American actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gil Gerard</span> American actor (born 1943)

Gil Gerard is an American actor, whose roles include Captain William "Buck" Rogers in the 1979–81 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonny Barger</span> American outlaw biker (1938–2022)

Ralph Hubert "Sonny" Barger Jr. was an American outlaw biker who was a founding member of the Oakland, California chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in 1957. After forming the Oakland chapter, Barger was instrumental in unifying various disparate Hells Angels chapters and had the club incorporated in 1966. He emerged as the Hells Angels' most prominent member during the counterculture era and was reputed by law enforcement and media to be the club's international president, an allegation he repeatedly denied. The author Hunter S. Thompson called Barger "the Maximum Leader" of the Hells Angels, and Philip Martin of the Phoenix New Times described him as "the archetypical Hells Angel", saying he "didn't found the motorcycle club ... but he constructed the myth". He authored five books, and appeared on television and in film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Benz</span> American actress (born 1972)

Julie Benz is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (1997–2004), and as Rita Bennett on Dexter (2006–2010), for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress and the 2009 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pagan's Motorcycle Club</span> Outlaw motorcycle club in the United States

Pagan's Motorcycle Club, or simply the Pagans, is an outlaw motorcycle club formed by Lou Dobkin in 1957 in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The club rapidly expanded and by 1959, the Pagans, originally clad in blue denim jackets and riding Triumphs, began to evolve along the lines of the stereotypical one percenter motorcycle club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Zito</span> American actor

Charles Carmine Zito Jr. is an American actor and boxer who is the former president of the New York chapter of the Hells Angels, and later became an actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brion James</span> American actor (1945–1999)

Brion Howard James was an American character actor. He portrayed Leon Kowalski in Blade Runner and appeared in Southern Comfort, 48 Hrs., Another 48 Hrs., Silverado, Tango & Cash, Red Heat, The Player, and The Fifth Element. James was frequently cast as an antagonist, appearing more frequently in lower-budget horror and action films and TV shows throughout the 1980s and 1990s. James appeared in more than 100 films before his death in 1999 at the age of 54.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outlaw motorcycle club</span> Motorcycle subculture

An outlaw motorcycle club, known colloquially as a bikie gang, biker gang or motorcycle gang, is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the biker group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georg Stanford Brown</span> American actor and director

Georg Stanford Brown is an American actor and director, perhaps best known as one of the stars of the ABC police television series The Rookies from 1972 to 1976. On the show, Brown played the character of Officer Terry Webster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Darby</span> American actress

Kim Darby is an American actress best known for her roles as Mattie Ross in True Grit (1969) and Jenny Meyer in Better Off Dead (1985).

Gerald Dwight "Wings" Hauser is an American actor and occasional director. He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his supporting role in Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernie Casey</span> American actor and professional football player (1939–2017)

Bernard Terry Casey was an American actor, poet, visual artist and professional American football player.

The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club.

<i>Angels Wild Women</i> 1972 film

Angels' Wild Women is a 1972 biker film written and directed by cult director Al Adamson. Preceded by Satan's Sadists (1969) and Hell's Bloody Devils (1970), it is the last in a trio of (unrelated) motorcycle gang films directed by Adamson for Independent-International Pictures Corp., a company he co-founded with Sam Sherman. The plot centers on a group of tough biker babes who leave their cycle gang boyfriends to go on a violent rampage. When a cult leader kills one of the girls, the others go out for revenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linden Chiles</span> American actor

Truman Linden Chiles was an American character actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christina Hart</span> Actress, director, producer

Christina Hart is an American film producer, film director, playwright and retired actress. She teaches acting at the Hollywood Court Theater.

Ronald Christ Karabatsos (1933–2012) was an American character actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hells Angels MC criminal allegations and incidents in California</span>

Numerous police and international intelligence agencies classify the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club as a motorcycle gang and contend that members carry out widespread violent crimes, including drug dealing, trafficking in stolen goods, gunrunning, extortion, and prostitution rings. Members of the organization have continuously asserted that they are only a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who have joined to ride motorcycles together, to organize social events such as group road trips, fundraisers, parties, and motorcycle rallies, and that any crimes are the responsibility of the individuals who carried them out and not the club as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hells Angels MC criminal allegations and incidents in the United States</span>

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is designated an outlaw motorcycle gang by the Department of Justice. There are an estimated 92 Hells Angels chapters in 27 U.S. states, with a membership of over 800. Due to the club's designation as a "known criminal organization" by the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, the United States has a federal policy prohibiting its foreign members from entering the country. The Hells Angels partake in drug trafficking, gunrunning, extortion, money laundering, insurance fraud, kidnapping, robbery, theft, counterfeiting, contraband smuggling, loan sharking, prostitution, trafficking in stolen goods, motorcycle and motorcycle parts theft, assault, murder, bombings, arson, intimidation and contract killing. The club's role in the narcotics trade involves the production, transportation and distribution of marijuana and methamphetamine, in addition to the transportation and distribution of cocaine, hashish, heroin, LSD, MDMA, PCP and diverted pharmaceuticals. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the HAMC may earn up to $1 billion in drug sales annually.

Robert Armstrong was an Australian policeman regarded as the "pre-eminent bikie gang expert" with the Victoria Police.

References

  1. ↑ American Motorcyclist 1987, p. 32.
  2. 1 2 3 Terrace 1985, p. 188.
  3. ↑ "Hear No Evil". Turner Classic Movies . United States: Turner Broadcasting System . Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Terrace 2011, p. 445.
  5. ↑ "Film's not just a film" . Lansing State Journal . November 14, 1982.
  6. ↑ Organized Crime in America: Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1983. p. 536.
  7. ↑ Christie, George (2016). Exile on Front Street: My Life as a Hells Angel. Pan Macmillan. p. 80. ISBN   9780283072659.
  8. ↑ Kohn, Howard (April 5, 1979). "Hell's Angels: Masters of Menace". Rolling Stone.
  9. ↑ "United States v. Pasciuti, 803 F. Supp. 499 (D.N.H. 1992)". Justia Law.
  10. ↑ "Second Hells Angels trial under way - UPI Archives". UPI. September 30, 1980.
  11. ↑ Kerr, John (2020). Outlaw Bikers. Kerr Publishing. p. 13. ISBN   978-1875703319.
  12. ↑ Fagan, Kevin (December 3, 1995). "When Jailbirds Sing". San Francisco Chronicle .
  13. ↑ "Kenneth Owen obituary". East Bay Times . July 10, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Bill's Story" (PDF). The Binnacle. March 2021. p. 5.
  15. ↑ ""Hear No Evil" Plot For Series". The Scranton Times-Tribune . November 14, 1982.
  16. ↑ Goldberg, Lee (2015). The Best TV Shows That Never Were (Paperback ed.). Scotts Valley, California: CreateSpace.com. ISBN   978-1511590747.
  17. ↑ O'Connor, John J. (November 19, 1982). "'Hear No Evil,' West Coast Police Story". The New York Times . New York City . Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  18. ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 1982, p. 23.

Works cited

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.