The Laughing Policeman (1973)

movie

(3222)

Country: USA
Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Release: 1974-01-23
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Writers: Thomas Rickman , Per Wahlöö , Maj Sjöwall
Language: English
Stars: Walter Matthau , Bruce Dern , Louis Gossett Jr. , Albert Paulsen , Anthony Zerbe , Val Avery , Cathy Lee Crosby , Mario Gallo , Joanna Cassidy (I) , Shirley Ballard
Runtime: 112 min
Awards: N/A
AKA: Asesinato en masa (Argentina) , Naurava poliisi (Finland) , L'ispettore Martin ha teso la trappola (Italy) , S. Francisco Cidade Nua (Portugal, Portuguese Republic) , A nevető rendőr (Hungary) , Endestation mord (Denmark) , Matança em São Francisco (Brazil) , An Investigation of a Murder , Den skrattande polisen (Sweden) , Asesinato en masa (Uruguay, Eastern Republic of) , Matança em San Francisco (Brazil) , An Investigation of Murder (United Kingdom) , The Laughing Policeman (United States of America) , Le Flic ricanant (France, French Republic) , Den skrattande polisen (Finland) , De Negende Passagier (Netherlands the) , マシンガン・パニック (Japan) , Смеющийся полицейский , Massenmord in San Francisco , O detective tou San Francisco (Greece) , The Laughing Policeman , The Laughing Policeman (United Kingdom) , Смеещият се полицай (Bulgaria) , The Laughing Policeman (Australia) , Poliţistul care râde (Romania) , Tvrdoglavi policajac iz San Franciska , San Francisco, ciudad desnuda (Spain) , Døden tar buss (Norway) , The Laughing Policeman (Canada) , Uśmiechnięty gliniarz (Poland) , Massenmord in San Franzisco (Austria)
Plot: A San Francisco city bus, with eight passengers and the driver, pulls out of a downtown bus station and moves through the city stopping once for a new passenger. The passenger, unseen above the chest, walks to the back of the bus pulls the pieces of a sub-machine gun from a tote bag, assembles them, and massacres the eight passenger and the driver. The bus crashes and the killer walks away. Driving onto the scene are homicide detectives Jake Martin (Walter Matthau), Leo Larsen (Bruce Dern) and James Larrinore (Lou Gosset). As they search the bus they find one of the bodies is that of Dave Evans (Anthony Costello), Martin's police partner. It is the search for the murderer and the reason for Evans' presence on the bus that pairs detective Martin and Larsen together. With the help of Evan's girlfriend Kay Butler (Cathy Lee Crosby), they determine that Evans was following leads to close a murder case which Martin, sixteen years on the force, was unable to solve two years previous. Thed search takes the two detectives to most of the seamy sides of San Francisco, with its hustlers, porno theatres, topless and gay bars, boarding houses and restaurants, from the rankest to the plushest. Aware that he has been forced upon Martin, that Larsen, a veteran detective in his early 30's , tough, mischievous, blunt and slightly crass, does his best to make his replacement of Evans as subtle as possible. Martin, withdrawing into himself, ignores Larsen. In the pursuit of Evans' leads, Mratin discovers a bizarre possible solution linking the unsolved murder and the bus massacre. Unable, by the lack of evidence to explain his theory to Larsen, he attempts to convince him to pursue his theory and deviate from the the instructions of their superiors. At first, Larsen refuses, but as his respect for Martim and his unorthodox police procedure increases, Larsen agrees and the two policemen set out to trap the mass murderer.
IMDB:tt0070292