The Choirboys (1977)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Christopher Knopf (writer)
Joseph Wambaugh (novel)

Release Date:

23 December 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Don't look for these guys in church.

Plot:

A group of Los Angeles cops decide to take off some of the pressures of their jobs by engaging in various forms of after-hours debauchery. |

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Dominatrix | Police | Based On Novel | Independent Film

Cast

Charles Durning	...	Spermwhale Whalen
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Calvin Motts
Perry King	...	Baxter Slate
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Francis Tanaguchi
Stephen Macht	...	Spencer Van Moot
Tim McIntire	...	Roscoe Rules
Randy Quaid	...	Dean Proust
Chuck Sacci	...	'Father' Sartino
Don Stroud	...	Sam Lyles
James Woods	...	Harold Bloomguard
Burt Young	...	Scuzzi
Susan Batson	...	Sabrina
Cheryl Smith	...	Tammy
Claire Brennen	...	Carolina Moon
Gene Chronopoulos	...	Card player

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1988) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1978) | Netherlands:16 (original rating) | West Germany:18 (f) | France:-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Norway:18

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Airone Productions

Quotes:

Harold Bloomguard: Greetings and Hallucinations, Sergeant Yanoff.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

I've Got a Crush on You

It's too stupid to be satirical--and too offensive to be funny

Joseph Wambaugh disowned this film-adaptation of his bestseller about department low-lifes within the Los Angeles police force, but the experience probably shamed him anyway--and anyone who gets through the picture will feel shame for him. Half-assed mixture of smut-minded hijinks and 'sobering' cop drama is so sloppily constructed I am amazed director Robert Aldrich didn't remove his name as well. Aldrich, once a filmmaker of merit, seems to have nothing on his agenda here except earning a paycheck (ditto cinematographer Joseph Biroc, who does some of the gloppiest, ugliest work I have ever seen in a major movie). The mostly-male cast members continually smirk and leer throughout (it's difficult to distinguish the characters' loutish behavior from the actual actors themselves--everyone comes off looking pathetic). The low-point of the movie comes when snarling cop Tim McIntire (in a career-ending turn) is hand-cuffed to a tree without his pants and is spotted by a mincing homosexual. McIntire threatens to tear out the guy's liver and break his spleen if he comes near him. Everyone on screen is doubled over with laughter, but the viewer is the butt of the joke. * from ****