Madigan

'Madigan' is enjoyable police drama
As others have noted, "Madigan" is at its best in basic cops-and-robbers mode, when Detectives Dan Madigan (Richard Widmark) and Rocco Bennaro (Harry Guardino) are pursuing insanely dangerous gunman Barney Benesch (Steve Ihnat). Director Don Siegel knows what he's doing when it comes to movement and violence, and that's more than evident here.

A subplot involving the embattled police commissioner (Henry Fonda) and his struggle with possible graft on the part of his long-time friend and captain (James Whitmore) works reasonably well.

The commissioner's affair with a married woman (Susan Clark) isn't too much of a distraction, especially since Clark is nice to look at, as usual.

But the subplot that doesn't work is the unhappiness of Madigan's wife (Inger Stevens). Stevens does what she can to bring the woman to life, but the script defeats her, particularly in a scene following a police ball.

Production values are very high, as 1968 New York emerges vividly in the location...

Gritty 60's cop movie
This actionful New York set cops and robbers movie was co-scripted by the once blacklisted leftist writer Abraham Polonsky and this may ,together with the anti-establishmant modes of thinking current at the time of its making ,be responsible for its strongly critical stance on police corruption and morality .
Madigan (Richard Widmark)and his partner Bonaro (Harry Guardino)go to arrest a hoodlum wanted for murder ,one Benech(Steve Inhat).They find him in bed with a woman and using the fact that they are distracted by this he steals Madigan's gun and makes his getaway.Police Commissioner Russell (Henry Fonda) givbes them 72 hours to nail him and restore the prestige the department has lost by the fiasco
Russell has other weighty matters on his mind .He is having an affair with a married woman (Susan Clark).A prominent black minister (Raymond St Jacques) is hassling him over the death of the minister's son ,an "activist"who has been beaten by racist cops.Plus ,he is on the take...

GOLD STANDARD FOR ITS TIME
Richard Dougherty's THE COMMISSIONER, upon which MADIGAN, is based was one of the first works of fiction to accurately portray cops problems away from the station house. MADIGAN, one of the best films of 1968, is true to that part of the book and Don Siegel implants his own brand of genius on the rest. MADIGAN shows a not too distant era when there were blood-and-guts hat wearing detectives who worked their own angles to solve their cases. The portrayls by Widmark and Guardino are lasting and solid to the core. For it's time, MADIGAN was a gold standard in police procedurals. The NYC landscape bolstered by the Don Costa soundtrack is stunning.

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