The Laughing Policeman

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The Laughing Policeman

R,

1973,

1h 51m,

Crime/

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

56%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

48%

500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

56%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

48%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

When a gunman opens fire on a crowded city bus in San Francisco, Detective Dave Evans (Anthony Costello) is killed, along with the man he'd been following in relation to a murder. Evans' partner, Sgt. Jake Martin (Walter Matthau), becomes obsessed with solving the case -- but all the witnesses are dead. Martin enlists a new partner, Leo Larsen (Bruce Dern), to help with the frustrating case, and when the pair is told to drop the investigation, they disobey the orders and close in on the killer.

Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Sep 20, 2023

The choppy film makes practically no sense, but it has been set up to be a ghoul's delight.

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Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

Oct 27, 2015

It loses a great deal in the translation from Stockholm to San Francisco's Dirty Harry country. Gloomy authenticity, for one thing; pace and a genuine sense of puzzlement, for others.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Jul 22, 2008

After an extremely overdone prolog of violent mass murder on a bus, The Laughing Policeman becomes a handsomely made manhunt actioner.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Apr 4, 2025

3/4

Select scenes pop with an air of authenticity.

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Steve Warren

The Barb (Atlanta)

May 9, 2023

It's a damned good mystery movie, well-acted by Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Lou Gossett, etc., and beautifully photographed in America's most beautiful city.

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Joanie Millard

The Lesbian Tide

Apr 27, 2020

[The Laughing Policeman is] one of the most outrageous, humorless exposes on violence and homosexuality ever produced. Not to mention the fact that it was so poorly edited one could not understand the last third of the picture.

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Draco W

Mar 21, 2018

Damn stupid and boring - I want my two hours back!!

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Stuart Rosenberg

Director

Walter Matthau

Sgt. Jake Martin SFPD

Bruce Dern

Insp. Leo Larsen SFPD

Louis Gossett Jr.

Insp. James Larrimore SFPD

Albert Paulsen

Henry Camerero

Anthony Zerbe

Lt. Nat Steiner SFPD

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Synopsis

When a gunman opens fire on a crowded city bus in San Francisco, Detective Dave Evans (Anthony Costello) is killed, along with the man he'd been following in relation to a murder. Evans' partner, Sgt. Jake Martin (Walter Matthau), becomes obsessed with solving the case -- but all the witnesses are dead. Martin enlists a new partner, Leo Larsen (Bruce Dern), to help with the frustrating case, and when the pair is told to drop the investigation, they disobey the orders and close in on the killer.

Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Producer: Stuart Rosenberg
Screenwriter: Thomas Rickman
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Feb 1, 2005
Runtime: 1h 51m

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