Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Masterful Movie

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

"The Detective" was a daring film for the times - it begs the question: how many mainstream films were there that included any gay characters? Not many at all. "The Detective" pushed the envelope in that sense and proves to be a successful attempt in presenting characters that could be described as being "underdogs." Frank Sinatra is very good as the New York police officer who is on the case of a murdered homosexual whose body is discovered in his apartment. Respected character actor William Windom is on hand to deliver one of his finest performances. Jack Klugman, Robert Duvall and Lloyd Bochner provide excellent support. There are a few twists and turns along the way and the explanation given at the end, ties up the film very well. This film deserves a much higher rating than a 6.5 - some people don't know what they are missing!

As I neared the big 5,000 in terms of movies watched (at least according to my admittedly-crapola memory and IMDb), for some odd reason, I thought of Frank Sinatra, whose films I had seen quite a few of recently, and I decided to check out the private-eye films he made in the 60's, when his superstar status, both in terms of acting and performing, began to wane, as tastes changed in that tumultuous decade.Apart from 'Them!', 'In Like Flint' and a truckload of Our Gang comedic shorts from way back when, I hadn't seen any of director Douglas' works, though he's fine with the material and does quite a good, if craftmanlike, job here. Sinatra must have been comfortable with him--they worked together earlier in films as diverse as Doris Day's 'So This Is Love' and the Rat Pack's 'Robin and the 7 Hoods'. I loved how he was obviously fascinated with Lee Remick's eyes and really took advantage of Panavision's 2.35:1 aspect ratio to show how captivated she was with Sinatra's Joe Leland and therefore couldn't dismiss him entirely from her life.It struck me, after recently seeing films from just a few years before, like 'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'Some Came Running', how Sinatra's party days were starting here to catch up with him, but his work here was solid, and I would heartily recommend it, both for fans of his work and of detective tales from the period in general. I now look forward to others he did in the era (also for Douglas): 'Tony Rome' and its sequel, 'Lady in Cement'.Odd that he wanted his wife-at-the-time, Mia Farrow, to play the part that eventually went to Jacqueline Bisset, that she refused (the film she was working on was behind schedule), so he went to the set of 'Rosemary's Baby' and served her divorce papers! Ouch!

Yeah, I'll admit it: I came to this movie because of "Die Hard" (the same author wrote the source novels for both movies). It's a movie called "The Detective" and stars Sinatra; seems like a good one, right? Eh.One of the notable things about this film is its depiction (or at least inclusion of homosexuals. that they're not shown as degenerate monsters is something. This could've been a lot more "hard-nosed" towards these individuals, but it wasn't. I was hoping for a harder nose on Sinatra in the movie, but he came off oddly tame (brooding seemed to be what he was going for). But that might have more to do with the unimaginative direction. Everything's clunky as a result.The other thing here worth mentioning is the quietly menacing Robert Duvall, who ably walks away with this movie.5/10

This film is based on allegedly real deeds and adapted on novel by Roderick Thorpe and written credits by prestigious Abby Mann. It concerns about a N.Y. detective called Leland(Frank Sinatra) , he investigates the mutilation killing of a homosexual man. Leland encounters police and political corruption. Meanwhile, he has problems with his nymphomaniac spouse(Lee Remick).This is a fine noir film blending drama, suspense, thrills and excellent performances. This film displays strong scenes with gritty description of homosexuality and police brutality included. Casting is frankly awesome, as main cast, Sinatra and Remick, as secondary support, Ralph Meeker, Jack Klugman, William Windom, Al Freeman, Robert Duvall, Jacqueline Bisset and special mention for Tony Musante as tortured homosexual. Splendid and atmospheric musical score by the master Jerry Goldsmith. Colorful and appropriate cinematography by Joseph Biroc. The motion picture is superbly constructed by Gordon Douglas. This is the best work of his long career as filmmaker. He was a Hollywood veteran director, directing early movies(Little rascals, Spanky), Western expert(Chuka,Rio Conchos, Yellowstone Kelly, Only the valiant), and worked for Frank Sinatra in various films(Lady in Cement, Tony Rome, Robin and the 7 Hoods). Rating : Better than average, this is a high-class adult entertainment and to be liked Frank Sinatra fans.