The Worst Film Ever

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

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

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

That bird was integral to his home life. Yet no mention. I would of liked to see him in the casting lineup, but no mention. What was that birds name?

One of the quirkiest cops in television series was Barreta played by Robert Blake who in real life got to see the other end of the criminal justice system. Loquacious and iconoclastic this was a guy who definitely followed his own beat. Living with ex-cop Tom Ewell as a landlord and having a cockatoo named Fred as a companion, Baretta seemed completely dedicated to his job and didn't seem to have much of a social life. I'm betting that his friend Rooster the pimp who was his number one snitch supplied a little nookie for his pal. At least Rooster never called Baretta, an 'honorary soul brother' like Huggy Bear did with Starsky and Hutch.Robert Blake who played some interesting roles like one of the GI rapists in Town Without Pity, one of the killers in In Cold Blood, serial killer John List was never traditional leading man material. As a kid he was best known for playing Little Beaver in the Red Ryder series and the Mexican kid who sold Humphrey Bogart the winning lottery ticket in The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, Blake never was a teen heart throb. He was a born character actor and a character.The quirky Baretta is hard to find on the nostalgia channels. That arrest for murdering his last gold digging wife even with an acquittal spelled finis for Robert Blake. A pity because Baretta took a unique approach to crime fighting.And that's the name of that tune.

I agree with most of the other comments. That's a brilliant cop series, with a unusual character. But I must also say that the social worker cop side of this Baretta character annoyed me a lot, especially in the last episodes. It annoyed me at a scale you can't even imagine. I almost stopped seeing the show. If I want to see social line stories, I watch EAST SIDE WEST SIDE, which was an excellent, brilliant TV show. I have nothing against social stories, so close to reality, but a cop show must remain a cop show. It can speak of social background, settings, but it also must remain a cop, crime show. One of the highlight of the whole series is in the last season: STONE CONSPIRACY, where Baretta is falsely accused of bribery and has to face rogue cops, including his own friend. With a very unexpected ending. A story that leaves you a copper taste in the mouth. Excellent.

As with most police shows that were on during the 70's this was one of those that threw police procedure out the window and the main character was a maverick police detective who went by his own set of rules. I think the most memorable thing about this show was the bird and every episode followed the same formula. Too bad though. Robert Blake was a great actor that rose above his child actor days to have a great career.