Rating: 
Summary: GOLD STANDARD FOR ITS TIME
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth it for the overused jazz score alone!
Review: This 1968 film about NY Detectives hunting down a cop killer is not bad, but it also has weaknesses. Don Siegel, who succeeded with a much more superior cop film, Dirty Harry (1971), directed "Madigan", so titled after the lead character, Det. Daniel Madigan (Widmark). Madigan is a "hard-boiled" cop so obsessed with his job that he doesn't have any time for his bored & pretty blonde wife who sits around the house all day and watches TV waiting for him to come home and take her out. Henry Fonda is Anthony X. Russell, the Police Commissioner who "likes the book" (goes by it), but has a young mistress that he cheats on his wife with. The story is somewhat about Madigan and his partner Rocco Bonaro's (Don Siegel regular, Harry Guardino) letting a murderer go and then having to hunt him down in a few days time. The action scenes almost take a back seat to the troubled love lives of the both Madigan and Commissioner Russell. There is also a separate corruption plot concerning Russell's longtime friend & fellow cop, Chief Inspector Charles Kane (James Whitmore). One of the problems of "Madigan" is that too much time is spent on the wives and girlfriends of the two leads. It also doesn't help that there are no real likeable characters in the movie. Madigan is a drunk and is "in love" with his wife (who needs a job or a hobby) but he seems to love catching murderers more so he can't find time for her. Actually, he's not that good at his job either...lets put it this way...he's no Harry Callahan. His partner, Rocco, sits at his kitchen table (in his only scene at home) while his wife runs around making his dinner for him (this is definitely the late 60s) The Chief Inspector is corrupt, but the Commissioner, who sleeps around, decides to let it go. One thing I did enjoy was the overuse of music at improper times. When Madigan approaches this guy who's sitting in a bar the music sounds like he's about to walk in and start shooting but nothing happens...its the wrong guy! "Madigan" does have its strong suits: stylish direction by Siegel and authentic & gritty NY cinematography. There's also some cheezy dialogue and performances if you're into that...and I am. All this still doesn't make "Madigan" a must see, but it's interesting for fans of the genre and director Don Siegel (pre Dirty Harry). A better cop film in my opinion is "The Detective" (1968) starring Frank Sinatra, Jack Klugman, and Robert Duvall. Its got all the gritty locations, but the story and performances are far superior. Good luck finding it though because its currently out of print on all formats. Concerning the DVD of "Madigan", if you like the movie, go for it. Its presented in Widescreen Letterbox, has a trailer, and is very reasonably priced depending on where you go. Its one of those films that are becoming increasingly hard to find so if you like it...buy it soon.
Rating: 
Summary: THE MISSING GUN
Review: What a cast ! Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, James Whitmore, Inger Stevens and Don Stroud in the same movie. De... Delicious ! Furthermore Donald Siegel's MADIGAN is a movie one can watch from different perspectives. Who can ask for anything more in this cinematographically indigent period we live.Today we are used to motion pictures depicting the everyday life of downtown policemen so perhaps we won't appreciate MADIGAN in the same manner as the 1968 audience did. Anyway MADIGAN is a basically good cop movie with a solid plot. It's also a film trying to explore some moral questions as this one : is a police office who accepts little extra-advantages that his position can procure him more guilty than his superior who goes out with a married woman ? But I must admit that, in my opinion, another aspect of MADIGAN is more interesting. The sexual one. The metaphorical sexual one, I mean ; don't forget that we are in 1968. If one considers that revolvers are symbols of men's sexual power, let's observe what happens to Richard MADIGAN Widmark since the moment his gun has been robbed. He's febrile, he can't answer to women's advances anymore, his wife tries to cheat on him and he blushes like a kid in front of his superior Henry Fonda. And finally, where is he wounded ? You'll have to see MADIGAN to answer that question. Great performances from the actors with a special mention to Don Stroud in a pimp's role. Above-average extra features with a trailer, interesting production notes and cast bio-filmographies. A movie dedicated to women.
Rating:
Summary: Widmark shines as N.Y.C. detective
Review: When focusing on the title character, a maverick New York City detective played by Richard Widmark, this 1968 Don Siegel directed drama is a riveting action film, a precursor of sorts to Siegel's even more riveting "Dirty Harry." Things slow down, however, when the spotlight is turned on various subplots (commissioner Henry Fonda's distrust of Madigan, and the detective's troubled relationship with wife Inger Stevens). Still, no one has ever played a copper with as much authority or short-tempered brilliance as Widmark, and the cinematography is top-notch. Filmed on location, this film captures the gritty streets of New York quite well. The film later inspired an excellent and undeservedly short-lived TV series (1972-73), also with Widmark, that rotated with two other shows on "The NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie."
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