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source: Cops and Robbers

... which sounds like an odd combination of genres, but not really for the 1970s. Joseph Bologna and Cliff Gorman star as two NYC cops who grow tired of seeing slimy characters grow rich while they can barely make ends meet for their families, so they decide to try a little heist for themselves. They don't want to pull any petty jobs..they want one great caper that will provide them new lives, but the problem is they don't really know what's involved or how to plan it, so they go (in disguise) to a mob boss who they know has skirted the law easily for years. He gives them the inside info on a Wall Street company, and the benefits of stealing bonds, which he will pay handsomely for. The day they choose? The day the Apollo 11 astronauts are given a ticker tape parade just downstairs from their target. This is a crime/comedy..so needless to say, all does not go as planned, and their biggest worry isn't getting arrested for the actual crime, but for their problem delivering 'the goods' to the mob. This was really a fun watch and much better than I anticipated. It is flat out a New York film and in no way is it 'Hollywood-ized'. It's true to the NYC of the early 70's..lots of corruption, chaotic arrests, the noise, the little messy shops on littered streets contrasted to the order and sterile space of the financial offices. The actors are NY too, and there is a natural feel to every performance from accents to body language. It's like a darkly funny crime caper set in a time capsule, and wonderfully watchable - not your usual cop movie.

I saw "Cops and Robbers" in the theater (Glen Oaks, NY). I've seen it many times since. It's a terrific movie. It strikes the perfect balance between humor and thrills. The cast is great. The script is very clever. The location photography is also very good. The music stays in my heads for weeks after watching this movie. There no downside to "Cops and Robbers". It's been one of my favorites for decades. Honorable mention: a dreamy Ellen Holly.

Disgruntled police officers Tom (the extremely affable Cliff Gorman) and Joe (the equally engaging Joseph Bologna) decide to steal ten million dollars worth of untraceable bonds in order to improve their lackluster lots in life. However, things don't go as smoothly as planned. Director Aram Avakian keeps the enjoyable and engrossing story moving along at a brisk pace, makes fine use of gritty New York City locations, grounds the premise in a thoroughly plausible blue collar reality, stages several exciting action set pieces with flair and skill (a chase sequence in Central Park involving a bunch of angry bicyclists rates as a novel and thrilling highlight), and maintains a playfully audacious tone throughout. Donald E. Westlake's clever script slyly subverts crime cinema conventions by making the crooks a pair of highly likable and sympathetic average working class guys who the viewer can't help but identity with and subsequently root for to get away with their daring heist. Gorman and Bologna display a natural and convincing chemistry in the leads; they receive sturdy support from John P. Ryan as formidable mob fence Patsy O'Neill, Richard Ward as hard-nosed flatfoot Paul Jones, Sheppard Strudwick as shady businessman Mr. Eastpoole, Ellen Holly as nervous secretary Mrs. Wells, Dolph Sweet as the hearty George, and Joe Spinell as intimidating enforcer Marty. Both David L. Quaid's sharp cinematography and Michael Legrand's tuneful score are up to speed. A racy treat.

If anybody could write a novel about the perfect heist, crime novelist Donald Westlake would be the man. This legendary author, who won three Edgars Awards and received the title Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, wrote "Cops and Robbers" for prolific film producer Elliot Kastner and parlayed his screenplay into a novel by the same name. This gritty but comic New York City crime thriller focuses on two uniformed NYPD patrolmen, Tom (Cliff Gorman of "All That Jazz") and Joe Bologna of "Blame it on Rio"), who are sick of the maximum risks that they take for the minimal pay that they receive. They decide to commit the crime of the century, so Tom approaches a Mafia crime boss, Pasquale O'Neill (John P. Ryan of "Five Easy Pieces"), and he explains he will pay $2 million for $10 million in bearer bonds from Wall Street. These investment bonds are as good as cold hard cash, but they have nothing that would tie him to any crime. "Miracle Worker" editor turned director Adam Avakian, who followed "Cops and Robbers" up with another crime thriller "11 Harrowhouse," doesn't squander a second in this tightly helmed film. Of course, the action is predictable and smooth until our cops show up at a brokerage firm and learn that more cops are swarming in the building in response to a man who got shot in an elevator. They decide to shred the bearer bonds and dump those shreds onto a parade celebrating the homecoming of the Apollo II astronauts. Despite the fact that they have nothing when they leave the premises, while several other cops are patrolling the building, they get away, and then later learn that the brokerage firm official, Mr. Eastpoole (Shepperd Strudwick of "All the King's Men"), has boosted the reported amount stolen from $10 to $12 million. Our shrewd heroes think that they have the mob by the balls when they arrange for the exchange in Central Park during bicycle day. Little do they know that the mob has parked their Cadillacs in front of the sawhorse barricades that prevent cars from entering the park. Predictably, a chase ensues with our heroes getting away a little too easily. As slick and stylist as "Cops and Robbers" is, you may have trouble rooting for the good guy cops turning villains because neither Cliff Gorman nor Joe Bologna were celebrity actors at the time. This was Bologna's second movie, while "Justine" (1969) was Gorman's first picture.

I'm Born, raised - and still live in NYC. Seeing this movie made me (like a lot of my fellow NYC'ers) pine for those days. It was a great place to grow up - made you 'get with it' really fast. I'd never heard of this film (and I know Mr. Gorman!), so, when it appeared last night on TCM, I recorded it. What a find! The sights and sounds bring back a lot of memories, as does even the film's stock, and the look. All pitch-perfect. The acting's superb. Instead of the (misguided) idea of using 'star' names, the producers and the director went for ACTORS - New York actors. ANd that makes all the difference. The leads, Cliff Gorman and Joseph Bologna are 2 schlubs - cops, who know they're stuck ion a treadmill. They want SOME way to get out - to 'go sit on a beach,' and enjoy their lives. So, through a meeting by happenstance, with a well-known Mafioso figure 'Pasquale Aniello' aka Patsy O'Neill, they think they've found a way to meet their goal. Everyone in the cast is so New York, the director - Aram Avakian - is a born New Yorker, and it really does help give this film that true feel. You can see it in such things like the ways the cops slouch. The little touches - such as the annoying Muzak that plays in a couple of scenes - gives the humor (this IS a comedy) a real NYC feel. It's dry, it's got a 'been there,' jaded quality that is so typical. I join the chorus in praising this little gem. If it shows up - WATCH IT.

Cliff Gorman and Joe Bologna play 2 cops but they can be just about anyone else in any profession. Just 2 guys trying to make a living and support their families in the craziness of New York City. Even though they are corrupt, you can't help but feel sorry for them because all they are trying to do is survive. We soon find out that everyone else is just as corrupt, from the grocery store manager who justifies walking out of the store each day with a sack of groceries as a "prerogative of my managerial position", to the executive and his secretary at a Wall St. securities firm padding the amount stolen so they can keep a little for themselves to the crooked mobsters who weren't going to let anyone keep the money in return for the stolen bonds. This was just a nicely made, lighthearted movie with a good cast of actors and takes us back to the 70's. There's no sex scenes, no wild ridiculous explosions, no actors doing the physically impossible, no computer generated graphics, just a nice clean (and corrupt) movie. It's movies like this that Hollywood needs to go back and remember a time that you had quality, and not quantity with the garbage they are throwing into them today. I would like to see this movie released in Blu Ray and with the scenes added that regular DVD version cut.

The story is a simple one, two of New York's finest decide to get rich by robbing ten million in bearer bonds, and then fencing them through the mafia. I didn't laugh once during this supposed caper comedy. I did however enjoy the film, and especially liked the supporting cast. The late Dolph Sweet and J.P. Ryan are standouts. The photography is another plus, with long engaging shots of New York City. The robbery itself is well done, but the exchange of the goods with Ryan's men in Central Park stretches believability to the limit. The ending seems quite abrupt, and while happiness reigns, it is doubtful, they could get away with it so easily. - MERK

Cops and Robbers is an enjoyable, entertaining, and well-acted film. Directed by Aram Avakian, and starring Cliff Gorman and Joseph Bologna as two cops who decided to pull-off the "perfect crime". Filmed in 1973, it's a trip down memory lane, capturing the grit and grime of New York City before it's "make-over" some twenty years later. Gorman and Bologna give their career best performances. Their interactions and conversations seem as real as can be. At no time what-so-ever, do you feel like these fine actors are acting. The movie however is stolen by character actor John P. Ryan as mob-fence "Pastsy O'Neill". Ryan gives an academy award winning performance(he was never nominated), and you truly have sympathy for his character in the end. A really fine work of film-making.