The Super Cops

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with archival footage from a press conference where NYPD officers Dave Greenberg and Robert Hantz are lauded by Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy commends them for the sheer volume of drugs and weaponry that the two cops have removed from the streets.
After a credits sequence, the narrative begins at the New York City Police Academy, where Greenberg (Leibman) and Hantz (Selby) graduate as probationary officers. They are assigned to low-level work like clerical tasks and directing traffic, but they chafe against the insignificance of these tasks and frequently abandon them to follow the sound of gunfire. One day, Greenberg is standing on the street in plain clothes when an elderly man offers to sell him some "French films" (porn). When he refuses, the old man attacks Greenberg, who arrests him. Greenberg gets in trouble for making an arrest while off-duty.
Greenberg and Hantz decide to keep making off-duty collars. They go to Coney Island disguised as Texaco attendants. They make a drug bust under the boardwalk and bring their collars to the local precinct, where the supervising officer is astonished to learn that two off-duty probationary cops confiscated so many illegal weapons and drugs. The pair continue to make busts around the city in their spare time. They stop a stolen car on Convent Avenue in Harlem, and at the local precinct, they bluff their way into being treated as senior officers from the "SUB" division, which is just the acronym for traffic enforcement.
After their probationary period, they are assigned to the fictional 21st Precinct in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. On their way to report for duty, they are aghast at the state of the neighborhood, and the precinct seems to be in just as much disarray. They are told to not make waves and to report for their first full day of duty the following morning. Instead, they find some prostitutes, hoping to get information. Greenberg tells his prostitute, Sara (Frazier), that he is a cop and asks where he can find some drug dealers. She screams for her pimp, causing a commotion.
Undaunted, Greenberg and Hantz manage to find an informant and make their first drug bust. As they book their collars, they identify themselves as new to the precinct. They are asked when they started, and Greenberg replies, "Tomorrow". They track down the precinct Captain Krasna (Frazer). He is convinced his office is bugged, and he views Greenberg and Hantz' enthusiasm warily.
Greenberg meets Sara again at Hank's Tip Top Inn and accompanies her back to her apartment. He presses her for information about drug activity. The duo start making busts with her information. Captain Krasna calls them into his office and accuses them of being on the take because of all their independent drug busts. He pretends to call Internal Affairs, but when they do not react like corrupt cops, he decides to encourage their freelancing. Sara tells Greenberg that a contract has been put out on them. An anonymous tip to the station confirms her warning. Greenberg and Hantz lay in wait for their assassins and make a daring bust in broad daylight. The bystanders jokingly yell out greetings to the adventurous cops who they call "Batman and Robin".
At the arraignment for the case, Greenberg and Hantz are offered $1,500 to lie and get the case dropped. They try to gather evidence about the attempted bribe, but the District Attorney's office ruins the bust by warning off the targets. The officers are growing more isolated by their fellow cops, who either resent them for showing them up, or view them with suspicion as being either corrupt or part of Internal Affairs.
The partners eventually corner the three Hayes Brothers who run the drug market in Bed-Stuy. The Hayes offer them a $1,000-week bribe, which Greenberg and Hantz pretend to take. Greenberg insists on meeting the Hayes' suppliers, but on the way to the meeting, one of the Hayes notices Greenberg's wire. Greenberg and Hantz kill the brothers in self-defense, and they are taken off duty while Inspector Novick (Hingle) conducts an internal investigation.
Greenberg is approached by another officer who has just transferred from the 80th Precinct. He offers to cut Greenberg and Hantz in on a scam. They meet at the Fish Delight Hut to discuss the details. It turns out the officer is from the Knapp Commission, and when he tries to arrest Greenberg and Hantz, the pair, in turn, try to arrest him for engaging in conspiracy. Greenberg threatens to arrest the other Knapp officers on the scene for entrapment. When Insp. Novick and Cpt. Krasna arrive at the restaurant, both factions of officers reveal that they have been taping each other. The stalemate is resolved by promoting everyone. The film ends with a re-enactment of the opening press conference, with Novick commending Greenberg and Hantz for their service.

Tags: neo noir

Review:
Two rookie cops join forces to try and make a difference fighting crime on the streets of New York.
They quickly learn they must also fight the corruption and bureaucracy in their own police department.Entertaining and offbeat crime drama from Gordon Parks which served as his first follow-up feature after directing the two successful Shaft films with Richard Roundtree.
Like that series, Super Cops is given a big lift by some great on-location shooting in New York City which really captures the gritty look and feel of 1970's street life.It also benefits from two likable performances from Ron Leibman and David Selby as the rookie duo "affectionately" nick-named Batman and Robin by the locals.
The rest of the cast is a solid mix of familiar faces from the crime and blaxploitation films from that era.
Standing out is Pat Hingle as a gruff inspector trying to bring down the boys and Sheila Fraser - fresh off her appearance in the Super Fly films - as a prostitute.The screenplay is based on the real life exploits of NY police officers David Greenburg and Robert Hantz (who both have cameos in the film) and frequently veers between comedy and drama - albeit somewhat unevenly.
Gordon Parks, the prolific black Life magazine photographer, made a true ticking-timebomb of a movie here - one that does not mess around!
Based upon the true story of two NYC cops - later dubbed Batman and Robin - who singlehandedly employed radical tactics to clean up their precinct neighborhood of drugs, this is a cop-buddy movie before that term became a repetitive formula.
Lightning paced, there is not one unimportant throwaway scene here.Man, early '70s NYC must have been a terrible place to be a police officer, from the looks of movies like this and "Serpico." These two cops start out as safety-division rookies, busting dealers in plainclothes in their spare time.
They have to singlehandedly navigate a minefield of police and legal corruption, boneheaded assignments meant to keep them from their work on the streets, ruthless drug kingpins, and a nasty ghetto neighborhood.Both David Selby and Ron Leibman are fantastic in the leads; part of the entertainment is watching Leibman's eyes darting around crazily in every scene in what is a flawless comic performance, and Selby's acting is low-key and wry.
Rather, the movie is uncompromising in portrayal of the toughness of the world of police and streets criminals that these two men inhabit.
Adding to this realism is the fact that the real Hantz and Greenberg acted as technical advisors for the film, and even appear in surreal cameo roles as two fellow officers who ridicule the protagonists.
But the cultural revolt of the Vietnam period insisted on "telling it like it is", and I take this movie to be one of its products.Greenberg (Leibman) and Hantz (Selby) are a couple of rookie cop hotshots who rock the precinct boat with their zeal and unorthodox style.
Unlike most films, however, none of the movie's characters are particularly likable.
Yet, despite its down-and-dirty look at urban policing, the story never manages any needed depth, despite the richness of the material..
It is by far much better than some other New York films of the same era such as: "The French Connection" or "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3".
There is a gritty reality to this film which also manages to effectively use humor to further the plot line.
It's engaging from start to finish and hasn't tarnished with age as is the case with the above two examples.Ron Liebman turns in a bravura performance as "Batman" and it's a shame his career didn't take off as a result of this project.Gordon Parks directs and, coming as it does after "Shaft", it at first appears to be a strange choice.
This is based on the true story of two rookie NYC cops whose exploits earned them the nicknames "Batman" and "Robin" in the 70s.
Ron Leibman stars as David Greenberg (Batman) and David Selby stars as Robert Hantz (Robin).
Naturally, this doesn't sit well with the other crooked cops who don't like to be made to look bad.
Directed by Gordon Parks and written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., THE SUPER COPS never really finds the right footing.
With hard hitting cop dramas like DIRTY HARRY, THE FRENCH CONNECTION and SERPICO coming out in the previous years, it is kinda hard to imagine how audiences reacted to this.
Interestingly, the film opens with footage of the two real cops receiving commendations from a character portray as crooked (by Pat Hingle) in the film.
Even more interesting, the two cops apparently both fell on the wrong side of the law several years after this film was made..
"The Super Cops" was surprisingly rare on video for a long time, and my first exposure of it was a grey-market copy of the 1982 MGM release on videotape.
Allegedly available on laserdisc, also note there was a Super Cops comic book also released at the time.
I just received what seems to be a legal release of this film on DVD, from New Star Video.
This is the third directoral outing of Gordon Parks, famed photojournalist/renaissance man best known for "Shaft" and "The Learning Tree." It's not his filmic acme, but one would hope that it might become available again as Parks' genius has not yet been fully celebrated.This film lacks the vitality and edge of "Shaft", something that must have been a budget issue.
Nonetheless, it's quick, good-hearted police action based on the L.H. Whittemore book of the same title.
Whereas the book covered the late 60's/early 70's NYC crime scene very well, the film comes only halfway in detailing the true story depicted here.
At best, a solid document of the time- a good cop story if nothing more.The underrated Ron Liebman is excellent in one of the lead roles, cocky and enthusiastic.
David Selby is more refined and cool, and many of the police superiors are great as gruff, cranky New York types.
But without the superb 70's environment and post-Serpico interest in police flicks, would it float?A friend of mine to whom I screened the movie years ago met the great Gordon Parks a few years before Parks' death.
He reports that upon mention of The Super Cops, Parks immediately responded, "I like that one!!
Excellent Buddy-cop Corruption Comedy.
Director Gordon Parks' excellent buddy-cop corruption comedy, with a cast of great genre and character actors - this seems most often compared to Serpico, Dirty Harry and The French Connection from what little I could find on it.
Curiously, there is a brief but enjoyable gunfight and chase through a building under demolition, making me involuntarily compare scenes and buddy mechanics with Starrett's The Gravy Train of the same year.Funny that it concerns a couple of unconventional cops nicknamed Batman and Robin, given that the screenwriter worked on the '60s series.
Also, the presence of bulldog-eyed genre fave Pat Hingle, who would go on to repeatedly play Commissioner Gordon.Frazier has great inter-racial sexual tension with the also funny Leibman, and her scream session suggests that she could have had a terrific career in horror.
Actors Ron Leibman and David Selby are cast as two unorthodox cops out to make a name for themselves AND beat the system.
Many fellow detectives come to strongly dislike them and their flagrant disregard for proper protocol, while the two protagonists continuously exhibit true devil-may-care attitudes.Inspired by the exploits of real-life detectives David Greenberg and Robert Hantz (who served as technical advisors and have cameos in the film), "The Super Cops" is a sometimes uneasy mixture of comedy and grit, but it's held together by its refreshingly offbeat approach.
It's not surprising that it goes for a comic-book feel at times, what with Greenberg and Hantz having gotten nicknamed "Batman" and "Robin" by amused locals.
It's all stylishly directed by Gordon Parks, the filmmaker who came to prominence with the first two "Shaft" films.
Also turning up are Al Fann, Pat Corley, Barton Heyman, Eddie Barth, Louis Guss, Earle Hyman, and Stephen Macht.A somewhat forgotten film nowadays, it's certain to appeal to lovers of the NYC cop features of the 1970s.Seven out of 10..
Ron Leibman and David Selby are at the top of their game as two wise cracking rookie cops, who bend the rules, while still maintaining their oath to protect and serve.
They are not only up against the street criminals, but the dirty cops in their own Precinct.
Make no mistake this is not a film that relies on car chases and explosions, as it has tremendous character development, nice stunt work, and many humorous situations.
This is the story of real NYPD officers Dave Greenberg and Robert Hantz.
New recruits Greenberg (Ron Leibman) and Hantz (David Selby) find the strict bureaucratic hierarchy of the force restricting.
They fight the system and stop corrupt cops.This has a good deal of the grimy street level action.
The Super Cops is a police drama along the lines of Serpico, which was released a year earlier, with more emphasis on action and humor and less on retaliation within the police force.
It's an under-appreciated, almost-forgotten gem that's carried by the charismatic lead characters, played by Ron Leibman (now known as the voice of Ron Cadillac in the FX series Archer) and David Selby.Leibman and Selbey play new cops Greenberg and Hantz who quickly tire of traffic duty and begin to solve crimes and bust crooks in their spare time.
All of this earns them some high profile busts and the enmity of pretty much every other cop in their precinct, particularly their new direct supervisor, Lt. O'Shaughnessy (Joseph Sirola).I realize this sounds like what's now a typical buddy-cop movie: a pair bucks the system to do what's right.
But look here, this story, based on the book by L.
The other cops try hard to dissuade the dynamic duo – nicknamed Batman and Robin for their comic-book-like exploits – from messing around with their traditional system of not caring (particularly after the shift's over).
Meanwhile, Greenburg and Hantz just want to clean up one of New York's worst crack-infested areas, The Man be damned.
Pretty awesome scene.The Super Cops is available on DVD, finally.
David Selby and Ron Leibman are "The Super Cops." They get their man, by going undercover, by getting their hands dirty, by putting themselves in harm's way, by not caring what the boss says.
They are really traffic cops who go where the action is and are busting drug traffickers and pushers and getting themselves in trouble in the process.
But when they start doing what they know best, their new supervisor is secretly pleased with their results and wants them to keep it up, making them even more hated by their fellow cops.
This is a very entertaining film with both Selby and Leibman's affable personalities complimenting each other.
The film doesn't so much end with a finality to anything, as much as it shows a new change and challenge to their daily working day.
For an entertaining and exciting look at a 1970s day in the life of two unusual cops, based on real people, sit back and enjoy David and Ron mixing it up and getting drugs off the streets..
Before receiving an award for outstanding police work, New York City patrolmen David "Dave" Greenberg and Robert "Bob" Hantz are seen interviewed.
Affectionately nicknamed, "Batman and Robin," this is their true story.
After the credits, we flashback to the dynamic duo beginning at the Police Academy, with actors Ron Leibman (as Greenberg) and David Selby (as Hantz) assuming the roles.
Leibman and Selby have a good rapport and director Gordon Parks works well in the gritty setting, with photographer Dick Kratina.
Shot in a steeply sleazy walk-up hotel, the first meeting with sexy Sheila Frazier (as Sara) is a highlight.***** The Super Cops (3/20/74) Gordon Parks ~ Ron Leibman, David Selby, Sheila Frazier, Pat Hingle.
This "buddy cop" film is all about Ron Leibman constantly flashing his buck toothed grin while David Selby looks on.That's it.The criminals, dope pushers,prostitutes - all are extremely unauthentic.
A Street-Wise Production with Authentic NYC Locations Highlight this Cop/Comedy based on the True Story of the Two Policemen Nicknamed Batman and Robin and The Super Cops by the Media.It is a Fast Paced, almost Highlight Reel, and the Ghetto Backdrop is in Deep Contrast to the Bouncy, Lighthearted Way the Cartoonish Cops go about Their Business of Busting Drug Dealers and other Assorted Criminals.The Institutionalized Corruption and Apathy also play a big part in the Picture but The Film Never gets too Deep into that Sensitive Situation or for that Matter it Hardly Slows Down Enough for the Drug Busts and Implications of the Effects these Scum are having on the Population.
It could be Faulted for Being just a bit too Smiley Considering the Devastating Subject Matter.Given that almost Unforgivable Whitewash, the Movie taken on its Own Terms of being an Entertaining and Superficial Take on the Whole Broad Strokes of the Inner Story both on the Streets and In the Precinct, it can be Forgiven as a Lightweight and Sometimes Succinct, Well Directed, Acted, and Written Piece of Faction that Results in a Popcorn Movie with that Seventies Grit and Realism that makes it Hold Up..
Based on a true story, Gordon Parks' 1974 film Super Cops is a loose collection of episodes about a couple of honest and determined rookie cops that gradually changes tone.
The opening is satirical as titular pair Greenberg and Hantz encounter a police-training program notably for its absurdity.
The police departments consistently asserts its backwards priorities throughout training, as when a senior officer insists that the rookies mind their post directing traffic while an unopposed gunman takes shots at civilians from a high window a couple of blocks away.
This section, which points out the absurdity of a bureaucracy that keeps things from being done instead of aiding them as it should, gets the film off to a particularly good start as it makes its point economically and convincingly while simultaneously displaying a sharp biting wit and establishing the characters and their goals.
Greenberg and Hantz quickly make a name for themselves as they take on real police work when they are off duty, arresting drug dealers and other small time crooks who flaunt their crimes before an undefended public.
Here again, the police department comes off as the main antagonist as the veterans view these rookies with suspicion and assume their hard work is part of a grift.
As the film progresses, the men encounter laziness, corruption, and stupidity at every level of the department and are generally punished for their hard work until they become famous for some of their wilder antics.
After the mostly comedic first part, Greenberg and Hantz end up stationed at an undesirable precinct in a particularly dangerous neighborhood and the tone gradually becomes more serious, especially when they work against some well-connected drug distributors who use the department's flaws to their own advantage.
In fact, Parks work is impressive overall, as all aspects of the film are more than competent, though there aren't many moments that really stick out on a technical level.
This is an engaging, well-made police film that highlights some of the problems of bureaucracy in general and police bureaucracy particularly with a combination of satirical wit, zany humor, and a few scenes that are a bit more serious..
This is 1974 and Ron Liebman and David Selby are two cops who are impatient with the bureaucratic rules, just as Dirty Harry was, and who face racial problems, which neither Harry nor Serpico did.In its essence, it's a more textured film.
It's one thing to fight a serial killer or against determined police corruption.
The senior cops assign Liebman and Selby to menial tasks like directing traffic and typing office memos.However, they prevail in the face of precinct conspiracies to degrade them and in the end they get a promotion with an ironic footnote attached.I don't mean to ramble on about bureaucracies but although they sound dull -- pathological even -- they're a fascinating subject because all of us have to deal with them in one way or another.
They may be super cops but others in their department report them to internal affairs for wearing sneakers instead of regulation shoes while chasing crooks.As for the movie itself, Serpico's story had obviously been shaped to add commercial appeal, but this one appears mostly made up.
I believe the two super cops ran into problems with their colleagues.
Just a badly acted cartoon showing incompetent cops pulling stunts that would get them killed in real life.
Liebman and Selby are so desperate, white and obvious, it's impossible to believe how any street-wise hustler in 70s NYC couldn't smell the bacon from a while away.
For all the criticism Dirty Harry received as a fascist film, when it was really more like cop fantasia - ie.
license to blow away the bad guys - this movie is likely closer to the subversive truth about how the po-po will stop at nothing to make their bust and go home safe.
I'd be shocked if this movie got booked outside NYC.
It has no appeal other than ''hey, look, they filmed that scene in front of my drug-infested tenement house!''.
Ron Leibman was born for the part of Officer David Greenberg in this excellent film.
Gung-ho about being a New York City police officer, he jumps into the job with his friend and partner to a degree that we have rarely seen by anyone entering any field of work.The film is such a good one because it shows a police force mired in corruption.
They go beyond the call of duty to take out drug dealers, constantly putting their lives on the line to benefit everyone else only to be charged with corruption.