Thursday, September 14, 2023

The City (1977)

A basic but enjoyable crime drama starring two actors who would soon be huge names.


Troubled youth Eugene (Mark Hamill) snaps after receiving a letter and commits the first of a number of murders and attempted murders. This sets him off on a hunt for country music star Wes Collins (Jimmy Dean) whom Eugene thinks is his father (as the letter tells him, not actually true), and who battered him as a baby (this bit is actually true!) Hunting for Eugene are detectives Lewis (Robert Forester) and Scott (Don Johnson). The hunt is personal for Lewis as Eugene's second kill was Lewis' partner Burt (Paul Cavonis)...

The plot of this TV movie is fairly straight forward, as the identity of the felon is known early on so it is a man hunt rather than a detective film. It is well structured and paced (basically feels a feature length episode of a detective TV show) and keeps your interest having plenty of action. This film was released a few months before another Mark Hamill film that did quite well at the box office, Star Wars...