Sweeney! **** (1977, John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Barry Foster, Ian Bannen, Colin Welland, Michael Coles, Joe Melia, Diane Keen) – Classic Movie Review 8743

Sweeney! (1977) stars John Thaw.

Detectives in the Flying Squad of London’s Metropolitan Police find political dirty deeds are behind a suicide in director David Wickes’s Sweeney!, a successful 1977 movie spin-off from the John Thaw and Dennis Waterman TV show. The story follows the events of the Profumo Scandal and focuses on the topical subject of energy and oil usage.

A tough and exciting crime thriller movie does justice to the hit series, and it is particularly well played by Thaw as the hard-edged villain-hating crime squad cop Detective Inspector Jack Regan, with Waterman making a decent sidekick as his partner and mate Detective Sergeant George Carter.

Sweeney!, is sharply filmed, on atmospheric London locations, with a good cast and a capable script neatly focused in a short running time of just 89 minutes.

The screenplay is written by Ranald Graham, based on The Sweeney created by Ian Kennedy Martin.

Also in the cast are Barry Foster as Media Incorporated boss Elliott McQueen, Ian Bannen, Colin Welland, Michael Coles, Joe Melia, Diane Keen, Brian Glover, Morris Perry, Paul Angelis, Nick Brimble, John Alkin, Bernard Kay, Antony Scott, Antony Brown, John Oxley, Peggy Aitchison, Hal Jeayes, Sally Osborne, John Kane, Michael Latimer, Joyce Grant, Susan Valentine, Nadim Sawalha, Anthony Woodruff (as Coroner) and Leonard Kavanagh (as Pathologist).

Sweeney! is directed by David Wickes, runs 89 minutes, is made by Euston Films, is released by EMI, is written by Ranald Graham, based on The Sweeney created by Ian Kennedy Martin, is shot in Technicolor by Dusty Miller, is produced by Ted Childs, is scored by Denis King and is designed by Bill Alexander.

A 1974 TV movie, Regan, started the TV series which ran from 1974 to 1978.

Sweeney 2 followed in 1978.

The Sweeney followed in 2012, with Ray Winstone, Plan B and Hayley Atwell.

Garfield Morgan was asked to play his TV role Haskins again but rejected it as being too small. Bernard Kay was cast instead as Matthews.

The movie was filmed for five weeks in April and May 1976 as the debut cinema movie of UK TV production house Euston Films.

Media Incorporated is actually the penthouse suite at Alembic House, 93 Albert Embankment, London, the home of author Jeffrey Archer, who had just bought it from composer John Barry.

It is the first British movie shown legally in Communist China.

The Sweeney is a Cockney rhyming slang nickname for the real-life Flying Squad police unit. Sweeney Todd = Flying Squad.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8743

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