The Super Cops 1974 ****

Edgar Wright saw this on BBC 1 in the Saturday Night slot generally used for the Starsky and Hutch import back in the early 80’s and it became one of the jumping off points for Hot Fuzz; it was a heavily cut version of Gordon Parks film that he saw, and the uncensored version is a much more salty prospect. Ron Liebman and David Selby are the two NYC cops who annoy their superiors with their high rate of busts; hated by their colleagues, the public love them and the title of Batman and Robin is given to them; the screenplay is by the scribe of the original Batman tv show Lozenzo Semple Jr. There’s certainly some comic-book zest about the brisk action, notably a climax in a mid-demolition building where a wrecking-ball nearly knows the super-cops for six. Post-Shaft, Parks knows how to get the best in local colour out of the Brooklyn setting, and even if there’s a lingering feeling that the truth behind this story isn’t on show, The Super Cops is an arresting experience for crime-movie aficionados.