Surely ripe for a remake, or at least a more accurate version of Joseph Wambaugh’s book, Robert Aldrich’s film was a pretty strange choice for a Christmas movie from Universal in 1977; it flopped at the box-office, perhaps understandably given the scabrous content. The author, who specialised in front-line tales of police departments, hated the result and removed his name, but there’s still vestiges here of what make the book so compelling in its catalogue of urban atrocities.
The setting is LA, and the cops are put-upon; they blow off steam with intense drinking sessions in a public park. After a near accident involving the discharge of a gun, they’re warned not to bring firearms, but the killing on an unarmed man threatens to disrupt their routines. The appearance of Charles Haid as Nick Yanov, who announces the daily news to the assembled cops, reveals this as a fore-runner of Hill Street Blues, in which Haid played a near-identical role as Renko; there’s an iconic strength in his scenes that would later play more successfully on tv.
The Choirboys has a reputation as an offensive movie, and even in 2020, decades after I saw fragments of it unwisely broadcast as a Scottish television Wednesday night movie, it’s still a shocker. Racial epithets are screamed, gay stereotypes and homophobic baiting are positively revelled in, and the attitude to women is repellent. Whether this reflects the police, then or now, is for the audience to decide, but the director feels no need to make the cops sympathetic, making him the wrong man for this particular job. But shorn of respect for the thin blue line, this is certainly an eye-opener in terms of what a big studio might consider adult entertainment; there’s themes in here which would produce Animal House and Police Academy, but jumbled together in a way that’s guaranteed to upset wallflowers and snowflakes of all persuasions.
The cast is phenomenal; today’s august political commentator James Woods makes a big impression, as do Rocky’s Burt Young, Louis Gossett Jr and Randy Quaid; the shoot for the film must have been like herding cats. Any film that runs opening credits over a fist breaking a stained-glass window has malicious intent, and The Choirboys is a dirty, nasty film that is more interesting now as a catalogue of issues which are covered up today. While not good, per se, it’s something of a novelty for any film to play so fast and loose with expectations. The attitudes may be retro, but The Choirboys still has a certain whiff of crude authenticity that makes it worth seeking out if you’re sick of vanilla PC culture, but with strongest of content warnings and reservations.
The school marm tone here is hilarious.
That’s a big part of the gag. I even read the original book of this one, so aiming to cover up my transgressions with piety.
Yeah…I wasn’t complimenting you.
There’s a seperate queue for insults.
I always found it amazing how triggered people can be today of a culture that was widely recognized in the past. It’s like how Gone With the Wind recently resurfaced with its racial controversy…
Exactly. This film was mainstream Xmas fare from a big studio, and yet it would be impossible to make now, at least like this…
But an interesting cast doing their best.
Strangely enough, the book was an attempt to correct the image of the cops who were coming under extreme attack in the 1970s. Movies in the Dirty Harry vein did not help. It was meant to show them as human beings battered down by the weight of society’s problems and their own failings. Of course, Aldrich did not see it that way. More faithful adaptations of author Wambaugh’s work are The Blue Knight with William Holden and the Onion Field.
It felt like MASH was the jumping off point, people under extreme stress. But since Aldrich barely shows any police work, the main characters just come off as scumbags. They really made a mess of this, it’s neither one thing nor another…
Nope.
Should be in caps, surely?
Nope.
Hmm….despite the, as mentioned really great cast, I don’t think this is a film I would enjoy. I could be wrong of course, but eh…having had so many better recommendations on your blog, I’m skipping this one😊
I would be worried if anyone comments about being enthusiastic about seeing this; I’m not sure who a celebration of police brutality would be a ‘must see’ for…you can feel free to skip this one and get Condorman back on!
Lol…well, who knows, maybe serial killers that read this, could be interested? 🤔🤔🤔 Or….evil Condorman from an alternate universe…hey…it can happen right? 🤔🤔😂😂
Now there’s a concept worth exploring; emo-Condorman!
🤔🤔🤔 Maybe we could start writing a script for this and pitch it to Disney…I’m sure they will see the potential in this one😂😂
I’ll be they’ll love it! Now they can let their option drop for Marvel and Star Wars; emo-Condorman will be the next big thing!
Oscars: Here we come! 😂😂
Master Bookstooge says:
“ugh, ugh, ugh”
Just the kind of perceptive comment I was searching for…
I knew another master such as yourself would be able to read between the words and get the nuanced feelings being expressed.
You are a great advert for the intellectual prowess gained through energy drinks.
Ahhh, but remember the koan of Bookstooge:
All energy drinks
while conferring great power
exact a great price
A true master must know when to harness the power and when the power has harnessed him. The roaring torrent of caffeine must be ridden as easily as lying on your mat. Otherwise, it will take you where it will and where you end up? A totally bogus place, dude…
Are you angling for a sponsorship deal?
I wouldn’t automatically turn one down if that is what you’re asking.
There’s no downside?
To drinking energy drinks? Or to taking a sponsorship?
Either?
Ahhh, you truly are a zen master! Tricky….
Caffeine is a mood enhancing drug. That means you “could” get addicted to it.
Sponsorships means someone else has the potential power to tell you what to write on your blog.
I believe this koan of meditation will do an excellent job of expressing my inner thoughts:
Tell da man, eff off
Feelings can come and they go
Calcium nitrate!
Ahhh, just reading that again reminds me of the days when I floated around the world using the power of my mind alone.
That sounds like sponsorship to me…do you get money or six packs of Monster drink?
I can’t drink monster anymore. Something about their formula makes my bones ache after 3 or 4 drinks in a week.
I’m strictly a rockstar/reign/bang guy…
Never tried it myself. Will see what my local store has…my efforts to be like my idol continue…
I’d offer you one of mine, but well, I don’t share energy drinks. Especially not to guys in surveillance vans who are collecting fat paychecks on my data.
I’m the only one who should be collecting fat paychecks on that data!
Maybe we could cut a deal with the authorities?
I’ll think about it.
I suspect a lot of it will depend on how you feel about Bill & Ted’s new movie.
Right, I’ll crack open a crate of Monster and take a look…
I think 7 or 8 monsters should get you through just fine.
And that warning label on the monster about how many to drink each day? Ignore it. Their PR people make them put it on, it doesn’t actually MEAN anything. I’m sure your heart can handle 1200mg of caffeine like a champ…
Wise words…
I saw this on TV too, back in the day. Not high on my list for a re-watch.
There was about 20 minutes more in the film thn was transmitted, but it’s even more extreme that you’d imagine…