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Crime Story - 'Pilot' (1986 - TV)

Dir: Abel Ferrara

This, the pilot for the 2 season running NBC TV show of the same name, is a prime example of the versatility of it's Director Abel Ferrara ("Driller Killer", "King of New York") and Executive Producer Michael Mann ("Manhunter", "Heat") and was a perfect launch pad the series that should have been a much bigger hit than it was.

Lt. Mike Torello (Dennis Farina "Snatch", "Manhunter") is head of the 'Major Crimes Unit' (the MCU) in Chicago. It's the 1960's…it's Rock n Roll, it's fast living, it's the time of the hustler and the Gangster…and the Mob casts it's shadow far and wide.

Following the successful taking down of a 'Crew' during an attempted robbery, Torello and his men find the trail leading back to up and coming criminal Ray Luca (Anthony John Dennison, "Full Eclipse") who has been laying down 'scores' using local and out of town small timers.

Johnny O'Donnell (David Caruso, "CSI: Miami", "King of New York"), the Son of an elderly couple who Torello has known since he was a kid, is supposedly working hard at college and keeping his nose clean. In reality he has just planned the daring robbery of a museum's jewellery vault with Luca.
But things start to go wrong with the sell off of the jewels to the Mob connected 'Fence' Phil Bartoli (Jon Polito, "Miller's Crossing") when the ambitious Johnny takes offence to the small time payoff they are offered.

The lines are drawn when tragedy hits Torello's men directly and as the ruthless and cunning Luca makes his moves. Resulting in the MCU being drawn into a war between the fledgling criminals and the mob, and it's a war that will not only affect Torrllo's present but also to the ties that he holds dear to his past….

One of the finest opening sequences in TV history kicks "Crime Story" off at a thundering pace.
As a re-worked version of Del Shannon's classic hit "Runaway" blares out from the soundtrack, Ferrara and Cinematographer James A. Contner ("Heat") pan lovingly over the neon flecked chrome on Torello's black car as they wait at a diner for food. When the call about the initial robbery comes over the radio Torello and his men peel rubber to the scene…bristling with attitude, determination and weaponry.

Some hard boiled dialogue and posturing later a nighted car chase and speeding gun battle takes place that shows Ferrara gearing up the methods and imagery that he would later employ in the balls out highway gun battle in his masterful "King of New York". Accompanied by Todd Rundgren's pseudo Rock 'n' Roll vibes and blasting gunfire it's 80's violent TV at it's best. And foretells of the class to come in the actual series.

Based on some of the events and characters in Co-Creator Chuck Adamson's life during his time as a Chicago Police Detective, the screenplay by fellow Creator Gus Reininger (friend of Adamson's) and Harv Zimmel, brilliantly weaves 1960's nostalgia, real life Gangster flash, hard hitting street smarts and hip 80's TV stylings, yet still finds time to create some engaging heroes and villains that the following series would beef up to fully rounded and fascinating characters.

Not least of these is Mike Torello himself. Torello is the classic 'Cop that gets the job done by any means necessary and always by his rules' character that audiences have loved for years. But he's also a man who underneath his tough exterior sometimes finds the violence, betrayals and the crooked justice system hard to stomach.
He's head-strong but smart and plays by his own staunch code of morals. And with the excellent Farina essaying such a character you just know this character is going to be something special.

Farina was a Cop working in Adamson's unit and after nearly 20 years service (with part time acting roles being fitted in between talking out bad guys!) gave up his job for the role of FBI Chief Jack Crawford in Mann's semi-faithful but ultra stylish adaptation of the first 'Hannibal Lector' novel "Red Dragon" (his role in the more faithful, same name adaptation of "Red Dragon" would go to Harvey Keitel, but in this case the excellent Keitel was left in the shade by Farina's superior turn and chemistry with "Manhunter" star William Peterson) and has not looked back ever since, becoming one of the most vibrant and watchable actors in recent memory.
Bringing his own real life experiences and street tough persona to the role of Mike, Farina gives us a hero to cheer for but also a very Human character, as his scenes with his Wife (Darlanne Fluegel, "To Live and Die in L.A", "Once Upon A Time in America") show perfectly.
Farina, as always, delivers his lines in his own unique tough and yet bitingly humourous style.
A couple of choice examples are when he is confronting one of the armed robbers during the opening sequence
"Hey you! You hurt anybody else, and when this is over I'm going to find what you love the most and I'm gonna kill it. Your Mother, your Father, your dog…Don't matter what it is…it's dead".
Great dialogue, expertly delivered
After a confrontation with 'by the book' Defense Attorney David Abrams (Stephen Lang, "Manhunter", whose character is only sketched in here, but will become a staunch ally of Torello's later on while becoming one of the major players in the series) Farina gives a superbly hard nose but comical slant to his lines.
Abrams: "You lied on the stand"!
Torello: "That's not true… I gave my right name".

The mixing of serious drama and light/black humour is something the series would pull off with ease during its entire run. An example of this features Torello again while questioning a bar of Native American's about one of the dead robbers, who turned out to be an Indian.
Slamming down a photo he says, "You know this guy? He's dead, killed by…white eyes"!
A ploy to bond that only results in one of the Indian's standing up and declaring "What the hell's he talking about"? Before promptly throwing an axe into a photo of General Custer!

The biggest and most frequent use of humour though comes in the form of Luca's weasel sidekick Pauli Taglia (John Santucci a real life ex-criminal who himself took part in a museum heist that "Crime Story's" fictional heist was based on!)
Pauli is a sleaze-bag chancer and coward who stays loyal to Luca only as long as it causes no hassles to himself. He is the classic low level Italian criminal who creeps around the edges of The Mob and is basically tolerated because he can be used for any dirty job that needs doing.
Later on in the series his role and relationship with Luca will become more important, but even here the foundations to an enjoyable, but generally unlikable, character are laid.

Perhaps the biggest growth in a character during the series from their tiny role in this 'pilot' is the briefly glimpsed Frank Holman (Ted Levine, "Heat" and 'Buffalo Bil'l himself in "Silence of the Lambs") who will become the other main henchman of Luca after Pauli, and it's a shame he is not given more to do here.

Out of Torello's men only Danny (Bill Smitovich. ""Millennium") is really given any character as he is closer to Torello. As the series progressed all would grow, but only the cigar chomping, shotgun touting Black Detective, Walter Clemmons (Paul Butler) , stands out to any real degree in this 'pilot' and he would remain a hugely enjoyable visual presence throughout the series.

As the up and coming Ray Luca, Denison does a solid job in essaying the character's gradual change from ambitious, focused, ruthless small timer to eventual Crime Boss as the series ran and the character would become a worthy nemesis to Torello's no nonsense Cop. His life with his long suffering but tough Wife is only sketched here, but again it will be developed later n the series.
And it takes greater acting skills than most people would think to not be upstaged by his outrageous hairstyle!

Talk of hairstyles brings us to the young quiff heavy David Caruso! As always Caruso brings a screen presence to his character that makes it bigger than scripted (see his superb work in "King of New York" for perhaps the ultimate example of this) and he is by far the most memorable of the 'guest actors' that pop up in this 'pilot'. Johnny seems smooth and likeable at first, but then the arrogant hard nose criminal side to him rears its head and Caruso moves with ease between these different facets of his character. His shouting match with Polito's Bartoli is a fire fuelled treat with these two actors, who are so good at portraying anger, bouncing off each other perfectly.

The strong-arm Policing tactics and rule bending that Torello and his guys use to get the job done, may have annoyed some actual Cops (and TV critics) at the time, but it's a welcome ingredient to the show's overall 'tough' feel and it's much more satisfying for the viewer to see all the bullshit that protects the criminals being pushed away when Torello wants to get a result. It's kick-ass, no messing policing that is all too rare in other TV shows (and in real life), yet still keeps the Cops very much the good guys (unlike the much lauded "The Shield").

The action is punchy, violent (though of course bloodless) and flashy with Ferrara doing a fine job within the limitations of a mainstream TV remit. Nothing matches the superb opening, but the finale is a fine bit of chaotic action.
Yet you can't help but feel that Ferrara so wanted to open up the ultra violent blood letting seen in the "King of New York" shootouts. But as far as 80's Television gunplay goes…it's exciting and very well structured.
And when mixed with the great soundtrack (including many original Rock n Roll hits) and classy Cinematography, "Crime Story's" action is certainly ahead of most other Cop shows…Even today.

So here we have a fine 'pilot' film (if flawed by some of the characters being thinly sketched at this point in the show and TV limitations in general) for what would become a great TV series.
The 1st season would deliver on all the well crafted promises seen in Ferrara's and Mann's opening film and if it went messily off the boil during the 2nd season then the 1st season is so good (and even has an acceptable conclusion as far as it goes) that the recent 'Anchor Bay' box set, including this 'pilot', is an essential purchase and a great chance to re-live one of the GREAT 'forgotten' TV shows.