THE CHOIRBOYS

US, 1977, 119 minutes, Colour.
Charles Durning, Louis Gossett Jr, Perry King, Clyde Kusatau, Stephen Macht, Tim Mc Intire, Randy Quaid, Don Stroud, James Woods, Burt Young.
Directed by Robert Aldrich.

One of the most denounced films during the late 70s. It has been rightly labelled obscene, violent, gross. Yet this is only what happened - most reviewers did not indicate why. Like Altman's *M*A*S-*H (with which it is linked in advertising), it shows very limited human beings trying to cope with sordid situations and criminals in a profession of high demands and expectations from the public (and which the public can then largely ignore except for headlines or complaints in times of need). Director Robert Aldrich has his eye on box-office success, but his message about the pressures on the police (even to suicide) has great validity.

The Choirboys is based on a book by policeman-turned-author, Joseph Wambaugh. A number of his books were made into films in the 1970s including The Onion Field, The New Centurions, Black Marble.

Wambaugh had the reputation of being able to portray how American police went into action, their tough work, their detection – but he also showed how they could let off steam. This is definitely a letting off steam kind of film. The antics that the police get up to would be frowned on now because of the political correctness. However, in the aftermath of the 60s, in the aftermath of the Vietnam war, in the changing aspects of the times, in the beginning of the war against drugs, the pressures on the police force were particularly strong and this is how many of them reacted.

The film is interesting in seeing a number of American character actors in action, many of whom had strong careers on screen, and very many on the small screen. They include in early roles, Charles Durning, Louis Gossett Jr, Randy Quaid, James Woods.

The film was directed by Robert Aldrich, who had served as a second unit director in many films of the 1940s into the early 50s. He began directing in television before moving into some striking films in the mid-50s like The Big Knife, Autumn Leaves, Kiss Me Deadly. He had a number of classic films in the 1960s including The Last Sunset, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, The Killing of Sister George, showing a wide range of interest in themes. The Choirboys was his third-last film.

1. A black comedy about the police force? Black comedy trends in the 1970s? Realism, satire? Heightened material with satiric and comic touch? The kind of response the film ,was asking from its audience? Hostile critical reaction and condemnation?

2. The work of Joseph Wambaugh? His novels, experience of the police force, criticisms of the force? The ugliness of crime? Society's expectations on the police to cope? Their inability to cope? The wear and tear on their spirit? Depression, suicide? The need for such things as choir practice for letting off steam? The films of Robert Aldrich with their tough tone?

3. The precedents for black satiric comedy in the 70s e.g. M*A*S*H and Catch 22? Wambaugh's other novels and films? The focus on police films in the '70s - the critiques as well as the glorifications? This film using both?

4. The importance of the Vietnam prologue? The tone of American society and issues in the '70s? Vietnam and its repercussions on Sam Lyles and his shooting the homosexual as a sign of violent chaos in American society?

5. The film's drawing of the Los Angeles world? Expectations from the audience? The world of crime? The police precincts? Standards and values? Permissiveness? Backlash for law and order? The police and their preparations for dealing with crime in the cities? The desperation for lack of manpower, training? Their ordinary human foibles? The comment on American government in the '70s? its hard-fistedness? Softness?

6. The title and its irony? The stained glass window with the male fist crashing through it? The credits? The fact of the choir practice? The need for it? The way the men lived it? Coping with crises? Further crises?

7. The structure of the film: the Vietnam prologue giving it a tone? The introduction to the precinct? The authority figures? The choirboys themselves? The individual stories and their intercutting? The sketches and the atmosphere of revue? The comic tone? Oneupmanship? Comradeship? The serious undertones? The movement to melodrama and crisis? The serious drama of the cover-up? The final oneupmanship? The changing moods throughout the film?

8. Audience response to the police? Admiration, expectations, criticism? How well did the film incorporate these? The recruits and their training? The variety of types and reasons for joining the police? Training? Friendships? The growing demands? The Vice Squad? The ugly city at night? Coping and not coping?

9. The portrait of the various policemen as men? ordinary men? .Strengths and weaknesses? Sense of right and wrong? Prejudices? Comradeship, shared grief? Who helps the helpers?

10. The focus on the authority figures? The roll call? Hard lines taken? The personalities of the various authorities? The importance of Grimsley and his arrogance (and his being exposed by Sperm Whale)? Riggs and his pep-talks? The medal for Roscoe? The evidence about Baxter's death? The interrogation with Sperm Whale and his being one-upped by the men? The critique of authority and its pomposity, cover-ups?

11. The sketch of Scudzi and his informal manner, laugh, the importance of his letting the homosexual off? The humane element in the Vice Squad?

12. The sketches of the various men:

Sperm Whale: his age, the father-figure, considered a slob, wanting to stay in the force until his retirement? Toughness? Arranging with the whore to expose Grimsley? His helping the younger men? The dilemma about the evidence for Baxter's death? His retiring and going fishing? The criticisms of him? His return? The confrontation with Riggs?

Roscoe as the bully, the callous threat to the girl who was jumping off the building and her jumping? His attitudes towards homosexuals? Blacks? Racist attitudes? The hostility of the group? The practical jokes - with the duck? The irony of his getting the medal? His own animosity and that of the others towards him?

Baxter as the ordinary young man? The scandal of his being found with the whore and the torture gear? Being discovered by Sam? The humiliation? The portrait of a tormented young man trying to cope? The pathos of his suicide and people's grief?

Lyles and his friendliness, the bond with Harold and Baxter? His antagonism towards Roscoe? His going into the whore's place and discovering Baxter? Protecting Harold? His grief? Drinking and being put in the van? The memories of Vietnam and his killing the homosexual? The cover-up?

Harold and the going to Vice Squad, the arrest of the two whores, and his embarrassment? Friendship with Sam and Baxter? The encounter with Blainey and inability to prevent his death?

Tanaguchi, the Japanese- American background, the joker, his Dracula impersonations?

Spencer and his role as policeman, at work?

Finque and his timidity, the practical joke with the duck?

Calvin Pratt and his strong presence? The black amongst the group? Efficiency at his work?

Dean Pratt and his working with Roscoe, going along with Roscoe, the shock with the girl jumping from the roof, his reaction against him?

13. The range of personnel presented e.g. Pete Zooney and the humour of the homosexual encounter in the men's toilet? The men and women on the force? The parties? The emphasis on sexual jokes and outlets?

14. The victims - the woman on the roof and her jumping after Roscoe's taunts, the homosexual and his pathetic story and his death, the prostitutes and their arrest etc.?

15. Audience response to the seriousness of crime and the work of the police? Society's willingness to let this world be taken on by the police and not wanting to know about it? The jolting aspects of black comedy?