Unfortunately, Frank learns the hard way that vengeance has a ripple effect on both the targets and his own men — and the revenge they take has tragic consequences for all involved.
The result is not the kind of safe cops and robbers fare you might expect from an actor making a comeback. Once blood is shed, it only leads to further bloodshed that can only be ended with a tremendous sacrifice. Despite its made-for-t. Contract On Cherry Street cements its appeal by giving Sinatra a superb supporting cast. For example, consider the squad Sinatra leads up: not only does it have Balsam as his second in command but it also includes Henry Silva, Harry Guardino and a young Michael Nouri.
They all acquit themselves well but the ones who register most strongly are Balsam, who gets a great, bitter monologue early on about the plight of their Crime Unit and Guardino, who is the member of the team most adversely affected by their path of revenge. On the criminal side of things, highlights include an amusing supporting turn from Steve Inwood, who deploys all manner of Al Pacino-style tics as a nervous informant, and a young Robert Davi as half of an ambitious brother team of hoods.
Finally, there is Sinatra himself. Throughout his career, Goldsmith was considered a master in many genres, usually receiving mention for his Western, science fiction, or adventure styles, but it is sometimes easy to forget that he was also well practiced in the genre of police mysteries and thrillers. From Chinatown to L. Confidential , Goldsmith's cop thrillers included everything from swinging jazz beats to the pace of tense, electrifying orchestral pursuits.
The late 's also happened to be a transitional period in Goldsmith's career, and the changing style of Goldsmith's orchestral grit is clearly foreshadowed in Contract on Cherry Street. With its fair share of murder and suspense, the film called upon Goldsmith to create a tense, rocky musical experience. Sharp rhythmic edges and poignant yearnings for the age of noir sentimentality strike an odd balance in the score, looking both back at some of Goldsmith's character theme sensibilities of the Silver Age while definitely standing with a firm posture in the stalking and killing scenes.
Read More With multiple sides to the personality of Sinatra's character in the story, the score understandably mirrors that split; the piercing, staccato brass of the action plays opposite a melodic, though short, swinging woodwind theme of lonely contemplation. In between is edgy, testy, and sometimes ill-tempered underscore. It's not necessarily thematic, but never is it reduced to mere ambience either. All three of these basic ingredients can be heard in several other Goldsmith scores and thus there is never any doubt whatsoever in any cue that Contract on Cherry Street is his work , and each is arguably developed to a better extent in those other works.
The main brass rhythmic motif is an echo of the ripping, staccato theme that would be enhanced for Capricorn One the following year. Many of the movement-related cues in Contract on Cherry Street also foreshadow Capricorn One in their obvious tension and linear form. The use of muted brass solos would eventually return in First Blood and Rent-a-Cop. The theme of contemplation is also an echo of other Goldsmith works, relating back to Chinatown and, in "Eulogizing," exposing that when performed by electric bass and woodwind, it actually carries many similarities in progression and melancholy attitude as the theme that Goldsmith would provide for Alien Nation and eventually The Russia House.
This secondary theme lacks, though, the gritty flavor that would have made it more compatible with the rest of the score's material. Finally, the music that lies in between these two easily identifiable styles captures much of the same turbulence that dazzled listeners in L. Confidential , though the use of the deepest registers of the orchestra, including the piano, is a better match for Basic Instinct. Together, these styles provide a glimpse into Goldsmith's more subtle touch in the disturbing police thriller genre.
The ensemble is noticeably small in size, but an absolutely crisp recording is a major plus. The limited Prometheus album is superior in sound to the just previously released Breakout , also by Goldsmith, and remains among the label's better early club releases. The maximum rating is 5 stars. When his partner is killed, NYC detective Frank Hovannes and his organized-crime squad go against the mob, despite strong objections from his superiors and the legal-departmental restrictions that hinder him.
Director William A. Top credits Director William A. See more at IMDbPro. Photos Add photo. Top cast Edit. Frank Sinatra Dep. Frank Hovannes as Dep. Frank Hovannes. Martin Balsam Capt. Ernie Weinberg as Capt. Ernie Weinberg. Marco St. John Eddie Manzaro as Eddie Manzaro. William A. More like this. Storyline Edit. The partner--and best friend--of a tough New York City detective is murdered by killers working for a local mob.
Infuriated at the inability of the Police Department to bring in the murderers, he decides--with the help of a few of his fellow detectives--to operate on his own, using whatever means necessary, to destroy the gang.
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