Freebie and the Bean *** (1974, Alan Arkin, James Caan, Loretta Swit, Valerie Harper) – Classic Movie Review 7025

The rumbustious 1974 prototype buddy cop movie Freebie and the Bean stars James Caan and Alan Arkin as bickering San Francisco cops. It is noisy, funny and full of action, but it was a troubled shoot…

Director Richard Rush’s rumbustious 1974 buddy-buddy comedy action thriller Freebie and the Bean stars James Caan and Alan Arkin as bickering knockabout San Francisco police detectives Det. Sgt. Tim ‘Freebie’ Walker (Caan) and Det. Sgt. Dan ‘the Bean’ Delgado (Arkin), who try to pin an illegal scam on San Francisco hijacking boss gangster Red Meyers (Jack Kruschen) to bust him.

Freebie and the Bean is cheerful, noisy, funny and full of action, with strong performances, especially by well-cast and on-form Caan and Arkin, showing good chemistry. But, unfortunately, both the laughs and violence are pretty extreme and objectionable.

Director Rush lives up to his name in his fast-paced directing style, keeping the film moving dynamically along. Loretta Swit and Valerie Harper manage to make an impression among the sidelined women in a blokes’ movie.

The gleefully homophobic, anti-gay tone is reprehensible and it greatly spoils the fun of the movie. Robert Kaufman’s screenplay, based on a story by Floyd Mutrux, is shameful in this respect, along with its casual, comedic attitude to violence, as well as its slurs on Mexican-Americans. You might question some of the casting: Valerie Harper was nominated for the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year for playing Arkin’s Hispanic wife Consuelo Delgado.

Also in the cast are Mike Kellin, Alex Rocco, Paul Koslo, Linda Marsh, John Garwood, Christopher Morley, Bruce Mackey, Monty Stickles, Charles Bail, Robert Harris, Whitney Hughes, John Vick, Marvin Walters, Frank Orsatti, Ted Duncan, Gary Johnson, Sheila Kane and Kathryn Witt.

It is based on an original script by Floyd Mutrux who sold it to Warner Bros. Rush rewrote the script with Robert Kaufman. Rush recalled: ‘We wrote a new screenplay about two bickering cops that became a prototype of the buddy cop movie. I put a lot of meat on the bones, with the unstereotypical wife of Freebie tormenting him with jealousy and the comic relief of their relationship.’

Rush then worked on the script with Arkin, Caan and Kaufman in several improvisational sessions. It was Rush’s idea to turn the film into a comedy. Rush said: ‘At my suggestion they turned what had originally been serious drama into bizarre comedy. Slowly their relationship took on the pains and pleasures of a friendship neither could live with or without.’

Filming took 11 weeks in 1973, but it was a troubled shoot with difficulties between Rush and his stars. Arkin said: ‘I never actually knew what Rush wanted.’ Caan said: ‘Rush is so uncertain it’s hard to handle.’ Arkin recalled his relationship with Caan was great. ‘There is a very exciting interaction between us. But a lot of the time we’ve taken a back seat to the action.’

Location filming took place in San Francisco at Candlestick Park, then home of the Major League Baseball San Francisco Giants and the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers.

Weirdly, Warner Bros released it on Christmas Day, 25 December 1974. It survived poor reviews to take $30 million on a $3 million budget.

Freebie and the Bean is directed by Richard Rush, runs 112 minutes, is made and released by Warner Bros, is written by Robert Kaufman and Richard Rush, based on a story by Floyd Mutrux, is shot in Technicolor by Laszlo Kovacs, is produced by Richard Rush and Floyd Mutrux, and is scored by Dominic Frontière.

A brief nine episode TV series followed in (1980–1981), with Tom Mason as Freebie and Hector Elizondo as the Bean.

The cast are James Caan as Det Sgt Tim ‘Freebie’ Walker, Alan Arkin as Det Sgt Dan ‘the Bean’ Delgado, Loretta Swit as Mildred Meyers, Jack Kruschen as Red Meyers, Alex Rocco as D.A. Walter W Cruikshank, Mike Kellin as Lt Rosen, Paul Koslo as Whitey, Valerie Harper as Consuelo Delgado, Linda Marsh as Barbara, Christopher Morley as Transvestite, Maurice Argent as Tailor, John Garwood, Bruce Mackey, Monty Stickles, Charles Bail, Robert Harris, Whitney Hughes, John Vick, Marvin Walters, Frank Orsatti, Ted Duncan, Gary Johnson, Sheila Kane and Kathryn Witt.

Loretta Swit (November 4, 1937) is best known as Hot Lips Houlihan on TV’s M*A*S*H, for which she won two Emmy Awards.

James Caan (March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022).

Alan Arkin (March 26, 1934 – June 29, 2023).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7,025

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