# First movie to negatively portray the police? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 20, 2024, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792 "2024-05-20T03:35:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/1 "2024-05-20T03:35:05Z")
Based on the actual history of police departments in cities run by “machine” politics, noir detective novels weren’t shy about portraying the police as abusive bullies, semi- or completely corrupt, routinely perjuring while giving testimony, not above framing people, and more concerned with closing cases then actually finding those guilty. But given the Hays Code, for decades Hollywood had to go along with the propaganda myth that police were shining paladins of justice (or at most, a single bad apple who gets found out). So what was the first movie to diss the cops? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/2 "2024-05-20T04:08:04Z")
The silent Keystone Cops films? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/3 "2024-05-20T04:09:37Z")
Nah, the Keystone Cops were comically inept, not corrupt. (Also, they were pre-Hays Code.) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/4 "2024-05-20T05:22:23Z")
There were lots of movies in the 40s and even late 30s where the police were criminally stupid – series movies like The Saint, Boston Blackie, and The Falcon, where the hero was always getting in trouble with the police for things he didn’t do. Even the early Perry Mason movies with Warren William (1934 on) had the same trope. So the police were willing to charge nearly anyone just to close the case, until the hero comes along and uncovers the truth that they were too stupid to find. I suspect this is not precisely what you were looking for, but certainly the police in these movies were not shining paragons of anything. For more gritty stuff, you’d have to look at the film noir genre, I suppose, and there are plenty of those with bad cops. But you’ll want to distinguish between one bad cop (Lady in the Lake, for example) vs. the whole department being corrupt, or the department being led by a bad cop, or a bad commissioner > **Summary** > > (there’s a Thin Man movie, I think the third one, where the guy who done it was the head of the police commission) . ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/5 "2024-05-20T12:43:55Z")
There are probably earlier examples but the first thing that popped into my head was **Serpico** , from 1973. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/6 "2024-05-20T15:33:40Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > There are probably earlier examples but the first thing that popped into my head was **Serpico** , from 1973 Definitely by the 70’s after the New Hollywood movement had taken place, such as _Chinatown_ (1974) and _The Gauntlet_ (1977). I’m not sure if _Bonnie and Clyde_ (1967) counts because the protagonists were infamous criminals and cop killers, and the police were hardly likely to be lenient with them. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/7 "2024-05-20T15:47:31Z")
Serpico was my first thought, but the French Connection came out a couple of year before, in 1971. That has my vote as the first movie to really focus on the corrupt behavior of cops. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/8 "2024-05-20T15:49:26Z")
What about, “Serpico”? For its time, it was certainly a harsh condemnation of widespread police corruption. Darn, Shoeless beat me to it! You guys are too fast for me! LOL ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/9 "2024-05-20T15:53:25Z")
Googling, the Hays Code, mentioned in the OP, was effectively over by 1967. I wonder if any films negatively portrayed the police in its heyday? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/10 "2024-05-20T15:57:19Z")
What about the cop who murdered the carnie in Strangers on a Train? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/11 "2024-05-20T17:24:57Z")
Burt the cop shooting at a fleeing George Bailey and risking hitting a civilian? He did shoot out a light in the Pottersville sign. I don’t think either example, at the time, was meant to portray the cops in a bad light. I think the actions were just normal. No one thought about stray bullets or car chase collateral damage in cop shows, even into the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/12 "2024-05-20T17:37:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Googling, the Hays Code, mentioned in the OP, was effectively over by 1967. I wonder if any films negatively portrayed the police in its heyday? Here’s one in which a police lieutenant is the leader of a gambling ring fixing college basketball games. > **[The Big Fix (1947 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Fix_(1947_film))** > > The Big Fix is a 1947 American crime drama film starring James Brown, Sheila Ryan, Noreen Nash, and Regis Toomey. Directed by James Flood, the story concerns the efforts of a crooked gambling ring to fix college basketball games. This film was the final production of Producers Releasing Corporation. > After retiring from the service, Ken Williams goes back to his old school, Norton University, where he used to be an appreciated student with an expected future as a basketball player. Together wi... That’s the earliest example on this list: > **[Category:Films about police corruption](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_about_police_corruption)** > > Films about police corruption, a form of police misconduct in which law enforcement officers end up breaking their political contract and abuse their power for personal gain. > The following 53 pages are in this category, out of 53 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/13 "2024-05-20T18:37:25Z")
A corrupt Sheriff, in league with a big, rich rancher, oppressing a small family man was a pretty common theme in a lot of really old western movies. If that counts for the OP, I’d think some of them were very early. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/14 "2024-05-20T19:17:42Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Googling, the Hays Code, mentioned in the OP, was effectively over by 1967. I wonder if any films negatively portrayed the police in its heyday? How about **The Big Heat** (1953)? > **[This Neo-Noir Film Was Ahead of Its Time in Its Portrayal of the Police](https://collider.com/the-big-heat-anti-cop/)** > > In 1953, cops were almost always the good guys. But The Big Heat was ahead of its time, showing that sometimes the police aren't in the right. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/15 "2024-05-20T19:58:32Z")
Law enforcement is portrayed as being in the pocket of wealthy farmers in _The Grapes of Wrath_. The Joads are pleasantly surprised when the manager of the government camp informs them that “cops” can’t come in unless they have a warrant. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/16 "2024-05-20T20:04:44Z")
_Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye_ (1950) has the corrupt cop stereotype. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/17 "2024-05-20T20:07:50Z")
Robin Hood? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/18 "2024-05-20T20:10:03Z")
Orson Welles played a spectacularly corrupt police chief in 1958’s _Touch of Evil_. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/19 "2024-05-20T20:30:37Z")
No one mentioned _Casablanca?_ Renault is affable but he’s certainly corrupt. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792/20 "2024-05-20T21:28:18Z")
I’m not a huge fan of detective fiction. It is perhaps a matter of opinion whether the police were compromised in _The 39 Steps_, as it seems, or were just unwilling to believe an unusual story over that of a spy who was an aristocratic local. Hitchcock’s movie was from 1935. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-movie-to-negatively-portray-the-police/1001792.md?page=2)