Brannigan is a 1975 British action thriller film directed by Douglas Hickox starring John Wayne.
Chicago Police Lieutenant James "Jim" Brannigan (Wayne) goes to England to extradite American mobster Ben Larkin. Unfortunately Larkin is kidnapped by local criminals, and the Cowboy Cop must learn to work alongside the more restrained British police to track down Larkin's whereabouts, all while being stalked by a hitman Larkin has hired to kill him.
The movie also stars Richard Attenborough (as Commander Swann), Judy Geeson (as Jennifer), Mel Ferrer (as Mel Fields), John Vernon (Ben Larkin), Daniel Pilon (Gorman), and Ralph Meeker (Captain Moretti).
It was released on March 26, 1975.
Tropes for the film:
- Amoral Attorney: The mob lawyer Mel Fields. Turns out he set up the whole kidnapping.
- Bar Brawl: The Escalating Brawl version, including the jukebox that plays a different tune every time someone's thrown into it.
- Booby Trap: Gorman rigs up a Sawn-Off Shotgun behind Brannigan's hotel room door. In case this fails the hitman plants a bomb in the toilet as well, knowing that a near-death experience would lead to a Bring My Brown Pants. Fortunately our hero is smart enough to anticipate both traps.
- Cool Car: Gorman drives a black Jaguar E-Type.
- Culture Clash: The "Cowboy Cop from one place meets By-the-Book Cop from another" version.
- Destination Defenestration: Happens to one of the English gangsters when Fields shoots him.
- Does Not Like Guns: Commander Swann doesn't like some American Cowboy Cop shooting up London, given that British police don't carry guns. Brannigan points out that he's required by regulations to carry one and he was firing to save the life of one of Swann's officers.
- Dynamic Entry: The film opens with Brannigan kicking down the door and saying "Knock Knock!" He does it again for the final confrontation with Larkin.
- Enhanced Interrogation TechniquesBrannigan: Now would you like to try for England's free dental care, or are you gonna answer my question?
- Escalating Brawl: The idea is that Charles Swann (the British detective) will pretend to arrest a suspect, then Brannigan (the American detective) posing as a drunken tourist will intervene to save the man, earning his trust. Brannigan hits the British copper a bit too hard, so the return punch makes Brannigan stumble into someone who spills another person's beer. Soon the whole pub is involved.
- Finger in the Mail: The kidnappers send Larkin's finger to the police to show they mean business. Larkin regards this as an acceptable loss to get his remaining fingers on the money.
- Fair Cop: Jennifer, the British cop assigned to work with Brannigan, who notes that some things have clearly improved since he was last in the country.
- Follow That Car: Brannigan gives the line straight but ends up driving the car himself to the alarm of the poor man who owns it, who's dragged along for a Car Chase ending with them crashing after Brannigan does a Ramp Jump over the Tower Bridge.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Played for laughs when Brannigan convinces a criminal that the British detective is a Rabid Cop and he's the nice one.
- Innocent Bystander: A Running Gag through the Bar Brawl scene is a man who keeps getting punched every time he walks in the door. Worse, when the bobbies turn up, he is arrested for affray!
- Mistaken Identity: Jennifer is nearly killed by Gorman when she walks out of the hotel he's staying in into a poorly lit street while wearing Brannigan's hat. Fortunately Brannigan sees the hitman's car and the gun barrel sticking out the window, and fires from his hotel room window to drive Gorman off.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Zigzagged Trope. Mel Fields turns up to deliver the ransom, but everyone just smirks when Larkin demands to be released. Fields takes a gun off a London Gangster and reminds Larkin of the first words he said to him: "Never trust anyone." He then kills the gangsters instead and it's revealed that Fields and Larkin set up the whole thing between them. Then Larkin picks up the gun and it looks like he will kill Fields, while Fields in turn admits that he was tempted to betray Larkin, "...but where would the world be if you couldn't trust somebody?"
- Not So Above It All: Commander Swann finds himself quite enjoying the bar brawl.
- Officer O'Hara: Lt. Jim Brannigan, an Irish-American Chicago P.D. officer, who encounters a cultural clash when he sees the Old Fashioned Coppers in action. He tries some methods considered unorthodox by the British police, and clashes with Commander Swann over Brannigan's use of a .38 Colt Diamondback revolver.
- Professional Killer: Before his kidnapping, Larkin has arranged for a hitman called Gorman to eliminate Brannigan, and he stalks our hero throughout the movie.
- Ramp Jump: Brannigan does the Tower Bridge version during a Car Chase. The man he's chasing gets away with it as the bridge has only just started to rise, but Brannigan is not so lucky, crashing once he hits the other side.Brannigan: The view from the Bridge was terrific.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Brannigan carries a .38 Colt Diamondback with six inch barrel.
- Robbing the Mob Bank: A variation when London Gangsters kidnap an American mobster for ransom. Given that he's on their turf, they're clearly not worried about retaliation.
- Smoky Gentlemen's Club: Jennifer has to wait outside while Brannigan goes in to see Swann at the Garrick Club. The scene could only be filmed on location because Richard Attenborough was a long time member of the club.
- Strolling Through the Chaos: One of Swann's detectives eases his way through the brawlers in the pub to give the "Guv" a report.
- Tracking Device: The police plant a magnetically-attached bug on the vehicle of the mob lawyer used to make the ransom exchange, but he finds it and plants it on another vehicle while stopped in traffic. However Brannigan has planted a second bug inside one of the bundles of ransom money.
