Sweeney! – 1977 | 89 mins | Crime, Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

This sordid spin-off from the hard-hitting ’70s TV police series tells the ridiculous tale of oil sheiks, callgirls and corruption. David Wickes’s feature debut still packs a punch and is shot with a contemptuous disregard for focus and composition, but the chief flaw is Ranald Graham’s unconvincing script and its numerous plot holes. John Thaw and Dennis Waterman solidly recreate the camaraderie of the two main characters, but Barry Foster’s wayward American accent and Ian Bannen’s alcoholic minister fail to give the film added gravitas. Michael Coles, as the smiling leader of an unlikely squad of assassins, is the best of the supporting cast.

During an important international oil conference in London, MP Charles Baker (Ian Bannen) receives a phone call from his mistress threatening suicide, and by the time Baker and his press agent Elliott McQueen (Barry Foster) reach her hotel room, the woman is lying dead on the bed.Meanwhile, one of Jack Reagan’s (John Thaw) snouts, Ronnie Brent, who was also her lover, persuades him to have Flying Squad investigate the suspicious circumstances of the suicide.

Reagan discovers that the dead woman was a prostitute and dismisses any notion of foul play – that is until Brent turns up dead and the gruff Scotland Yard DI is kidnapped and forcibly administered alcohol then returned to his car.  

Reagan is subsequently suspended but decides to investigate the case off his own back; a trail that leads him to fellow prostitute Bianca Hamilton (Diane Keen) and a posse of well-armed henchmen after his blood. Reagan comes to suspect that Baker and McQueen are involved in vice, blackmail and corruption, but security sources in high places in government inform him that the matter is being dealt with by Special Branch. But Reagan wants a collar.