Plot
Directed by Sidney Lumet, Serpico tells the story of an honest police officer who exposed corruption within the New York City Police Department. After graduating from the New York City Police Academy, Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) becomes a uniformed officer and excels at his job with great integrity while despising the cruel tactics and brutality of his fellow officers. After moving to Greenwich Village, embracing 1960s counterculture, and growing out his hair, Serpico becomes an undercover officer. While working undercover he is exposed to extensive corruption within his precinct as he witnesses 
many of his fellow officers accepting bribes. After transferring to a different precinct in the Bronx that he has been told is “clean”, Serpico witnesses more bribery and corruption which he refuses to take part in despite being ridiculed and harassed by his fellow officers.
Serpico chooses to report the corruption that he has witnessed to his superiors within the police department. After failing to receive a meeting with the commissioner, Serpico seeks help from fellow officer Bob Blair (Tony Roberts) who attempts to bring the case to the mayor. Unfortunately, the mayor refuses to hear Serpico’s case due to concerns that doing so will alienate the police department. Serpico’s situation has a severe impact on his mental health, and his fiancee Laurie (Barbara Eda-Young) leaves him as a result. Fortunately, Serpico receives assistance from a police inspector who helps him to bring his story to the New York Times. This exposes the corruption to the public and prompts the mayor to create an investigative commission into police corruption. By exposing the corruption, Serpico puts himself in further danger as he is alienated and despised by his fellow officers. He is nearly killed when he is shot during a drug raid in Brooklyn and abandoned by fellow officers who refuse to come to his aid and leave him for dead.
Serpico survives after being rescued by two other officers and brought to the hospital. Despite not wanting to testify due to his belief that doing so would fail to bring real reform to the police department, Serpico testifies before the commission. His testimony calls for an end to the tolerance of corruption from the superiors of the department, and it calls on the department to help other honest officers like himself who come forward to expose corruption.
Production and Reception
The production of Serpico was hectic from the very start. At first, John G. Avildsen was going to be the director. However, he fell out with the producer when Avildsen refused to put the producer’s then-girlfriend, and later wife, Cornelia Sharpe in the film as Leslie Lane. Avildsen even went on to say that he thought that Sharpe “couldn’t act to save her life.” Avildsen was replaced from there on by Sidney Lumet, who indeed did end up putting Cornelia Sharpe to work as Leslie Lane.
The original screenplay by Oscar-winning screenwriter Waldo Salt for the film was about 240 pages, meaning that it would have an air time of a whopping 4 hours. This was then cut in half by Norman Wexler. Lumet took bits and pieces of these two scripts and thus Serpico’s screenplay was born. There were a total of 107 speaking roles and over 104 locations spread out over the 4 real boroughs (excluding Staten Island) of New York City.
Lumet moved forward with the production of the film at a frenetic pace due to the fact that the film was scheduled for a Christmas day opening and it was already June by the time they started filming. On the first day of production, they ended up working at 3 separate fairly far-flung locations. Al Pacino was reportedly caught off guard by this at first, especially since he just came from the slower and more deliberate method of Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather, but he and the rest of the crew soon realized that this breakneck speed of production allowed for the benefit of keeping the inner tension of the narrative and characters alive. Though it was originally scheduled for a Christmas day opening, due to Lumet’s fast-paced production style, the film was debuted December 5.
The film was a huge commercial success. The budget was between $2.5 million and $3 million yet it garnered $29.8 million in the domestic box office, returning between 10 and 12 times as much money as was spent. It was also a success in terms of ratings and accolades. Serpico has a 90 rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 87 rating on Metacritic. Al Pacino’s role as Frank Serpico is ranked at #40 on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains List”. The movie was also put at #84 on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years…100 Cheers”, a list of America’s most inspiring films. The original score was nominated for a grammy and a BAFTA award. Lumet’s direction also received a nomination for a BAFTA award and the Directors Guild of America. The film as a whole was nominated for a Golden Globe. It also received Academy Award nominations for Best Actor (Al Pacino) and Best Adapted Screenplay. Serpico won the Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Al Pacino received his first Golden Globe for Best Actor because of his performance in the film and also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Seminar Theme: Morals and norms
Serpico significantly incorporates the seminar theme of morals and norms. Frank Serpico is an honest and ethical police officer who refuses to take part in the corruption that plagues the New York City Police Department in the film. He conducts himself with integrity and refuses to accept bribes like other officers. Serpico puts his own life at risk to expose this corruption to the public and generate necessary reform. He does what is necessary to restore respectability, integrity, and morality to the police department as an honorable public servant. Such efforts to expose corruption have played important roles in the evolution of New York City over the course of its history.
Works Cited
“Serpico (1973) .” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0070666/plotsummary.
“Serpico (1974) – Articles.” Turner Classic Movies, http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/4214/Serpico/articles.html
“17 Incorruptible Facts About Serpico.” 17 Incorruptible Facts About ‘Serpico’ , Mental Floss, 12 Jan. 2016, http://mentalfloss.com/article/73163/17-incorruptible-facts-about-serpico
December 14, 2017 at 12:59 pm
Serpico tells the story of an honest police who expose corruption in New York City Police Department. Frank Serpico excels at his job with great integrity while exposing cruel tactics of the police force. He becomes an undercover police to oversee the corruption the police precinct and witnesses many of his fellow police officers get bribery. He reports the problem by seeking help from the mayor a higher official. Ultimately, he exposes this issue to the press, The New York Times. He is alienated and despised by other officers. Despite his hardship, Serpico now dedicates his life as an honest officer to expose corruption. His effort to restore integrity, positivity, and morality was essential to the lasting effect of social responsibility of well-being of NYC.
December 15, 2017 at 5:26 pm
After seeing your presentation about the film Serpico directed by Sidney Lumet, I knew I was going to have to watch the film eventually. Being that the God Father is one of my favorite films of all time and I could tell this film has a similar vibe and setting, I know I’ll enjoy it. Even though I have yet to watch the film for myself yet, I think another seminar theme that would directly apply to it would be that of social justice. Even though the main character Frank Serpico is not legally doing anything wrong by turning his back to corruption, he refuses to do so because his own personal morals tell him what is right.
December 18, 2017 at 12:59 am
I had an assignment in another class where I was actually considering writing about Serpico in comparison to The God Father. I didn’t choose it, but I was still interested in the movie and your presentation made me want to write it down on a To watch list. I enjoy this type of film genre and the fact that it’s based on a true story makes it that much more interesting. Frank Serpico is trying to expose the corruption in the New York Police Department and has to do so while being ostracized because of his sense of justice. From his beginnings as a police officer to when he exposes the corrupt officers, the change in the character development of Serpico, in my opinion, can be seen through his hair as well as it grows to be unkempt. I thought that was a cool thing that the director chose to do.
December 18, 2017 at 11:50 pm
Your film review was brilliant; it has inspired me to go out and watch Serpico (1973) because of the amazing plot you both detailed in your plot summary. With the heavy influences from New York City itself, as well as Greenwich Village and its counterculture in the 1960s, what you two detailed makes for an intriguing film review. I am interested in seeing how the counterculture is depicted and I am fascinated because I have done research on James Baldwin, a civil rights activist and writer who was known to be a part of the Greenwich Village counterculture movement. So, I would like to know more and would like to see this movie.
December 19, 2017 at 1:32 am
Prior to reading your post about Serpico (1973), I have watched Scarface (1983), which was also starred by Al Pacino. In Scarface (1983), Tony Montana rises from a Cuban immigrant to a wealthy and powerful drug lord. The film revolves around violence and corruption. Serpico (1973), on the other hand, is the exact opposite. Instead, it centers on a honest police officer who fights against corruption and injustice. Despite this major difference, they do share striking similarities. While Serpico protects the law and prevents corruption, Tony adheres to a code of honor that can otherwise be seen as justice.
December 19, 2017 at 1:55 am
Through viewing your post and presentation on this film, I have been convinced that this movie is truly remarkable and one that should not be missed. I enjoy watching movies of this genre and very recently viewed The Godfather for my English class which is in the crime genre as well. Frank Serpico aims to expose corruption in the New York Police Department and in the process, is alienated and despised by his fellow officers. He faces many dangers due to the abandonment by his fellow officers struggles to put out the truth. I would love to view this movie and I am very interested to see whether it uses similar genre conventions as The Godfather.
December 24, 2017 at 3:59 am
Serpico was always mentioned whenever the topic of police corruption films came up in my Film Studies class, and your plot summary as well as your analysis were enlightening and very informative. Frank appeared to be the only police officer who worked with integrity in the entire New York Police Department, and his refusal to become of the officers accepting bribes alienates him from those who have long recognized corruption as the norm. Another seminar theme that would have been appropriate for Serpico is social justice, which is ironic when placed in the context of the film. Police officers are the people society are meant to look to when seeking justice, but movie portrayed them as, perhaps, even more untrustworthy than outright criminals because they are essentially using the guise of an honest cop to conceal their dirty dealings.