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{{Short description|1961 film by Joseph M. Newman}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Lawbreakers
| image = The Lawbreakers poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
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| producer = [[Jaime del Valle]]
| screenplay = [[Paul Monash]]<br/>[[W. R. Burnett]]
|
| narrator =
| starring = [[Jack Warden]]<br/>[[Vera Miles]]<br/>[[Robert Douglas (actor)|Robert Douglas]]<br/>[[Arch Johnson]]
| music = [[Johnny Mandel]]
| cinematography =
| editing = [[Ben Lewis (editor)|Ben Lewis]]<br/>[[Herbert W. Wrench]]
| studio =
| distributor = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]
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| gross =
}}
'''''The Lawbreakers''''' is a 1961 American film directed by [[Joseph M. Newman]]. Made in a [[film noir]] style, the [[crime drama]] is based on the pilot episode of the 1961 [[television series]] ''[[The Asphalt Jungle (TV series)|The Asphalt Jungle]]'' and stars an ensemble cast including [[Jack Warden]], [[Vera Miles]], [[Robert Douglas (actor)|Robert Douglas]], and [[Arch Johnson]].<ref name="imdb">{{IMDb title|0140320}}</ref>
The film tells the story of a scheme to double-cross the syndicate and steal its money, and of a police commissioner{{'}}s efforts to investigate homicides that take place as the scheme unfolds while also fighting corruption in the city government and police department.
==Plot
Allen Bardeman
Bardeman arranges to have the robbery take place at Angela{{'}}s house during Henry{{'}}s weekly visit. During the robbery, Henry unexpectedly pulls a gun on the disguised robber, who shoots and mortally wounds Henry. The robber turns out to be Rackin, who drives off in Henry{{'}}s car with the money and the dying Henry. When the police find Henry{{'}}s body at the wheel of his car alongside a road soon afterwards, [[New York Police Department]] [[Police captain|Captain]] Matthew Gower
Gower is an idealistic and honest cop and outspoken critic of the corruption he finds all around him in the city government and police force. He has faced repeated reprimands and disciplinary action, including a demotion from deputy inspector to captain, at the hands of the corrupt [[Police Commissioner]] James Deane
Gower{{'}}s men quickly determine that Henry was a syndicate collector, and observe Rackin meeting Joe Selkin
Rackin visits Bardeman in his law office that evening without bringing the money and pulls a gun on Bardeman. When Bardeman tells Rackin that he has a way of protecting himself from such threats, Rackin shocks him by replying that he knows because Angela told him; it is the first time that Bardeman realizes that Angela and Rackin know one another. Rackin then shoots Bardeman to death and removes the audio tape from a [[tape recorder]] in Bardeman{{'}}s desk drawer that Angela had told him would be making a recording of the encounter. When Angela arrives at the office the following morning, she enters Bardeman{{'}}s office, sees his body on the floor, checks to make sure the tape is missing, and then collects a second tape recorder that has been running overnight and was hidden under a statue in the office. She then feigns emotional distress and calls the police.
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==Background and production==
In the spring and summer of 1961, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] broadcast a television series in the United States entitled ''[[The Asphalt Jungle (TV series)|The Asphalt Jungle]]''. Produced by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television]] in a [[film noir]] style, it was a gritty, hard-boiled [[police drama]] starring [[Jack Warden]], [[Arch Johnson]], and [[William Smith (actor)|William Smith]] (billed as "Bill Smith") as detectives in the police force of an unnamed city in the [[Midwestern
MGM Television filmed ''The Asphalt Jungle''{{'}}s pilot episode, "The Lady and the Lawyer", in 1960. ABC aired it as the series{{'}} second episode on April 9, 1961. Unlike other episodes of ''The Asphalt Jungle'', it did not include Smith or his Sergeant Danny Keller character as the third featured detective alongside Gower and Honochek, instead featuring Douglas Odney as Sergeant Frank Orte, although it used the series{{'}} standard opening credits that included Smith.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0516145/ IMDb entry of "The Lady and the Lawyer"]</ref> Anticipating the show{{'}}s cancellation and deciding to create a theatrical film for distribution in [[Europe]], MGM Television shot an additional 30 minutes of footage using the same cast and crew as "The Lady and the Lawyer." [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] used the additional footage to re-edit and expand "The Lady and the Lawyer" to create ''The Lawbreakers'' as a 79-minute theatrical film, which, like "The Lady and the Lawyer," included Odney and his Orte character and did not include Smith or his Keller character.<ref name="noirworthwatching">[http://noirworthwatching.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-lawbreakers-1961-they-were-grooming_23.html Noir Worth Watching: The Lawbreakers (1961)]</ref> ''The Lawbreakers'' was released in Europe and elsewhere in 1961 after the cancellation of ''The Asphalt Jungle''; for example, it was released in August 1961 in [[West Germany]], and it eventually was released on various dates in such countries as [[Brazil]], [[Finland]], [[Italy]], [[Mexico]], and [[Sweden]].<ref name="imdb" />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawbreakers, The}}
[[Category:1961 films]]
[[Category:
[[Category:American crime films]]
[[Category:American films]]▼
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Film noir]]
[[Category:Films scored by Johnny Mandel]]
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[[Category:Films edited from television programs]]
[[Category:American neo-noir films]]
▲[[Category:1960s American films]]
[[Category:English-language crime films]]
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