Prince of the City

Sidney Lumet's epic drama of police corruption in the NYPD is — like "Serpico," his previous film on the subject — based on the true story of a New York cop who roots out crooked cops at the expense of his own future. This time, however, the hero is a compromised department hero (Treat Williams) seeking redemption for his misdeeds. The film takes pains to show us the toll it takes on him, both personally and professionally. Lumet co-wrote the script, based on the book by Robert Daley, with Jay Presson Allen, and they hone it to explore the blurred lines between virtue and vice, the tangled nature of effective cops and the messy reality of justice. Jerry Orbach co-stars in what became a breakthrough big-screen role for the Broadway veteran. The film is spread over two discs, and the DVD set includes the smart and informative 28-minute retrospective featurette "'Prince of the City': The Real Story," featuring the real-life undercover narcotics cop Robert Leuci, whose story inspired the movie, along with director Sidney Lumet, co-screenwriter Jay Presson Allen, star Treat Williams and others.