Paralyzed by a sniper's bullet, Robert T. Ironside continues investigating criminal cases as a citizen volunteer. With the assistance of two former protegees, Ironside sets out to find his w... Read allParalyzed by a sniper's bullet, Robert T. Ironside continues investigating criminal cases as a citizen volunteer. With the assistance of two former protegees, Ironside sets out to find his would-be assassin.Paralyzed by a sniper's bullet, Robert T. Ironside continues investigating criminal cases as a citizen volunteer. With the assistance of two former protegees, Ironside sets out to find his would-be assassin.
- Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys
- 2 nominations total
Photos
- Mark Sanger
- (as Donald Mitchell)
- Man Finding Ironside
- (uncredited)
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
- Mr. Matling
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaUnusually for a pilot episode, all the regular cast members remained intact for when the show began.
- Quotes
Det. Sgt. Ed Brown: [upset because Ironside might be dying] You know what he once told me? The only reason a cop should take a day off is for death. His own!
- ConnectionsEdited into Bruce Lee: The Legend Lives On (1999)
On the basis that this pilot spawned a television show that still is famous decades later, I decided to give this film a try (despite not really remembering the TV show itself). What I found was a fairly standard television cop show from the period, complete with tough detective who tells it like it is and wants justice done. None of this surprised me and although the film does have an investigation to follow, the majority of the film is just about showing us this tough character, his methods and the little cracks in his character that will be explored over many series to come (in theory). This in itself wasn't enough for me because I wasn't watching the start of a series, I was watching a film that had to stand on its own. The investigation itself involves picking through old enemies of Ironside while building this very basic character a character clearly designed to appeal to those who did not appreciate the relaxed morals and apologistic nature of sixties youth. Suffice to say I didn't think it worked as a detective mystery and generally it wasn't delivered that well not helped by the TV direction and the bewildering use of large numbers of fast edits in scenes that just didn't need it.
The cast are pretty standard. To me Burr is only Perry Mason simply because it was his Mason films that I grew up with. As Ironside he is a simple tough character who is as much a caricature as a person the only thing it did do was make me wonder how Ironside would view Burr's personal life! The support cast are just filler with nobody really doing anything of note. Mitchell works reasonably alongside Burr but his character isn't convincing; meanwhile the only other person that stuck in my mind was someone listed in the final credits called "Eddie Firestone" who played a character called "Wheels" not that funny but it amused me enough to remember at least.
Overall a fairly standard television cop show that has much about it that has dated. The plot is average at best and didn't really engage me while the main character was a simply thing that seemed designed to appeal to the "stay at home and watch telly" demographic that didn't approve of the relaxed morals of the sixties. Worth a look if you liked the TV series I suppose but probably not good enough for the casual viewer to bother with.
- bob the moo
- Feb 13, 2006
Details
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1