I'll always mentally program this forgotten, Mill Creek 50-box set filler starring Telly Savalas alongside Robert Duvall's "The Ace" (1979; aka "The Great Santini") and Stuart Whittman's "Guyana: Cult of the Damned" (1979) as result of their birth on the early days of HBO. While those two films secured, albeit failed, limited theatrical (drive-in and indoor) distribution, indifferent studio confidence on this Mexican-shot British production resulted in "Border Cop" as one of the first films to eschew its intended theatrical release, instead heading straight to US cable TV (speaking of "The Ace": another failed film from the Orion Pictures' shingle was teen angst classic "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon).
Long before immigration became a hot-button topic during our last US election cycle, it was a hot-enough topic in the late '70s to inspire the production of not just one, but three (title-confusing) films: The other two being the vastly superior "The Border" (1982) starring Jack Nicholson and Harvey Keitel, and the weaker, more action-driven variant "Borderline" (1980) starring Charles Bronson and Bruno Kirby: each deal with the topics of corruption and profiteering as it relates to immigration issues -- with "Border Cop" as the more serious (and slow), introspective of the three.
For those who only know Telly Savalas as US television's "Kojak" (1973-1978): prior to the advent of that CBS-TV series, he enjoyed a successful, international starring/co-starring career in numerous films and television series. Sadly, after his five-year run on the US small screen; his bid to return to the international big screen quickly fizzled; co-starring in, yet another, bombing Pia Zadora-vanity production, "Fake-Out," (1982) closed that final, big screen curtain.
THE PLOT
Telly plays-to-type -- albeit a bit more hard-edged and profanity spewing for the theatres -- as a grizzled border patrol cop on the verge of retirement after twenty years in service; as such, Frank Cooper has gotten lazy in his duties. His attitude changes when he learns his commander, Moffat (Eddie Albert of the '60s US TV comedy "Green Acres"; he was a hard ass in "McQ" alongside John Wayne a few years earlier), is involved in a human smuggling ring (operated by Michael Gazzo of "The Godfather Part II" fame). Caught in the intrigue is Benny Romero and his wife: a young Mexican couple wanting a new life to whom Cooper offers compassion.
While the subject of human trafficking is sickening enough, the opening scene of humans strapped-concealed under a car is a horrifying, tough watch; also be wary of the scenes of the trafficked Benny forced to work in an abattoir; as with Ruggero Deodato's "mondo" slaughtering of a river turtle in "Cannibal Holocaust": the sensationalism of animal torture-murder kills any coolness Telly brings to the frames (he is, in fact, very good as the conflicted border agent). After those scenes: the action crawls and the narrative drags -- and everyone talks and talks, which gets worse once the film lapses into long stretches without Telly, and Eddie Albert, even less. If a cut of the film excised those two objectionable scenes: you'd have a flat TV movie -- which is why this ended up on HBO for its public debut, in the first place.
Certainly screenwriter Micheal Allin and director Christopher Leitch had high hopes for a film starring the then-hot Telly Savalas. Cinemaphiles may recognize Allin as the writer behind the Bruce Lee classic, "Enter the Dragon" (1973), the blaxploitationer "Truck Turner" (1974), the Burt Reynolds-rip "Checkered Flag or Crash" (1977), and the Star Wars-rip off bomb that was "Flash Gordon" (1980).
Yes, the Christopher Leitch, here, is one-and-the-same who later gave us Van Damme and Lundgren in "Universal Soldier" (1992). Starting as a screenwriter with the blaxsploitation sports comedy, "The Hitter" (1978), which he also directed, "Border Cop" proved to be his final theatrical feature -- well, three, if we count "Teen Wolf Too" (1987) -- as he transitioned into a rich career directing numerous US '80s television series and '90s telefilms.
Fans of the star can easily watch "Border Cop" on You Tube, Amazon's FreeVee, and as part of Mill Creek's 50-film "Swingin' Seventies" box set.
Long before immigration became a hot-button topic during our last US election cycle, it was a hot-enough topic in the late '70s to inspire the production of not just one, but three (title-confusing) films: The other two being the vastly superior "The Border" (1982) starring Jack Nicholson and Harvey Keitel, and the weaker, more action-driven variant "Borderline" (1980) starring Charles Bronson and Bruno Kirby: each deal with the topics of corruption and profiteering as it relates to immigration issues -- with "Border Cop" as the more serious (and slow), introspective of the three.
For those who only know Telly Savalas as US television's "Kojak" (1973-1978): prior to the advent of that CBS-TV series, he enjoyed a successful, international starring/co-starring career in numerous films and television series. Sadly, after his five-year run on the US small screen; his bid to return to the international big screen quickly fizzled; co-starring in, yet another, bombing Pia Zadora-vanity production, "Fake-Out," (1982) closed that final, big screen curtain.
THE PLOT
Telly plays-to-type -- albeit a bit more hard-edged and profanity spewing for the theatres -- as a grizzled border patrol cop on the verge of retirement after twenty years in service; as such, Frank Cooper has gotten lazy in his duties. His attitude changes when he learns his commander, Moffat (Eddie Albert of the '60s US TV comedy "Green Acres"; he was a hard ass in "McQ" alongside John Wayne a few years earlier), is involved in a human smuggling ring (operated by Michael Gazzo of "The Godfather Part II" fame). Caught in the intrigue is Benny Romero and his wife: a young Mexican couple wanting a new life to whom Cooper offers compassion.
While the subject of human trafficking is sickening enough, the opening scene of humans strapped-concealed under a car is a horrifying, tough watch; also be wary of the scenes of the trafficked Benny forced to work in an abattoir; as with Ruggero Deodato's "mondo" slaughtering of a river turtle in "Cannibal Holocaust": the sensationalism of animal torture-murder kills any coolness Telly brings to the frames (he is, in fact, very good as the conflicted border agent). After those scenes: the action crawls and the narrative drags -- and everyone talks and talks, which gets worse once the film lapses into long stretches without Telly, and Eddie Albert, even less. If a cut of the film excised those two objectionable scenes: you'd have a flat TV movie -- which is why this ended up on HBO for its public debut, in the first place.
Certainly screenwriter Micheal Allin and director Christopher Leitch had high hopes for a film starring the then-hot Telly Savalas. Cinemaphiles may recognize Allin as the writer behind the Bruce Lee classic, "Enter the Dragon" (1973), the blaxploitationer "Truck Turner" (1974), the Burt Reynolds-rip "Checkered Flag or Crash" (1977), and the Star Wars-rip off bomb that was "Flash Gordon" (1980).
Yes, the Christopher Leitch, here, is one-and-the-same who later gave us Van Damme and Lundgren in "Universal Soldier" (1992). Starting as a screenwriter with the blaxsploitation sports comedy, "The Hitter" (1978), which he also directed, "Border Cop" proved to be his final theatrical feature -- well, three, if we count "Teen Wolf Too" (1987) -- as he transitioned into a rich career directing numerous US '80s television series and '90s telefilms.
Fans of the star can easily watch "Border Cop" on You Tube, Amazon's FreeVee, and as part of Mill Creek's 50-film "Swingin' Seventies" box set.