Movie spotlight
A private eye who's over his head in debt takes on a job snapping photos of his client's rich husband in bed with another woman. But when the husband winds up with three bullet holes that seem to have come from the private eye's own gun, he's got to prove he's not the murderer meanwhile getting tangled deeper in a web of deceit, lies, and steamy night club dancers!
A tough, aging detective, Harry Shaness, is nearing retirement and his patience is wearing thin. His final case involves a young, orphaned girl who has been brutally murdered. As Harry delves deeper into the investigation, he uncovers a dark underworld of crime and corruption that reaches high into the city's elite.
Downtown received mixed to negative reviews from critics upon its release. While some acknowledged Anthony Quinn's performance, many found the film to be gratuitously violent and predictable, with a plot that failed to engage.
The film suffers from an overly grim and violent tone.
Anthony Quinn delivers a solid performance, but it's not enough to save the weak script.
The plot is formulaic and predictable, lacking originality.
Google audience: Audience reviews are scarce, but those available often point to the film's excessive violence and a narrative that doesn't hold up well.
Despite its grim subject matter, some critics noted that Richard Fleischer's direction attempted to inject a sense of gritty realism often absent in crime dramas of the era.
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All in all, one of the best Franco's movies, having a plausible story (albeit with some plot holes) and a quite convincing performance by the actors. As in many other movies from the same director in that period, there is no shortage of sk...