Contract on Cherry Street (1977)

          Notwithstanding a two-year hiatus from showbiz, legendary entertainer Frank Sinatra spent most of the ’70s on music, letting his Oscar-winning movie career go fallow. That was probably wise, given the diminishing returns of such projects as the forgettable comedy Dirty Dingus Magee (1970). By the time Sinatra resumed acting for this telefilm, however, the wiry swinger of yesteryear had been supplanted by a lethargic, middle-aged fellow wearing an iffy gray toupee. At least Sinatra’s performance here in Contract on Cherry Street not as distractingly halfhearted as his drab turn in the 1980 theatrical feature The First Deadly Sin, which marked the final starring role of his acting career.
          A grim and slow-moving melodrama about cops working outside the law to gain the upper hand on criminals, Contract features Sinatra as Deputy Inspector Frank Hovannes, the boss of an elite NYPD organized-crime unit. After seeing one too many crooks escape justice by bribing officials, Frank and his people embrace a dangerous idea—why not murder a crook, frame another crook for the hit, and start a war in which bad guys kill each other? Naturally, this is easier said than done, so the cops face obstacles ranging from sketchy informants to an unstable member of their own team. Additionally, the criminals are more clever than the cops anticipated, so the more the cops stir up trouble, the more they risk exposing their own scheme.
          There’s a nasty little potboiler buried inside this storyline, and someone like Sidney Lumet could have made a crackerjack thriller by collapsing the events down to a shorter running time (Contract runs two and half hours) while giving the leading character more emotional shading. Unfortunately, bloat and shapelessness keep Contract mired in mediocrity, and some of the ego-stroking indulgences associated with Sinatra’s participation hurt the movie. It’s one thing for Sinatra to have his own glamour lighting during closeups. It’s another to burden the movie with various scenes of the protagonist’s wife all but begging him for sex. (Sinatra was 62 when the picture was broadcast.)

          For all its flaws, however, Contract on Cherry Street is basically watchable. Extensive New York location photography lends a sense of place, and some of the supporting performances are strong. Reliable players Martin Balsam, Harry Guardino, and Henry Silva play cops, as does fresh-faced Michael Nouri, although Steve Inwood steals the movie as a twitchy informant/junkie. Having said that, his gritty work is probably more suited to the imaginary Lumet-directed version than this so-so slog.

Contract on Cherry Street: FUNKY