- published: 11 Feb 2008
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The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. The programme's title derives from Sweeney Todd, which is Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad".
The programme was shot entirely on 16mm film by Thames Television's film division, Euston Films. It originally broadcast on ITV between 2 January 1975 and 28 December 1978 at 21:00–22:00 weekday (usually Monday) with repeated showings at the same time until the early 1980s. It starred John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, and Dennis Waterman as his partner Detective Sergeant George Carter. Such was its popularity in the UK that it spawned two cinema released feature film spin-offs, Sweeney! and Sweeney 2.
The series was broadcast during a dark period for the real-life Flying Squad, which in the late 1970s had been publicly censured for being involved in bribery, police corruption and excessively close links with the criminal fraternity. Unlike the unwavering high standards seen in the fictional Sweeney, the actual commander of the Flying Squad, Detective Chief Superintendent Kenneth Drury was convicted of five counts of corruption and imprisoned for eight years on 7 July 1977. An internal investigation, called Operation Countryman, was then launched to further stamp out corruption. A further 12 officers were convicted and many others resigned.
Actors: Jerrod Brito (writer), Jerrod Brito (editor), Jerrod Brito (producer), Jerrod Brito (producer), Jerrod Brito (writer), Jerrod Brito (director), April Brito (actor), Jorge Flores (actor), Tammy Quon (actress), April Brito (miscellaneous crew), Tyler McGowan (miscellaneous crew), Sean Bobby Bryant (actor), J. Edward Nelson (actor), Jesse Sunshine (actor), Daniel Culp (composer),
Genres: Comedy, Horror, Short,Actors: Jeffrey Sayre (actor), Gerald Mohr (actor), John Harmon (actor), Walter Pidgeon (actor), Hal K. Dawson (actor), Michael Mark (actor), George DeNormand (actor), Frank Faylen (actor), William 'Billy' Benedict (actor), John Dennis (actor), Paul Bradley (actor), Fred Aldrich (actor), Marcel De la Brosse (actor), Frank Sully (actor), Omar Sharif (actor),
Plot: The life of comedienne Fanny Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of the Lower East Side, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, including her marriage to and eventual divorce from her first husband, Nick Arnstein.
Keywords: 1910s, 1920s, actress, alley, anger, apartment, applause, arrest, audition, babyActors: Griff Barnett (actor), Albert Bassermann (actor), Tommy Cook (actor), Paul Dubov (actor), Milton Kibbee (actor), Martin Kosleck (actor), Wally Maher (actor), Charles McAvoy (actor), Claude Rains (actor), Edward Finney (producer), A.W. Hackel (producer), Fred R. Feitshans Jr. (editor), Edwin Max (actor), Helen Mack (actress), Gloria Holden (actress),
Plot: Businessman John Stevenson returns from a camping holiday in the mountains to discover the whole of America has been taken over by foreign invaders. His family has been taken away and he is thrown into prison and must come to terms with the new USA.
Genres: Drama, Thriller,Actors: Frederick Bain (editor), Jack Perrin (actor), Stanley Price (actor), Archie Ricks (actor), Robert Emmett Tansey (producer), Robert Emmett Tansey (writer), Robert Emmett Tansey (writer), Robert Emmett Tansey (director), Gene Alsace (actor), Kenne Duncan (actor), Robert F. Hill (actor), Tom Keene (actor), Tom London (actor), Frances Kavanaugh (writer), Frances Kavanaugh (writer),
Plot: Duke Rand, leader of a gang of desperadoes, has murdered rancher John Reed, and Arizona Ranger Colonel Blake, the only two men other than himself that knows there are large deposits of copper on the Reed ranch. He knows the blame will be placed on the cattle-vs-sheep range war. Tom Evans, posing as a wanted outlaw, Ed 'Trigger" Jones, works his way into Rand's confidence. The latter sends "Trigger" to make trouble for Midge Reed, the murdered man's daughter. Tom, as "Trigger" devises a plan to trap Rand but it backfires and he soon finds himself between two fires.
Keywords: 1890s, arizona, b-movie, b-western, cattle-ranch, cattle-vs-sheep, cigarette-smoking, convict, deceit, deceptionActors: Herbert Ashley (actor), Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian (actor), Ward Bond (actor), Tyler Brooke (actor), Pat Hartigan (actor), Stanley Andrews (actor), G. Pat Collins (actor), Harry Cording (actor), Andy Devine (actor), Herbert Evans (actor), Fritz Feld (actor), Arthur Aylesworth (actor), Eddie Hall (actor), Eddie Hart (actor), Herbert Heywood (actor),
Genres: Biography, Comedy, Drama, History, Romance,Actors: Robert Armstrong (actor), Lowden Adams (actor), Irving Bacon (actor), Benny Baker (actor), Stanley Blystone (actor), William Arnold (actor), A.S. 'Pop' Byron (actor), Eddy Chandler (actor), Russ Clark (actor), Nick Copeland (actor), Joseph Crehan (actor), Dudley Dickerson (actor), Billy Franey (actor), Edmund Burns (actor), Bobby Hale (actor),
Plot: Reporter Dan Collins tries to expose a crooked gambling ring, but is waylaid by Geraldine Sloane, a feisty young heiress who feels Collins has insulted her. To get revenge for the insult, she disguises herself and gets a job at Collins' paper, where she manages to throw his crusade against the gamblers into disarray.
Keywords: con-artist, newspaper, reporter, revengeActors: Frank Sullivan (editor), Sidney Bracey (actor), Clarence Burton (actor), Richard Carle (actor), Lon Chaney (actor), Ray Cooke (actor), Elliott Nugent (actor), Dot Farley (actress), Lila Lee (actress), Cecilia Parker (actress), Irving Thalberg (producer), Elliott Nugent (writer), William Axt (composer), Jack Conway (director), Jack Baxley (actor),
Genres: Crime, Drama,Actors: Otho Lovering (editor), Richard Dix (actor), Harry Dunkinson (actor), Claude King (actor), Ford Sterling (actor), George Marion Jr. (writer), Malcolm St. Clair (director), Wade Boteler (actor), Maude Turner Gordon (actress), Gertrude Olmstead (actress), Myrtle Stedman (actress), Thomas J. Crizer (writer), Thomas J. Crizer (writer), Ray Harris (writer), Ray Harris (writer),
Genres: Comedy, Romance,Actors: Irving Thalberg (producer), Edward Connelly (actor), Carrie Daumery (actress), Tod Browning (producer), Charles Wellesley (actor), William Humphrey (actor), Mae Busch (actress), E. Alyn Warren (actor), Victor McLaglen (actor), Lon Chaney (actor), Matthew Betz (actor), Matt Moore (actor), Louis Morrison (actor), Walter Perry (actor), Waldemar Young (writer),
Plot: Three sideshow performers leave their lives of captivity and become "The Unholy Three." Echo the ventriloquist assumes the role of a kindly old grandmother who runs a bird shop. Tweedledee, the "twenty inch man," becomes her grandbaby, and Hercules is their assistant. Soon an incredible crime wave is launched from their little store.
Keywords: animal-attack, ape, baby-carriage, barker, based-on-novel, betrayal, bird, bird-shop, bodybuilder, carnivalActors: Grant Whytock (editor), William Burress (actor), Lon Chaney (actor), Frank Brownlee (actor), Joseph W. Girard (actor), William Stowell (actor), Priscilla Dean (actress), Dorothy Phillips (actress), James Oliver Curwood (writer), Allen Holubar (writer), Allen Holubar (director), Harry De More (actor),
Genres: Drama,