mike@projection-booth.com mike@projection-booth.com

September 11, 2012

Episode 79: Detroit 9000 (1973)

Special Guests: Arthur Marks, Alex Rocco

We're reporting from downtown Detroit from the locations used in Arthur Marks's policier Detroit 9000, the story of a black and white cop who get the thankless job of investigating a robbery which quickly turns into a political hot potato.

Links:
Buy Detroit 9000 on DVD
Visit Alex Rocco's official website
See comparisons between the film and present day locations at Detroit Funk
See the route we followed to record this episode via Google Maps

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8 comments:

  1. I loved this episode! Not only was the film a great choice but I thoroughly enjoyed the Detroit history tidbits. I got to see this flick last year as part of Corktown Cinema's Cinema BBQ series. They played it with Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill on a screen erected behind a parking structure at Eastern Market. The seating was in the street so we got to watch a film about the mean streets of Detroit while sitting in those very streets. There was even an awesome unplanned 4D interactive moment. When the street sweeper truck appears in an alley in the flick, the same thing happened right beside our makeshift theater.

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    1. Terence,

      Thanks! Glad you like it. I heard that Corktown Cinema played it last year but I didn't get a chance to come out for it - that would have been awesome.

      When we decided to pick this one we wanted to give the context of then and how it still feels pretty fresh for almost 40 year old film.

      Plus, we had great interviews. Arthur Marks and Alex Rocco we so generous with us to share their stories, insights. I'm a huge fan of Rocco's work and Marks has done some great films, too ("Bucktown" comes to mind).

      Keep listening and let folks know!

      CHEERS!

      Rob St. Mary
      co-host of "The Projection Booth"

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  2. Great Podcast! I love this movie - first saw it on TV back in the late 70s. Enjoyed the interview with Alex Rocco. In response to his inquiry, for the Detroit police during the '70s "9000" was the Detroit Police radio code for "officer down," ; that radio term was phased out by the early 1980s.

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    1. Thanks, Frank!

      Yeah, Rocco's super cool! Whenever he would pop up on TV, when I was kid, I always watched! Just a great character actor who deserves more respect. Hell of a character, too (as you can tell from the interview)!

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  3. Great episode, listened to it the other night. I was going through some old VHS tapes today when I discovered a fairly rare oddity. It's a movie called A Woman for All Men from 1975. The videotape has the title Deadly Triangle on the box though. It was never released on DVD, but it stars Alex Rocco, and it was directed by Arthur Marks...

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    1. Mr. White (no relation?) I'm going to have to track that one down. I don't know why I didn't see the double up on Marks/Rocco. Great find!

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    2. I see that neither eBay nor Amazon has a copy of it. I made a digital copy of mine and I was thinking about putting the tape on eBay. I'm sure someone is looking for it, as rare as it appears to be I'm curious if Rocco or Marks even have a copy...

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  4. Detroit rarely gets used now a days as backdrop for great drama. Hopefully Cable TV will get around to adapting more Elmore Leonard material such as swag or Mr. Paradise.

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