Electra Glide in Blue (1973)

Policemen have always had it tough, and a short policemen has it particularly tough. The crooks don’t like the little flatfoot, law-abiding citizens either mistrust him or find fault in his job performance, crooked operators are forever attempting to corrupt him, and the diminutive cop’s boozy gal pals tend to tower over him and instill a sense of inferiority that has haunted him ever since he grew up to be a shrimp. Former child star Robert Blake brings a controlled unraveling to his portrayal of a motorcycle patrolman whose world spins slowly but inexorably out of control after he is promoted to homicide in Electra Glide in Blue (1973). Considered by many as one of the grittier, truer highlights in American cinema’s grittiest decade of realist films, this unflinching study of an updated Wild West icon (the law-abiding lawman in a lawless land) boasts hippies in a commune, a stunning two-wheeled chase scene, sexy barflies, and a sudden-death ending that is heartbreaking and haunting.