Code of Silence (1985)
Code of Silence is a 1985 American crime action film directed by Andrew Davis and starring Chuck Norris, Henry Silva, Dennis Farina and Molly Hagan. It was released in the United States on May 3, 1985. It was an atypical film for Norris, whose previous ones had been known more for his martial-arts skill. A crime drama, it was filmed on location in Chicago with a few sub-plots. It features Norris as Sgt. Eddie Cusack, a streetwise plainclothes officer who takes down a crime czar responsible for officers being wounded in a botched drug raid. In the film’s climax, Norris teams with a crime-fighting robot named “Prowler.” Dennis Farina was an actual Chicago police officer during the making of this film, moonlighting before becoming a full-time actor when cast in the leading role of Michael Mann’s 1986 television series Crime Story. Davis said the film “made a lot of money and I got pegged as an action director.”
Plot.
October 17, 1984: It is late morning in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood where a sting operation is taking place. Sergeant Eddie Cusack (Chuck Norris) and his crack team of Chicago Police detectives take their positions, including Lieutenant Kobas (Joseph Kosala), stationed on a rooftop with Detectives Brennan (Ron Dean) and Music (Gene Barge) as lookouts, along with alcoholic Detective Cragie (Ralph Foody) and rookie Nick Kopalas (Joseph Guzaldo) in a cemetery. An undercover informant is about to meet a buyer at an “L” train stop. Cusack and his partner Dorato (Dennis Farina) use a garbage truck to patrol beneath the train tracks. The carefully orchestrated sting is a basic meet-and-greet exchange set up by cocaine supplier Victor Comacho (Ron Henriquez). Victor is the younger brother of Luis Comacho (Henry Silva), leader of a vicious drug gang known as the Comachos. Everything goes horribly wrong when a rival gang led by mafia drug lord Tony Luna (Mike Genovese) infiltrates the sting as a crew of painters and mercilessly guns down the attendees.
After money and cocaine are exchanged, the aftermath is grim; Cusack’s informant is dead and Dorato is wounded. Kopalas is also eyewitness as Cragie accidentally guns down a teenager, then plants his backup weapon on the victim.
Kopalas is partnered with Cusack, with Cragie put on desk duty until a department hearing. Commander Kates (Bert Remsen) expresses disgust with the outcome of the sting, while Cusack notes that the Comachos won’t take the hit on their gang lightly. Kates agrees. He releases Eddie with one warning: “Find who burned the Comachos before they do.”
After learning that one of his gang members was shot by police, and that Victor Comacho survived, Tony Luna decides to leave town. He asks Lou Gamiani (Lou Damiani) to have someone guard his daughter, Diana Luna (Molly Hagan), a young artist. Gamiani feels he has put the entire outfit at risk.
Development.
Screenwriters Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack originally wrote this on July 12, 1979 for Warner Bros. as Dirty Harry IV: Code of Silence. When it wasn’t made there, the script was briefly in the possession of Canadian producer Gene Slott, who was looking to make it on June 18, 1980. but it was canceled due to making Sudden Impact on April 26, 1983. By May 10, 1983, Orion Pictures planned that Code of Silence will be Released by May 3, 1985. originally Kris Kristofferson was the studio’s first choice to play main protagonist Sgt. Eddie Cusack, but due to schedule conflicts, he turned it down. On August 14, 1984 it was announced a film would be made starring Chuck Norris, set in Chicago. The producers reportedly paid $800,000 for rights to the script. It was set from October 1, 1984 to October 7, 1984.
Filming.
It was the first film for Molly Hagan, who had just finished drama school. She later recalled when shooting a scene after her character’s family had been wiped out Norris thought his character should not hug or comfort her. Hagan said he should because “if you don’t, you’re an asshole.” This caused tension and Davis said Hagan had to apologize because “Mr. Norris really identifies with his character… So I go out and apologize to Chuck Norris. He just looked at me like I was insane. I thought he was still really nice to me… I think part of the problem was that I was really young and who the fuck am I to tell anyone? I don’t think it’s necessarily that he was a star. He’s a very nice man, and he was terrific on the set. I think I had this attitude that was really not appropriate.” Dennis Farina knew Davis’ father Nate “so I felt very comfortable with Andy”, he later said. “There was that Chicago connection where I knew he wasn’t gonna lead me astray. He treated me so kindly, because he knew I was a novice, and kind of watched after me. And Chuck Norris was just a delight to work with, a hell of a nice guy. That film was a nice break for me.”RELATED:
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