The opening of the movie says it all. We see the pre-shift briefing and go straight to Choir practice after shift and see a drunken party. This breaks away from the book by showing the stress relief drinking but doesn't really show that this is their way of dealing with the stress of the job. I think if you have read the book prior to seeing the movie it is more enjoyable but still disappointing in that so much of the book is missing. The weakness of the film can almost be overlooked with a fantastic cast who do a great job with what they have to work with. While most likely Wambaugh's best book it is not the best movie from his books. If you are a fan of Hill Street Blues, you can't help but notice that this movie/book may have helped inspire the show.

Never forget that we are watching "The Choirboys" with 30years of hindsight.When it was first released in England I was a policeman in north - east London and the manager of the local cinema distributed free tickets to the local nick which,of course,we all took advantage I found it a fairly accurate picture of how cops all over the world let off steam and,in times of trouble,hang together lest they be hanged separately. I suspect you'd need to have been a big city cop to have fully appreciated the strain of working in a hostile environment where nobody but other cops is coming to help you if it all kicks off.So you look out for your colleagues,and when it hits the fan you all shelter under the same umbrella.Or at least you did back in 1977. And that's the way it was.In London,in L.A.,Berlin or Hong Kong or any other town with a street life I guess. The street life has of course carried on indeed become emboldened by the gradual lessening of will within the upper echelons of the police service to deal with it effectively.Now with so many "isms" pointed in their direction,cops in general are reluctant to enforce the law with regard to any but the most serious offences committed by street people.They have become the beneficiaries of what is known as the "Free Ride Act". Clearly knee - jerk liberals will see this as "a good thing" as they drink their latte macchiatoes made with soya milk.But it was a great deal safer to walk through the streets of London at night in 1977 than it is today. The depiction of a gay man with a pink poodle seems to have excited particular rage amongst reviewers,almost as if no gay man would be seen dead with a pink poodle,come on fellers,is it really an outrageous sexual slur?And of course sadomasochists are people too,we all know that but must we necessarily laud their unusual preferences?Or can we say we find them distinctly odd?Probably not on reflection. But in watching "The Choirboys" we are watching history.It is not our place to judge the attitudes of people 30 years ago, neither should we be in a hurry to just in case they decide to judge ours in turn. This movie is a reflection of its time,the LAPD cops merely a microcosm of American society at the time the movie was made. So,apart from its appalling political incorrectness,does it have much merit as a movie?No,not really,apart from a terrific cast.Mr Aldrich's films are usually full of sound and fury but very little of substance. If you think of "The Choirboys" as a sort of "Dirty Dozen" on the streets of L.A. you won't go far wrong.Bear in mind that isn't necessarily a recommendation.

Once again I am forced to defend a decent movie. I saw this movie when it came out, I was in college. I thought it was very funny and was a blend of comedy and drama that was above most of the other fair at that time. I saw it again recently and while it had perhaps lost a little of its luster I thought it was still pretty funny. Of course, if you don't like anyone saying politically incorrect things (even if that person is presented as a total moron) then you might be too "delicate" to appreciate the humor.Tim McIntyre was hilarious as Roscoe Rules and there was a young Randy Quaid, and James Woods as well. Charles Durning is effective in this film and far from hating the ending, I thought it was not "Upbeat" but rather merely stopped the movie from being a total downer.

On paper this should have been excellent . We have Robert Aldrich who made some very intelligent , cynical movies like ATTACK , THE DIRTY DOZEN , TOO LATE THE HERO and ULZANA'S RAID directing a novel by acclaimed author Joseph Wambaugh and featuring amongst others notable actors like Louis Gosset Jnr and James Woods before they became well known . But since it was made on celluloid and not on paper that doesn't appear to count for very much THE CHOIRBOYS is a mess . There's little plot to speak off and is so cluttered up with characters that it's impossible to understand where the screenplay is going and of the characters themselves they're very unlikable . Since the characters are amoral policeman I thought perhaps someone had the idea of making this as a precursor to HILL STREET BLUES and I guess somewhere along the line that's what the intention was , of an off beat black comedy but the writing , directing and acting is so heavy handed it's like watching a very bad adult version of POLICE ACADEMY with only the sequence of a man taking his pink poodle in the park coming close to raising a smile Did I start this review by asking what went wrong ? After seeing the movie in its entirety I feel I now have to ask did anything go right ?