In the early 1970s, TV wanted Richard Widmark and "Brock's Last Case" was a made for TV movie that might have become a TV series. However, it wasn't received so well by the powers that be and instead they gave the green light to a different Widmark show, a TV version of "Madigan". I have never seen the TV version of "Madigan" but movie-wise, the original "Madigan" is much better than "Brock's Last Case"...so I can see why they made the choice they made.When the film begins, Brock (Widmark) is working on his final case for the NYPD. He's had enough and is retiring to an orange ranch he bought some time ago. However, apparently Brock is a total moron and never visited the place and just assumed it was peachy...which it wasn't. Instead it's a dump and Brock knows nothing about orange growing. However, soon his focus is on a murder--and the local police would love to have Brock's help...and so would Brock's supervisor at the ranch, as he's the accused killer. The film is just okay. Part of the problem was using arrows to kill people--it just seems silly. The rest is that the killer was some fat old guy who was about as scary as the Pillsbury Doughboy. Not brilliant but passable entertainment only.

I first saw this one back in the early 90's when it showed up on midweek daytime TV here in the UK. I remembered it being an enjoyable enough, if unremarkable, effort. Having just seen it again I do have to say that that original assessment still holds. Brock is a burnt-out NYC cop who retires from life in the firing line of the Big Apple and retires to a ranch in the Californian countryside. On arrival, his Native American ranch hand is arrested for the murder of the local sheriff. The situation appears fishy though and before long Brock is recruited to investigate.This is one of a very specific type of TV movie which was a pilot for a series that never was. I can see why they thought they might have a workable idea to be honest, as detective dramas were ten-a-penny back in the 70's, while the whole fish-out-of-water idea is one in which many plot-lines can sprout from. Yet it remained a one-off film and was not picked up. Truthfully, they could have worked out a better story-line I reckon, as the central mystery is not especially interesting. Nevertheless, it's still a decent enough film which benefits from its TV movie charm and, in Richard Widmark, it had a good main star.

This film was recently aired on Channel 5.It is at its best when it is based in New York.Although there is the usual fun when a city dweller goes to the country it starts to run rapidly downhill at this time.The action sequences are to my mind tedious and seem to go on for eternity without really reaching any climax.By the time this film reaches its finale one simply does not care about who is the culprit and his motives.The one thing that shines out of this film is Widmarks professionalism and sheer durability.He was always a favourite of mine.It is a shame that he is now retired and so we have no more Richard Widmark films to look forward to.

One of those NBC-TV "World Premiere" movies that also served as the pilot for a series. Richard Widmark plays Brock, a weary N.Y.C. detective who retires to a farm in California where he hopes to grow oranges, but, wouldn't you know it?, he finds crime there, too. Widmark is good, as always, as is Henry Darrow, whom the tough former cop assists when he is framed for murder, but the best moments are at the beginning when Widmark is still on the Manhattan beat, finding the average law-abiding citizen as disagreeable as the criminals. It's little wonder that when Widmark did enter the TV series sweepstakes, it was as "Madigan," the N.Y.C. detective he had memorably played several years earlier in a Universal theatrical film.