One of those special movies
I'll never forget when and where I saw this movie at. 1980 in Toledo, Oh. I was with my aunt and girlfriend. You can call this movie one of my guilty pleasure. Frank was great in it.
shareFrank was great, but the whole Faye Dunaway subplot very was poorly done and the ending sucked.
I kept wondering why Frank didn't get a new doctor for his wife since the guy was so obviously incompetent.
It wasn't perfect, but The First Deadly Sin was very good, IMO. Yes the Dunaway "subplot" was, perhaps, ill-conceived, but not "poorly handled." On the contrary, I think all involved done as much as they could with a part of the story that may have been better trimmed or even omitted. However, we do see the strains of his wife's condition bearing down upon Delaney and that's the heart of this story -- in fact, we could even consider this the main part of the film and the murder case the subplot. Reason being, that it's the killer's activities that keeps Delaney occupied as his wife's condition worsens and he nears retirement. He could have bowed out early, spent time sitting at the hospital but he filled his days almost obsessing over the ice-pick killer. That was his distraction and if the ending is bleak, it didn't "suck." I found it quite moving.
NOW TARZAN MAKE WAR!
I didn't even think the Faye Dunaway angle was ill conceived, much less poorly handled. I appreciate the fact that this film portrays an aging detective distracted by his wife's illness. Too often cops have no personal lives in films – they're on the job 24/7 – and this one personalizes him and shows the challenges he is facing professionally and domestically.
The "cop about to retire" bit has become cliche today, but I don't think it was as tired in 1980. And bleak endings are a part of life, and while that may "suck," the film doesn't "suck" for portraying this.