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In Review

James Woods levels a revolver at the manager of a liquor store he is robbing in a scene from "The Onion Field."

A violent look at questions of justice

By Peter Bellamy

"The Onion Field," one of the most harrowing and violent of films, would seem to be a furious plea for restoration and uniform application of the death penalty.

Written by former Los Angeles detective Joseph Wambaugh, author of many best sellers, the movie is based on the true story of two California cop killers who will be eligible for parole in 1983.

It indicates strongly that changes in the law, legal technicalities, motions and delays and the lawyers have let the American people down badly in criminal justice.

It shows vicious killers pleading for the mercy and compassion that they never showed toward their victims or the victims' families. It's a commentary on the times.

It is rated adult for its gutter language, its sickening brutality and its sex, which indicates clearly both heterosexual and homosexual relationships. It takes a strong stomach to get through it.

The movie lasts two hours and five minutes, and while it grips the interest through the cop killing and the murderers' first trial, it bogs down after that. Spiritual agony of the survivors and legal appeals and delays don't photograph well.

The homosexual sequence could have ́

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'The Onion Field'

Directed by Harold Becker, screenplay by Joseph Wambaugh based on his novel. Produced by Walter Coblenz. Avco Embassy.

Karl Hettinger Greg Powell Jimmy Smith Ian Campbell Pierce Brooks Phil Halpin Helen Hettinger Chrissie Campbell Jailhouse Lawyer

John Savage James Woods Franklin Seales Ted Danson. Ronny Cox David Huffman Diane Hull Priscilla Pointer Christopher Lloyd

been eliminated, as could the bloody suicide attempt by one of the murderers the night before his scheduled exécution. Director Harold Becker didn't know how to end the film.

The first part relates in horrifying detail the murder of the policeman in an onion field and the killers' first trial. They are condemned to death, but given a new

trial by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

The rest deals with the delays which finally find them sentenced to prison for life and the breakdown and disgrace of the policeman who witnessed the murder of his partner.

One can only speculate as to whether the murderers will be paroled in 1983 and then sue Wambaugh, author "The Onion Field" as a novel and its screenplay; for $50 million for invasion of privacy.

James Woods comes through with a splendid performance as a loathsome, sadistic, scheming scum of a killer. Franklyn Seales as his partner in crime is a more sympathetic character, but no less guilty. His character sums up his criminal attitude by saying: "Guilty is just something a man says in court when his luck runs out.”

Ted Danson as the murdered police*man, John Savage as his surviving `partner, Ronny Cox as the investigating detective and David Huffman as the frustrated district attorney all seem drawn from life.

Richard Herd's portrayal of a grizzled beat cop infuriated by the Los Angeles Police Department's condemnation of police who surrender their revolvers to criminals with the drop on them is a gem.

You may find the content of "The Onion Field" distasteful, but you won't forget it for a long time.