CAST AND CREW

DIRECTOR
William Friedkin

WRITING CREDITS
William Friedkin
Gerald Walker

CAST
Al Pacino Steve Burns
Paul Sorvino Capt. Edelson
Karen Allen Nancy Gates
Richard Cox Stuart Richards
Don Scardino Ted Bailey
Joe Spinell Patrolman DiSimone
Jay Acovone Skip Lea
Randy Jurgensen Det. Lefronskyk
Barton Heyman Dr. Rifkin
Gene Davis DaVinci
Arnaldo Santana Loren Lukas

RELATED LINKS
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A serial killer brutally slays and dismembers several gay men in San Francisco's S&M and leather districts. The young police officer Steve Burns, a "beat" officer still wet behind the ears, is recruited by Captain Edelson of the NYPD Homicide Unit to go undercover onto the streets as decoy for the murderer. The victims in these killings are all homosexual men known to frequent "Leather," S&M (Sadism and Masochism), and B&D (Bondage and Dominance) clubs so Burns, in "deep cover," must mascarade as gay in order to attract the killer. He fits the victims' profiles: dark hair, dark complexion, dark eyes. Working almost completely isolated from his department, he has to learn and practice the complex rules and signals of this little society. While barely seeing his girlfriend Nancy anymore, the work starts changing him.

"Cruising," a Lorimar Presentation of a Jerry Weintraub Production written for the screen and directed by William Friedkin, is a murder mystery based on a series of brutal killings of homosexuals which took place in New York City from 1962 to 1979. The film, released by United Artists, a Transamerica Company, stars Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino and Karen Allen and was produced by Jerry Weintraub.

William Friedkin's original screenplay, based upon Gerald Walker's 1970 novel Cruising is patterned after actual crimes. Characters and events have been drawn from the files of the Homicide Division of the New York City Police Department, the Medical Examiner of the City of New York, the District Attorney's office, and from the documented experiences of undercover police assigned to track down the killers. The backgrounds for the actual- slayings- and for-.'the film are the S&M heavy-leather bars and sex clubs clustered along the waterfront of the West Village and the Central Park cruising area known as the Rambles.