Up for auction "Dead Bang" Don Johnson & Tim Reid Signed 10X8 B&W Photo
ES-6094E
Dead
Bang is a 1989
American action thriller film directed
by John Frankenheimer and
starring Don Johnson, Penelope Ann Miller, William Forsythe, Bob Balaban, and Tim Reid. Johnson's character, based on real-life LASO Detective
Jerry Beck, tracks the killer of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy and
uncovers a plot involving hate literature, white supremacist militias and arms trafficking. On
Christmas Eve in Los Angeles, a dispatched LASD Sheriff
is shot dead by an armed robber, who early on robbed a convenience store and
also killed its African-American owner. The alcoholic, hard-driven LASD Detective
Jerry Beck is tasked with the investigation. While examining police records he
comes across a person of interest named
Bobby Burns, who has recently been paroled from a four-year robbery sentence.
He and a parole officer go to Burns' home only to find his college student
brother, John, who claims he has not seen Burns and is only staying for the
holidays. A man suddenly flees the house and Beck captures him after a chase on
foot; he turns out to be one of Burns' friend who is also on parole from
committing armed robbery. The man tells Beck that he last saw Burns driving a
maroon Ford Ranch Wagon en
route to Bakersfield. In Arizona, Burns and his men rob a Mexican bar and kill its
patrons. A local police chief informs Beck of the crime and he immediately
leaves for Arizona. Beck and the chief head to a ranch alleged to be Burns'
hideout, where Burns and his men attack the officers by firing automatic
weapons; they escape driving the Ford. Beck retrieves a cache of documents
Burns dropped, which contains white supremacy propaganda, maps, and an address book.
Beck leaves for Oklahoma to track down one of the
people listed in the book, Reverend Gebhardt, who is the leader of the
religious white supremacist organization Aryan Nations. Beck is joined by FBI Agent
Kressler and they head to Gebhardt's church, where Gebhardt reveals the
entity's aim of cleansing America of its "racial impurities", and
denies having seen Burns before. Burns, though, has been hiding near the church
and casing the place. That night, Burns springs on Beck while driving his car
and holds him at gunpoint. As Burns prepares to shoot him, Beck crashes his car
into an oncoming police vehicle to escape. During a gunfight, Beck lights
a matchbook and sets a car leaking gas on fire, causing
Burns to escape with his men after an explosion. Back in Los Angeles, Beck's
superiors have become frustrated over his performance on the force due in part
to his alcoholism and uncouth behavior. They recommend he undergo a psychiatric
analysis; after the session, though, Beck threatens the psychiatrist into
letting him pass the evaluation. A phone call later that day informs him that
he is now fit for duty. In Colorado he meets Police Captain
Dixon, who entrusts his team of black men on the force to track Burns. Along with
Kressler, he and Dixon head to a paramilitary training camp which is owned by
the Aryan Nations, and ambush Gebhardt and the other members. His search for Burns
yields no results, which causes hostility between him and Kressler. Beck,
though, discovers a concealed door that leads to a bunker. A gunfight ensues between him and Burns; Beck shoots and
fatally wounds him. As he lay dying, Burns reveals that he did not kill the Los
Angeles cop. John emerges from behind and, as he prepares to shoot Beck and
Kressler, confesses that it was he who shot the cop to show his brother that he
shared his contempt against the police and fidelity to white supremacy. Beck
hurls John insults about his brother, and John reciprocates by open firing at
him. When John runs out of bullets and springs from cover, Beck shoots him
dead. At a press conference, Dixon informs that the FBI will be revising its
position on white supremacy groups, and he credits Kressler with the success of
the investigation owing to the evidence the agent gathered. Outside, Dixon and
Beck befriend one another and go their separate ways.