Brannigan 1975

Tough Chicago Police Lieutenant Jim Brannigan, John Wayne, is sent to London to extradite a notorious American mobster, Ben Larkin, Ralph Meeker. Brannigan is tasked with working alongside the local officer, Detective-Sergeant Jennifer Thatcher, Judy Geeson, to help during his stay in the British capital. But before Brannigan can collect his man, Larkin is unexpectedly kidnapped.

Larkin’s finger is cut off and mailed to the police to prove how serious the kidnappers are. The mobster’s lawyer, Mel Fields, Mel Ferrer, tries to arrange a ransom drop while Brannigan makes his way around London in search of Larkin. As Brannigan navigates the city, he grapples with adapting to the British way of life and the more restrained style of policing, yet he employs techniques not usually seen in Britain, bringing a distinctly American edge to the investigation.

Meanwhile, a contract has already been put out on Brannigan’s life by Larkin, so a hitman named Gorman tails Brannigan in a black Jaguar E-Type, executing several attempts to kill him and nearly shooting Thatcher by mistake. Metropolitan Police Commander Charles Swann, John Vernon, is in charge of helping get Larkin back to America, and he brings a blunt pragmatism to the operation, willing to get his hands dirty despite his upper-class demeanor. There is continual friction between Brannigan and Swann over the use and possession of the American’s .38 Colt Diamondback revolver, highlighting the clash between two policing cultures.

Fields is allowed to proceed with the ransom delivery on his own and he ultimately eliminates the kidnapper cell. He and Larkin celebrate the success of their scheme to take the money, with Larkin casually calling the severed finger a small price to pay for the payoff. Brannigan bursts in to foil their plans, and as he and Thatcher walk away from the aftermath, Gorman attempts to mow them down with his car. Brannigan responds decisively, shooting Gorman, and with the threat neutralized, he can finally return home to Chicago.