Beyond the Law

Beyond the Law is a 1968 independent film written by and starring Norman Mailer. Plot Critic Bryo succinctly summarizes the plot: "Film shows a night at a Manhattan police station and then details how three of the detectives spend the remaining evening hours following completion of their shifts". The film begins with two detectives, Rocco and Mickey, meeting two young women, Judy Grundy and Marcia Stillwell at a restaurant for a date. The detectives begin to tell Judy and Marcia about their work. They begin by describing a police lineup, and the scene cuts to the police station where several officers are shown generally mistreating their suspects. Through the lineup, the audience meets several of the suspects. The suspects are two Hispanic men named Mario Rodriguez and José Dulce, respectively, a black man in vertical stripes, Jack Scott, an unnamed man, and a kid. The next suspect is a man shown only briefly who claims to have killed his wife. He's followed by another black man named John Francis. After the lineup, the police question each suspect individually, ignoring requests to see one's lawyer and threatening most suspects. They go as far as to lay their hands many of the men being questioned.