While many films prior to the 1970s raised the issue of pervasive police corruption (The Big Heat, Touch of Evil…), I tend to think that Serpico was the first film that dealt with cops denouncing police corruption. Is there any film prior to Serpico that would talk about the exact same thing?
in the modern sense of film about "internal affairs" Serpico is one of the first, yes. Magnum Force came out the same year. In general corrupt cops can be seen in silent cinema and in the films of the first wave of gangster films in the early 1930s.
Hi Nadege,
Maybe you could draw a parallel with Petri's Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970). Of course, it's not the same type of cinema (Petri's film belongs to the politically committed trend of the Italian cinema of the seventies with a Kafkaen approach..). But, I'd say that like Seprico it puts into question the legitimacy of police forces.
In the same vein, you could also have a look on the famous Mani sulla città (1963) or the early Italian Mafia crime thrillers that involve corruption: In nome della legge (1949), ll giorno della civieta (1968)...
(By the way, is there not a smell of corruption in French Connection (1971)? )
Hope it can help.
Best,
Serge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigation_of_a_Citizen_Above_Suspicion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Name_of_the_Law_%281949_film%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hands_over_the_City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Owl_%28film%29
Addendum: If I remember well, in The Godfather (1972), most cops are corrupted.
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