Telly Savalas plays a veteran Border Patrol Agent in "Courage Mountain" director Christopher Leitch's "Border Cop," a tolerable tale about murder and corruption in the immigration service that co-stars Eddie Albert and Michael V. Gazzo. A veteran border patrol cop, Frank Cooper (Telly Savalas of "Kelly's Heroes"), has seven months left to go before he retires from the force. He isn't the kind of guy who courts trouble, unlike his fellow officers. In the opening scene, Cooper watches as his ill-fated partner tries to stop a smuggler who is transporting illegals strapped out of sight beneath his car. Cooper isn't really concerned about the issue of illegals crossing over and taking the kind of job that no self-respecting American would take. Nevertheless, Cooper has soft spot for a struggling young Mexican couple, Benny Romero (Danny De La Paz of "American Me") and his wife Leina (Cecilia Camacho of "California Dancing Club"), who have just married. Notorious Mexican smuggler Chico Suarez (Michael V. Gazzo of "The Godfather: Part II") wants Benny with his knowledge of ways to slip across the border to assist him with his day laborers that he sends out to work on the other side. The scenes in an American meat-packing plant are horrific, as we are treated to a documentary type short about how steers are slaughtered. One young illegal eager to prove his maturity tags along, but when he witnesses the brutal shooting and hacking up of the livestock, it turns his stomach. Benny assures his wife that he is only working for Suarez to get the money so they can get ahead. Meantime, since they are on opposite sides of the law as well as the border, Frank Cooper and Chico Suarez are virulent enemies. During Benny and Leina's wedding, Frank takes time out to tell Suarez, "Compassion? If I had compassion, I'd stick a .357 up your ass and blow your brains out!" This line qualifies as the most memorable in "Enter the Dragon" scenarist Michael Allin's dialogue. Basically, there are no surprises in this straightforward, sometimes exciting formula crime saga. Suarez is a brutal villain. He exploits his illegal workers, and he rapes Benny's wife after Benny creates a scene at the meat packing plant. The traumatized Mexican adolescent, who saw the dismemberment of the steers hides later during the day, but the supervisor tracks him down. As a callous joke, he drenches the poor youth with a bucket of steer blood. Naturally, a showdown ensues when Benny escapes and learns that Leina has been abducted by Suarez's henchmen. Meantime, Suarez has grown weary of Cooper's interference in his activities, and he threatens Cooper's immediate superior Moffat (Eddie Albert of "McQ") with exposure. You don't see either Moffat or Suarez get their richly deserved comeuppance at the border station when Cooper decides to across the border, ramming his way through the fence. Basically, the ending is vague, and we never know what happens. It is like they forgot to chart a believable ending. Savalas wears his shirt open, displaying his chest with various necklaces, including a cross, draped around his neck. Eddie Albert plays his corrupt boss, but nothing ever happens to him. "Border Cop" isn't as good as Charles Bronson's "Borderline." For the record, all the Border Patrol Agents are white Americans. Indeed, no Hispanics are on the force.
Review of Border Cop
