Critics of television in 1970s America, especially those concerned with bad taste, had favourite target in The Gong Show. Those sentiments were apparently shared by its main star, Canadian stand-up comedian Murray Langston who, out of embarrassment, performed with paper bag over his head and nickname “The Unknown Comic”. In 1984 that stage personality became the protagonist of Night Patrol, comedy directed by Jackie Kong.
In the film Langston (who also co-wrote the script) appears as Melvin White, inept Los Angeles police officer who moonlights at night as stand-up comedian under nickname “The Unknown Comic”. This double life causes problems that Melvin talks about to his psychotherapist Doctor Ziegler (played by Jack Riley). Things get even more complicated when Captain Lewis (played by Billy Barty), his superior, transfers him to night shift and partners him with Officer Kent Lane (played by Pat Paulsen), a veteran who uses squad car to have sex with various women. Two of them experience all kinds of adventures while doing their job, but they soon discover that various bars and night clubs are robbed by criminal who wears paper bag on his head and tells jokes. Melvin tries to find who has stolen his secret identity while trying to reconcile his police job with show business career, unaware of the romantic feelings policewoman Sue Perman (played by Linda Blair) has for him.
Made with low budget, this comedy tries to employ saturation comedy style of Airplane! by featuring rapid series of sometimes surreal and irreverent gags. Many of those, however, often betray lack of inspiration by film’s authors and descend into bad taste or succumbing to stereotypes that would today be branded as racist, sexist or xenophobic. One of such example is Captain Lewis’ flatulence which is funny at first but it gets utterly annoying until the film’s end. Even some jokes that are somewhat imaginative, like cockfighting or rape victim being played by Pat Morita, suffer because of poor execution. The only good scene in Night Patrol happens near the end, when it features homage to Sergio Leone’s iconic spaghetti westerns. Certain segments of male audience might appreciate willingness of actresses to bare breasts in this film, which includes Lori Sutton as The Unknown Comic’s sultry fan and Linda Blair (who got Razzie for her trouble). But the rest are probably going to find Night Patrol not worthy of spending hour and half of their precious time.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
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