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The Onion Field

Movie (1979)

Greg Powell, a disturbed ex-con, recruits Jimmy Youngblood (Smith) a petty thief, as partner in crime. Powell panics when they two of are pulled over by two cops for tail lights. Powell decides to kidnap the cops and Smith goes along with his crazy scheme. They drive out to a deserted onion field in Bakersfield, where one cop is killed and the other escapes. The film explores the consequences.

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Released:	Sep 9th, 1979
Budget:	N/A
Revenue:	N/A

The Onion Field Main Cast

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John Savage
plays Det. Karl Francis Hettinger

James Woods
plays Gregory Ulas Powell

Franklyn Seales
plays Jimmy Lee 'Youngblood' Sm…

Ted Danson
plays Det. Ian James Campbell

Ronny Cox
plays Det. Sgt. Pierce R. Brooks

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Movie Trivia/Goofs

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Movie Goof (errors made by characters, possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Karl Hettinger is talking into the patrol car microphone, the microphone is turned around and he is actually talking into the back of it.
SPOILER: It has never been determined whether Gregory Powell or Jimmy Lee Smith fired the four shots that killed Ian Campbell. Author and screenwriter Joseph Wambaugh, an LAPD veteran who meticulously researched the incident, has stated that he believes it was Smith.
Movie Goof (anachronisms): Just before Powell's arrest on March 9, 1963, he is shown driving on a road marked with "Botts Dots". The lane markers were not used statewide until September 1966.
The film was financed by director Harold Becker, screenwriter Joseph Wambaugh, and many of Wambaugh's friends, which allowed them to have total creative control.

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