Cortechba Overrated

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

philharve There have been three Halls of Justice buildings in San Francisco's history and the building that appears in every episode of Ironside, which ran from 1967 to 1975, was the 'second' Hall of Justice and it is often referred to as the 'Old' Hall of Justice. It contained the city's jail, police station, courtrooms, and District Attorneys Office. Its address was 750 Kearny Street, which placed it on the east side of Kearny between Washington and Merchant.The 'original' and 'first' Hall of Justice stood on the same spot but was destroyed in the great San Francisco earthquake on 18th April 1906 during which it burnt to the ground. The original building bore a passing resemblance to its successor except for the addition of a tall clock tower that overlooked Kearny Street.The Old Hall of Justice was first occupied in 1912 but by 1950 it had outgrown the purpose for which it was built. A 'third' larger Hall of Justice was built about 11/2 miles distant on a new site at 850 Bryant Street, between 7th and Harriet.The Old Hall of Justice was finally abandoned in 1961 and was subsequently gutted of its luxurious fixtures and fittings, comprising wood and marble panelling, brass door knobs and hinges, carpets, furniture and other decorative features. It was finally demolished in 1967 after standing derelict.Stock footage of the derelict building was used to highlight the location of Ironside's office, which was on the top floor, left hand side, as viewed from the front of the building. A row of semi-circular windows adorned the top floor offices. Ironside's office, which also doubled as his apartment complete with semi-circular window, was recreated in the studio for the filming of the series.Also seen in the same stock footage is the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, which is located a short distance to the north of Portsmouth Square. Portsmouth Square, which is located on Kearny between Washington and Clay, was once the centre of 'old' San Francisco and is now part of the Chinatown district of the city.Looking eastward from Portsmouth Square prior to 1967, the frontal view of the Old Hall of Justice would have been instantly familiar to Ironside fans. Its sides and rear aspects were never filmed, presumably because they were far less attractive.Midway along the front of the Old Hall of Justice was a street-level entrance to an underground car park. It was through this narrow entrance that Ironside's personal transporter, a grey-painted, blue-striped, supercharged police van, originally painted black, was occasionally seen to use. His subsequent transport, a sand-coloured Ford van, which was introduced into the series after the police van was destroyed in one episode, is never seen near the Old Hall of Justice because the building had been demolished and a new building was in the course of erection.Today, the site is occupied by the 27-floor, Hilton San Francisco Financial District Hotel and the Chinese Cultural Centre, which share the same address. Behind the Hilton Hotel on Montgomery Street stands the famous Transamerica Pyramid, another of San Francisco's noteworthy landmark buildings.There are ongoing arguments concerning the wisdom of demolishing a building such as the Old Hall of Justice and replacing it with a modern skyscraper structure. Many of San Francisco's inhabitants regard the design and appearance of the Old Hall of Justice as having more character and beauty than the edifices that replaced it.

Maddyclassicfilms Ironside was created by Collier Young and ran between 1967 and 1975. It stars Raymond Burr, Barbara Anderson, Don Mitchell, Don Galloway and Elizabeth Baur.Ironside focuses on gruff but kind hearted Police Chief Robert Ironside(Raymond Burr)who is sadly left paralysed from the waist down following a shooting. Now wheelchair bound Ironside gets his own crime unit with whom he investigates and solves cases in the San Francisco area.His team consist of his full time carer the reformed thief Mark Sanger(Don Mitchell),Officer Eve Whitfield(Barbara Anderson)who is possibly the most stylish female officer in any detective series, Sergeant Ed Brown(Don Galloway)a dedicated young officer who lives for the job and Officer Fran Belding(Elizabeth Baur)who replaces Eve towards the end of the series.Filmed on location in San Francisco and featuring some brilliant story lines Ironside is well worth a watch. It's entertaining, well written and is a little different to other detective series with Ironside's team becoming a surrogate family unit and very close friends which guarantees many moving scenes when one of them is injured or upset.The highlight of the series though is undoubtedly Raymond Burr he portrays the Chief as a very intelligent and driven man who will stop at nothing to bring a criminal to justice, he's also very gentle and although he can sometimes be a bit sharp he has a heart of gold and will always apologise if he's harsh to someone.Burr holds your attention even when he's not doing or saying anything in a scene and that's a hard skill to achieve for any actor. This along with Perry Mason seems to be the role Raymond was born to play, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the Chief quite the way he does.This series has stood the test of time and the stories are still effective when viewed by todays audiences. Quincy Jones iconic theme music for the series is also unforgettable and very unique. There's many well known guest stars in the series as well including a young Harrison Ford.If you like Quincy or Barnaby Jones then Ironside is one you should watch too.

Emil Bakkum This is a very personal review, since my memories of Ironside date back from the early adolescence. At the time I simply liked the series. Still it was and is hard to identify or empathize with Robert T. Ironside. The middle-aged chief in his wheelchair is simply too brilliant. His personality appeals to your admiration, like a guru. In fact Ironside has a close resemblance to the present hero House M.D., with his stubbornness, sarcasm and cynicism, and his contempt for bureaucracy and conventions. Both have a hearth of gold (Ironside: "You don't quit a loser"). It seems odd, and in the sixties I missed the point, but Ironside and House are both sex symbols, although not in a very healthy manner. For instance the episode "Barbara who" is clearly a romance of Ironside. Now, half a century later, I assume and appreciate the irony and sarcasm in its dialogs (Ironside to Barbara: "Don't worry, we'll find him!"). Many other episodes hint at romance in a subtle way. For instance Ironside: "I'll take you up on that some time". Woman: "And bring a friend". Or nurse: "What are you doing in those clothes?" Ironside: "I could ask the same to you" Nurse: "What do you mean?" Ironside: "Raw passion". The life style of Ironside is truly bizarre. He lives and sleeps in his office, together with his black assistant. What does this mean? Ironside has two deputies, called Ed and Eve. To them their work seems like paradise. I like such puns. Of course the series stirs up suspense, but the main attraction are the moral and the ethics of the stories. A few examples: the episode "In a days work" reflects on police violence. The episode "Due process of law" promotes the rights of suspects. The episode "Trip to hashbury" stresses the importance of education. The episode "The fourteenth runner" seems to criticize the morals of the CIA. Etc. Note that the scenery is San Francisco in the late sixties, the Vietnam war escalates, and flower power blossoms. The respect for authority wanes, thank God. Its influence on the script writers is apparent. In a scene at the start of a rather violent episode Eve says to a singer: "Do you know 'Flower Children'?" The handicap and the wheelchair are also a target for puns. For instance some hippies reject police violence. Ed: "How do you think he got in this chair?" Or a guy says: "I'll break both of his legs". Ironside: "That is good enough for me". To be fair, such puns depend on the writer of the particular episode, and their quality fluctuates. There is also plain humor, for instance Ironside: "Tell the boys of the press that we expect an arrest within the next 48 hours" Detective: "Do we?" Ironside: "No, but we tell them 48 for years". Forty years ago I could not really connect to the series, and preferred the flood of competing private eye shows. But the tide has changed, and now I enjoy Ironside. The series, not the guy. The morals and the puns work for me. Don't forget to check off the "useful: yes" ballot.

Bellfire32 Ironside started out as a great show about a physically challenged police officer that could fight crime. He had 2 police officers and one aide as his sidekicks. The police officers and aide were like his family and you could actually see the love and affection he had for them and they him. The stories were about all of them interacting with oneanother and I just love the programming from the 60's anyway because of the feel but this program went sour about 1969 and later. The first mistake is they changed writers. Secondly, the stories became more mysteries than drama. Thirdly the family seemed to be more about fitting into the mysteries than living actual lives. I liked to see each actor shows his or her character. Eve was a rich girl, Ed was an average Joe, and Mark was a guy who turned his life around for the better. When the show changed so did the characters except for the Ironside. There was too much spy nonsense, diamond heists, art thefts and all in out corniness. Gone were the days that they operated as a team and lived as a family. (I'm not getting into Eve's replacement, Fran and how she just ruined the dynamics of the unit.) The only thing that got better was the change in music to the latest them but if that was in place of a good script than it was not worth it.