Mr. Ricco (1975): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1975, Mr. Ricco is an action, comedy and thriller film directed by Paul Bogart, running about 98 minutes.

What it’s about. Accused murderer Frankie Steele walks free, thanks to the efforts of San Francisco defense lawyer Joe Ricco. Then a pair of cop killings strikes the city. All signs point to the newly released Steele as the perpetrator. Has Ricco sprung a killer? Dean Martin keeps his affable ease but abandons his hipster Matt Helm-series swagger to portray Ricco in his final leading-role film, a whodunit mystery set in the city that also was the gritty center of action for the era’s Bullitt and Dirty Harry. Convinced that Steele isn’t behind the murders, Ricco launches an inquiry and runs up against a police lieutenant assigned to birddog him, evidence planted by a racist cop and several assassination attempts on Ricco himself. As the mystery deepens, so does the danger. And behind it all is someone the attorney never suspected. The pre-Laverne & Shirley Cindy Williams plays Ricco’s office assistant.

Who’s in it. Mr. Ricco stars Dean Martin as Joe Ricco, Eugene Roche as George Cronyn, Thalmus Rasulala as Frankie Steele and Denise Nicholas as Irene Mapes, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.2/10, Mr. Ricco has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Philo and rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Mr. Ricco page.

If you liked it. Fans of Mr. Ricco tend to enjoy The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Inception and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.