Prince of the City

Prince of the City (1981) is a crime drama directed by Sidney Lumet — watch online on iFILM in high quality. New York detective Daniel Ciello cuts a deal with federal investigators: he'll expose corruption inside the department, but no close friends get burned. That line vanishes faster than he expects.

Each step deeper into the investigation costs him something. Ciello, played by Treat Williams, came in thinking he held the cards. He's wrong. The federal machinery has its own agenda, and every name he hands over pulls another colleague — sometimes a friend — into the wreckage. Jerry Orbach and Bob Balaban round out a cast that never lets you forget these are real people, not chess pieces.

Sidney Lumet made this right after Dog Day Afternoon, and it shows the same raw attention to how systems grind men down. At 167 minutes it asks for patience; it rewards you with one of American cinema's sharpest portraits of a conscience in freefall. Watch Prince of the City (1981) online on iFILM.