Ignore the awkwardness of the first 20 minutes: this is a film that builds as it goes along and, for all its brutality and brutally lurid depiction of homosexuality, one that is based on real values.

As a thriller, it is superbly constructed (although rather well less written in parts) and directed with great single-mindedness by Hollywood veteran Gordon Douglas. It's the best work of his career.

The acting, too, is excellent, particularly from Frank Sinatra - those world-weary eyes never used to greater effect - as the cop whose murder investigation uncovers a web of corruption, and from Lee Remick as his sad, nymphomaniac wife.

Their scenes together carry a genuine emotional charge, making this high-class adult entertainment.