The Onion Field (film)

The Onion Field
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHarold Becker
Screenplay byJoseph Wambaugh
Based onThe Onion Field
by Joseph Wambaugh
Produced byWalter Coblenz
StarringJohn Savage
James Woods
Franklyn Seales
Ted Danson
Ronny Cox
CinematographyCharles Rosher, Jr.
Edited byJohn W. Wheeler
Music byEumir Deodato
Production
company
Black Marble Productions
Distributed byAVCO Embassy Pictures
Release dates
  • September 7, 1979 (1979-09-07) (Toronto[1])
  • September 19, 1979 (1979-09-19) (New York City)
Running time
126 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.6 million[2]
Box office$9.9 million (US)[3] or $5 million[4]

The Onion Field is a 1979 American neo-noir[5] crime drama film directed by Harold Becker and written by Joseph Wambaugh, based on his 1973 true crime book of the same name. The film stars John Savage, James Woods and Franklyn Seales, as well as Ted Danson in his film debut.

Woods' performance as Greg Powell was the film's most widely praised element, earning him a Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award and his first Golden Globe nomination.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference var was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "AFI|Catalog".
  3. ^ "The Onion Field (1979) - Box Office Mojo". Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  4. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 293. ISBN 9780835717762. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  5. ^ Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5