Roy Scheider as Buddy Manucci in The Seven-Ups (1973)
Vitals
Roy Scheider as Buddy Manucci, renegade NYPD detective
New York City, Winter 1972
Film: The Seven-Ups
Release Date: December 14, 1973
Director: Philip D’Antoni
Costume Designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Philip D’Antoni’s sole directorial effort The Seven-Ups was released 50 years ago today, starring Roy Scheider in his first major leading role as the lead of a group of renegade NYPD detectives who specialize in securing arrests for crooks who will serve sentences of at least seven years… hence being known as “the seven-ups.”
The Seven-Ups could be argued as a spiritual continuation of The French Connection, which D’Antoni had accepted the Academy Award for producing two years earlier. Both movies were filmed and set during a gritty winter in early 1970s New York City, focused on crusading cops unafraid to break a few rules—including Scheider as an Italian-American detective named Buddy, inspired by the real-life Sonny Grosso.
Both The French Connection and The Seven-Ups also featured a thrilling car chase centered around our protagonist behind the wheel of an ordinary Pontiac, pushed to perform extraordinary stunts thanks to the late, great Bill Hickman.
If you liked seeing one Pontiac at the heart of The French Connection‘s famous chase, you’ll love seeing two Pontiacs duking it out in The Seven-Ups!
But before that…
While Buddy Manucci and his seven-ups have built up a reputation as “the dirty-tricks squad that even the regular cops are afraid of” according to the film’s promotional material, the New York City underworld has been shaken by a series of kidnappings of high-profile figures like mob shylock Max Kalish (Larry Haines). At the same time, Manucci makes his neighborhood rounds, meeting with everyone from his barber to boyhood pal-turned-mobster Vito Lucia (Tony Lo Bianco).
Manucci’s team stakes out a gangland funeral in the Bronx where one of his seven-ups, Ansel (Ken Kercheval), poses undercover as a mob chauffeur. After Ansel’s cover gets blown and mobster Carmine Coltello (Lou Polan) tosses him in the trunk of his Cadillac, Manucci and Barilli (Victor Arnold) follow the Cadillac to a garage where Coltello meets with Moon (Richard Lynch) and Bo (Bill Hickman)—the duo that has been conducting the kidnappings. After a high-caliber misunderstanding, Ansel is literally caught in the crossfire and mortally wounded, springing Manucci into action behind the wheel of his 1973 Pontiac Ventura in hot pursuit of Bo’s dark-blue Pontiac Grand Ville sedan.
“Car 8-6, he shot a cop, I’m on the job! He’s goin’ for the bridge, close it off!” Manucci calls into his car radio as the Grand Ville approaches the George Washington Bridge, where it crashes through a police barricade and leaves Buddy’s Ventura the sole pursuer in a high-speed chase reminiscent of Bullitt (which is understandable, given Hickman’s involvement in both.)
Manucci seems to be closing in on the two kidnappers until he takes a hard turn and suddenly slams his Ventura into the back of a parked tractor-trailer, a potentially devastating crash that instantly converts his hardtop coupe into a makeshift convertible—a dangerous stunt inspired by the tragic circumstances of Jayne Mansfield’s death six years prior.
After learning of Ansel’s death at the hospital, Manucci is confronted by his superiors—the strict Lieutenant Hanes (Robert Burr) and more pragmatic Inspectorr Gilson (Rex Everhart)—who share that the seven-ups unit is indefinitely suspended.
Hanes: A squad from the chief detective’s office is investigating stories about undercover police—alleged police—going around, kidnapping wiseguys for ransom.
Manucci: And they think it’s us?
Gilson: Buddy… what would you think?
Suspension isn’t enough to stop the determined seven-ups, especially now that they’re out for revenge.
What’d He Wear?
Buddy Manucci’s regular street clothes through The Seven-Ups consist a belted brown leather jacket over hardy layers and jeans.
The thigh-length car coat follows some design queues associated with military field jackets, including: overall cut, four-pocket arrangement, and the martial shoulder straps (epaulets) that are sewn to each shoulder and button to the coat’s body closer to the neck. All four inverted box-pleated pockets have a pointed flap that closes through a single button, through the two chest pockets are plain patch-style pockets while those over the hips are the extended bellows-style pockets. The jacket has a shirt-style collar that Manucci often wears turned up.
In addition to the four buttons up the front from waist to neck, Manucci’s leather jacket has a full belt around the waist, with two silver-toned D-ring buckles to fasten it. The set-in sleeves have single-button squared cuffs, and a long single vent extends up the back to the belt.
Up through the car chase and its immediate aftermath, Manucci wears a stone-colored work shirt, likely made from polyester or a poly/cotton blend. The shirt has a large, slightly curved semi-spread collar and—like his jacket—military-style shoulder epaulets that button down at the neck. These buttons match the six dark plastic buttons up the front placket, fastening the cuffs, and which close the pointed flaps over both chest pockets.
For his first on-screen meeting with Vito, Manucci layers the shirt over a mid-blue cotton T-shirt with a high crew-neck, likely the same short-sleeved shirt we had just seen him wearing under his gray “RAIDERS”-stenciled cutoff training shirt. Between his shirt and jacket, Manucci wears a dark navy cardigan sweater with just the bottom two of its five brown buttons fastened.
Buddy dresses smart for the streets, but his boyhood friend Vito Lucia is no sartorial slouch himself—opting for more of a dandy gangster aesthetic.
Beginning with the stakeout and subsequent car chase, Manucci wears a black merino wool mock-neck sweater with raglan sleeves. At first, he wears it as a base layer under his stone work shirt before he wears it on its own under his leather jacket.
Buddy’s Bullitt moment.
As Manucci’s rogue investigation continues, he wears both knits together, pulling the navy cardigan over his black mock-neck.
Buddy briefly adopts a somewhat clerical look with his dark cardigan layered over his black mock-neck sweater.
For the final act of The Seven-Ups, Manucci continues to wear the navy cardigan, now layered over a beige turtleneck with a tall ribbed roll-neck.
Manucci’s boot-cut jeans are made from a light-blue lightweight denim, following the typical arrangement with belt loops around the waist and five pockets—two patch-style back pockets and two curved front pockets with a watch/coin pocket inset on the right side. He keeps a set of keys in his right-hand pocket, connected to a thin gold chain secured to the right-front belt loop. His wide dark brown leather belt closes through a squared brass-toned single-prong buckle.
At least Buddy’s boot-cut jeans lack the dramatic bell-bottomed flare of his fellow “seven-up” Barilli (Victor Arnold).
Whether dressed in a suit or a leather jacket and jeans, Manucci always wears black leather cap-toe boots, which have raised heels and brass-toned zippers along the inside of each boot upper.
Buddy slams the gas in his black side-zip boots.
Manucci wears a stainless steel watch with a plain round white dial, detailed with Arabic numeral hour indices, on a scaled black leather strap.
Manucci meets with Max Kalish.
To keep his hands warm in the winter climate, Manucci often pulls on a pair of dark brown leather three-point gloves.
The Gun
Buddy Manucci’s regular sidearm is a blued Smith & Wesson Model 36 snub-nosed revolver, holstered butt-down under his left armpit.
This model was a law enforcement favorite since its debut at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) convention in 1950, when those in attendance voted on its original “Chiefs Special” nomenclature. Built on its newly developed compact J-frame platform, this double-action revolver carried up to five rounds of .38 Special ammunition in its cylinder—one less than most earlier revolvers, though this gave it a more concealable edge over competitors like the Colt Detective Special (more on that specific weapon later.)
In 1957, Smith & Wesson implemented a numerical nomenclature for its handguns, and the Chiefs Special was officially designated the Model 36. By the 1970s, these reliable revolvers typically cost around $110 new. IMFDB suggests that the handsome squared walnut grips on Manucci’s Model 36 are the Herrett “Shooting Star” model favored by target shooters.
Buddy Manucci gives Max Kalish a .38-caliber wake-up call.
Manucci’s snub-nose shows all the classic signatures of a Smith & Wesson revolver, including the ramped front sight, ejector rod underlug, flat cylinder-release latch, and the brand’s logo etched on the left side of the frame ahead of the grips.
However, there’s a brief continuity error during Manucci’s climactic gunfight against Moon when his Smith & Wesson has been swapped out for a Colt Detective Special. These two double-action blued snub-nosed .38-caliber revolvers may appear similar enough for the error to go unnoticed by most, but firearms enthusiasts—specifically those with an interest in 20th century American revolvers—would spot the Detective Special’s rounded front sight and exposed ejector rod. (The Detective Special also holds one more round in the cylinder for a total of six shots.)
A continuity error briefly transforms Buddy’s Smith & Wesson snub-nose into a generally similar Colt Detective Special.
While it could be argued that this was meant to be a secondary or backup gun that Buddy pulled from his jacket, it again appears to be the Smith & Wesson during subsequent shots. This isn’t meant to disparage The Seven-Ups as errors were like this were common in movies, particularly before the advent of home video when nitpickers like me could pause, rewatch, and take screenshots.
And back to the Smith & Wesson in the next shot!
Manucci carries his issued snub-nosed revolver in a black leather shoulder holster that positions his weapon vertically with the grips down for a quicker draw, similar to the “upside-down” rig Steve McQueen wore in Bullitt that had been inspired by Dave Toschi—a real-life San Francisco PD inspector who would be portrayed by Mark Ruffalo in Zodiac (2007).
Either the support straps or the entire holsters were rotated out on screen, as Scheider’s rig cycles between one that has cartridge loops over the left shoulder (as seen at the hospital) and one sans cartridge loops (as seen at the police station here.)
The Car
Buddy Manucci patrols New York in a nondescript but sleeper badass 1973 Pontiac Ventura Custom, described as one of the “11 best movie cars of the ’70s” in Brett Berk’s 2014 article for Vanity Fair. Only a year old but looking considerably older based the dings and patina on that “ascot silver” exterior paint, the Ventura gets the opportunity to prove its mettle when Manucci puts its pedal to the metal in pursuit of two killers in a Pontiac Grand Ville.
The chase is on!
Pontiac introduced the “Ventura” name in 1960 as a trim package for its full-size Catalina model. After a decade, the marque shifted the model name to its own more compact series, initially known as the Ventura II for the 1971 model only. This new Pontiac Ventura series was built on GM’s X-body shared with the Chevy Nova, available as a two-door coupe, hatchback, and four-door sedan.
The ’73 Ventura engine options included a 250 cubic-inch straight six and a 350 V8, the latter available with either a single or dual exhaust. The presence of two exhaust pipes on Buddy Manucci’s 350-badged Ventura Custom suggests he’s driving the latter, which increased the output from 150 to 175 horsepower.
Despite the manual-shifting sound effects, the looks we get at the interior of Manucci’s Ventura—specifically the brake and gas pedals—inform us that it’s mated to the optional three-speed Turbo Hydra-matic transmission.
1973 Pontiac Ventura Sprint
1973 Pontiac Ventura Custom
Body Style: 2-door coupe
Layout: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RWD)
Engine: 350 cu. in. (5.7 L) Pontiac OHV V8 with dual exhaust 2-barrel carburetor
Power: 175 hp (130.5 kW; 177 PS) @ 4400 RPM
Torque: 280 lb·ft (380 N·m) @ 2400 RPM
Transmission: 3-speed Turbo Hydra-matic automatic
Wheelbase: 111 inches (2819 mm)
Length: 197.5 inches (5016 mm)
Width: 72.4 inches (1839 mm)
Height: 52.6 inches (1336 mm)
Stunt coordinator Bill Hickman designed The Seven-Ups‘ famous 10-minute car chase, including its dramatic conclusion as Manucci’s Ventura plows into the back of a semi-truck, shearing off the entire windshield and roof… ducking just in time to literally keep his head.
Though Scheider performed an admirable amount of driving throughout The Seven-Ups, it was the prolific stunt performer Jerry Summers who was at the wheel for this dangerous and memorable conclusion to the chase. “He got a little hurt, the stuntman, he was a little damaged, he got a lot of glass damage,” actor Richard Lynch recalled, as reported by Hagerty.
If Buddy wasn’t more careful, his capa would’ve been detated from his head.
Hickman had designed the finish as a dark homage to the death of Jayne Mansfield, who died under similar circumstances during the early morning hours of June 29, 1967.
Mansfield’s 20-year-old driver Ronnie Harrison was piloting a 1966 Buick with Mansfield and her attorney Sam Brody joining Harrison in the front seat while three of her children (including Mariska Hargitay) slept in the back. Around 2:25 a.m. on U.S. Highway 90 driving west from Biloxi to New Orleans, the Buick sped into the back of decelerating tractor-trailer. The three adults in the front seat were instantly killed, though—despite persisting rumors—Mansfield’s death certificate indicates that she was not decapitated by the crash.
How to Get the Look
Roy Scheider as Buddy Manucci in The Seven-Ups (1973)
Aside from a few dated details like those flared boot-cut bottoms, Buddy Manucci’s street wardrobe of a functional leather jacket, hardy layers, jeans, and boots could translate to an effective casual outfit a half-century later.
- Brown leather belted thigh-length car coat with four-button front, shirt-style collar, shoulder epaulets, four inverted box-pleated pockets (with button-down pointed flaps), single-button cuffs, and long single vent
- Stone-colored polyester work shirt with large semi-spread collar, 6-button front placket, two chest pockets (with button-down pointed flaps), and single-button cuffs
- Black merino wool mock-neck raglan-sleeved sweater
- Light-blue lightweight denim boot-cut jeans
- Black calf leather cap-toe inside-zip boots
- Black leather “upside-down” shoulder holster with beige woven straps
- Stainless steel wristwatch with white round dial (with Arabic numeral hour indices) on black scaled leather strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie… which you could certainly argue as a Christmas movie if you needed to make the case to watch it in mid-December.
Happy holidays from Manucci and Borelli.
The Quote
One of our guys gets murdered and we get investigated!
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