---
title: 'Freebie and the Bean (1974)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Richard Rush'
released: '1974-12-25'
runtime_minutes: 113
genres:
  - 'Drama'
  - 'Action'
  - 'Crime'
countries:
  - 'United States'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/freebie-and-the-bean-1974'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071521/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# Freebie and the Bean (1974)

1974 · 113 min · Drama, Action, Crime · United States


## Synopsis

Freebie and the Bean is a 1974 American buddy cop black comedy action film starring James Caan and Alan Arkin, and directed by Richard Rush. The film follows two police detectives who wreak havoc in San Francisco attempting to bring down an organized crime boss. The film, which had been originally scripted as a serious crime drama, morphed into what is now known as the "buddy-cop" genre due to the bantering, improvisational nature of the acting by Caan and Arkin. Reportedly, by the end of filming, both actors were confused by the purpose of the movie, not knowing that they had stumbled into a successful character formula. The film was popular enough to spawn various other successful film franchises such as, Lethal Weapon, 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop. Loretta Swit and Valerie Harper appeared in supporting roles.

## Credits

- **Director:** [Richard Rush](https://cinepixo.com/people/richard-rush)
- **Producer:** [Richard Rush](https://cinepixo.com/people/richard-rush)
- **Screenplay:** [Robert Kaufman](https://cinepixo.com/people/robert-kaufman)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Dominic Frontiere](https://cinepixo.com/people/dominic-frontiere)
- **Director of Photography:** [László Kovács](https://cinepixo.com/people/laszlo-kovacs)

## Cast

- [James Caan](https://cinepixo.com/people/james-caan)
- [Christopher Morley](https://cinepixo.com/people/christopher-morley)
- [Mike Kellin](https://cinepixo.com/people/mike-kellin)
- [Alex Rocco](https://cinepixo.com/people/alex-rocco)
- [Christopher Morley](https://cinepixo.com/people/christopher-morley-2)
- [Valerie Harper](https://cinepixo.com/people/valerie-harper)
- [Paul Koslo](https://cinepixo.com/people/paul-koslo)
- [Linda Marsh](https://cinepixo.com/people/linda-marsh)
- [Jack Kruschen](https://cinepixo.com/people/jack-kruschen)
- [Loretta Swit](https://cinepixo.com/people/loretta-swit)
- [Alan Arkin](https://cinepixo.com/people/alan-arkin)

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/freebie-and-the-bean-1974
Film facts: Wikidata (Q4004430); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.