The Onion Field
Directors
Harold Becker
Actors
- John Savage
- James Woods
- Franklyn Seales
Credits: 4
Summary
LA cop Ian Campbell is killed in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. But legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers Greg Powell and Jimmy Smith from receiving justice, and his partner Karl Hettinger is haunted by survivor's gu...
More about this movie
Gregory Ulas Powell is a disturbed ex-con who recruits Jimmy Lee "Youngblood" Smith, a petty thief, as his partner in crime. Powell panics one night when the two of them are pulled over by a pair of cops for broken brake lights. Powell decides to kidnap the cops, and Smith, as always, reluctantly goes along with Powell's crazy scheme. The group drives out to a deserted onion field in Bakersfield, California, and one officer is shot while the other escapes. The remainder of the film explores the nature of the American justice system, as well as the devastating psychological effects of this event, and the trial on the surviving officer.