| Hear No Evil | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Crime Drama |
| Written by | Tom Lazarus |
| Directed by | Harry Falk Jr. |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Lance Rubin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Paul Pompian |
| Cinematography | Michael P. Joyce |
| Editor | Anne Mills |
| Running time | 120 minutes (with commercials) |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | November 20, 1982 |
Hear No Evil is a 1982 made-for-television-film directed by Harry Falk Jr.[1][2] and written by Tom Lazarus.[2] The TV film stars Gil Gerard, Bernie Casey, Wings Hauser, Mimi Rogers, Christina Hart, Brion James, Ron Karabatsos, Mickey Jones, Raven De La Croix, and Robert Dryer.[2][3][4]
After a cop becomes deaf in a fight, he tries to break up a drug ring run by bikers.
Hear No Evil is based on the true story of William O. "Bill" Zerby, a former Marine who, as a Solano County Sherriff's Office narcotics detective, aggressively perused members of the Hells Angels suspected of producing and distributing methamphetamine in the San Francisco Bay Area.[5] Zerby was injured, suffered severe hearing loss and was forced to retire from his law enforcement agency as a result of an explosive device detonated as he was entering his car in front of his home on January 30, 1978.[6] He was en route to court for a prehearing in the methamphetamine possession trial of Oakland Hells Angels chapter vice-president James Ezekiel "Jim-Jim" Brandes at the time.[7] Brandes, who had previously been found to be in possession of a military handbook on booby traps and an address book containing the address, phone number and the license-plate number of Zerby when he was arrested on drug charges by Zerby and another detective on November 14, 1977, stated to a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine in or around November 1978 that "Zerby drew a line and stepped over it. I don't take that from anybody in the streets, and I sure ain't gonna take that from him. I don't let nobody come around and shove me around. I don't think anyone does if he's a man."[8][9] The following year, Brandes and Kenneth Jay "K.O." Owen, a member of the Vallejo Hells Angels who had previously been arrested after a raid on his home led by Zerby uncovered narcotics and prohibited firearms on June 21, 1977, were charged with the attempted murder of Zerby as part of a racketeering case.[10] Brandes and Owen were ultimately acquitted of the attempt on Zerby's life.[11] Brandes later committed suicide by hanging himself in prison circa 1994.[12] Owen died July 4, 2016,[13] and Zerby died in 2021 at the age of seventy-nine.[14]
Producer Paul Pompian heard of the Zerby incident while filming a TV pilot in San Francisco and decided to pursue the idea of translating the events into a teleplay.[15] Paul Pompian Productions and MGM Television produced the television film which could have become a television series.[4][16]
Film critic John J. O'Connor of The New York Times wrote in his review: "TRAINING for a new gimmick in the old police-drama formula, Hear No Evil, tomorrow's television movie on CBS, Channel 2, at 9, comes up with a deaf cop."[17] Staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote: "Gil Gerard as Bill Dragon in a routine cop drama with a banal script and what only approximates acting. Even the central gimmick of permanently deafening the hero in an explosion seems to have been transferred by rubbings from ancient stones."[18]
