Serpico - Production

Production

Prior to any work on the movie, producer Martin Bregman had lunch with biographical book author Peter Maas to discuss a film adaptation. Waldo Salt, a screenwriter, began to write the script which director Sidney Lumet deemed to be too long. Another screenwriter, Norman Wexler, did the structural work followed by play lines.

Director John G. Avildsen was originally slated to direct the movie, but was removed from production due to differences with producer Bregman. Lumet took the helm as director just before filming. The real-life Frank Serpico wished to be present during the filming of the movie based on his life. Initially he was permitted to stay, but was eventually dismissed from the filming, as director Lumet was worried that his presence would make the actors (particularly lead actor Al Pacino) self-conscious.

The story was filmed in the streets of New York City. A total of 105 different locations in four of the five boroughs of the city were used. No filming took place in Staten Island. An apartment at 5-7 Minetta Street in Manhattan's Greenwich Village was used as Serpico's residence, though according to the Peter Maas book he actually lived on Perry Street during the events depicted in the film. Lewisohn Stadium, which was closed at the time of filming, was used for one scene.

As the storyline needed to show the progression of Frank Serpico's beard and hair length, individual scenes were filmed in reverse order, with actor Al Pacino's hair being trimmed for each scene set earlier in the film's timeline.

Woodie King Jr., originally cast as a hoodlum, was replaced after suffering a broken leg while filming a chase scene for this movie. He returned to the set two months later to play Leslie's friend Larry in the party scene.

Playwright Sidney Kingsley loaned his apartment to Sidney Lumet for use to film the party scene. In 1935, Kingsley hired an 11-year-old Lumet to appear on Broadway in his play, "Dead End", and they had remained friends since then.