The New Centurions
1972 film by Richard Fleischer
The New Centurions is a 1972 American neo-noir action crime film based on the 1971 novel of the same name by author and policeman (both at that time) Joseph Wambaugh. It stars George C. Scott, Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jane Alexander, Rosalind Cash, Erik Estrada, and James Sikking, and was directed by Richard Fleischer.
Plot
Three rookie police officers, Roy Fehler, Gus Plebesly, and Sergio Duran, report for duty with the Los Angeles Police Department. Roy is married with a daughter Rebecca and intends to eventually become a law student. Gus is a father of three. Sergio is a native of East L.A., who never expected to end up patrolling its streets.
Each new officer is assigned a veteran partner. Roy's partner is the experienced Andy Kilvinski, who has been on the force for nearly a quarter-century and has his own style of law enforcement. For example, he drives prostitutes Alice, Gloria, Wilma and others – who he has supplied with liquor – around the city for hours in a paddy wagon to keep them off the streets for the night.
Gus is paired with Whitey Duncan.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The New Centurions” is 1972 film by Richard Fleischer. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Centurions, film and Richard, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1972 film by Richard Fleischer” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1163440. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972 and 1971.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The New Centurions”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The New Centurions primary sources, The New Centurions archive and Centurions research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The New Centurions”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The New Centurions” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.