A trade union lawyer named Walter Deaney (John Saxon) kills a burglar in his house. Only an unorthodox plain-clothes detective named Mitchell (Joe Don Baker) believes that Deaney is guilty of something more than self-defense, but Chief Albert Pallin (Robert Phillips) tells him that Deaney is wanted for "every federal law violation in the book" and is therefore "FBI property."
To keep Mitchell away from Deaney, the Chief orders him to stake out the home of James Arthur Cummings (Martin Balsam), a wealthy man with ties to the mob whose "big scene" is the import and export of stolen merchandise. Mitchell initially is unconcerned with Cummings and focuses primarily on Deaney. But he gets drawn in after Cummings discovers that Salvatore Mistretta (Morgan Paull), cousin of his mafioso benefactor Tony Gallano (Harold J. Stone), is bringing in a shipment of stolen heroin from Mexico without Cummings' consent.
Meanwhile, a high-priced escort named Greta (Linda Evans) shows up at Mitchell's apartment. Mitchell allows her to come in, and after spending two nights with her, and arresting her for possession of marijuana, he discovers that Deaney is paying her $1000 per night to entertain Mitchell. After unsuccessfully trying to bribe Mitchell with Greta's services and an offer of an illicit real estate deal, Deaney decides to work with Cummings to eliminate the annoying cop. Deaney is killed shortly thereafter during an attempt on Mitchell's life.
Cummings refuses to let Mistretta use his port facilities to bring the shipment in, earning him the ire of Gallano who begins sending thugs to harass him. Cummings decides that the only ally he still hasâaside from his faithful butler and bodyguard, Benton (Merlin Olsen)âis Mitchell, because he's no good to the police dead.
Cummings offers a deal. If he is allowed to go free, Mitchell will be allowed to pose as a chauffeur and pick up the drug shipment, putting him in a position to both confiscate the drugs and arrest Mistretta. However, Cummings double-crosses Mitchell by alerting Mistretta to his real identity. He's also double-crossed Mistretta by replacing the heroin with chalk. Mistretta decides to kill Mitchell and dump the body on Cummings' boat.
Mistretta is killed in the subsequent gun battle, freeing Mitchell to go after Cummings, who is attempting to flee the country by sea. Mitchell is dropped onto the boat by helicopter and kills Benton with a gaff hook. Cummings is killed after one final attempted double-cross fails, bringing the central plot to a close.
Mitchell returns to his apartment to find Greta awaiting him. Mitchell brushes her off, pointing out that she is no longer being paid to keep him company. Despite this, Greta wishes to spend the night with Mitchell. However, Mitchell detects the scent of marijuana on her and the film concludes on what is intended to be a humorous beat, as Mitchell prepares to haul Greta off to jail for a second possession charge.
Alternate version[edit]
In 1980, a heavily edited version of the 1975 film was released for broadcast television, in which most of the violence and all of the nudity and profanity were removed. Several scenes in the film were shot twice for this purpose.

Greta writes on the windshield of Mitchell's car with lipstick. In the theatrical release the word written on the windshield is "BASTARD" while in the TV version the word is "JERK."
The sequence during the dinner scene with the phony argument between Cummings and Benton was also shot twice to substitute "goddamn awful butler" with "lousy butler".
The scene with Mitchell arguing with Greta's son was edited with Mitchell saying "Buzz off, kid!" in the TV version instead of "Piss off, kid!" in the theatrical release. His remark, "Go to Hell!", to Greta's son as he skateboards away was also censored.
What is the name of the butler?
Benton