Shot by the talented veteran cinematographer Russell Metty (Written on the Wind, Touch of Evil) Don Siegel's lean and relentlessly tough police procedural film uses Technicolor to achieve a notably restrained color palette dominated by a gun metal grey. In his hard-hitting and influential prequel to Dirty Harry, Siegel refuses to glamorize the life of a police detective by focusing instead on the daily frustrations, anxieties and dark temptations faced by a city cop. Co-written by blacklisted screenwriter Abraham Polonsky, Madigan is considered by many – including LA Police Chief William Bratton – to be one of the more realistic and uncompromising depictions of modern law enforcement.