The Formula

“Big Oil. Big Money. Big Mystery. Everyone’s out to make a killing.”

Barney Caine (George C. Scott), a Los Angeles cop, wants to know who killed a friend and fellow officer, and the trail leads him to a Nazi-era secret: a synthetic alternative to gasoline. A formula like that could end the global oil industry, which puts him in the path of the tycoon Adam Steiffel (Marlon Brando). John G. Avildsen, best known for Rocky, directs it as a steady investigation, following Caine from one lead to the next.