Plot The Presidio (film)

at presidio army base in san francisco, mp patti jean lynch (jenette goldstein) shot dead while investigating break-in on base, , 2 san francisco police officers killed in getaway. jay austin (mark harmon), san francisco police inspector, sent investigate. clashes lieutenant colonel alan caldwell (sean connery), base provost marshal.

years ago, austin , lynch partners while serving mps , caldwell commanding officer. when austin arrested lieutenant colonel paul lawrence (dana gladstone), caldwell did not support him. in aftermath, austin demoted , decided leave army. austin , caldwell share dislike 1 another.

the murder investigation casts suspicion on lawrence, lynch killed tokarev, russian pistol. lawrence registered owner of tokarev, claims lost in poker game. austin learns getaway car used lynch s killer registered civilian named arthur peale (mark blum), wealthy , owns holding company that, in turn, owns other companies.

austin tries question lawrence tokarev, caldwell intervenes. fuels austin s suspicions caldwell protect fellow officer civilian authorities, if killer. recognizing part of case under caldwell s jurisdiction @ presidio , part under austin s jurisdiction in san francisco, uneasily team investigate case. caldwell states if tokarev bullet killed lynch match bullet fired earlier lawrence s tokarev @ presidio firing range, caldwell arrange lawrence surrender austin arrest. in meantime, caldwell , austin visit peale, claims car stolen , has alibi night lynch shot. caldwell, though, noticed vietnam-era paraphernalia in peale s office. using own contacts, caldwell learns peale in cia, , spy , military advisor in vietnam @ same time lawrence there officer. becomes clear lawrence , peale knew each other.

austin gets ballistics report on tokarev, confirms lawrence s gun killed lynch. ignoring agreement caldwell, austin corners lawrence when leaves presidio, resulting in lengthy footchase through san francisco s chinatown. ultimately, lawrence killed in hit , run. caldwell furious austin disregarded agreement. compounding past tension, caldwell upset austin dating daughter donna (meg ryan). relationship rocky, donna alternately teasing , pushing austin away. caldwell confides in friend, retired sergeant major ross maclure (jack warden), runs presidio s war museum. revealed in backstory caldwell maclure s lieutenant during vietnam war. caldwell green , relied heavily on maclure. in 1 sequence, maclure saved injured caldwell , attacked vietcong platoon waiting ambush american soldiers, awarded medal of honor. in various scenes, caldwell s close friendship , affection maclure demonstrated.

caldwell , austin both figure out killer @ presidio trying break storeroom retrieve bottle of spring water delivered earlier day. following lead water company delivered water, austin gets name of driver delivered water, george spota (james hooks reynolds). caldwell recognizes name served under lawrence in vietnam. austin confirms spota s car hit , killed lawrence during footchase, , caldwell learns water company spota works owned arthur peale, confirming spota, peale, , lawrence working together. austin , caldwell follow spota during daily water deliveries. spota makes delivery travis air force base. under surveillance austin , caldwell, spota picks bottle of water transported air force base philippines.

austin , caldwell follow spota , bottle of water water company. unsure in water bottle makes valuable, austin , caldwell see edges of conspiracy come together. spota, lawrence, , peale knew each other in vietnam. spota apparently picked delivery of water philippines, accidentally left water bottle in storeroom @ presidio. when realized mistake, went retrieve it, lynch surprised him during break-in, , shot her.

just figure out, see maclure drive water company. terrible realization, caldwell figures out peale , lawrence have needed maclure carry out smuggling, because maclure had excellent contacts within military in asia. inside water company, spota , peale open water bottle came philippines, revealing diamonds smuggled inside--the diamonds being invisible in clear water. maclure comes in , surprises them holding gun. peale reveals lawrence blackmailing maclure maclure did while in vietnam. peale tries convince maclure let smuggling operation continue, maclure disgusted himself , heartbroken on death of lynch, whom knew. says smuggling must stop, stripped of gun peale s men. peale kill maclure, caldwell , austin enter water company save him. gun fight ensues, during peale , men killed, , maclure fatally wounded.

caldwell asks austin delay police report 48 hours give caldwell time bury maclure honor intact. austin agrees , final scene @ military cemetery caldwell tearfully eulogizes maclure. @ end of film, caldwell reconciles donna , grudgingly admits austin family.