tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67829257721120825122024-03-06T12:00:21.369-08:00sixties crime filmsdean brierly blows the doors off the decade's cinematic crime pantheonDean Brierlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17851327122917136443noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6782925772112082512.post-58307808975226426472012-06-19T09:10:00.002-07:002022-12-29T12:43:49.900-08:00<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>THE CRIMINAL</b> <b>(1960)</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The dominator.</i></span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Setup</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Johnny Bannion (Stanley Baker) is a hardened criminal of considerable repute who’s about to receive early release
from a lengthy prison term. The film begins on his last day inside, and shows
him to be confident, decisive and in control — not only of his fellow inmates,
but of the undermanned and unmotivated guards as well. But as soon as Bannion
walks through the gates, it’s as if a switch has been flipped. He’s edgy and
needlessly aggressive when his old running mate, Mike Carter (Sam Wanamaker), comes to greet him. He churlishly spoils his homecoming party when his uninvited
ex-girlfriend, Maggie (Jill Bennett), arrives and starts pushing his buttons. Bannion has been inside too long to be able to quickly reorient himself to being outside.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This existential discomfort also pervades Bannion’s
professional life. He further alienates Carter and
other partners in crime while pulling off a racetrack robbery based on information from a former cellmate. The heist is successful, but Bannion balks
at paying the new, exorbitant rate being charged by the money-changer. He hides the
takings where no one can find them and, worse, commits the cardinal sin of
using some of the stolen money to buy a bauble for his latest conquest, Suzanne
(Margit Saad).</span><span style="font-family: Garamond;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>A stoolie's fate.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In short order, Bannion is sold out by the
jealous Maggie and the duplicitous Carter, the latter eager to supplant him in the criminal hierarchy. Bannion is duly hustled back to prison, and quickly realizes that things have changed. Having transgressed underworld codes,
Bannion is no longer top dog behind bars, and encounters nothing but betrayal and
confrontation. Carter works behind the scenes to pressure Bannion to turn over
the money: he has Suzanne kidnapped and arranges for Bannion to receive a
working over from a couple of brutal inmates.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Frank Saffron (Gregoire Aslan), a high-ranking
gang boss who is now top man in the jail, eventually convinces a reluctant
Bannion to cooperate. Saffron orders up a prison riot, but organizes it so that
it appears Bannion has helped the guards to quash it. Bannion’s pariah status
necessitates a prison transfer to ensure his safety, during which Carter’s men
effect his escape. Despite the odds stacked against him, Bannion still thinks
he can have his cake and eat it, not realizing he’s in over his head and that
all his dreams are about to be permanently deferred.</span><span style="font-family: Garamond;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The savage is loose. </i></span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Payoff</span></b><br />
<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 150%;">The Criminal</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 150%;"> marks a transition between Joseph Losey’s genre works of the 1950s
and his art films of the 1960s and ’70s. It’s the movie in which Losey (arguably) more or
less “became” Losey. It also represents a milestone in the development of the
British crime film. The tension between its realist narrative impulses
(courtesy of Alun Owen’s razor-sharp script) and Losey’s intoxicating mix of cinéma
vérité camerawork, Eisensteinian montage and Brechtian flourish began a process
of genre transformation that would reverberate throughout modernist successors
like </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 150%;">Kaleidoscope</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 150%;"> (1966) and </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 150%;">Performance</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 150%;"> (1970). </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 150%;">The
film was likewise a key one for Stanley Baker, whose character (a
nod to Dave Bannion in </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 150%;">The Big Heat</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 150%;">?) finds himself increasingly marginalized in a newly
treacherous underworld, and fighting a losing battle to retain a sense of control in or out of prison. With his raptor-like visage (fellow Welshman and friend Richard
Burton described him as a “terrifying old boot … with a face like a clenched
fist”), Baker projected a sense of danger unequalled in British cinema at the
time, Sean Connery included. (Baker was, in fact, offered the role of 007 in
1961.) However, the actor’s brutish persona masked a latent sensitivity, one
that Losey was quick to exploit. Baker delivers a powerful and nuanced
performance, full of unbridled aggression, but counterpoised by hints of
self-doubt and vulnerability. He would deliver equally accomplished work in the subsequent Losey films <i>Eva</i> (1962) and <i>Accident</i> (1967).</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Corruption in uniform.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 150%;">The
prison scenes are among the film’s strongest, especially during the opening
sequence, in which a despised police informer is transferred into Bannion’s
cell block. The convicts make clear their collective loathing and are about to
administer rough justice before Bannion stops them with a word. The stoolie will indeed
receive his just reward (a vicious cell beating masked by the prisoners’
community singing of a child’s nursery rhyme), but on Bannion’s time and terms.
Ironically, it’s the last time he will enjoy such unquestioned authority.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Script
and direction present a gritty and realistic portrayal of prison life, and
proffer some telling sociological observations about how society runs on both
sides of the law. But it’s primarily a character study, which, to its credit, isn</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">t confined to the leads. Owun’s script generously invests a dozen or so supporting
characters with stories of their own, which adds immeasurably to the film’s
verisimilitude and emotional impact. The crowning touch is Robert Krasker’s
beautifully harsh black-and-white photography, which gives the film a palpable sense of place and texture. The most memorable shot comes at the end, after
Bannion has escaped from Carter and makes a desperate attempt to recover the money
he’s buried under a frozen, snow-covered field. As Carter’s jackals converge, Krasker
frames a bird’s eye perspective that pitilessly observes and punctuates
Bannion’s ultimate nullity. While not a perfect film, Losey, Baker and their
collaborators make </span><i style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Criminal</i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> a
thematic arabesque of corruption, deceit and despair.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Bannion and Carter no longer speak the same language.</i></span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Lawless<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Johnny
Bannion likes the high life: swank bachelor pad, posh birds and lots of hot
money in his hands. He’s even got a portable sunlamp with which he tans himself
while lying in bed. This aspect of his character anticipates the materialist
attitude that would sweep Britain in a few years time. Yet he’s as hard as
nails and without pity towards those who cross him. Bannion is old school,
prone to doing things his way and brooking no interference, putting him at odds with the changing face of British criminality. Baker plays him
with feral intensity, and in fact modeled the character on Albert Dimes, a
notorious underworld gangster and one of Baker’s drinking mates. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mike
Carter represents the criminal as organization man: deferential to his
superiors, condescending to his subordinates, quick to betray a friend. Carter is
basically devoid of character and human feeling, and willingly sells his soul
on behalf of the corporation: “We belong to a proper setup. We’re important,
yes, but things would go on without us.” </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Prison playmates.</i></span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Law<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Patrick
Magee plays Barrows, the prison warden who runs the cell block with an iron
hand, but who knows when to let the convicts let off much-needed steam. He’s
deeply religious, and becomes visibly emotional while attending chapel
services. But he’s also a bit of a sadist, turning a blind eye to a stoolie’s
beating, and is quite probably corrupt as well, conveniently placing Bannion in
a cell with his would-be assailants — just where Carter wants him.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Bedlam behind bars.</i></span></td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The GBH</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 150%;">Most of the film’s violence takes place inside
the prison. The thrashing of the prison informer is memorably filmed with
expressionistic lighting and editing, and rather chillingly plays out against
the collective cell block singing of the familiar children’s refrain “nick-nack
paddywhack.” During Bannion’s second incarceration, he’s put into a cell with a
couple of intimidating Irish thugs planted there to make him reveal where the money is. Bannion regards them contempt. “If you think a couple of
shebeen rats like you could frighten me, c’mon … and learn.” He then proceeds to
teach them both a painful lesson. The prison riot is the film’s big set piece, a
stunning tour de force that evokes a nightmarish scene like something from the
16</span><sup style="background-color: white; line-height: 150%;">th</sup><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 150%;"> century Bedlam mental hospital.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Confession time for Johnny Bannion.</i></span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Vernacular<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Quantock</i>:
“You were big inside.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Johnny Bannion</i>: “Oh, yeah. Big enough to be three in a cell all through last year’s
stinking summer.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Snipe</i>
[as a prison stoolie is mercilessly beaten]: “I hope he doesn’t mark his face.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Johnny Bannion</i>: “Clobber’s a neat worker.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Mike Carter</i>: “Your sort doesn’t fit into an organization. So we can’t have you
running about messing things up, now can we, Johnny?”</span><span style="font-family: Garamond;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Figures in a landscape.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>End Titles</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Director</i>:
Joseph Losey; <i>screenplay</i>: Alun Owen,
Jimmy Sangster; <i>producers</i>: Nat Cohen,
Stuart Levy; <i>music</i>: Johnny Dankworth;
<i>cinematography</i>: Robert Krasker; <i>editing</i>: Reginald Mills<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Stanley
Baker (<i>Johnny Bannion</i>); Sam Wanamaker (<i>Mike Carter</i>), Patrick Magee (<i>Barrows</i>),
Margit Saad (<i>Suzanne</i>), Gregoire Aslan (<i>Frank Saffron</i>), Kenneth Warren
(<i>Clobber</i>), Jill Bennett (<i>Maggie</i>), John Van Eyssen (<i>Formby</i>),
Patrick Wymark (<i>Sol</i>), Brian Phelan (<i>Pauly Larkin</i>), Paul Stassino (<i>Alfredo
Fanucci</i>), Tom Bell (<i>Flynn</i>), Neil McCarthy (<i>O’Hara</i>), Nigel Green (Ted), Murray
Melvin (<i>Antlers)</i></span></div>
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</div>Dean Brierlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17851327122917136443noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6782925772112082512.post-67062778528096125622010-11-15T08:15:00.001-08:002022-12-29T13:03:52.477-08:00<span style="color: black; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">DETECTIVE BUREAU 2-3: GO TO HELL BASTARDS! (1963)</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHOhkwkS5LcWvQ0u8araXYzU7P30IwrN5s9Z-fydal1tZv0sb933qQ7poMC5WfKoe6H9SzkJUA42io0Kw84loatdemIJ4Z8zQHirwhRe6DTSnaa2S1EtKL0O3OeV4t8d2f7pimgXE5SCI/s1600/1%253Ascreenshot_23.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="262" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811924243360930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHOhkwkS5LcWvQ0u8araXYzU7P30IwrN5s9Z-fydal1tZv0sb933qQ7poMC5WfKoe6H9SzkJUA42io0Kw84loatdemIJ4Z8zQHirwhRe6DTSnaa2S1EtKL0O3OeV4t8d2f7pimgXE5SCI/s640/1%253Ascreenshot_23.jpg" title="Jo Shishido, Detective Bureau 2-3" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Tajima hates yakuza.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Setup</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Tajima (Jo Shishido), is a cocky, resourceful private eye who owns the Detective Bureau 2-3 of the title. For reasons never explained, he manifests a deep-seated hate for the yakuza, an emotion that primes his motivational pump throughout the film. “If there are less yakuza, the world will be a better place,” he tells Captain Kumagaya (Nobuo Kaneko). The film kicks off with a yakuza gang making an unauthorized munitions withdrawal from an American military base, only to be ambushed by a competing gang riding atop a Pepsi-Cola delivery truck. The blistering gun battle leaves a score of bodies and dozens of bottles of the world’s second-favorite soft drink riddled with bullets. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7rv-5FY4_XqTdwPi0wy1DnT_N0xu-4o9tY7RjI3vXtPSdcG7ZelzwLXVf7ywR6o0KOlPsz_GYObfg9geDoRccyq-l2WTw-92FIRRtegbQhVLYnf6zRNBZXGv8fJmyGq73faksl1j7Cg/s1600/2%253Ascreenshot_68.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="262" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811859362982530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7rv-5FY4_XqTdwPi0wy1DnT_N0xu-4o9tY7RjI3vXtPSdcG7ZelzwLXVf7ywR6o0KOlPsz_GYObfg9geDoRccyq-l2WTw-92FIRRtegbQhVLYnf6zRNBZXGv8fJmyGq73faksl1j7Cg/s640/2%253Ascreenshot_68.jpg" title="Detective Bureau 2-3" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Yakuza have no love for Tajima.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">With the police seemingly unable to deal with the carnage, Tajima sees an opportunity to show them up and wreak havoc among the criminal ranks. He convinces a skeptical Kumagaya to issue him a gun and a fake ID so he can infiltrate one of the gangs battling for control of the local gun-running trade. Posing as an ex-con, he befriends mid-level criminal Manabe (Tamio Kawachi) in order to get close to yakuza boss Hatano (Kinzo Shin), whose criminal potency is offset by his sexual impotence. Tajima plants a microphone on Hatano’s unsuspecting girlfriend Chiaki (Reiko Sasamori) to gather evidence on the gang, even as she keeps him under surveillance. His sleuthing ultimately leads him to Beniki, Hatano’s superior, who finds buyers for the guns under his guise as a respectable businessman.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Following a number of surreptitious schemes, stylish shootouts and sexual subversion, Tajima’s cover is blown and he’s marked for elimination. The quick-thinking detective hastily improvises a new backstory for himself, but Hatano isn’t buying. He locks Tajima and Chiaki (who’s revealed her hatred of the mob boss) in an underground garage, pumps gallons of motor oil into it and sets the mother on fire. However, Hatano doesn’t realize that he’s just handed Tajima a fuse with which to ignite a battle royal between the gangs — a ferocious encounter fought with guns and samurai swords that brings the film to a spectacularly convulsive conclusion. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27K0kyNdXOtS6_CwR-4wZi14kamZegqsz8ucYA-WE1jLlSsSQwXJF_ii3k86WBoC630WEzQrprEL5a5oEjex-WN0YgCvnU7OEgZD1SwKe6apO6NSi8JHIUqFIkuXV6zZ9oyKw9WDW5YY/s1600/3%253Ascreenshot_09.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="262" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811788431705858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27K0kyNdXOtS6_CwR-4wZi14kamZegqsz8ucYA-WE1jLlSsSQwXJF_ii3k86WBoC630WEzQrprEL5a5oEjex-WN0YgCvnU7OEgZD1SwKe6apO6NSi8JHIUqFIkuXV6zZ9oyKw9WDW5YY/s640/3%253Ascreenshot_09.jpg" title="Nobuo Kaneko, Jo Shishido, Detective Bureau 2-3" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Tajima wins the staredown.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Payoff</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">The early 1960s was a transitional period for Seijun Suzuki. After churning out numerous yakuza films for Nikkatsu throughout the 1950s, the director began to rebel against the creative limitations imposed by the studio. Fed up with clichéd scenarios and adherence to stylistic conventions, Suzuki began infiltrating anarchic visual flourishes to make things more interesting for himself and his audiences. Nineteen-sixty-three is widely regarded as the year Suzuki started to became Suzuki with the release of <span style="font-style: italic;">Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards!</span> Although it doesn’t scale the delirious heights of <span style="font-style: italic;">Tokyo Drifter </span>(1966) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Branded to Kill</span> (1967) — the latter’s visual and narrative anarchy got him fired from Nikkatsu — the film still turns the yakuza genre on its head through Suzuki’s hyperbolic approach. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq0_Caw8jRlv4tqZ5V97ANsFhXQpO8FzuOmDoNDeC-FhAhFTLlye_L2eKwb8ye6PkzJtLMHDti7HM1ceihcTSurN4xj3X-bqZjDBq38Eeo9QsZpRyFHK9VSkTQCRWo62ZPf7zVMDIygrs/s1600/4%253Ascreenshot_16.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="262" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811696588417570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq0_Caw8jRlv4tqZ5V97ANsFhXQpO8FzuOmDoNDeC-FhAhFTLlye_L2eKwb8ye6PkzJtLMHDti7HM1ceihcTSurN4xj3X-bqZjDBq38Eeo9QsZpRyFHK9VSkTQCRWo62ZPf7zVMDIygrs/s640/4%253Ascreenshot_16.jpg" title="Detective Bureau 2-3" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Manabe’s girl engages in psychosexual foreplay.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">One of the supreme visual stylists of 1960s Japanese action cinema, even his lesser films are filled to overflowing with ingenious, dynamic compositions that would do Orson Welles proud. Suzuki was an undisputed master of the widescreen format, and he displays that gift from start to finish in <span style="font-style: italic;">Detective Bureau 2-3</span>. Consider the shot early in the film when Tajima is trying to sell Captain Kumagaya on his undercover scheme. Suzuki places the actors’ heads aggressively close to the camera and at opposite ends of the frame, allowing the empty space in the middle to evoke the huge gulf of their mutual antipathy and mistrust. In less capable hands such framing would be inert and stilted, but Suzuki makes it work through the intensity of the performers and the precisely judged rhythm of his cutting. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Similar examples abound — amazing corridor images that seem to play with the laws of physics; shots crammed to bursting with obdurate faces; surreal compositions of guns and disembodied hands; a shattered mirror reflection of Chiaki that evokes her emotional disaffection; a beautifully composed shot of Tajima hiding in a toilet stall that embraces the abstraction of empty space. Suzuki even throws in a Sergio Leone-like extreme close-up on the baleful eyes of a yakuza heavy — one year before Leone’s first spaghetti western.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzq5LWDv8H44leItlmDw2U3H2cJYCM6_y1CHqODMXRAWH79QN6zr1yFXUnsyeBZJF4NZ8QEV7KTGZ3MZ5Drdh9OoBWUQn0c1Ifmbwql6mA-rLfnMvrRRasvoOVNgundm6q44h9SU2yN8U/s1600/5%253Ascreenshot_35.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="262" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811622993165954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzq5LWDv8H44leItlmDw2U3H2cJYCM6_y1CHqODMXRAWH79QN6zr1yFXUnsyeBZJF4NZ8QEV7KTGZ3MZ5Drdh9OoBWUQn0c1Ifmbwql6mA-rLfnMvrRRasvoOVNgundm6q44h9SU2yN8U/s640/5%253Ascreenshot_35.jpg" title="Detective Bureau 2-3" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Mexican standoff — Japanese style.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">The director’s lighting and color schemes were also becoming more daring and surreal by 1963. In this respect he was abetted by cinematographer Shigeyoshi Mine and lighting director Kyosuke Yoshida. The scenes in the apartment where Manabe and his girlfriend meet for their romantic trysts are imaged in super-saturated yellows and reds. The flagrantly unrealistic colors dazzle the eye and underscore the sexual heat and perversity of the characters’ relationship. Elsewhere, Suzuki and his collaborators turn a jazz club into a riot of red, lending a disturbing visual frisson to Tajima’s attempt to keep Chiaki off balance by pretending to make love to her. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Suzuki further pushes the narrative envelope through his sardonic, tongue-in-cheek attitude. Much of the action is imbued with outlandish black humor: When Manabe is about to be released from police custody, dozens of rival gang members wait openly outside police headquarters with long-range rifles to pick him off on sight. And the director conjures up a magical bit of business by having Tajima and Manabe aim their guns at one another in the kind of point blank standoff made famous years later by Jean-Pierre Melville and John Woo. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTc_fPqeTE-FwheqbsIJsBeTE9P8LOos4Jylye9FoFUuEVe9Z-lk9mW8UqO0MSw8g4PQl3-4e8CYeYd8LsB2ZngKrYjG6-kRjJcbmAbGoiIG5cUWQbdQVK9Us-P8YUFizLFTULcpcJm4/s1600/6%253Ascreenshot_19.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="264" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811555630913602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTc_fPqeTE-FwheqbsIJsBeTE9P8LOos4Jylye9FoFUuEVe9Z-lk9mW8UqO0MSw8g4PQl3-4e8CYeYd8LsB2ZngKrYjG6-kRjJcbmAbGoiIG5cUWQbdQVK9Us-P8YUFizLFTULcpcJm4/s640/6%253Ascreenshot_19.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Bad guys wear the coolest shades.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Lawless</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Hatano is one of the more memorable villains in Suzuki’s filmography. Played by the cadaverous, evil-looking Shin, he projects guile and avarice in equal measures. Hatano is rightfully suspicious of Tajima from the start; he not only has his men check on his bona fides, he also sets Chiaki to spy on him. Like any good yakuza boss, he keeps his thoughts to himself and his emotions under control. That is, until he learns of Chiaki’s betrayal, when he finally lets down the mask to reveal his jealousy, anger, frustration and impotence. One almost feels a twinge of compassion for him until he ignites the inferno that threatens to melt her poutingly sexy features.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">A mid-level soldier in Hatano’s crew, Manabe fulfills the narrative function of allowing Tajima to insinuate himself into the gang. But Suzuki is more interested in filming Manabe’s sadomasochistic liaisons with his girlfriend. “My love! I was so worried,” she greets him upon his release from prison. Manabe throws her to floor, curses her, accuses her of betrayal, then flings himself on top of her as they make uninhibited love under Tajima’s jaded gaze.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU62cV2kNU8UKdRRFB2k0lfdQG1hvuruUVlE5IgxX1YuTQZT5KO0bLdx6VzOg05Eup8S3ZcXVIq6x776v8PIS_PKodfDhFvAHxyAG0hefCAzJ38AGzzXxlutgvSE8tpo198gKhUsIx8fw/s1600/7%253Ascreenshot_18.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="262" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811453672339698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU62cV2kNU8UKdRRFB2k0lfdQG1hvuruUVlE5IgxX1YuTQZT5KO0bLdx6VzOg05Eup8S3ZcXVIq6x776v8PIS_PKodfDhFvAHxyAG0hefCAzJ38AGzzXxlutgvSE8tpo198gKhUsIx8fw/s640/7%253Ascreenshot_18.jpg" title="Detective Bureau 2-3" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Guns don’t argue.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Lawful</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Shishido was already an established action star by 1963, thanks in part to cheek-augmentation surgery that altered his features for a fuller, more rounded look. In addition to his striking appearance, Shishido was versatile enough to play out-and-out villains as well as enjoyably tarnished heroes. Like Suzuki, he was frustrated with routine scripts, and always tried to inject something extra into his performances. This made him the perfect leading man for the iconic director. He plays Tajima with confident swagger, taking obvious enjoyment in posing as a yakuza while playing both ends against the middle. Shishido shows his hipster side, too, particularly in a nightclub scene where his ex-girlfriend is the featured attraction. Fearing that she might recognize him and blow his cover, he jumps onstage and joins her in an extended song-and-dance number, singing lyrics that shatter the fourth wall to comment sardonically on the situation. It’s absurd and astonishing, and one of the coolest moments in the film. The remaining actors provide competent support, but the film is thoroughly dominated by Shishido’s manic energy and cynical charisma. Coupled with Suzuki’s supercharged aesthetic, it all adds up to 88 minutes of combustible, eye-popping fun. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimCAS4p-O1rM56j4PqbVcLZ3HPjFldVT3TnE5Bi8Oi_1tQbpSvpcqZvi9XnLEdgWpo8z-SpsHLm1IGUUzXmsjqLnuCR932eKNA18FJmabBQhwGPaPY-1bRvYvdr_y81uvuLkZo-CF9feg/s1600/8%253Ascreenshot_36.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="263" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811371746258754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimCAS4p-O1rM56j4PqbVcLZ3HPjFldVT3TnE5Bi8Oi_1tQbpSvpcqZvi9XnLEdgWpo8z-SpsHLm1IGUUzXmsjqLnuCR932eKNA18FJmabBQhwGPaPY-1bRvYvdr_y81uvuLkZo-CF9feg/s640/8%253Ascreenshot_36.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Color-coded killing.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The GBH</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">• Suzuki signs his name in a bold pre-credit sequence distinguished by its sudden violence, confident staging and whiplash editing. His subversive genius is manifest in the bullets that enfilade the Pepsi-Cola truck, a shining symbol of postwar American colonialism.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">• Another dynamic shootout takes place in a scrapyard where Hatano’s men attempt to kill the now-exposed Tajima and the suddenly expendable Manabe. The skirmish gains added drama from its nocturnal setting and Suzuki’s unfailingly inventive camera setups. While not quite in the John Woo bullet ballet class, it’s miles ahead of most other crime films made in 1963. And the hot lead-cold steel showdown that concludes the film is a glorious example of the director’s super-heated, over-the-top action aesthetic.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">• Manabe, on the run, flees to his girlfriend’s pad to hide out. Even though he’s under threat of death, he’s so caught up in the thrall of their depraved role-playing that he fails to spot the unseen gunman in the room. He soon finds out while embracing her, however, when a shot suddenly rings out and flings him to the floor like a rag doll. His girl gets one too, plus one more for good measure, as she joins her man in the afterlife. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzzw4pdrA0smRIQ8rpEbpgi3b9t0VEY6Iy252VxmAEOC1WFMG3uyGxXtzIzNODSZXd-MbPqQ-gDdjZhrf7SEY_t2_LBLKrPe2GCCX_QsAgQWCM2GiOBgeaDZjixbgwJpzZS4AZBEcVAs/s1600/9%253Ascreenshot_57.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="263" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811293843997826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzzw4pdrA0smRIQ8rpEbpgi3b9t0VEY6Iy252VxmAEOC1WFMG3uyGxXtzIzNODSZXd-MbPqQ-gDdjZhrf7SEY_t2_LBLKrPe2GCCX_QsAgQWCM2GiOBgeaDZjixbgwJpzZS4AZBEcVAs/s640/9%253Ascreenshot_57.jpg" title="Detective Bureau 2-3" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: small;">Who ordered takeout? </span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Vernacular</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tajima</span>: Hi, Captain!”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Captain Kumagaya</span>: “Here to peddle tips? Jackass!”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Hatano</span> [after Tajima has pulled a gun on him]: “What are you doing?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tajima</span>: “I was wrong. I thought you were going to kill me.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Hatano</span>: “One should not kill someone useful.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Beniki</span>: “Can we trust him?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Hatano</span>: “Trust? It’s impossible.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Chiaki</span>: “Don’t look at me like that. I’m a virgin, but my heart is that of a prostitute.” </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tajima</span> [to Chiaki]: “Tonight, he was smarter than me.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Beniki</span> [eavesdropping]: “Exactly. I heard your conversation. Finally, I’m going to win. You’re going to burn up along with the proof. Until then, enjoy yourselves!”</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8tspuapxJfzY2Z_Bqv8cbpHZViBIXhTUkHxhy4ACdZdWj1Koea_HRS-lsptRYbeshblogJeGt8z6-TgdonAxze4WQ03bSRG_ysn2fdErnXrSSsToctidi5I7P5OJJ3VahaB9cwKeXmE/s1600/10%253Ascreenshot_40.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="262" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811198676904818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8tspuapxJfzY2Z_Bqv8cbpHZViBIXhTUkHxhy4ACdZdWj1Koea_HRS-lsptRYbeshblogJeGt8z6-TgdonAxze4WQ03bSRG_ysn2fdErnXrSSsToctidi5I7P5OJJ3VahaB9cwKeXmE/s640/10%253Ascreenshot_40.jpg" title="Reiko Sasamori, Detective Bureau 2-3" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Chiaki reflects on her unhappy past.</span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"> </span></span></i><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The End Credits</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Director</span>: Seijun Suzuki; <span style="font-style: italic;">screenplay</span>: Gan Yamazaki; <span style="font-style: italic;">producer</span>: Shozo Ashida; <span style="font-style: italic;">music</span>: Harumi Ibe; <span style="font-style: italic;">cinematography</span>: Shigeyoshi Mine; <span style="font-style: italic;">lighting</span>: Kyosuke Yoshida; <span style="font-style: italic;">editing</span>: Akira Suzuki</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Jo Shishido (<span style="font-style: italic;">Tajima</span>); Reiko Sasamori (<span style="font-style: italic;">Chiaki</span>); Tamio Kawachi (<span style="font-style: italic;">Manabe</span>); </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Nobuo Kaneko (<span style="font-style: italic;">Captain Kumagaya</span>); Kinzo Shin (<span style="font-style: italic;">Hatano</span>); Naomi Hoshi; Asao Sano; Yuko Kusunoki; Kotoe Hatsui</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0dQoLQoPmsugZA-KR4M_dacms7Is7v6NXPwBu38Y80M0n-zFJES66kxcJYIl0aypyvFAxnuMSlfDmEyLB3DSdIBwLczJtVxQkbBdgjGYuaMN5RBP5ydv3bDz6t-x9EM4eeSR3liAf2c/s1600/11%253Ascreenshot_27.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="262" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539811112992129330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0dQoLQoPmsugZA-KR4M_dacms7Is7v6NXPwBu38Y80M0n-zFJES66kxcJYIl0aypyvFAxnuMSlfDmEyLB3DSdIBwLczJtVxQkbBdgjGYuaMN5RBP5ydv3bDz6t-x9EM4eeSR3liAf2c/s640/11%253Ascreenshot_27.jpg" title="Jo Shishido, Detective Bureau 2-3" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Sleuthing and smoking.</span></span></i></span>Dean Brierlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17851327122917136443noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6782925772112082512.post-21693959025615488642010-08-24T19:09:00.001-07:002022-12-29T12:20:23.831-08:00<span style="color: black; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">ANY NUMBER CAN WIN (MELODIE EN SOUS-SOL) 1963</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4_-CsPZMJV3TcYHdTrZyHpBcghwgJdNFd4KzjJ3QgYFFK-mY-pDXoO00jnWeVb0E_rscc54uuHfWDsoY426xRy7w2kSxjPLFiOWkb0WnF1-yALS-mYK5UDT6PZ-a5GY4ShJiVpHSS_hg/s1600/1:nice+work+if+you+can+get+it.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164565636912914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4_-CsPZMJV3TcYHdTrZyHpBcghwgJdNFd4KzjJ3QgYFFK-mY-pDXoO00jnWeVb0E_rscc54uuHfWDsoY426xRy7w2kSxjPLFiOWkb0WnF1-yALS-mYK5UDT6PZ-a5GY4ShJiVpHSS_hg/s400/1:nice+work+if+you+can+get+it.jpg" title="Any Number Can Win, Melodie en sous-sol" width="400" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Nice work if you can get it.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Setup</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Charles (Jean Gabin), an aging but still ambitious criminal just released from prison, returns to his home in a northern Paris suburb to find his neighborhood has been converted to government housing projects. His modest little house now stands alone amidst a profusion of anonymous concrete high-rises, a sobering reminder that the world is passing him by. His wife Ginette is there to greet him, but their perfunctory reunion does little to elevate his mood. Even more uninspiring is her desire to sell their house and buy a small hotel in the south of France. Charles envisions a somewhat grander retirement. One purchased with the proceeds from the job he’s been planning for years — knocking off a big casino at Cannes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">His ex-partner is past his prime, so Charles calls upon his ex-cellmate Francis (Alain Delon), a thief whose physical agility will complement Charles’ criminal ingenuity. Francis is a trustworthy, albeit erratic character whose impetuous nature is at odds with his partner’s old school professionalism. Charles also enlists Francis’ brother-in-law Louis, an unassuming mechanic who could use a million extra francs, to do the driving. After checking in at a five-star hotel, they spend considerable time casing the casino and going over Charles’ meticulous plans. Francis is tasked with posing as a rich playboy and becoming sufficiently intimate with one of the casino’s dancers so he can hang around backstage without arousing suspicion. From there he will have access to the casino roof and the air-conditioning vent that will take him to the elevator shaft and into the casino vault. Francis will rely on his nerve, the element of surprise and a machine gun to get the job done.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxyuKf74j_ACYeL5TZdqYRfotBbN4lyyXJ1e10xKfZnfLmPogmNljtc7MVxpt7alsXSdTIWAQR6sqMlynt84YZBWzdEa2wVx_lmNXP5DASdb2g1fWRnFwMFsOmEUaXsvkZnwhPOPAsNo/s1600/2:after+five+years+in+prison....jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164493716125506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxyuKf74j_ACYeL5TZdqYRfotBbN4lyyXJ1e10xKfZnfLmPogmNljtc7MVxpt7alsXSdTIWAQR6sqMlynt84YZBWzdEa2wVx_lmNXP5DASdb2g1fWRnFwMFsOmEUaXsvkZnwhPOPAsNo/s400/2:after+five+years+in+prison....jpg" title="Jean Gabin, Viviane Romance, Any Number Can Win, Melodie en sous-sol" width="400" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>After five years in prison, Charles seems less than spellbound by his wife’s allure.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Despite some tense moments, everything goes like clockwork, and the group’s unlawful conduct is rewarded to the tune of a billion francs, cleverly hidden in the poolside changing room Francis has rented. Fate, however, which strikes unexpectedly and often in the crime film firmament of the 1960s, is lurking in the margins of this picture as well. Francis unknowingly has his picture taken by a society photographer working the casino on the night of the robbery. Said photo is plastered right below the next morning’s newspaper headline trumpeting the crime, forcing Charles to radically alter his plans. Instead of lying low for a week, they must attempt an immediate getaway. He instructs Francis to grab the money and meet him at the hotel’s pool, so that they might escape via their rented Rolls. Unfortunately, the swimming pool becomes the staging area for an ironically inspired denouement that’s as beautiful to watch unfold as it is bitter for the protagonists to swallow. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQ5L09zyu4ZtdS-M_nUcFwuPtfAx8AiYbksH2wo1eQ3q1Sn6HjgUwZo8Vt3SUInPGyU7PkE3MeIi8GsMBZLczLEdYIpNaBrH-mv7DrKVoaAHo75DTqzuy9X_YkWZHm53YeSkPwzDzsrU/s1600/3:francis+applies+his+callous+charm.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164423959388658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQ5L09zyu4ZtdS-M_nUcFwuPtfAx8AiYbksH2wo1eQ3q1Sn6HjgUwZo8Vt3SUInPGyU7PkE3MeIi8GsMBZLczLEdYIpNaBrH-mv7DrKVoaAHo75DTqzuy9X_YkWZHm53YeSkPwzDzsrU/s400/3:francis+applies+his+callous+charm.jpg" title="Alain Delon, Carla Marlier, Any Number Can Win, Melodie en sous-sol" width="400" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Francis applies his callous charm.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Payoff</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">While its measured pace might put off modern viewers weaned on high-octane celluloid vacuity, crime cognoscenti will appreciate the confident deliberation with which <span style="font-style: italic;">Any Number Can Win</span> plays out. Director Henri Vernuil and screenwriters Michel Audiard and Albert Simonin understand that fleshing out the events leading up to the heist only enhances its suspense quotient. It also allows time to exploit the slightly soiled glamour of the French Riviera, with its inveterate gamblers and sunburned sexual adventurers. There’s a notably frank and nonjudgmental attitude towards sex and the pecuniary motives behind its application. A very French attitude, <span style="font-style: italic;">naturellement</span>. The filmmakers also indulge in a series of character-defining narrative detours:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"> • Francis arrives at the swank hotel while the advice Charles previously gave him is heard in voiceover: “You don’t tip the guy who shows you your room. Instead, say the bathroom smells bad, the room’s too small, you don’t like this or that color. The important thing is to fuss. It’s called ‘having class.’”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"> • The barman at the hotel swimming pool gives Francis the lowdown on how much it will cost to score with the hotel’s sexually amenable female guests. The Polish countess? “30,000, but it’s negotiable. With or without dinner, as you wish.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"> • Francis is undone by his lack of experience when he fails to maintain the requisite emotional detachment during his seduction of the dancer. He becomes genuinely upset when she throws him over, and goes to the casino to cool off. His lack of concentration results in the candid camera moment that throws a kink into Charles’ carefully laid plans.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFrUqVteyMTia2dGnWxGjRvWN3k3lM2tEaPw2ApTbzAn7yz5Ey0AZr2xbSD16tAQgU2mMAzHlBGRu0e-Z8vi-hCHpd3AJafPO7-j_5zLunc5ChFXlmwmm-iosEaQ9iZ2TjiBjUKyqeTg/s1600/4:pajamas+and+machine+guns.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164343729833634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFrUqVteyMTia2dGnWxGjRvWN3k3lM2tEaPw2ApTbzAn7yz5Ey0AZr2xbSD16tAQgU2mMAzHlBGRu0e-Z8vi-hCHpd3AJafPO7-j_5zLunc5ChFXlmwmm-iosEaQ9iZ2TjiBjUKyqeTg/s400/4:pajamas+and+machine+guns.jpg" title="Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Any Number Can Win, Melodie en sous-sol" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Pajamas and machine guns.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">The heist sequence runs for nearly half an hour, most of it sans dialog in the manner of Jules Dassin’s classic caper <span style="font-style: italic;">Rififi</span> (1955). It’s beautifully filmed, with each shot precisely framed and perfectly timed. The best moment occurs when Francis comes to an open-grille section of the air-conditioning vent. Verneuil films this with an overhead shot showing Francis’ black-clad body silhouetted against the brightly lit casino below him. Should any of the gamblers happen to glance up....Verneuil also creates suspense by cutting back and forth between Francis’ progress in the vent and the transportation of the money to the vault. And the entire sequence benefits enormously from the fact that Delon is plainly doing his own stuntwork — negotiating the castellated casino roof, crawling through the cramped ventilator duct, rappelling down the inside of the elevator shaft. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">But the real climax of the film occurs after the robbery. Verneuil’s mise-en-scene is impeccable during the last 15 nail-biting minutes, as Charles and Francis, sitting on opposite sides of the pool, sweat it out while dozens of police search the area, armed with precise descriptions of the cases used in the holdup — cases that are resting on either side of Francis’ chair, in plain sight for the first sharp-eyed cop to notice. Francis and Charles conspicuously pretend the other doesn’t exist, yet one can almost hear them mentally shouting at each other in the electric silence. Verneuil’s tracking shots define the inexorable movements of the police as they unknowingly close in — the camera literally anticipating the moment of discovery — as Francis takes the only course open to him. What happens next leads to one of the greatest twist endings in any crime film of the era.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Director Verneuil (who was born Achod Malakian to Armenian parents in Turkey) was a criminally undervalued French director whose large and diverse body of work includes some of the most memorable thrillers of the 1960s and ’70s, including the super-cool <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sicilian Clan</span> (1969), which also paired Gabin and Delon; and the gritty <span style="font-style: italic;">Fear Over the City</span> (1975), which starred Jean-Paul Belmondo. Although he never got the props accorded to the likes of Jean-Pierre Melville (or Jacques Deray, for that matter), Verneuil made popular and intelligent crime thrillers with a consistency rivaled by few of his peers.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5eFQr5N-FPOLBS66eUHwgOQ8T-Pt54OoZU1Ajm_YI_CcePn4_T-1yLgJjEBOXia-nvc8nrXxvjY5Ti3WnNs54V2TKUMNaOCSXy1YOizq55L_ltdTfyzChFVUhI5fZlSfBnRxm5SbHytM/s1600/5:francis+about+to+make+his+surprise+appearance..jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164273724546210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5eFQr5N-FPOLBS66eUHwgOQ8T-Pt54OoZU1Ajm_YI_CcePn4_T-1yLgJjEBOXia-nvc8nrXxvjY5Ti3WnNs54V2TKUMNaOCSXy1YOizq55L_ltdTfyzChFVUhI5fZlSfBnRxm5SbHytM/s400/5:francis+about+to+make+his+surprise+appearance..jpg" title="Alain Delon, Any Number Can Win, Melodie en sous-sol" width="400" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Francis about to make a surprise appearance.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Lawless</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Despite his arrogance and impulsiveness, Francis does have the potential for stepping up into Charles’ class. He exhibits plenty of energy and nerve during the heist, and unimpeachable style immediately afterwards. Having safely stashed the money, he slips into his tux, saunters onto the street as if he hadn’t a care in the world, and casually lights up a cigarette as a convoy of police cars speeds past him towards the casino. The barest hint of a sardonic smile plays on his lips. </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">The moment recalls the opening of <span style="font-style: italic;">Goldfinger</span>, when Bond coolly ignites his cigarette just as the explosive charges he’d set in a drug factory go off. Delon’s effortless sangfroid clearly points to his imminent superstardom. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Gabin is even more compelling as the sixtyish, cynical Charles, especially when he dons his Ray-Bans and stalks the casino floor like a hungry shark. He seems able to actually smell the money that’s being won and lost all around him. The sunglasses effectively symbolize the way Charles has shut himself off from the rest of the world. His emotional aridity is established early on through his relationship with his wife, and continues unabated until the end. The only thing that excites him is the thought of the big score. He seems most fully alive when he’s in the vault, stuffing banknotes into a valise, but Gabin lets us see that Charles is already dead, he just doesn’t realize it. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXeie-QeYlzT9biFVRjllJ9IW0UwpN7N7JE8PrJDMZ3f3uTP-7s823Q6Ib-1-YZh1J5kM69JEDjfY1hOZLWKHb4hvqeJZ6GMRAwvhfpj2FzGmhb3duaJCwXvHFM99jAKSjx4nLq4c0-jI/s1600/6:charles+intimidates+his+fellow+gamblers.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164197323380562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXeie-QeYlzT9biFVRjllJ9IW0UwpN7N7JE8PrJDMZ3f3uTP-7s823Q6Ib-1-YZh1J5kM69JEDjfY1hOZLWKHb4hvqeJZ6GMRAwvhfpj2FzGmhb3duaJCwXvHFM99jAKSjx4nLq4c0-jI/s400/6:charles+intimidates+his+fellow+gamblers.jpg" title="Jean Gabin, Any Number Can Win, Melodie en sous-sol" width="400" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Charles intimidates his fellow gamblers.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Lawful</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">The character of Louis (Maurice Biraud) is accorded an unusual measure of depth for the relatively minor role he plays in the film. Working-class through and through, he’s initially seduced by the cut of one million francs Charles offers him, but his conscience eventually gets the better of him. He tells Charles that he’ll still hold up his end, but he wants no part of the money, fearing it will corrupt him and tempt him into doing further extralegal jobs. Maurice has no wish to step up into a life of crime, even if it means substantially improving his lifestyle. Wanker.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The GBH</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">• The violence in this film is primarily emotional, as when Francis employs deliberately cruel tactics on the girl he’s trying to seduce. Having played nice guy for several dates, he suddenly erupts when she refuses to sleep with him and leaves her stranded at a remote restaurant. The look on her face manifests infinitely more pain than if he’d physically struck her. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">• Francis can dole out physical abuse when necessary, although he’s certainly no thug. But when a casino employee doesn’t open an access door fast enough to suit him, Francis brutally knocks him to the floor, even though the man appears to be in his sixties. <span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;">Bastard.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbwp2jQoAQLIbpZtlTaID28cKyj8ofB2Xh-XH7bNGXPYxprDkjO7Z4l7ozb3bI7UXUMxVeKy2ok2IGtczPFVLRY4cYwHY4q9_ZAGrZXeVN20mqCOGjh9UYSjlkBdwYy733SNwWVHz6r0/s1600/7:countus+interruptus.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164119254380738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbwp2jQoAQLIbpZtlTaID28cKyj8ofB2Xh-XH7bNGXPYxprDkjO7Z4l7ozb3bI7UXUMxVeKy2ok2IGtczPFVLRY4cYwHY4q9_ZAGrZXeVN20mqCOGjh9UYSjlkBdwYy733SNwWVHz6r0/s400/7:countus+interruptus.jpg" title="Any Number Can Win, Melodie en sous-sol" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Countus interruptus.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Vernacular</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Francis</span>: “Listen, Charles. You’re putting me on a job, right?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Charles</span>: “You got any objections?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Francis</span>: “You’re not afraid you might be traveling a little light? We were cellmates for a year, but you’re still taking a risk. You could be making a mistake with me. I’m not even sure I can pull my weight.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Charles</span>: “I’m sure. A bum would have said yes right away. A bum always says yes to anyone at any price.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Francis</span> [to a Polish ‘countess’ trying to hustle him]: “Don’t waste your breath, sweetheart. We’re in the same line of work.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Countess</span> [to bartender]: “I must be getting old. I can no longer tell a gentleman from a pimp.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The End Credits</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Director</span>: Henri Verneuil; <span style="font-style: italic;">screenplay</span>: Michel Audiard, Albert Simonin; <span style="font-style: italic;">producer</span>: Jacques Bar; <span style="font-style: italic;">music</span>: Michel Magne; <span style="font-style: italic;">cinematography</span>: Louis Page; <span style="font-style: italic;">editing</span>: Francoise Bonnot</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Jean Gabin (<span style="font-style: italic;">Charles</span>); Alain Delon (<span style="font-style: italic;">Francis Verlot</span>); Viviane Romance (<span style="font-style: italic;">Ginette</span>); Carla Marlier (<span style="font-style: italic;">Brigitte</span>); Maurice Biraud (<span style="font-style: italic;">Louis</span>); Claude Cerval (<span style="font-style: italic;">police commissaire</span>); Henri Virlojeux (<span style="font-style: italic;">Mario</span>); Jean Carmet (<span style="font-style: italic;">swimming pool barman</span>); José Luis de Villalonga (<span style="font-style: italic;">Grimp</span>); Germaine Montero (<span style="font-style: italic;">Mme Verlot</span>); Rita Cadillac (<span style="font-style: italic;">Liliane</span>); Ann-Marie Coffinet (<span style="font-style: italic;">Marcelle</span>); Dominque Davray (<span style="font-style: italic;">Léone</span>); Dora Doll (<span style="font-style: italic;">Polish countess</span>); Georges Wilson (<span style="font-style: italic;">Walther</span>) </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6N_n31XKRviWlEUi0quXxmWNw7k4_CnK24ifoWte8Ppunaw8pntlUA3TodCRV2SZ52Htxe8j4CejxJbbKPkVEq34cbYE-fHzwmUw0LYA9l3AN9EwhJ9vC11JQDWnU3YxefSkagnd565g/s1600/8:charles+in+charge.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509164048323391730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6N_n31XKRviWlEUi0quXxmWNw7k4_CnK24ifoWte8Ppunaw8pntlUA3TodCRV2SZ52Htxe8j4CejxJbbKPkVEq34cbYE-fHzwmUw0LYA9l3AN9EwhJ9vC11JQDWnU3YxefSkagnd565g/s400/8:charles+in+charge.jpg" title="Jean Gabin, Maurice Biraud, Any Number Can Win, Melodie en sous-sol" width="400" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Charles in charge.</i></span></span>Dean Brierlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17851327122917136443noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6782925772112082512.post-40001837479057720352010-07-08T15:39:00.001-07:002012-06-19T09:34:52.717-07:00<span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">TONY ROME (1967)</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5s730-sYUnzHDf3_8n8Hf4TCtVu16JT75g3YKrg2nFAR9tU5gqo9q-jegF05m1VEKbLH1DEMa7NvkwpjPHVaP2es5SCHgviQK-DiPNFw1Vh-AWxaEMhG9QpiFGn8K4XmvuoF3-ACD3s/s1600/%231.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="271" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328925677975138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5s730-sYUnzHDf3_8n8Hf4TCtVu16JT75g3YKrg2nFAR9tU5gqo9q-jegF05m1VEKbLH1DEMa7NvkwpjPHVaP2es5SCHgviQK-DiPNFw1Vh-AWxaEMhG9QpiFGn8K4XmvuoF3-ACD3s/s640/%231.jpg" title="Frank Sinatra, Tony Rome" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">The eponymous hero about to experience a little Miami mayhem.</span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 78%;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"> </span></i></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Setup</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Miami private eye Tony Rome (Frank Sinatra) is minding his usual pursuits — cruising on his live-in boat, gambling, drinking and ogling stuffed bikinis — when he receives a call from his ex-partner Ralph Turpin (Robert J. Wilke), now working as house dick at a seedy hotel. Seems the daughter of a socially prominent businessman is sleeping off a bender at the “hot pillow shop” (so-called because of all the hookers who do business there). The hotel is on the law’s s**t list, so Turpin asks Tony to take the girl home in hopes of avoiding public scandal and official trouble. Rome smells trouble, but agrees for old times’ sake and a couple of hundred bucks. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">He duly delivers Diana Pines (Sue Lyon) to her father, Rudy Kosterman (Simon Oakland), and her stepmother Rita (Gena Rowlands). While hanging about he also meets sexed-up divorcée Ann Archer (Jill St. John), who takes one look at Rome and immediately bats bedroom eyes at him. They flirt in that grown-up way that people used to flirt onscreen as Rome gives her a lift home. That same evening Rome is minding his own business when a couple of hard cases pay him a visit, give him a chloroform cocktail and tear his boat apart looking for a diamond pin they think he might have. Diana shows up the following morning and hires Rome to recover the pin, which belongs to her. Meanwhile, Rudy engages Rome to discover the reason behind Diana’s recent strange behavior. Then Rita gets into the act, asking Tony to give her first dibs on whatever information he uncovers, prompting him to quip: “If you had a bigger family, I could retire.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Rome’s multiple investigations quickly embroil him in all kinds of Miami vice, including larceny, blackmail, bigamy, drugs, sex and murder. Along the way he gets beaten up, shot at and framed for murder. His pal on the Miami police force, Lieutenant Dave Santini (Richard Conte) pressures Rome for information, while the perpetually in heat Archer does her best to get him between the sheets. The plot has more twists than a bag of bar pretzels, but the numerous threads eventually cohere with seamless precision, Rome having traced all the trouble to a mysterious underworld figure from Rita Kosterman’s less-than-reputable past. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPsOS4D2VQmq_DDptPCPJdBzBUTs0LOr1ihvgvMxNZpLrNJ_3YOUjHm7qpaZ5Kf1e-C9o8d6bpnBWdbwnSRw_FgfuHp0kH91liCjJDOdZKSSDbWmBmIjp8vFxRJIvRDPh92PDBHqU5o4/s1600/%232a+woman+with+a+checkered+past+and+.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="271" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328848447810114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPsOS4D2VQmq_DDptPCPJdBzBUTs0LOr1ihvgvMxNZpLrNJ_3YOUjHm7qpaZ5Kf1e-C9o8d6bpnBWdbwnSRw_FgfuHp0kH91liCjJDOdZKSSDbWmBmIjp8vFxRJIvRDPh92PDBHqU5o4/s640/%232a+woman+with+a+checkered+past+and+.jpg" title="Gena Rowlands, Tony Rome" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Rita Kosterman: a woman with two husbands — and no divorces. </span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Payoff</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Frank Sinatra established his reputation as a serious actor in the fifties, his Oscar-winning role in <span style="font-style: italic;">From Here to Eternity</span> (1956) just one in a string of justly acclaimed performances. Life behind the camera wasn’t quite so swinging in the first half of the sixties, however. With the exception of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Manchurian Candidate</span> (1962) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Von Ryan’s Express</span> (1965), Ol’ Blue Eyes alternated between Rat Pack potboilers, limp comedies and indifferent action pictures. He was still hitting high notes as a recording artist, but his cinematic endeavors more often than not came up snake eyes. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Enter Rome. <span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Rome</span>, that is, the first of three consecutive pictures Sinatra made with producer Aaron Rosenberg and director Gordon Douglas, men well equipped to deal with Frank’s mercurial personality. Rosenberg had recently survived two films with serial ego-tipper Marlon Brando, while Douglas had worked with Sinatra twice before, and elicited good performances from the temperamental star. Douglas was a vastly undervalued craftsman whose visual flair elevated many a picture from the mundane to the memorable. He could block out action sequences as well as any other Hollywood director, and brought the most mundane dialog scenes to life through shrewd camera placement and empathetic rapport with actors. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Aided by ace cinematographer Joseph Biroc (who deftly captures Miami’s day and night contrast), Douglas fills the film with eye-catching, thematically rich compositions. In one pungent shot, Rome fills the bottom foreground of the screen lying fully dressed on a beach recliner in front of the Fontainebleau Hotel, the very picture of male entitlement and contentment. Intruding into this sybaritic tableau is Ann Archer, having just emerged from the surf like a 20th century Venus in a sexy blue bikini. The opposition of horizontal and vertical figures — one clothed and dry, one damp and nearly naked — is charged with a powerful dynamic of sexual tension and promise, dominance and submission.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Rh0jE4-NSy5VGQ5H7DNVHNkyRrEPtIsTO8vxu-VrHEyzWaPDrsO4HVtYGu5zAFgyZqeJJBGKGcOIVi0t9yQrzvQHWIMa8HYq1gZorXFfx9VkL5CkcXVJKBnWycKjVp_y2t0VZZEZPLU/s1600/%233.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="271" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328759424339714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Rh0jE4-NSy5VGQ5H7DNVHNkyRrEPtIsTO8vxu-VrHEyzWaPDrsO4HVtYGu5zAFgyZqeJJBGKGcOIVi0t9yQrzvQHWIMa8HYq1gZorXFfx9VkL5CkcXVJKBnWycKjVp_y2t0VZZEZPLU/s640/%233.jpg" title="Frank Sinatra, Jill St. John, Tony Rome" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">“Well, Tony Rome. Don’t you ever sleep in a bed?”</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Another key contributor was veteran screenwriter Richard Breen, whose tight adaptation hews faithfully to the complex narrative and hard-boiled aesthetic of Marvin H. Albert’s source novel. Breen also added a sophisticated vulgarity daring for its time. The numerous double entendres are sharp, sardonic and more than a little salacious. When Diana’s milksop husband angrily asks Rome, “Just what’s your connection with my wife?” Tony zings him with: “She’s nothing but a $200 stranger to me.” And no one who has seen the film is likely to forget Rome’s jaw-dropping reply to a homely would-be client who wants him to find out why her “pussy” (as in pussycat) no longer smiles.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">The hard-edged fight scenes are cut with precision by editor Robert L. Simpson, who gives the film a visual rhythm that’s finger-snappingly brisk. The musical rhythm is taken care of by Billy May, arranger of numerous Sinatra albums, whose swinging soundtrack is as smooth as a bourbon on the rocks. Speaking of music, the title track is sung by none other than Nancy Sinatra, who applies her inimitable vocal styling to the era-defining lyrics: “Mothers lock your daughters in. It’s too late to talk to them. Cause Tony Rome is out and about. And Tony Rome’ll get ’em if you don’t watch out.” </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGtSXrvsDE39LhRy6PunELyh-oSU7nZnVoZMssJhDwCvzrciXbxR0Q2bX3JUVSccntY1xg26BY0DPIEAVUXQIRwMdlCsRe2izlU_TgBy1YD9XwDI0e_J-CuGwy3KFf2k3taU5OgScZ88/s1600/%234.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="272" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328681118316722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGtSXrvsDE39LhRy6PunELyh-oSU7nZnVoZMssJhDwCvzrciXbxR0Q2bX3JUVSccntY1xg26BY0DPIEAVUXQIRwMdlCsRe2izlU_TgBy1YD9XwDI0e_J-CuGwy3KFf2k3taU5OgScZ88/s640/%234.jpg" title="Tony Rome" width="640" /></a><br />
<i><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">A figure of ill will extends an unwelcome invitation.</span></span></i><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 78%;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Lawless</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Vic Rood (Lloyd Bochner), a gay drug pusher whom Rome rather gratuitously slaps around. Granted, Vic comes at Tony with a knife, and if you’re going to mess with mean dogs, don’t cry when they bite you. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Catleg, an imported hit man who pops in and out of the narrative to take pot shots at various and sundry characters, including our man Rome. Played by nightclub comic Shecky Greene, Catleg has been arrested so many times he’s able to recite his own rights when he’s nabbed by the cops. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Jules Langley, a not-quite-as-smart-as-he-thinks-he-is middle-aged criminal in league with a crooked jeweler-cum-fence who swapped the diamonds on Diana’s pin for imitation stones; and his younger, tougher partner Oscar. Lloyd Gough and Babe Hart put just enough ambiguity in their performances to raise the possibility their characters might be more than just partners in crime.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicdcCie7ZwechAYXfa8hZBD6aNP3MDyCgbJPa52FMu53316iSlObARgaVOLqyROv8_EshfKQFHrX543TXTvvyasvV10H10f6Is74NcLGC99oBy6d8z7htncICXSDMBH5dZahxpvjO64zo/s1600/%235.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="272" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328601569698690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicdcCie7ZwechAYXfa8hZBD6aNP3MDyCgbJPa52FMu53316iSlObARgaVOLqyROv8_EshfKQFHrX543TXTvvyasvV10H10f6Is74NcLGC99oBy6d8z7htncICXSDMBH5dZahxpvjO64zo/s640/%235.jpg" title="Richard Conte, Tony Rome" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Lt. Santini isn’t falling for Rome’s charm.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Lawful</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">In Tony Rome, Sinatra could not have found a character better suited to his own personality. The hero of Albert’s three Tony Rome novels exemplifies the ring-a-ding lifestyle the singer made famous. Comfortable in any situation yet basically a loner, Rome is a compulsive gambler and womanizer, chain smokes Luckies and drinks whatever’s handy, as long as it contains alcohol. He’s equally comfortable interacting with the cream of Miami society and the lowest rungs of its criminal underworld. Add the fact that there is no cooler name than Tony Rome, and it’s no wonder Sinatra found the role a perfect fit. For the first time in several years, the actor seemed to enjoy himself onscreen, his trademark swagger and insolent manner ringing fresh changes on the private eye genre. Some critics thought Sinatra was simply emulating Bogart, but such comparisons are misleading. Sinatra’s flip, hip detective is far removed from Sam Spade’s tight-lipped fatalism. Free of existential angst, Rome reacts to the seamy underside of life with an ironic “that’s life” shrug of the shoulders. Just one year later, Frank would reprise the role in the overtly comic <span style="font-style: italic;">Lady in Cement</span>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Richard Conte provides excellent support as Lt. Santini, who has no patience with Rome’s cavalier approach to legal niceties, but grudgingly admires his friend’s ability to crack the toughest cases. He and Sinatra have wonderful chemistry and convey their characters’ prickly relationship with total conviction and believability. Although Conte’s Hollywood career was winding down at this time, his charisma and talent were undiminished, and he would go on to do first-class work in numerous Italian crime films during the seventies. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgxVpHyZ9Jg4Y84XVVvK3nQv1s23T_ic9INHJcKAaaXWb0nnZbw2nyjLiZQbeUh003diBsgLL_vgGGBaoab08AOC6Y1KloI4ZglphCvmS3587AlsBauzGMLo7DFsffHuJdFAeg5SDJH0/s1600/%236rome+swings+into+action.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="271" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328513904566450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgxVpHyZ9Jg4Y84XVVvK3nQv1s23T_ic9INHJcKAaaXWb0nnZbw2nyjLiZQbeUh003diBsgLL_vgGGBaoab08AOC6Y1KloI4ZglphCvmS3587AlsBauzGMLo7DFsffHuJdFAeg5SDJH0/s640/%236rome+swings+into+action.jpg" title="Frank Sinatra, Tony Rome" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Rome swings into action.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The GBH</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">• While snooping on Diana Pines, Rome follows her to a run-down estate, where he sees her giving money to a drunken woman later revealed to be her biological mother. His surveillance is rudely interrupted when Sam Boyd, the slow-witted brother of Diana’s stepfather, sneaks up from behind and puts a chokehold on the shamus. Rome deftly cannonballs the two of them away from the wall and onto the floor, then manages to free himself and land a few vicious punches. Sam’s size advantage is too great, however, and Tony is on the point of being strangled to death when Adam Boyd calls off his sibling. They tangle again later in the film, but this time Rome gets the jump on the not-so-gentle-giant, sucker punching him in the groin, then finishing the job with a shot to the back of his neck. Impressively, the 52-year-old Sinatra convincingly does all of his own stunt work in these no-holds-barred brawls. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">• Rome pays a nocturnal visit to Langley’s home, but Oscar gets the jump on him and marches him inside at gunpoint. Langley receives Rome in the bathroom, where the body of the jeweler lies fully clothed — and very dead — in a tub full of water. Captors and captive repair to the living room, where Langley asks questions while Oscar punches Rome in the kidneys and kicks him while he’s down on the floor. Langley then holds Rome at gunpoint while Oscar prepares a fresh bath for the private dick, but Tony distracts Jules’ attention, smashes a vase in his face, grabs his gun and sends a few well-aimed bullets into the path of the rampaging Oscar. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQC4fgpwu6Z7ZAPyxiqdJi_NEy5iZyieyHH44VWVE0Vl7xTywByZMd9I70d1DPVZmcYjhPMxEEbIhWrzVoyxlE4allXGstRjiByZ1pIyGurOyd_pIbP6ZMGbbWPmuJYMd8iCN-jDZ6_C0/s1600/%237these+boots+were+made+for+walking....jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="271" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328422642998594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQC4fgpwu6Z7ZAPyxiqdJi_NEy5iZyieyHH44VWVE0Vl7xTywByZMd9I70d1DPVZmcYjhPMxEEbIhWrzVoyxlE4allXGstRjiByZ1pIyGurOyd_pIbP6ZMGbbWPmuJYMd8iCN-jDZ6_C0/s640/%237these+boots+were+made+for+walking....jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">These boots were made for walking — and kicking Rome into submission.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Vernacular</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Diana Pines</span> [to Ann Archer]: “Slut!” </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ann Archer </span>[to Tony Rome]: “Now that I’ve been introduced, who are you?”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ann Archer</span>: “You know, it’s the damnedest thing. People like me are called FMs.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Rome</span>: “F what?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ann Archer</span>: “Formerly married. We’re divorced women. We can’t claim to be the town virgins, and we can’t afford to be the town tramps. What do we do?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Rome</span>: “Well, you could hang a sign on yourself. It says ‘occasionally promiscuous.’”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Jules Langley</span>: “We can knock you out with a gun butt if you prefer. It’s up to you. Or the chloroform.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Rome</span>: [pointing to bottle]: “Oh, I’ll have some of this....When!”</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9sDzdY6w3Z1juSLRdOV9cu55uTiwV1PSHSMMXnawDSdMY2hHTXRwgGu7-0n8JTNt2Gndgd3heK1ub-Zrb4WQLV10U87S_sXrqg6d0P4hPbd1124Qhu9f-rSRVRF9hGAaAYp4UmfxYuDQ/s1600/%238doo-be-doo-be-doo.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="271" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328329952253794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9sDzdY6w3Z1juSLRdOV9cu55uTiwV1PSHSMMXnawDSdMY2hHTXRwgGu7-0n8JTNt2Gndgd3heK1ub-Zrb4WQLV10U87S_sXrqg6d0P4hPbd1124Qhu9f-rSRVRF9hGAaAYp4UmfxYuDQ/s640/%238doo-be-doo-be-doo.jpg" title="Frank Sinatra, Jill St. John, Tony Rome" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Doo-be-doo-be-doo.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Oscar</span>: “The gun. Thanks.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Rome</span>: “Why not? Yours is bigger than mine.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Rome</span>: “You check on Oscar and Langley?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lt. Santini</span>: “Yeah, I checked. You didn’t kill much.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Rome</span>: “You won’t get far. They’ll box you in for Turpin.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Catleg</span>: “I doubt it.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Rome</span>: “The crime lab’ll prove the bullet came from your gun.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Catleg</span>: “What gun? There’s ten billion gallons of water in Biscayne Bay. If the crime lab can find that gun, I’ll sit in the chair and pull the switch myself.”</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbAkmXtpDnS2zPwce0TCfIAiE7fTTNWY1YsM9PVeuW7wMbchUuQ8_gQYA6bRYCLaNchep2ZJo-kgEOUTFFIdxAtv_OmTpzBA3Ab9gAT_9hhCya6FPdziBlhsieiz39AHSfw3Zjw33HD0/s1600/%239.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="270" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328250272425666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbAkmXtpDnS2zPwce0TCfIAiE7fTTNWY1YsM9PVeuW7wMbchUuQ8_gQYA6bRYCLaNchep2ZJo-kgEOUTFFIdxAtv_OmTpzBA3Ab9gAT_9hhCya6FPdziBlhsieiz39AHSfw3Zjw33HD0/s640/%239.jpg" title="Frank Sinatra, Tony Rome" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Surveillance with style.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The End Credits</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Director</span>: Gordon Douglas; <span style="font-style: italic;">screenplay</span>: Richard Breen; <span style="font-style: italic;">producer</span>: Aaron Rosenberg; <span style="font-style: italic;">music</span>: Billy May; <span style="font-style: italic;">cinematography</span>: Joseph Biroc; <span style="font-style: italic;">editing</span>: Robert L. Simpson</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Frank Sinatra (<span style="font-style: italic;">Tony Rome</span>); Jill St. John (<span style="font-style: italic;">Ann Archer</span>); Richard Conte (<span style="font-style: italic;">Lt. Dave Santini</span>); Gena Rowlands (<span style="font-style: italic;">Rita Kosterman</span>); Simon Oakland (<span style="font-style: italic;">Rudy Kosterman</span>); Jeffrey Lynn (<span style="font-style: italic;">Adam Boyd</span>); Lloyd Bochner (<span style="font-style: italic;">Vic Rood</span>) Robert J. Wilke (<span style="font-style: italic;">Ralph Turpin</span>); Virginia Vincent (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sally Bullock</span>); Joan Shawlee (<span style="font-style: italic;">Fat Candy</span>); Richard Krisher (<span style="font-style: italic;">Donald Pines</span>); Sue Lyon (<span style="font-style: italic;">Diana Pines</span>); Lloyd Gough (<span style="font-style: italic;">Jules Langley</span>); Babe Hart (<span style="font-style: italic;">Oscar</span>); Elisabeth Fraser (<span style="font-style: italic;">Irene</span>); Rocky Graziano (<span style="font-style: italic;">Packy</span>); Shecky Greene (<span style="font-style: italic;">Catleg</span>); Jeanne Cooper (<span style="font-style: italic;">Lorna Boyd</span>); Harry Davis (<span style="font-style: italic;">Ruyter</span>); Stanley Ross (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sam Boyd</span>); Templeton Fox (<span style="font-style: italic;">Mrs. Schuyler</span>)</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCWTBpE_JqYZcN9PpRpFEjQw5mtCKK-PUIXieYGzvSEHFb2JzuYu_c-mMWCe0SMrj_diJzzT3_Of2DGY_xpfcbV2JW-pvVZyAlBjmXYctJAbyK2Nia01jI2X-XrnWGbrR87XcvgLIkh8/s1600/%2310.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="272" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492328146143233090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfCWTBpE_JqYZcN9PpRpFEjQw5mtCKK-PUIXieYGzvSEHFb2JzuYu_c-mMWCe0SMrj_diJzzT3_Of2DGY_xpfcbV2JW-pvVZyAlBjmXYctJAbyK2Nia01jI2X-XrnWGbrR87XcvgLIkh8/s640/%2310.jpg" title="Frank Sinatra, Richard Conte, Tony Rome" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Paisans, on and off-screen.</span></span></i></span>Dean Brierlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17851327122917136443noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6782925772112082512.post-68670428748111417862010-06-26T16:38:00.000-07:002012-06-19T09:34:41.873-07:00<span style="color: black; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">CAPE FEAR (1962)</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvRfHFl6AbZoUGiF6_R6gePaQYPNVDmI90k5yv8HseVGh27gGBJn7tQw9WRMQ0dYwJQUBStUc82sf9rM6xO1UYgLlGlup7ksyeUhOcBGxdzQT1Hspa3q2j_M3XAjUFHu680JPoywSB1a0/s1600/1:rumble+in+the+jungle.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487231980178073890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvRfHFl6AbZoUGiF6_R6gePaQYPNVDmI90k5yv8HseVGh27gGBJn7tQw9WRMQ0dYwJQUBStUc82sf9rM6xO1UYgLlGlup7ksyeUhOcBGxdzQT1Hspa3q2j_M3XAjUFHu680JPoywSB1a0/s400/1:rumble+in+the+jungle.png" style="cursor: pointer; height: 300px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Rumble in the jungle.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Setup</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Convicted rapist Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) has just been released from prison after doing eight years hard time, and he’s out to deliver payback to attorney Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck), the man whose testimony put him in the hole. But it’s not just Sam he’s after; Cady also has unhealthy designs on Sam’s sexy wife Peggy (Polly Bergen) and 14-year-old daughter Nancy (Lori Martin). As the title credits unfold to the portentous strains of Bernard Herrmann’s music, Cady struts into the Savannah, Georgia courtroom where Bowden is trying a case. The look on his face spells bad intentions writ large. As Sam gets into his car afterward, Cady suddenly materializes and re-introduces himself. “Hello, counselor. Remember me? Baltimore. Eight years, four years and 13 days ago.” Just to let him know he’s back. Just to start f**king with him a little. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Cady’s psychological war of attrition has begun. The next salvo is delivered at a bowling alley, where Cady sips a cold one while watching the Bowdens play. He makes sure that Sam knows he’s there, and by his attitude alone conveys an unspoken yet tangible threat to the family. Bowden subsequently puts in a concerned call to Sheriff Dutton (Martin Balsam), who also happens to be his best friend. Cady is picked up at a waterfront bar (where he’s working his sleazy mojo on the local talent), but when Dutton threatens him with vagrancy, Cady produces a bank statement attesting to his solvency. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gGj0iCfX0jxdogUjS3havTx43WvCX_hLAIBhDtFykNGFin1Rbtf8KAzMGM94GHsSKhpsyOTnaBImbB0bz90IlINqe2XJ2NTnCIIY1HZNhx5bVqyBZ7DQuoqNKRsGTaQsASyHgDmwjJI/s1600/2:cady+fatal+attrction.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487231876771241506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gGj0iCfX0jxdogUjS3havTx43WvCX_hLAIBhDtFykNGFin1Rbtf8KAzMGM94GHsSKhpsyOTnaBImbB0bz90IlINqe2XJ2NTnCIIY1HZNhx5bVqyBZ7DQuoqNKRsGTaQsASyHgDmwjJI/s400/2:cady+fatal+attrction.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 303px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Cady has a fatal attraction for the opposite sex.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">The ex-con soon raises the ante, feeding Nancy’s dog a fatal dose of strychnine and threatening legal action over a pattern of police harassment. Cady’s game is now clearly apparent, and Bowden is just as clearly helpless. He can’t have Cady arrested for something he hasn’t yet done, even though Bowden knows damn well it’s going to happen sooner or later. While he chews on that disquieting bone, Cady meanwhile brutally assaults the sluttish pickup he’s been sleeping with since he hit town. Nothing personal, it’s meant as a warning to Bowden of what’s in store for his wife and daughter. Cady increasingly targets the latter, visually undressing her at the marina where the Bowdens keep their boat, and sending her into terrified hysterics when he shows up at her school. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Following a failed, desperate attempt to buy Cady off, Bowden finally crosses the legal line, hiring some local muscle to teach Cady a lesson. Only they’re not tough enough, and after Cady has put them in the hospital, the deadly game of cat and mouse enters its final phase: Bowden uses his family as bait at a remote cabin on the Cape Fear River in hopes of luring Cady into the open so he can kill him. Things don’t turn out quite like Sam plans, however, as Cady manages to get the upper hand and force each member of the Bowden clan to confront the unthinkable. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-XhHKqQUVHGm7Hnu1HNlCQpEP9AoHYyNYC_8bt6zGZMf1OQ0Yh7LI1O2lrzNzGVegdn7ey-bNhN15L-IXg665MMo6nhe5J1xr7TFaJ1xjojBskWssqKAOuADKlh0hELuzBLLjZLTsqw/s1600/4:confronting+the+unspeakable.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487231683941185026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-XhHKqQUVHGm7Hnu1HNlCQpEP9AoHYyNYC_8bt6zGZMf1OQ0Yh7LI1O2lrzNzGVegdn7ey-bNhN15L-IXg665MMo6nhe5J1xr7TFaJ1xjojBskWssqKAOuADKlh0hELuzBLLjZLTsqw/s400/4:confronting+the+unspeakable.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 400px; width: 303px;" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Confronting the unspeakable.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Payoff</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Nearly 50 years after its release, <span style="font-style: italic;">Cape Fear</span> has lost none of its visceral impact. Rarely has a mainstream Hollywood movie so openly confronted the prospect of child rape. Even though the words “assault” and “attack” are substituted throughout, the filmmakers leave no doubts concerning Cady’s depraved intentions. Thanks to the dark brilliance of director J. Lee Thompson and screenwriter James R. Webb, the film is nearly as tough and nasty as the John D. MacDonald thriller it’s based on.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Thompson was fresh from his triumphant direction of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Guns of Navarone</span> (1961) when Peck’s production company approached him to helm <span style="font-style: italic;">Cape Fear</span>. His decision to make it in black and white added immeasurably to its atmosphere of moral instability and primal fear. His subtle handling of the film’s violence, suggesting more than he shows, makes it much more palpable and disturbing. And his practice of letting the audience know what’s about to happen before the characters do effectively contributes to the escalating tension. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">The final confrontation reaches an almost unbearable pitch as Cady corners his young victim in a swampland cabin while her parents drift helplessly downstream in their rented houseboat. It’s as dark and despairing a moment as the cinema has given us. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssSr3J8C7sx7CX_1pZCxQ9LILeq71ULg4uXzv2ftxBcBjKZlbJwxm53CYaxux70Paiw9sxeWbyBRHAKMXOjjyw2TuPWyvR834BwI2dIXGuHtuWxVtP229r2apuuAvBz2ahCrK2Z4PcXE/s1600/5:cady+channels+his+inner+beatnik.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487231572848974546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssSr3J8C7sx7CX_1pZCxQ9LILeq71ULg4uXzv2ftxBcBjKZlbJwxm53CYaxux70Paiw9sxeWbyBRHAKMXOjjyw2TuPWyvR834BwI2dIXGuHtuWxVtP229r2apuuAvBz2ahCrK2Z4PcXE/s400/5:cady+channels+his+inner+beatnik.png" style="cursor: pointer; height: 400px; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Cady channels his inner beatnik.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Lawless</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Robert Mitchum rarely played out and out villains, but when he did, the results were spectacular. No one who has seen <span style="font-style: italic;">Night of the Hunter</span> (1955) is likely to forget his murderous preacher with the words “love” and “hate” tattooed on his knuckles. The actor brought equal intensity to his role as Max Cady, whose heavy-lidded, baleful stare hints at barely repressed psychotic undercurrents. Mitchum’s powerful physique, on frequent display throughout the film, holds the promise of unstoppable violence. He imbues Cady with a reptilian quality that evokes nothing so much as a ravenous crocodile as he pursues the Bowden family through Georgia swampland in the film’s final minutes. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">The revelation of Mitchum’s performance, however, is its redneck hipster quality. Cady is without doubt one of the most visceral predators ever burned onto celluloid. But he’s also an undeniably cool cat, a sociopathic Jack Kerouac, if you will. Cady’s sartorial style — chinos, sport shirt, windbreaker and, most distinctively, a sporty Panama hat tilted back at a cocksure angle — immediately sets him apart from the conservative citizenry of the small Southern town where the story unfolds. Cady doesn’t walk, he saunters. His body language is arrogant and knowing, and his face is set in a perpetual smirk, as if he’s enjoying a secret joke at the expense of all the rubes around him. He’s also a fount of sardonic humor, delivered in streetwise jargon that nicely counterbalances the film’s visual and thematic darkness. His first words in the movie, addressed to an elderly black janitor, are: “Hey, daddy, where does Sam Bowden hang out?” Although Cady uses the word “daddy” as a casual form of an address to an older man, the term also harbors racial and sexual implications that possibly relate to his life in prison. The viewer has already pegged Cady as an unregenerate sleazeball, so anything’s possible. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">But what really makes Cady cool is how easily he dominates people and situations. When he’s arrested in a cocktail bar on the orders of Chief Dutton, he doesn't meekly submit, but first ambles over to the sexy girl he’s been eyeballing, tosses a contemptuous glance at her male companion, and says, “I’m going to give you just one hour to get rid of your friend.” “Are you trying to pick me up?” she asks. He relies with a knowing leer and emphatic “Yes,” pushes the brim of his hat down Sinatra style and strolls out like the arrogant badass he is. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJE-zPBc3pA49VYkTYjGpL-Yuetl3dG6mm5TluOjtaS3Jr-lOSdfUZ61X3ipr15i0TKHcP5x0fDKX-hCZN1M0at36kkV2Yg6OFZVj0uBpU44DNGhaCMF8x9GATqL0ZV5P3UcUErE9RRIU/s1600/6:bowden+faces+his+.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487231420821322978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJE-zPBc3pA49VYkTYjGpL-Yuetl3dG6mm5TluOjtaS3Jr-lOSdfUZ61X3ipr15i0TKHcP5x0fDKX-hCZN1M0at36kkV2Yg6OFZVj0uBpU44DNGhaCMF8x9GATqL0ZV5P3UcUErE9RRIU/s400/6:bowden+faces+his+.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 303px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Bowden faces his worst nightmare.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Lawful</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">It’s a testament to Peck’s physical charisma and acting talent that he holds his own against Mitchum’s malefic magnificence. Peck projects the decency and integrity that were part and parcel of his onscreen persona, but adds some dark shadings to his character. Bowden is a family man and upstanding citizen, but he isn’t above using his police connections to have Cady rousted. He willingly jeopardizes his career when he pays to have Cady beaten up. And his plan to trap Cady not only puts his family directly in harm’s way, but amounts to little more than premeditated murder, no matter how justified. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyoYccbmZkV7kAq4uHyhWhQvOuGybScasm55x4fD8n86l2uSm5GbQHMf6SehlBOGAomiAnRfSYrVPLqStABNHc6agkqWLVqC9fkd6edJrTunfxkoWvYvoNAxd5pPgrKis8g2dKEDM_It0/s1600/7:cady+makes+short+work.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487231316749098322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyoYccbmZkV7kAq4uHyhWhQvOuGybScasm55x4fD8n86l2uSm5GbQHMf6SehlBOGAomiAnRfSYrVPLqStABNHc6agkqWLVqC9fkd6edJrTunfxkoWvYvoNAxd5pPgrKis8g2dKEDM_It0/s400/7:cady+makes+short+work.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 400px; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Cady makes short work of his attackers.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The GBH</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">• Thompson adds dramatic weight to the scene in which Cady fends off the men hired to work him over by filming at night and in the isolation beneath a waterfront pier. As the surf relentlessly pounds the shoreline, Cady unleashes his brute force upon his would-be attackers, prevailing even after being slammed in the midriff with a length of bicycle chain. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">• When Cady traps Peggy Bowden aboard the houseboat, he slowly backs her against a counter, then suddenly plucks a raw egg from a dish and crushes it in his fist, sending yolk flying everywhere. (Thompson improvised the startling visual metaphor on set.) As Mrs. Bowden tries to recover from her shock, Cady obscenely smears the yolk onto her chest, adding even more disturbing overtones to their encounter. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4oc0VJpxvUGAntGiESLzHYPlsSGDTOttwIdufX9LiH7GfMNBzIaJLnsVwOvJl2r3gmI8ZphQuoZqJsMQ8M7JwjZZLYJIyJyEz2Qbxvct4eMGempkgvgN7RiNd4ZpW0D8tIzXqFwQ00o/s1600/8:peggy+bowden+unreceptive.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487231198418547458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4oc0VJpxvUGAntGiESLzHYPlsSGDTOttwIdufX9LiH7GfMNBzIaJLnsVwOvJl2r3gmI8ZphQuoZqJsMQ8M7JwjZZLYJIyJyEz2Qbxvct4eMGempkgvgN7RiNd4ZpW0D8tIzXqFwQ00o/s400/8:peggy+bowden+unreceptive.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 400px; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Cady introduces Peggy Bowden to the pleasures of egg yolk.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Vernacular</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Max Cady</span> [undergoing a strip search at the police station]: “Here, you better check that shirt. I got a coupla jolts of horse stashed under the collar.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Diane Taylor</span> [the tart Cady sleeps with and later assaults]: “Max Cady, what I like about you is...you’re rock bottom. I wouldn’t expect you to understand this, but it’s a great comfort for a girl to know she could not possibly sink any lower.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Max Cady</span>: “Hey, buster, you got some salted peanuts — salted in the shell?” </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Bartender</span>: “Not in the shell.” </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Max Cady</span>: “Okay, <span style="font-style: italic;">forgit</span> it. I see I’m gonna have to <i>educate</i> this town.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Max Cady</span>: “You just put the law in my hands, and I’m gonna <span style="font-style: italic;">break</span> your heart with it....I got somethin’ planned for your wife and kid that they ain’t neva gonna forget! They ain’t neva gonna forget it, and neither will you, counselor!”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Robert Mitchum</span> [in a telegraph to Peck and Thompson after initially turning down the role]: “I’ve had your bourbon. I’m drunk. I’ll do it.”</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgngFPofAHT2qy5hQFIanzEpAEJuPXpc88h0vDASHiwUxErspu8XiX_supR4eqWE8uyqH5l0qbWqCJb4LXuAY7s3FNACtyWPRq85apUQ_mXhMkJMy_6bT0GnS5E0K0KDHKSVFxhiGrPs/s1600/9:nowhere+to+run.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487231101186078802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgngFPofAHT2qy5hQFIanzEpAEJuPXpc88h0vDASHiwUxErspu8XiX_supR4eqWE8uyqH5l0qbWqCJb4LXuAY7s3FNACtyWPRq85apUQ_mXhMkJMy_6bT0GnS5E0K0KDHKSVFxhiGrPs/s400/9:nowhere+to+run.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 300px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>Little girl lost.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The End Titles</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Director</span>: J. Lee Thompson; <span style="font-style: italic;">screenplay</span>: James R. Webb; <span style="font-style: italic;">producer</span>: Sy Bartlett; <span style="font-style: italic;">music</span>: Bernard Herrmann; <span style="font-style: italic;">cinematography</span>: Sam Leavitt; <span style="font-style: italic;">editing</span>: George Tomasini </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">Gregory Peck (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sam Bowden</span>); Robert Mitchum (<span style="font-style: italic;">Max Cady</span>); Polly Bergen (<span style="font-style: italic;">Peggy Bowden</span>); Lori Martin (<span style="font-style: italic;">Nancy Bowden</span>); Martin Balsam (<span style="font-style: italic;">Police Chief Mark Dutton</span>); Jack Kruschen (<span style="font-style: italic;">Dave Grafton</span>); Telly Savalas (<span style="font-style: italic;">Charlie Sievers</span>); Barrie Chase (<span style="font-style: italic;">Diane Taylor</span>); Paul Comi (<span style="font-style: italic;">George Garner</span>); John McKee (<span style="font-style: italic;">Officer Marconi</span>); Page Slattery (<span style="font-style: italic;">Deputy Kersek</span>); Ward Ramsey (<span style="font-style: italic;">Officer Brown</span>); Edward Platt (<span style="font-style: italic;">judge</span>); Will Wright (<span style="font-style: italic;">Dr. Pearsall</span>); Joan Staley (<span style="font-style: italic;">waitress</span>)</span></span>Dean Brierlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17851327122917136443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6782925772112082512.post-56340570856556134062010-06-18T09:48:00.000-07:002012-06-19T09:34:31.264-07:00<span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">WARNING SHOT (1967)</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f2yFc2PwCUQGTTcgI9wyXSsjFjbRReQJ8x8-o33p1SprviD_9Uakw7Ah4GoBnNGzoFRkYxH0VDuqbHvfiOqN8m_qn6P-Eeu8UQTe_D4HaStLq6V3sjCFxed3cRk8Mzug-3g_eWxys6g/s1600/1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="361" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484157561589351234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f2yFc2PwCUQGTTcgI9wyXSsjFjbRReQJ8x8-o33p1SprviD_9Uakw7Ah4GoBnNGzoFRkYxH0VDuqbHvfiOqN8m_qn6P-Eeu8UQTe_D4HaStLq6V3sjCFxed3cRk8Mzug-3g_eWxys6g/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">A victim of fugitive justice.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Setup</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">David Janssen was still searching for the one-armed man on his hit television series <span style="font-style: italic;">The Fugitive</span> when he made this dark crime film during a 1966 production break. Written by Mann Rubin and directed by Buzz Kulik, <span style="font-style: italic;">Warning Shot</span> consciously evokes that TV show with its scenario of a man trying to clear his name for a crime he didn’t commit. The film begins with LAPD sergeant Tom Valens (Janssen) on stakeout for a prowler at a large apartment complex on a fog-shrouded night. Spotting a suspicious figure, Valens challenges the man, who runs and, when cornered, pulls a gun, forcing Valens to shoot and kill. A clear case of self-defense, or so Valens thinks. But his world is turned upside down when the victim’s gun is nowhere to be found, and the dead man turns out to be a venerated and selfless physician. Valens is immediately suspended and, worse, charged with manslaughter. An ambitious D.A. and carnivorous media combine to smear Valens</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">’</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"> reputation and make him a pariah in the public eye. With his arraignment only 10 days away, the disgraced cop has to prove that the innocent man he shot wasn’t innocent. The deeper Valens digs into the doctor’s past, the more dirt he digs up, but finds nothing he can use to clear his name until a trip to a local pet cemetery unearths some surprising truths.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxcuwEWFXC7rfCtiL3nWVoOlrvKcEAyMffE2FYHAXKUU3mUVUxpSh83MNbD8zsPYb5YvJ6rxxBufT3OLfjqunYMEyfMQ-uToiQJoCA3NqQuI4q_LyGw1IwJUu-usIbYS775HR79iK4LE/s1600/2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="361" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484157467938005106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxcuwEWFXC7rfCtiL3nWVoOlrvKcEAyMffE2FYHAXKUU3mUVUxpSh83MNbD8zsPYb5YvJ6rxxBufT3OLfjqunYMEyfMQ-uToiQJoCA3NqQuI4q_LyGw1IwJUu-usIbYS775HR79iK4LE/s640/2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">A life defined by the gun.</span></i></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Payoff</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">This tight little film hews admirably close to the wonderfully written source novel by Whit Masterson. Scriptwriter Mann in fact uses much of the book’s original dialog, which is consistently sharp and on-target. Kulik, whose direction is solid if unspectacular, cut his teeth as a director during television’s “Golden Age,” helming episodes of such programs as <span style="font-style: italic;">The Defenders</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Twilight Zone</span>, as well as a slew of made-for-television movies. That might help explain why <span style="font-style: italic;">Warning Shot </span>feels more like an extended TV show than a feature film. (Kulik generally had less success on the big screen, although <span style="font-style: italic;">Riot </span>(1969) is compelling viewing and <span style="font-style: italic;">Shamus</span> (1973) is one of the seventies’ most underrated crime films.) Kulik’s main strength was his ability to elicit powerful yet naturalistic performances from the most disparate actors. This serves him well in <span style="font-style: italic;">Warning Shot</span>, which features a number of star cameos from the likes of Steve Allen, George Sanders and Joan Collins. Kulik doesn’t allow any of these high-powered personalities to disrupt the film’s overall tone. Kulik also makes effective use of the camera, often framing the action from character-revealing visual perspectives, and utilizing periodic zoom shots that emphasize Valens</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">’</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"> isolation. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his direction is how he ironically counterpoints Los Angeles’ bright, sunny facade with the legal and moral darkness that threatens to engulf Valens.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uF81fQSHV3WSA7d4Hw5TkyhQ0Ml9JasBOI4PcPzb-khq7hJVtuVRtUOsJ1P2pgdH3sXdMsh1rLGGvzxPTtwJRAe7hSpFwJxaSqBKtDev0jUboEUSYICB8tPHp1OH4PH4mpFyCMXt1MM/s1600/3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="360" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484157371679666258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uF81fQSHV3WSA7d4Hw5TkyhQ0Ml9JasBOI4PcPzb-khq7hJVtuVRtUOsJ1P2pgdH3sXdMsh1rLGGvzxPTtwJRAe7hSpFwJxaSqBKtDev0jUboEUSYICB8tPHp1OH4PH4mpFyCMXt1MM/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Portrait of a grieving widow.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><br /></span></i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Lawless</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">• An apparent pillar of the community who in reality is a gun-toting, drug-smuggling, wife-cheating, debt-ridden gambler. Though he’s seen only once on-camera, his presence shadows the entire film. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">• A hip-talking, chick-chasing, bodybuilding, bachelor-padded airline pilot who’s up to his ears in the narcotics operation, and who isn’t averse to committing murder to protect his ass.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeIZPby21-ES1IGEqHmZ5onU2ZBw1JYqbjTghW4YEd4ndjUqN0T5bPmXZ7wA9sKXKFYeoeygJ_51-37m3yKp2bVDLkHpwzTFZgYxD2VTsRzHwoDlhZ1oUVQAomAGSDzZZxozWyw9PRb0Q/s1600/4.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="361" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484157276273761810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeIZPby21-ES1IGEqHmZ5onU2ZBw1JYqbjTghW4YEd4ndjUqN0T5bPmXZ7wA9sKXKFYeoeygJ_51-37m3yKp2bVDLkHpwzTFZgYxD2VTsRzHwoDlhZ1oUVQAomAGSDzZZxozWyw9PRb0Q/s640/4.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">A killer smile?</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><br /></span></i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Lawful</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">David Janssen gives what is arguably his best film performance in <span style="font-style: italic;">Warning Shot</span>. He movingly depicts Valens’ mounting frustration at the injustice visited upon him, as well as his slow-burn anger at the fellow cops who turn their backs on him. Janssen holds himself in physically and emotionally, which makes his rare outbursts that much more effective. Underneath it all, Janssen makes one feel Valen’s utter loneliness. At the end of each frustrating day, he comes home to an empty bungalow, where he watches TV and drinks buttermilk to sooth the stomach wound he received in a prior shootout. A visit from his estranged wife (Joan Collins) gives him a temporary lift, until she tries to make him give up what she considers a pointless quest to clear himself. The look Valens shoots her is a haunting combination of remorse, pain, anger and sadness. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Feeding time for the jackals.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><br /></span></i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The GBH</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">After visiting the doctor’s office in search of clues, Valens is jumped by the dead man’s son and several of his pals, who put him down and put the boot in with brutal efficiency. Kulik films the assault in a highly stylized manner with slow-motion, distorted focus and odd color shifts. It may not be narratively justified, but give Kulik credit for attempting something different. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Valens loses control.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><br /></span></i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The Vernacular</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ed Musso</span> [Valen’s partner]: “Even the psycho killer isn’t psycho enough to come out on a night like this.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tom Valens</span>: “What does that make us?”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tom Valens</span> [to an attorney advising him to plead guilty]: “But Mr. Ames, I’m not guilty. Doesn’t that mean anything?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Orville Ames</span>: “Damned little, my friend....You’re in the right only if a jury says you’re in the right.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tom Valens</span>: “Two years ago your husband was broke. Now you’re mourning him in money and martinis. Where’d he get it?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Mrs. Ruston</span>: “You’re talking to the wrong person. Jim and I had an unspoken agreement. I never asked him how he made his money, he never asked me how I spent it.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Capt. Klodin</span>: “I think we got a dead one.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Tom Valens</span>: “Smells like it’s been here awhile.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Valens confronts the truth — and puts a bullet into it.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><br /></span></i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold;">The End Titles</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Director</span>: Buzz Kulik; <span style="font-style: italic;">screenplay</span>: Mann Rubin; <span style="font-style: italic;">producers</span>: Bob Banner, Buzz Kulik; <span style="font-style: italic;">cinematography</span>: Joseph F. Biroc; <span style="font-style: italic;">music</span>: Jerry Goldsmith; <span style="font-style: italic;">editing</span>: Archie Marshek</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;">David Janssen (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sgt. Tom Valens</span>); Ed Begley (<span style="font-style: italic;">Capt. Roy Klodin</span>); Keenan Wynn (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sgt. Ed Musso</span>); Sam Wanamaker (<span style="font-style: italic;">Frank Sanderman</span>); Lillian Gish (<span style="font-style: italic;">Alice Willows</span>); George Grizzard (<span style="font-style: italic;">Walt Cody</span>); Carroll O’Connor (<span style="font-style: italic;">inquest judge</span>); Stefanie Powers (<span style="font-style: italic;">Liz Thayer</span>); Joan Collins (<span style="font-style: italic;">Joanie Valens</span>); Walter Pidgeon (<span style="font-style: italic;">Orville Ames</span>); Eleanor Parker (<span style="font-style: italic;">Mrs. Doris Ruston</span>); George Sanders (<span style="font-style: italic;">Calvin York</span>); Steve Allen (<span style="font-style: italic;">Perry Knowland</span>)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><i>The quotidian routine.</i></span></span>Dean Brierlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17851327122917136443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6782925772112082512.post-57907119304901994562010-06-15T16:01:00.000-07:002012-06-19T09:34:09.709-07:00<span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">HAIL! MAFIA (1965)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Crossing the Styx.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Setup</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Two American hit men are dispatched to the south of France to rub out an ex-gangster suspected of ratting out the mob. While ostensibly a vehicle for expat American actor Eddie Constantine, the story is primarily centered on the pair of killers, who are played by veteran character actors Jack Klugman and Henry Silva. Narrative is stripped to the bone, the better to accommodate the film’s existential tone and complex characterizations. The confrontation is staged in the rugged Camargue region of France, where the man on the run, isolated by the barren, windswept terrain, nervously awaits his executioners. During the tough, suspenseful climax, the interplay of personal loyalties and professional responsibilities combusts with startling ferociousness. The bleak resolution leaves the viewer as emotionally devastated as the last man left standing. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Payoff</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Hail! Mafia</span> opens with a number of tropes familiar to crime connoisseurs — nocturnal, rain-slicked streets; pensive soundtrack jazz; tight close-ups on a stolid, trench-coated figure. This one’s name is Rudy Hamburg, his slab-like face briefly revealed by the flame from a cigarette-combusting match moments before a mob torpedo endeavors to put some bullets into him. Director Raoul Levy serves up similar visual touches throughout the film, aided by the stark monochrome photography of Raoul Coutard. New York and Paris are conjured as densely shadowed urban labyrinths, the French countryside as desolate no man’s land. Atmospheric scenes of the killers sharing meals in nondescript diners, motoring down empty highways and stalking their prey during the nerve-shredding showdown are integrated with Hubert Rostaing’s evocative jazz score, creating indelible moments of visual and aural poetry.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Schaft treads softly and carries a big gun.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">The gritty cinematography is well served by the discordant visual rhythm Levy applies to the film, as he frequently cuts away from scenes a beat or two before one expects. Much in the Godard manner, Levy’s editing style underlines Hamburg’s emotional fragmentation and growing rift with his girlfriend Sylvia (Elsa Martinelli). It also counterpoints the killers’ mutual dislike and distrust, which is manifest in the way they circle each other like sharks competing for the same meal. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Despite is lamentable obscurity, <span style="font-style: italic;">Hail! Mafia</span> belongs in the Olympus of crime cinema. That its recognition has for decades lagged behind its value is, perhaps, understandable in light of Levy’s subsequent career path. Best known as a producer of Brigitte Bardot films, he seemed destined for a brilliant directing career, but tragically made just one more film before committing suicide at the age of 44. Nevertheless, his legacy is secure on the strength of this iconoclastic take on the genre. Those who like their crime films hard and unsentimental should seek out and hail this overlooked masterpiece.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Rudy's best friend.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Lawless</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Although he’s forced to share the spotlight, Constantine is given a rare opportunity to act rather than just replicate the tough guy poses he flaunted in scores of cheap euro-crime pictures. His depiction of a man caught up in circumstances beyond his control is honest and oddly moving, especially as he and Sylvia play out the end of their love affair. In the opening hard-boiled voiceover, he expresses bitter irony at being targeted for death by the organization to which he’s always been faithful: “I know very few senators, cops or politicians who hate the sight of dollars. The organization has plenty of dollars — and plenty of Lugers and Colts. If it’s a matter of choosing between the banknote or a bullet, most people make the same decision. It’s human nature, I guess. Of course, there are some exceptions: me, for example. I know when not to talk, but nobody believes me, neither the cops...or the others.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">But the film’s revelation — and its greatest strength — is the screen time given to Klugman and Silva, unique actors whose gifts were often underutilized. It’s fascinating to watch these idiosyncratic performers limn the parameters of their enigmatic relationship. Silva plays Schaft, a consummate pro to whom this is just another routine assignment. Klugman is the more emotional Phil, who carries a bitter grudge against his old pal Hamburg for having deflowered his teenage sister. Much of the film is spent on the interaction between this odd couple of killers as they gradually come to terms over their differences. From the start, Schaft views his fellow assassin with distaste. According to his personal code of honor, he could never kill a friend, and considers Phil a rat. The latter, however, genuinely admires Schaft and tries vainly to earn his respect. Despite their initial antagonism, shared values eventually bring them together. Klugman invests his role with his usual hyper-intensity and nervous physical mannerisms. It’s arguably his best dramatic work outside of <span style="font-style: italic;">12 Angry Men</span> (1957). Silva, one of the screen’s transcendent heavies, is also afforded a rare chance to flesh out a characterization in depth. His performance in this film helped launch him as a successful European action star. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Brother hit men — uneasy partners.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Lawful</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Don’t exist in this film. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The GBH</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">A deserted underground garage provides an evocative setting for the film’s opening showdown between Hamburg and a mob gunman. The latter succeeds only in killing Rudy’s windshield before being dispatched by the true professional. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">The confrontation in the Camargue unfolds to the rhythm of pistols, shotguns and machine guns, with an added chorus of an unwelcome oil fire that engulfs Hamburg. As he rolls in marshland muck to put out the flames, an outbuilding suddenly explodes, followed by a breathtaking cut to a herd of terrified horses in flight. Hamburg somehow gets up and follows their example, looking like a refugee from Dante’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Inferno</span>, with Phil and Schaft in hot pursuit. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: 'times new roman'; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Nowhere to run.</span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Vernacular</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Rudy Hamburg</span> [after avoiding an assassin’s bullet]: “Why can’t they use top-class killers? Guys who know their business? When one of the big boys gets caught, then it’s the real panic. Yeah, then they really get scared.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Schaft</span>: “There are certain things that are clean, and other things which aren’t. Do you think our work is clean?”<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Phil</span>: “I’m not ashamed of it. Only gutless wonders are ashamed of what they do.”<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Schaft</span>: “Yeah, but do you think it’s clean?”<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Phil</span>: “Yes, I do.”<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Schaft</span>: “So do I. We’ve got a great organization. We’ve got our own laws, and all the guys know those laws. And if you make one little mistake, you get a bullet right in the head. That’s it. That’s the way the business is. But it’s among <span style="font-style: italic;">us</span>. We kill among the organization; we don’t kill other people. If one day I get a bullet in the head — if I don’t go to the chair first — well, it’s normal. You know that? It’s <span style="font-style: italic;">correct</span>. If I kill, it’s right. If I get killed, <span style="font-style: italic;">that’s</span> right.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Good to the last shot.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The End Titles</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Director</span>: Raoul Levy; <span style="font-style: italic;">screenplay</span>: Jean Cau, Raoul Levy; <span style="font-style: italic;">producer</span>: Raoul Levy; <span style="font-style: italic;">music</span>: Hubert Rostaing; <span style="font-style: italic;">cinematography</span>: Raoul Coutard; <span style="font-style: italic;">editing</span>: Victoria Mercanton</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Eddie Constantine (<span style="font-style: italic;">Rudy Hamburg</span>); Henry Silva (<span style="font-style: italic;">Schaft</span>); Jack Klugman (<span style="font-style: italic;">Phil</span>); Elsa Martinelli (<span style="font-style: italic;">Sylvia</span>); Micheline Presle (<span style="font-style: italic;">Daisy</span>); Michael Lonsdale (<span style="font-style: italic;">secretary</span>); Carl Studer (<span style="font-style: italic;">Ruidosa</span>); Ricky Cooper (<span style="font-style: italic;">Ben</span>); Tener Eckelberry (<span style="font-style: italic;">Hyman</span>) </span></span>Dean Brierlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17851327122917136443noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6782925772112082512.post-46422255047542594312010-06-13T09:16:00.000-07:002012-06-19T09:33:25.029-07:00<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">KALEIDOSCOPE (1966)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Barney Lincoln and his not-so-guardian Angel. </span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Setup</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Barney Lincoln is a high-life playboy who makes a practice of breaking the banks (and the hearts of fellow card players) at a string of swank casinos throughout Europe. His secret? He cheats. Exhibiting the skills of a cat burglar, Lincoln has broken into Kaleidoscope, card manufacturer to the best gaming houses, and marked the plates used to print the playing cards. While raking in the chips thanks to his ingenious and illegal edge, Barney becomes involved with a beautiful English rose named Angel — who just happens to be the daughter of Scotland Yard Inspector Emmanuel “Manny” McGinnis. She quickly intuits that Barney is onto something more than a run of luck, and drops a few suggestive words into Daddy’s ear. The latter keeps Lincoln under surveillance until he figures out the ruse, then threatens him with jail unless he applies his card-sharping talents in a high-stakes poker game against British crime boss Harry Dominion, whose financial empire McGinnis hopes to destroy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">It helps to have an edge.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Payoff</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">From its flashy Maurice Binder titles to its New Wave-inspired camerawork to its jazzy, sitar-accented soundtrack, <span style="font-style: italic;">Kaleidoscope</span> maintains a frenetic visual style and tone of hip irreverence. Robert and Jane-Howard Carrington’s script is chock-full of sophisticated, sardonic repartee replete with double meaning and veiled menace. Mirroring the gaming theme that drives the narrative, all the lead characters are game players of one kind or another. Barney plays a game with the casinos, Angel plays at love and sex, Dominion plays mind games with his minions, and he and McGinnis play cat and mouse with each other. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Jack Smight’s direction is equally crisp and assured. He elicits excellent performances from everyone in the (mostly English) cast, getting them to strike a consistent note of ironic detachment. And he maintains a fine balance between comedy and suspense, often transitioning from one to the other within the same scene. Abetted by cinematographer Christopher Challis, he weaves a visual kaleidoscope, if you will, of brilliantly conceived primary colors and inventive camera angles. As he did for the Paul Newman film <span style="font-style: italic;">Harper</span> released that same year, Smight evokes the sixties’ casual hedonism along with the decadence and violence percolating beneath the decade’s shiny surface. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Card counting is conspicuously frowned upon.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Lawless</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Warren Beatty was a year away from the superstardom conferred by <span style="font-style: italic;">Bonnie and Clyde</span> (1967),</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">yet he’s even better cast in this film. His slightly smug yet somehow likeable persona suits Barney Lincoln like a well-fitting tuxedo. Beatty repeatedly sends up his romantic stallion image, humanizing his character through an emphasis on his failings and vulnerability. Lincoln is an uncommon criminal, one with no criminal record and enough legally earned wealth to last a lifetime. Asked by McGinnis why he went to so much trouble just to win at cards, he replies: “Well, once the idea occurred to me, it was absolutely irresistible.” </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Good as Beatty is, Eric Porter pockets the picture with his dipped-in-vitriol-and-etched-in-acid portrayal of Harry Dominion, the charismatic-creepy underworld figure with a nice line in sadism. He’s introduced in a memorable sequence taunting his assembled crime lieutenants about the informer in their midst. “Oh, what <span style="font-style: italic;">wicked</span> gossip. Tongues <span style="font-style: italic;">will</span> wag. Wait until you hear, gentlemen. It’s <span style="font-style: italic;">too</span> good. I really should save it for the brandy.” Dominion loves to take the Mickey, but deals retribution with impressive wrath. With his hawk-like visage and Napoleon complex, he’s one of the sixties’ most original and compelling villains. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Harry Dominion — a figure cut from the most urbane and disreputable cloth.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Lawful</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">As Inspector Emmanuel “Manny” McGinnis, Clive Revill invests his character with disconcerting intensity and a kind of demented charm that tends to keep people off balance. McGinnis takes full advantage of this in his dealings with the criminals and other characters within his orbit. Revill brings his character to life in other ways, too, including cheating his assistant at cards using one of Lincoln’s marked decks, and playing with the miniature steam engines that decorate his office. His daughter Angel is incarnated by Susannah York, whose gamin beauty was at its height, and whose intelligent personality and quicksilver temperament make Angel much more than the usual bedroom appendage to the leading man. In subtle ways, her character is responsible for some of the film’s more enigmatic narrative directions.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">The impenetrable cool of Inspector McGinnis.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Mention must also be made of McGinnis’ over-enthusiastic assistant Aimes (Murray Melvin). When ordered to pick up Lincoln “quietly,” Aimes has him roughly grabbed off the street and carted to headquarters with siren blaring. Aimes’ eccentric nature makes him the perfect complement to his even odder superior, and also masks a rather cold-blooded nature. He’s Scotland Yard’s best marksman, a fact he proves with barely repressed satisfaction during the film’s denouement. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The GBH</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Upon his discovery of a police informer among his gang, Dominion pulls the man out of a meeting and escorts him to the cellar, where, with a mocking “What’s the matter, Johnny? Feeling cold?” signals his chauffeur/bodyguard — bedecked in a flame-retardant suit — to bring the Judas’ temperature down a few degrees with the aid of a flamethrower. Also noteworthy is Dominion’s manservant Billy, played by the estimable George Sewell (below), who gives Lincoln a right pasting on the grounds of Dominion</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">’</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">s moated manse. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Nemesis arrives in the person of Billy, underworld manservant.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The Vernacular</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Barney Lincoln</span>: “I’m gonna be away a couple of weeks, but when I get back I’d take it kindly, Miss McGinnis, if you’d let me call.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Angel McGinnis</span>: “Oh, I couldn’t do that. You came out of nowhere in a bright red sports car with no mummy and no daddy. I’d hate to learn that you were real.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Barney Lincoln</span>: “We can take it in stages.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Angel McGinnis</span>: “That would spoil everything.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Inspector McGinni</span>s: “My interests are not primarily concerned with gambling. The department I’m in charge of here deals with homicide, extortion, narcotics and related pastimes as practiced by Britons at home and abroad. It’s a constant irritant to my national pride to realize how busy this keeps me.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Angel McGinnis</span> [as she and Barney flee Dominion’s henchman]: “I hate guns. And I don’t like fighting.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Barney Lincoln</span>: “How does livin’ grab ya?”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Harry Dominion</span> [as his driver is about to run down the fleeing Barney and Angel]: “How powerful is our car, Eddie?”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Eddie</span>: “About 350 horsepower.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Harry Dominion</span>: “350 horses against two breathless children. 350 horses! Well! Eddie, feed those horses — now!”</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 100%;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">Giving Dominion a run for his money.</span></span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman'; font-weight: bold;">The End Titles</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><span style="font-style: italic;">Director</span>: Jack Smight; <span style="font-style: italic;">writers</span>: Robert Carrington, Jane-Howard Carrington; <span style="font-style: italic;">producer</span>: Elliott Kastner; <span style="font-style: italic;">cinematography</span>: Christopher Challis; <span style="font-style: italic;">music</span>: Stanley Myers; <span style="font-style: italic;">editing</span>: John Jympson </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';"><br />Warren Beatty (<span style="font-style: italic;">Barney Lincoln</span>); Susannah York (<span style="font-style: italic;">Angel McGinnis</span>); Clive Revill (<span style="font-style: italic;">Inspector McGinnis</span>); Eric Porter (<span style="font-style: italic;">Harry Dominion</span>); Murray Melvin (<span style="font-style: italic;">Aimes</span>); George Sewell (<span style="font-style: italic;">Billy</span>); Stanley Meadows (<span style="font-style: italic;">casino captain</span>); John Junkin (<span style="font-style: italic;">casino porter</span>); Larry Taylor (<span style="font-style: italic;">Eddie</span>); George Murcell (<span style="font-style: italic;">Johnny</span>); Anthony Newlands (<span style="font-style: italic;">Leeds</span>); Yootha Joyce (<span style="font-style: italic;">museum administrator</span>); Jane Birkin (<span style="font-style: italic;">Exquisite Thing</span>)</span></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman';">To the wicked go the spoils.</span></span></i>Dean Brierlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17851327122917136443noreply@blogger.com2