Semiquincentennial Movie Project #20: Mississippi Burning

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

 

 

Week #20: Mississippi -

The state of Mississippi was established on December 10, 1817 (which, by the way, is the day before your humble blogger's birthday, although not the same year, obviously...)  

Details about Mississippi:

State bird: Northern mockingbird

State flower: Magnolia

State tree: Southern Magnolia 

Mississippi is the first state to allow conjugal visits for long term prisoners.

Since we will be celebrating it next week, Mississippi lays claim to being the site of the first Memorial Day. (There are disputes on this, BTW...)

The first female to be hired as a mail carrier came from Mississippi.

Coca Cola was invented in Atlanta, but the first bottling plant for the drink was in Vicksburg.

The University of Mississippi is home to the oldest book in the U.S. 

And Mississippi is the only state (so far) to have an official state toy (must've a slow day in Congress that day...). It's the teddy bear. 

Famous people born in Mississippi: Elvis Presley, B. B. King, James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Brett Favre, Walter Payton, Jefferson Davis, Jerry Clower, William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams (believe it or not!)

One quick note: The above flag was adopted in 2021 due to pressure from the "politically correct" crowd. For much of it's existence (after the Civil War) the state flag was different.

 

Mississippi obviously held on to it's southern heritage and past for as long as it could, which becomes relevant when discussing today's entry in the Project. It was the last state in the Union to remove any trace of the Confederate flag from it's official state flag.

 

 

 

Mississippi Burning (1988): 

One of the saddest events to happen in Mississippi's history was the death of three civil rights activists in 1964. The Ku Klux Klan murdered James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwermer for the "crime" of trying to register black citizens to vote. Rather than go into intricate detail, you can check out this link to get details of the actual event.

The film is a highly fictionalized account of the event and the investigation by the FBI into what happened. There are a number of discrepancies in the film, although most of them irrelevant to the overall storyas presented in the film.  Of course, this is a film, and not a true-to-life documentary, so unless you are a stickler for absolute accuracy, the film version of the basic background events has the effect that it was meant to convey; the fact that the racism prevalent in pre-civil rights South was irrational and entirely motivated by an irrational and unfounded hatred of a people just because of the color of their skin. But to note, as Robert Brent Toplin says in his book History by Hollywood, the film "features far too many fictional situations to escape objections from the champions of authenticity". I have no desire to make this review a critical study of fact vs. fiction, however. For further study I suggest the chapter to devoted to the film in the above noted reference.

The primary focus of the film involves FBI agents who have been sent to a small town in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of two civil rights activists who were sent to help register the black citizenry to be able to vote, a right that said citizenry already had, but was blocked by the predominantly white and racist population, including those who were in the position of supposedly seeing that that right was not infringed. Of course, since many of those in positions of the government were also members of the racist organization known as the Ku Klux Klan, they were not inclined to extend those rights to the disenfranchised minority.

Agent Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe) is the man in charge of the FBI contingent and he is constantly at odds with the older and more world wise, southernly speaking, Agent Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman). Ward is a "by the book" official, who insists that everything has to be done the way the FBI has established operations be done. Anderson, on the other hand, who had been raised in the south and had even spent some time in the law enforcement community of said South, is adamant that the "bureau procedure" is not going to be as effective in this situation, since he knows from experience how people in the South think.

 

The pair arrive in the county seat of Jessup County, Mississippi, and begin their investigation. They run into problems at the very beginning, when they run headlong into what is going to be the brick wall of the investigation.

 

One of the best scenes featuring Hackman's Anderson in a one-on-one encounter with the good old boys in a private bar is indicative of why I think Hackman was deserving of his nomination, if not of actually winning, the Oscar. (And note: If you are prudish about language, you might want to skip this scene. Fair warning.)

 

 

It's not easy to like Willem Dafoe's character, even if his moral compass is pointed in the right direction, but there is one scene, a confrontation between Ward and Anderson that really stands out. (and again,be aware of the language factor...)

 

The hostility that the racist native population exposes to the interlopers is mainly centered on the main combatants in the conflict. The most hostile, in my opinion, is Frank Bailey (Michael Rooker). The above scene in the private bar with Hackman is indicative of the outright resistance and hatred that the character has, not only for the local black populace, but for these interloping federal agents come to stir up trouble. 

 

Much of the citizenry only watches the invasion of the feds with a bit of curiosity, not really hostile to the investigation, per se. But Deputy Clinton Pell's (Brad Dourif) wife, Mrs. Pell (Frances McDormand) has her moral compass pointed in the right direction. She forms a friendship with Agent Anderson, and basically informs him that the she knows those three civil rights workers were killed, and that she is pretty sure she knows who all was involved, including her husband.

 

The investigation often stalls, not only because those involved in the murder are also the ones to whom the agents are dependent to supply help, but also because the local black population is reluctant to give assistance out of fear of reprisals by the Klan. And the Klan indeed puts their hard influence into the fray, even fire bombing some houses and churches of locals they suspect of helping (whether the locals actually DID help the agents or not).

 

Eventually Agent Ward concedes that his by the book approach is going nowhere and allows Agent Anderson to execute some "less than legal" tactics to get the results they need.  They eventually find the bodies of the missing civil rights workers, but it takes a bit more tactics to pin the blame on the guilty parties. One of my favorite scenes is when the Mayor (R. Lee Ermey) is kidnapped and taken to a shack by a big bulky black Federal Agent who uses some scare tactics on him to get him to admit to being peripherally involved. This in itself could not be used in an actual court trial since it was information acquired through coercion, but it does help the ultimate goal of getting some of the others to admit to involvement.

 

The film was nominated for several Academy Awards, but unfortunately had the bad luck to be pitted against Rain Man in many of them. As good as Rain Man was, my personal opinion is that Mississippi Burning got robbed in a couple of categories. Overall I think Mississippi Burning was far better than Rain Man in the category for best director. I concede the Best Actor to Dustin Hoffman, mostly because of the work he did in conveying the eccentricities of the character he played, although I am pretty sure that Hackman came in second in the voting. But I also would have given the Best Supporting Actress award to Frances McDormand.  I will admit that the one Oscar that the movie did win, that for Best Cinematography, seems more like a concession than an actual win... Who Framed Roger Rabbit? probably should have won that one.

Despite the measure of criticism the film garnered as a result of it's heavy reliance on fictional portrayals as opposed to fact, it was generally well-received by the critics at large. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a fairly good 79% Fresh rating. The dynamic duo of critics, Siskel and Ebert, gave it a two thumbs up on their TV show, Siskel & Ebert & The Movies. The movie made a modest showing at the box office, doubling it's initial budget. 

As a historian, I can empathize with some of the critics who object to historical discrepancies in this film, but  as a general film lover, I can also appreciate how the movie pans out in terms of it's story.  As long as you go into it expecting a story and not necessarily a documentary, the acting of the primary actors portraying their individual characters can be taken in stride. If the point is to instill a dislike for the proponents of segregation and racist attitudes is the point, then both Brad Dourif and Michael Rooker stand out, even if they do come across, at times, as cardboard caricatures one might typically expect from Hollywood. Given that, I would recommend this movie, at least to those of you old enough to understand the implications presented.  

Until next week, drive safely.   

Quiggy 

 

Reprint: Adventures in Harryhausen Land

 

 

Next month I am hosting a Celebrate the Drive-In Week event, in which I am devoting a whole week to the drive-in movie experience. One of the films scheduled to be reviewed that week is The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which was actually the first Sinbad movie that Ray Harryhausen created some of his iconic creatures for. This article was originally written for a blogathon back in 2017, but since it has some significance in my history of drive-in movie experiences I am reprinting it today. Keep an eye out for those celebratory films I have cued up for the celebration, and if you are of a mind, follow the above link and join in on the fun.

 

These are the two movies I remember most from the days when I used to go to the drive-in with my parents and my sister.  In those days it was a rare treat, because my father rarely closed up the store early.  (He had a gas station/garage that catered to the lake crowd in the days before Dallas built their own lakes, so a lot of people made the trek up from Dallas to the border, where Lake Texoma was the only thing going back in the 60's and 70's).

The earliest memory I have in a drive-in was going to see The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.  I was entranced.  It was probably the first time I had gone to the drive-in and not fallen asleep before the picture was over.  (I certainly don't remember our experience with seeing Patton, but we MUST have seen it as a family, because for years afterwards my father refused to allow us to go to another movie that was rated PG.  Until Star Wars, but I have related that story elsewhere on this blog.)

Sinbad was played by three different actors in each of the Ray Harryhausen entries.  Kerwin Mathews played him in the first of the three, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, in 1958.  It was 15 years later before Ray and company brought forth another Sinbad entry.  This time Sinbad was played by John Phillip Law (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad).  Then four years later, yet another actor, Patrick Wayne (son of the Duke himself) took on the role.

Each one, in his own right played the character with gusto.  Actors being a commodity that is based on their public draw, it is apparent that good looks factored in quite a bit with the cast of Sinbad in each movie.  Of course, Sinbad must have been pretty charismatic to entice his crew to follow him on his voyages, so the charisma of the lead actors is not out of place.  My main issue is the lack of chest hair.  Sinbad is of Middle Eastern origin, a race that is predominated by swarthy men, so he must've had a hairy chest, right?  Kerwin Mathews, as near as I can tell was the only Sinbad with chest hair.  At least Patrick Wayne and John Phillip Law have facial hair. (And Kerwin Mathews is clean-shaven)  Why this should bother me, I have no idea...

The Harryhausen creatures are a real wonder.  Remember this was well before the days of CGI graphics.  While they may look primitive by those standards, they are still far and beyond anything that was conceivable at the time.  And in cases where the actors had to appear to be lifted or hoisted by the creatures in a scene, most of the time it's really hard to tell they are not really human.  (By comparison, check out most of the scenes in the original King Kong, in which a human interacts with the animated creatures.)

Magic and superstition play a focal role in these movies.  What else would you expect?  These kinds of tales were my favorite as a young boy, and this love of fantasy elements continues to this day.  Harryhausen and his good friend, the author Ray Bradbury, each made a pact with the other that even if they grew old, they would  never grow up  And I too have never grown up, not if it means leaving behind a love of these epic sword battles and fantasy creatures.
.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

Golden Voyage  starts out with Sinbad and his crew sailing on open waters.  Sinbad (John Phillip Law; who was the blind angel Pygar in Barbarella ) and crew spy a flying creature carrying something shiny.  An arrow is fired at the creature and it drops the item which turns out to be a piece of a golden tablet.  Sinbad decides to wear the tablet as an amulet, against the wishes of his crew who think it is cursed.

Sinbad (John Phillip Law)

That night Sinbad has a dream.  A man calls out his name and an enchanting woman with a tattoo of an eye on her hand haunt him.  The ship is assailed by a storm which blows Sinbad's ship off course, and they find themselves off the coast of Marabia.  Sinbad swims ashore, and encounters Prince Koura (Tom Baker, who by the way also played one of the incarnations of Doctor Who back in the day).

Prince Koura (Tom Baker) 

Koura sees Sinbad's amulet. He says that the amulet belongs to him and demands it.  Instead Sinbad fights him and escapes. The crew end up going to the nearest city, which is the capital of Marabia. There Sinbad encounters the Grand Vizier (Douglas Wilmer), a man who is forced to wear a mask to cover his face.  It was burned in a fire (caused by the dastardly Koura).

The Grand Vizier (Douglas Wilmer)

The Vizier reveals to Sinbad that his amulet and a second piece that the Vizier has is part of a map leading to a great treasure, which includes a renewed youth, a cloak of darkness and a crown of fabulous wealth.  He convinces Sinbad to go on a voyage to get this treasure.  While awaiting departure, Sinbad is accosted by a merchant who wishes to pay Sinbad to take his no-goodnik son, Haroun (Kurt Christian) with him on his voyage.  Sinbad initially refuses, but the merchant has a slave girl (who, coincidentally, has an eye tattoo on her hand), so he eventually agrees if he can also have the slave girl, Margiana by name (Caroline Munro).

Margiana (Caroline Munro)

Haroun proves to useful as comic relief in the movie, but not much else, at least at first.  Margiana however intrigues Sinbad.  The crew sail, unknowingly followed by Koura who is intent on getting the tablet and treasure for himself.  The first night he casts a spell that causes the ship's figurehead to come to life.  It steals the map after an impressive fight with crew members.  (This is actually the second Harryhausen creation in this film, the first being the flying creature that Sinbad and crew try to shoot down)

Harryhausen's figurehead

Sinbad and crew eventually arrive at the temple of the Oracle (voiced by Robert Shaw, who, among other roles, was Quint in Jaws and the mob boss Doyle Lonnegan in The Sting) which reveals to them the final resting place of the third tablet, albeit in riddles.  Koura, who is still following them casts another spell causing the temple walls to fall around them and entrap them.  But they escape due to the ingenuity of Sinbad.  Meanwhile, every time Koura casts a spell he gets significantly older, as the black magic drains his life force every time.

Magic drains the soul

The trip takes the crew to Lemuria, where Koura has gained the upper hand.  He brings to life the six-armed statue of the native's god, Kali, which fights Sinbad's crew with six-swords (the third Harryhausen creation)

Six hands are better than one

Haroun becomes useful when he knocks the statue off balance and it topples to crash on the ground.  When it shatters the third tablet is revealed.  Koura takes the tablet and leaves Sinbad to the wiles of the natives whose god he has destroyed.   At this point, Margiana becomes a factor when she screams and throws out her hands, revealing the tattoo.

They think she is a special sacrifice meant for their one-eyed god (a centaur that lives in the caverns below) and send her down as a sacrifice.  The centaur comes out of it's cave and Sinbad uses several ruses to rescue Margiana from it. They race to the fountain to try to stop Koura from completing the tasks.  The end is well worth the wait, because not only do we get to see Sinbad and Koura clash swords in an epic final battle, but we get to see two more of Harryhausen's creations duke it out too; the aforementioned centaur, representing Evil and a griffin, representing Good.

A fantastic movie for all ages.  Kids will thrill to the fantasy creatures, and adults will find the story entertaining too.  And Harryhausen fans will see what I feel are the greatest animation sequences of his career (although I am sure there are those who will argue for others.  Be that as it may.)

Sinbad and The Eye of the Tiger (1977)

Prince Kassim (Damien Thomas) is due to be crowned caliph of Charak.  Unfortunately evil befalls the ceremony (which we do not see unfold, but is revealed later in the movie).  Sinbad (Patrick Wayne) arrives in Charak, with goods to unload, but also with the intent of asking Kassim to allow his sister Farah (Jane Seymour) to marry him. (This is the movies.  Probably useless to wonder why a prince would even be allowed to marry a commoner...)  He is stopped by a merchant who tells him the city is under curfew because of the "plague".  Really the merchant intends to cause harm to Sinbad.  Zenobia (played by Margaret Whiting; not the same woman who had a recording career in the 40's and 50's, however), the wicked stepmother of a Farah and a witch, casts a spell causing three ghouls to appear to fight Sinbad in the tent. (The first Harryhausen creation)

Ghoulish encounter

After defeating the ghouls, back at his ship, Sinbad meets up with Farah who pleads with him to help her find a way to reverse the curse on her brother that Zenobia cast on him.  See, Zenobia wants her own son, Rafi (Kurt Christian, and yes that's the same actor who played the no-goodnik comic relief character Haroun in the previous entry) to be named caliph.  To do so she cursed Kassim, and if the curse is not lifted before the passing of a specific time, Kassim will lose his right to be named caliph. To engender this transfer, Zenobia turned Kassim into a baboon.  This is revealed when crewmen spy Farah playing chess with the baboon.  The baboon is, in fact, Harryhausen's second creation of the movie.

Chess with a baboon

 Meanwhile, Zenobia has created a bronze golem she dubs Minoton to power a rowboat to chase after Sinbad, trying to stop him from reaching Melanthius.

Minoton

Sinbad and crew reach the shores of the fabled land where Melanthius is rumored to be.  First they encounter his daughter Dione (Taryn Power; daughter of Tyrone Power), and then Melanthius himself (Patrick Troughton, yet another of the Doctor Who incarnations.  These movies are full of celebrities...).  Melanthius and Dione eventually agree to accompany Sinbad north to the home of an ancient civilization that might have the answer to the reversing of the curse.

(L-R) Sinbad, Melanthius, Dione and Farah

Zenobia uses her magic to turn herself into a seagull, fly to Sinbad's ship, and convert herself to a miniature form so she can spy on Melanthius and Sinbad.  She is caught, but manages to escape, but in the process loses a valuable portion of her potion, so that when she returns to her own ship she can't be completely reverted back to human form.

When Sinbad finally come ashore in the frozen wastelands of the north, they are attacked by a giant walrus (another Harryhausen creation, and, in my opinion, the most unbelievable and ridiculous of the batch.  I felt immensely like it had been added as an afterthought because the studio needed more footage, rather than that it was a valid creature of the story, but that's just my opinion...)

I am the Walrus

Sinbad and crew trek across the frozen wastelands and find a valley that is lush and hospitable.  While they are resting a trogolodyte appears.  Although they initially think the creature is a threat, he turns out to be friendly.

Troglodyte

The final battle which involves trying to get the baboon Kassim into a transforming column of light while battling Zenobia who is intent on trying to stop them, along with another epic battle between two Harryhausen creations, the troglodyte and a saber-toothed tiger is once again a worthy ending.

Battle royale

I regret that you can't experience these movies the way I did (from the back seat of the Plymouth my father drove) on the big screen of a drive-in.  Although, who knows, with the current trend of new drive-ins coming and a few bucks to the manager, you might be able to wangle it.  (Pipe dreams, to be sure, but I'm nothing if not a dreamer).  Meanwhile pleasant sailing on your voyage home.

Quiggy

 

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #19: Breaking Away

 

 

 

The Semiquincentennial  Movie Project is an ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. During the course of this project your humble blogger is choosing a movie a week to represent each of the 50 states in the Union, as well as a movie scheduled for 4th of July weekend that will represent the nation's capitol, Washington D.C. The order of the weekly entries will coincide with the order of each state's entry into the fold (although, not necessarily coinciding with the date of their entry into said fold).

 

 

Week #19: Indiana -

 

 

 

The state of Indiana was established on December 11, 1816. 

Details about Indiana:

State bird: cardinal

State flower: peony

State tree: tulip tree 

Additional historical trivia:

There is a good chance that the popcorn you are eating came from Indiana. Indiana (and Nebraska) are the producers of most of the world's popcorn supply.

Did you ever get a letter from Santa? It probably actually came from the post office in Santa Claus, IN...

Elvis Presley performed his last live concert in Indianapolis 3 months before his death.

October 6, 1866 was the date of the very first train robbery, in Indiana.

You older girls will remember Raggedy Ann. The doll was created by an Indiana woman. 

Speaking of females, Indiana is home of the first "women only" prison. 

The tiny school of Milan won the state basketball championship in 1954, and was the inspiration for the film Hoosiers.

Famous people born in Indiana: Orville Redenbacher (see the first trivia bit above), Jim Davis (creator of the Garfield comic strip), Michael Jackson (as well as the rest of the Jackson 5), Kurt Vonnegut, David Letterman, James Dean, Larry Bird, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and, believe it or not, Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders (who wasn't a real colonel in the Army, by the way..) 

 

Breaking Away (1979): 

Remember those heady days of the late 70's and early 80's? When life was idyllic because you didn't have to be worried about being drafted, and especially when, even if you did sign up for military service, you were assured of not having to serve in an unpopular war? When, after graduation from high school, the biggest decisions a boy would have to make was whether to go to college or join the work force? When Dennis Quaid was, arguably, one of the sexiest new actors on the screen (and I can say that, firmly entrenched in my own heterosexuality. A young Dennis Quaid was pretty hot at 25...) When a little low budget film like Breaking Away could surprise the critics and the public alike?

At a budget of only $2 million the film crept into being one of the top films of 1979. Roger Ebert, in his review, praised it, saying that "[i]n a summer of big-budget movies that are insults to the intelligence" here was a movie that was "a wonderfully sunny, funny, goofy, intelligent movie that makes you feel about as good as any movie in a long time. It is, in fact, a treasure..." (BTW, I looked up to see what "big budget movies" that Ebert might be referring to as "insults to the intelligence" and came away with these: He considered The Hurricane to be the worst movie of the year, this despite the fact that he stayed for the entire movie, but walked out on Caligula. He also did not like The Amityville Horror and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure.)

Breaking Away, on the other hand, consistently cracks the top 20 sports movies of all time (a 2003 Sports Illustrated article ranked it # 8), and even gets fairly good rankings on movie lists that cover the entire gamut of movie genres. It's also # 8 on AFI's list of the "100 Most Inspiring Movies list.. With a cast of virtually unknowns (this was only the 7th movie for Jackie Earle Haley, the veteran of the main cast, the 5th movie for Quaid as well as the 5th for Dennis Christopher, and the first for Daniel Stern. To be the main focus of the cast with a bunch of "nobodies", the movie did fairly well, I would say.

The film was not without merits in more ways than one. It garnered five Academy Award nominations, and even managed to win one of them, Best Writing for Original Screenplay. It had the unfortunate situation of going head-to-head against the top movie of the year, Kramer vs. Kramer, and thus lost for Best Picture, Best Director (Peter Yates lost to Robert Benton) and Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Barrie lost to Meryl Streep). It also lost the Best Music award to All That Jazz (and deservedly so, in my opinion on that one).

Essentially it's a coming of age movie more than a sports movie. After all, even though the focus is on the sport of cycling, how many people would actually be interested enough to go see it just for the cycling? Certainly not if you wanted action. A football movie or a hockey movie or even a basketball movie would be much more likely to draw in the sports nut. On the other hand, a movie that centered on the conflict of teenagers trying to fit in to whatever society expected of them, while still retaining their exuberant youthful personality, is a much more likely draw.

The star of the movie is Dave Stoller (Dennis Christopher), a kid who is absolutely enamored with the Italian bicycling team, and even by the Italian culture itself. To the annoyance of his father, he affects an Italian accent and cranks out Italian opera on his stereo. He has a big desire to compete against the Italians in a bicycle race, holding them in high regard as basically the "best of the best".

 

Along with high school buddies Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley), Dave spends most of his time discussing what the four are going to do now that they have graduated high school. It appears that the only real future they have is getting into the job market, since college is basically a pipe dream. The university students call them "cutters", a disparaging term for the townspeople, many of whom work in the local rock quarry. (Note: The actual term that the real university used was "stoners", but the production team opted to change it for the film, for obvious reasons...)

 

The rivalry between the two factions becomes intense when some of the students from the university invade the boys' favorite swimming hole.

 

Mike in particular has some animosity for the university interlopers because, as a former football star in high school he resents the fact that some out-of-towners are garnering the accolades in the realm of football while he is only able to live on his past glories at school. 

 

Mike: "You know what really gets me though? I mean, here I am, I gotta live in this stinking town and I gotta read in the newspapers about some hot shot kid - new star of the college team. Every year its gonna be a new one. And every year its never gonna be me. I'm just gonna be Mike. Twenty year old Mike. Thirty year old Mike. Old mean old man Mike. " 

Mike, Cyril and Moocher all have dreams, but dreams that are beyond what they think are realistically possible. Dave, on the other hand, is the essence of optimism. He knows, I mean really knows, that given the opportunity he could be a star cyclist. So when the Italian team comes to town for an exhibition race, he plans to be in the race to compete against his heroes. But his "heroes" turn out to be a bit less than altruistic. They use some very unorthodox tactics to get Dave to wreck his bike during the race.

 

This has the effect of making Dave apathetic about his dreams. Even though his friends want him to compete in the local race, mainly because if he wins it would take those uppity university students they hate down a peg or two, Dave is not very gung-ho about the idea. Inspiration comes from an unlikely source. Dave's father tells his son about how, as a younger man, and one of the quarry workers, he helped cut the stones that helped build the university, even though he never felt welcome on the campus.

 

Ultimately Dave and his friends join the race, with the team name being "Cutters" (thus snubbing their noses at the disparaging term the university students use against them). Dave is, of course, the driving force for the team, since none of his friends are as avid about his chosen interest in cycling. But the entry in the race requires that a team be comprised of four, not just one. The race is kind of like a relay. One biker rides until he feels a need to rest and another takes over. 

 

Dave, of course,  takes the lead, but ends up getting injured amd has to let his friends take over. But the lead he garnered dwindles as the friends are not nearly as adept at this cycling thing as Dave. As usual in these kinds of movies, the last laps of the race make it necessary that Dave takes back his position as the rider. And it's pretty much a foregone conclusion what is going to happen at the final lap, I think.

In the middle of all this action Dave starts a relationship with one of the university girls, Katherine (Robyn Douglass in her first movie role). But Dave gets off on the wrong foot by pretending to be a university student, and not just that, but also being an Italian. You know that's bound to come back at some point and smack him in the butt. 

 

Did you know that this movie inspired a very brief TV series? In 1980 ABC tried to introduce a series, also called Breaking Away, with Shaun Cassidy in the lead role as Dave. It only aired 7 episodes before it was cancelled, however. I don't have any idea how it would have panned out in the long run, but the initial show was in essence a prequel to the film. The events were supposedly occurring the year prior to the events in the film.

 

Not to dismiss Barbara Barrie's Academy Award nomination, I think the standout performance of the film is Paul Dooley as Dave's father. He is hilarious in all his scenes, but early on in the film is one that stands out. Dad follows Dave upstairs when he comes home and comes back downstairs with a shocked look on his face. And you just know what his line is going to be before he even days it:

 

"He's shaving... he's shaving his legs..."

 Breaking Away is a film that will stick with you for its inspirational message. If you watch enough of these kinds of movies the ending may be telegraphed before  the movie ever gets underway, but like several movies I have reviewed over the years, it has enough of it's own charm that the "I've seen this all before" aspect of it gets overwhelmed by the way the actors play out their parts. I highly recommend if you've never seen it to give it a go, and if you have seen it, give it another viewing,

That's it for this week. Drive safely, folks.

Quiggy