Rebel WITH a Cause

 

 

It came as a great surprise to me, upon browsing the archives of movies I have covered in the last 10 years since the start of this blog,  that I had only delved into Clint Eastwood's output once.  (Only once?) And to boot, it was City Heat. Not that I don't like City Heat, but I list Eastwood as my second favorite western actor, behind John Wayne. That's almost sacrilege that I never covered even one of his westerns. 

I recently acquired a 10 Film Western Collection, and only one of those movies on that set has even made it to the screen of The Midnite Drive-In. (That movie, by the way, is Rio Bravo. Not one of my favorites of John Wayne's output, but it also brings up another neglected film in my output of reviews, The Searchers. Gotta remedy that soon, too.)

 

 

Anyway, I missed out on The Outlaw Josey Wales when it hit the theater, since I was still in my childhood days, and not allowed to go see PG or R rated movies. But I did see Pale Rider in the theater. It's been quite a few years since I watched it, but I remember enjoying it quite immensely.  I saw The Outlaw Josey Wales on TV prior to that, and was ready for another western from Eastwood by that time.

The Outlaw Josey Wales is my second favorite western of all time, close behind El Dorado and just slightly in front of Silverado. This entry will correct the faux pas that I have not reviewed this movie before.  And in the next few weeks I'll get another correction by getting up a review of Pale Rider.

Eastwood, of course, got his start in the western genre. Not right away, of course. His first appearance was in the sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon, titled Revenge of the Creature, and among those early roles he was cast in such features as Francis in the Navy and Tarantula!, almost all of them as uncredited bit parts, but he started moving into the western genre fairly early. He got a big role as the third credited  star in a 1958 film Ambush at Cimarron Pass, behind the star, Scott Brady. And, that role, probably more than anything, led to his defining early role as Rowdy Yates in the TV series Rawhide in 1959.

Of course any Eastwood aficionado will know that that Rawhide role was what led to one of Eastwood's more iconic roles, that of the "Man with No Name", the center of Sergio Leone's trilogy of "spaghetti westerns"; A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Unlike my other actor/western hero, John Wayne, however, Eastwood did not make the western his go-to genre. Most people would probably think of the Dirty Harry series of films first when Eastwood's name is mentioned. More modern viewers might be more apt to think of his recent successes as a director rather than an actor.

The Outlaw Josey Wales started out as a novel by "Forrest Carter". There is some background to the author, which I will only briefly write about, but the gist of the story is that the character of "Forrest Carter" was a fiction. He wasn't who he really claimed to be, but was instead a former Ku Klux Klan member and speechwriter for George Wallace, the segregationist Alabama governor.  (Just to point it out, not to discredit him...)

The first printing of the novel, which eventually was published under the title Gone to Texas, only had 75 copies made, one of which eventually ended up in Eastwood's hands. He liked the novel and acquired it for production. 

Initially he had hired on Philip Kaufman only to help out on the screenplay, but eventually asked him to direct. However, differences between the two, both in how the movie was being directed and (it is rumored) their attraction to co-star Sandra Locke, caused Eastwood to engineer having Kaufman dismissed as director and taking the reins himself.

There are many standout performances of note in the film. In particular, several of the actors playing Native Americans in the film were actually of Native American descent, making it a rarity in those days, as well as portraying the Native American in a sympathetic light. Chief Dan George, Will Sampson and Geraldine Keams were all of Native American descent. 

Other roles that stand out are: Bill McKinney as Captain Terrill, John Vernon as Fletcher and one of my favorite characters, Paula Trueman as Granny. Sam Bottoms altogether too brief role as Jamie is also good.

 

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976):

Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) is just a farmer trying to get his field plowed in preparation for the planting, with his son, Little Josey (played by Eastwood's real son, Kyle). The action doesn't take long to get underway, as a band of marauders led by Captain "Redlegs" Terrill (Bill McKinney) raids his farm, burns his house to the ground and kills his wife and son. When a contingent of Confederate soldiers ride up to the destroyed farm, Wales joins up to take the battle to his tormentors.

 

After the Civil War is over, apparently there were stragglers (renegades) who refused to give up the fight, and Wales' group was one. This makes some sense of what happens afterwards, because otherwise the actions of the Union soldiers against the surrendering Confederates would seem a bit over the top. Instead of just a normal peaceful surrender the Confederate renegades are slaughtered by the Union troops. The background premise, although not overtly stated, is that the Confederate group were considered outlaws, not legitimate soldiers, and therefore not deserving of any treatment usually given to surrendering "soldiers".

 

Wales enters the camp and wreaks havoc on the Union soldiers, and eventually escapes with fellow Confederate, Jamie (Sam Bottoms). Captain Terrill is given a commission to hunt down Wales, along with Wales' former commanding officer, Fletcher (John Vernon). 

 

 

Senator Lane: "Fletcher, there is an old saying; To the victor belong the spoils"

Fletcher: "There's another old saying, Senator: Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining..." 

Wales and Jamie set out for the Indian Nation, en route to Texas. Wales, who has no desire to have another family, seems destined to garner one despite his reluctance. First he has the younger, hanger-on, and almost surrogate son of Jamie. Jamie was injured during the battle and, reluctant though he is, Wales has to be the father figure and nurse to help Jamie survive. Jamie does his part to help out, but eventually succumbs to his wounds.

 

Now, Wales finally alone, continues on his trek. But this "lone wolf" role is continually disrupted. In the Indian Nation Wales meets Lone Watie (Chief Dan George), a hold out who has determined to not go with the rest of his tribe to the reservation that the government has determined to send him.  

 

Oh, well, Wales gets a companion his trek. In addition, at a trading post, he rescues a young Navajo girl, Moonlight (Geradine Keams), who views herself as being indebted to Wales and joins the band.

 

Wales constantly finds himself in situations where he has to prove that he is not about to go gentle into that good night. As Lone Watie observes when Wales says "When I get around to liking someone, they ain't around for very long", Watie says "I notice when you get around to DISliking someone, they ain't around for very long either."

The film has some very memorable scenes with some of the best lines coming whenever Wales has to have a showdown with people who are determined to take Wales out of the picture. In one town he is outed as Wales and faces of a quartet of Union soldiers.

 

"You gonna draw those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"

In another scene, a bounty hunter faces off Wales. 

 

Bounty Hunter: "A man's gotta do something to make a living."

Wales: "Dying ain't much of a living, boy."

 

The best part of the movie comes in the second half of the film. Wales rescues a bunch of Kansas people who are on their way to make a new life for themselves. They had been assaulted by a bunch of Comancheros who are determined to make a profit by selling off their booty and captives to the leader of the local Comanche tribe, led by Ten Bears (Will Sampson). Among this ragtag group of settlers is the opinionated and not afraid to express it Granny (Paula Trueman) and her granddaughter, Laura Lee (Sondra Locke). 

 

 

When Ten Bears and his tribe threaten the safety of the settlers Wales makes a pact with him and declares that they can both live in peace.

 

Wales: "I'm just giving you life and you're giving me life. And I'm saying that men can live together without butchering one another."   

Ten Bears: "It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life."

 

So the settlers are safe, but Wales is not quite safe yet. He still has to deal with those pesky pursuers led by Terrill. The final battle involves Wales and his new family facing off against the horde of Union soldiers, which has grown from the 5 men that the Senator sent him off with to about a dozen or more...  

 

The Outlaw Josey Wales was  a pretty good success at the box office, this despite the fact that many people at the beginning of the production tried to dissuade Eastwood from taking on the project because westerns had become pretty much passe.  It cleaned up with about a $30 million profit. 

The summer of 1976 was not filled with a bunch of big competitors, however. The big draws for that year, Rocky, King Kong and A Star is Born all came out at the end of the year, and the other big movie, All the President's Men had been released in April. The only movie that was around to really give the film a run for it's money was The Omen.

Rotten Tomatoes has the film rated at 91% Fresh. It got a lot of acclaim by the reviewers of the time. Roger Ebert gave the movie 3 stars. Many praised the cinematography, and the musical score went toe to toe with Jerry Goldsmith's score for The Omen (the eventual winner), as well as Bernard Hermann who was nominated for both Obsession and Taxi Driver. 

I watch this film at least once every few years, just to remind myself that the 70's version of Eastwood is probably his best version. From 1970 to 1979 we got some really good Eastwood films, beginning with Kelly's Heroes, and going through the decade we also got Dirty Harry (and two other Harry Callahan films), High Plains Drifter, and, of course, Play Misty for Me.

Well, folks, that wraps up this feature. Drive safely.

Quiggy

 

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #17: Harper Valley P.T.A.

 

 

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 #17: Ohio -

 

 

 

The state of Ohio was established on March 1, 1803

Details about Ohio:

State bird: cardinal

State flower: scarlet carnation

State tree: buckeye

 

Additional historical trivia:

As pictured above, the Ohio state flag is the only state flag that is not in the traditional rectangular shape.

The capitol of Ohio, Columbus, has a bigger population than both Cleveland and Cincinnati combined, even those other two are more widely known by the rest of the nation. 

"As Ohio goes, so goes the nation" is a popular phrase during Presidential elections. Only 9 Presidents since the admission of Ohio to the Union have been elected President without winning Ohio. (That's 35-9 if you want the tally).

1803?  Or 1953?  The official documentation to make Ohio a state was not actually signed until 1953. Meaning it was a "poser" for 150 years. (Although Eisenhower did make it a state retroactively...)

Ohio is the only state to have a State Rock Song. It's "Hang On Sloopy".

Superman was created by two Cleveland residents, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

The TV shows "Family Ties," "3rd Rock from the Sun," "Glee," "Clarissa Explains It All," "The Drew Carey Show" and "Hot in Cleveland" all are set in Ohio.

A favorite movie of your blogger, Howard the Duck, is set in Cleveland.

Famous people born in Ohio: LeBron James, Jack Nicklaus, Neil Armstrong, Steven Spielberg, Halle Berry, Charles Manson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and several U.S. Presidents: James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, both Benjamin and William Henry Harrison, William McKinley and William Howard Taft.  

  

 

 

Harper Valley P.T.A. (1978): 

Harper Valley P.T.A. began life as a song. It was written by Tom T. Hall (a personal childhood favorite country singer and songwriter of your blogger, by the way). It was recorded by Jeannie C. Riley and is one of the few country songs that managed to make it to #1 on both the country and pop charts in 1968. (It's happened 13 times in the last 25 years, but only 18 times in the previous 41 years.) The popularity of the song (eventually) led to a major film adaptation of the story. Sort of...

The movie is really what happens after the events of the song and, therefore, could conceivably  have been titled Harper Valley P.T.A: Part II. Since the song itself is in the opening credits of the film, and the event of the song is played out in the first 15 minutes it seems relevant that I quote the song in it's entirety since what happens in the movie is as a result of what happens in the song.

I wanna tell you all a story 'bout
A Harper Valley widowed wife
Who had a teenage daughter
Who attended Harper Valley Junior High
Well, her daughter came home one afternoon
And didn't even stop to play
And she said, "Mom, I got a note here 

From the Harper Valley PTA"

 

Well, the note said, "Mrs. Johnson
You're wearin' your dresses way too high
It's reported you've been drinking
And a-running 'round with men and goin' wild
And we don't believe you oughta be a-bringin' up
Your little girl this way."
And it was signed by the Secretary
Harper Valley P.T.A.

 

Well, it happened that the P.T.A. was gonna meet
That very afternoon
And they were sure surprised
When Mrs. Johnson wore her miniskirt into the room
And as she walked up to the blackboard
I can still recall the words she had to say
She said, "I'd like to address this meeting of the Harper Valley P.T.A.

 

Well, there's Bobby Taylor sittin' there
And seven times he's asked me for a date
And Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lotta ice
Whenever he's away
And Mr. Baker can you tell us why
Your secretary had to leave this town?
And shouldn't widow Jones be told to keep
Her window shades all pulled completely down.

 

Well, Mr. Harper couldn't be here
'Cause he stayed too long at Kelly's Bar again,
And if you smell Shirley Thompson's breath
You'll find she's had a little nip of gin.
And then you have the nerve to tell me
You think that as the mother I'm not fit.
Well, this is just a little Peyton Place
And you're all Harper Valley hypocrites"

 

No, I wouldn't put you on because it really did
It happened just this way
The day my mama socked it to the Harper Valley P.T.A.
The day my mama socked it to the Harper Valley P.T.A.

 

                                                       -lyrics by Tom T. Hall 

 

 

 

The town, of course, doesn't think too highly of Stella Johnson (Barabara Eden) for her impertinence and several things happen. For one, her house gets toilet papered. Obviously the town is peopled by a bunch of former juvenile delinquents... (either that or maybe it really was the kids of the town who did it, but that means the parents aren't very observant of their own juvenile delinquents...) But for their part the "adults" of the town have their own tactics, such as threatening to expel Stella's daughter, Dee (Stella Smith).

 

Stella, not being one to take such tactics lying down, decides to exact some revenge. For one thing she lures Bobby Taylor (John Fielder) to a motel room, and after he has completely disrobed pushes him out into the hallway, locks the door to the room, and ditches his clothes. 

With the help of a good friend, Alice (Nanette Fabray), who is a beautician, she puts some concoction in a hair tonic that causes the P.T.A. President Flora's (Audrey Christie) hair to fall out at her snobbish party.

She uses a camera to film Willamae (Fay DeWitt), the snotty biology teacher who secretly has rendezvous with the town mailman, Barney (Tobias Anderson), which is then spliced into a sex education film the teacher shows to her class of junior high girls. (OK, so that is a little questionable... surely Stella and her cohort knew the stag film would be shown to underage girls...)

Stella has a few allies in town, including town rich guy Willis (Ronny Cox), who is definitely not a fan of Flora and wants Stella to run against her for election in the new session of the P.T.A. 

 

 

But, of course, the snobbish members of the P.T.A. are entirely opposed to having Stella put in her candidacy. Stella does have a few allies on her side, however, including Skeeter Duggan (Bob Hastings), who would be the deciding vote to allow Stella to run for President. So a plan is hatched to kidnap Skeeter long enough to keep him from appearing at the vote.

Such subterfuge involves hiring two bumbling hoodlums, Tex (J.J. Barry) {who doesn't wear a cowboy hat} and Dutch (Royce D. Applegate) {who does wear a cowboy hat, which causes a bit of confusion}. The pair take Skeeter and chain him up in a monastery. Meanwhile Stella's allies are on the lookout so they can find and rescue him.

The whole plot is convoluted and a series of misadventures are going to occur before the finale. It's probably not a spoiler that Stella and her cohorts succeed, however. The last scene involves Stella, having won the President position, and Willis taking off in a helicopter to get married... with a banner behind it that reads "Stella Johnson for Mayor".

It's relevant, I think, to note that social mores were a bit more accepting of independent women of Stella's type by 1978. When the original song came out ten years earlier America, and the world, were not quite ready to adjust to the concept, but the Summer of Love and the ensuing changes that came as a result had had 10 years to start adjusting. The attitudes of the townspeople in the film, watched today, may seem quaint, but I think they may have even started to feel a little quaint even in the context of the time of the film.

Once again, with the incident mentioned above about the edited sex education film included, some of Stella's tactics may not be all that acceptable, even today. One wonders about how fit a mother Stella may actually be. After all, she includes Dee in some of her tactics, including a scene where they kidnap a few elephants (elephant-nap?) and paint them pink and release them to basically demolish one of the P.T.A. member's house. Dee basically becomes a pawn in the conflict, and it's kind of hard not to feel sorry for her.

The film has only a 53% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes site, but it did manage to make a decent profit ($25 million ticket sales against a $1 million budget). Enough interest in the concept sparked a brief run as a TV series in 1981, which lasted two seasons, with Barbara Eden reprising her role as Stella. 

Among the interesting credits in the film was a credit that said the horse manure used in one scene was courtesy of Seattle Slew. The same Seattle Slew that won the Triple Crown in horse racing in 1977. But, apparently, it was just a joke the film makers included, and not necessarily the real Seattle Slew who provided the manure... 

Also, not credited in the movie,  Woody Harrelson made his debut in the film. (Sorry, but even armed with this knowledge, I couldn't figure out where he appears in the film... Given that he was only 16 or 17 at the time, though, it stands to reason he is one of Dee's classmates.  Good luck in picking him out if you choose to try to watch for him.)

The film was primarily shown in drive-in theaters upon it's release, which makes it one of the few movies I am doing for this project that actually fits for The Midnite Drive-In.  

That's all for this week. Drive safely folks.

Quiggy

 

 

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #16: The Evil Dead

  

 

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 #16: Tennessee -

 

The state of Tennessee was established on June 1, 1796 

Details about Tennessee:

State bird: mockingbird

State flower: iris

State tree: tulip poplar

Additional historical trivia:

Mountain Dew, which originated in Tennessee, was originally created to mix with whiskey.

Maxwell House Coffee originated in Tennessee.

So did the Moon Pie.

Also cotton candy is from Tennessee. 

And a place in Memphis sells a whopping 12 lb. burger. (You get the idea I'm hungry right now...?)

You can shoot whales from a moving vehicle legally in Tennessee. (think about that for a minute...)

There's a bar/restaurant in Copperhill which sits in two states, Tennessee and Georgia. The part that is in Tennessee can serve alcohol.  The part that is in Georgia cannot.

The trash dumpster was first created in Tennessee. (No word on whether its also the state of the first dumpster fire...) 

Famous people born in Tennessee: Davy Crockett, Estes Kefauver, Reggie White, both of the Allman Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton and Jack Daniel (originator of the famous whiskey). 

The Evil Dead (1981): 

Note: I considered the pictures a bit too intense for use this week. You can check out the movie for yourself. 

At Michigan State University five students decide to take a vacation at a remote cabin in Tennessee. The intrepid explorers consist of Ash (Bruce Campbell), his sister Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), his girlfriend Linda (Betsy Baker), Ash's friend Scott (Hal Delrich) and Scott's girlfriend Shelly ( Sarah York).

The film opens as the five travel down the road while searching a map to determine their location. The first indication that something might be amiss is that there is a near collision with a pickup. Scott claims it wasn't his fault, somehow the steering wheel jerked out of his hands. 

The crew then have to cross a bridge that is clearly falling apart, but even though the girls are nervous, the guys insist that it is "solid as a rock". (Of course, it is not...) 

The warning signs that this might not be a good idea after all continue. When they arrive at the cabin (which looks as run down as one of those abandoned farmhouses you see on back country roads), a porch swing is banging against the wall of the cabin, but when Scott retrieves the key to the door, it suddenly stops.

You know, you might as well conclude that these "university students" must have been accepted as charity cases in the halls of higher learning, because everything that happens early on in the movie that would have normal people running for the hills are looked upon as "hmm- that's peculiar..." Like when a basement door flies open of it's own accord.  

The boys go down and find a secret torture chamber (or it looks like one anyway, bones are hanging everywhere). They also find a recording by a professor who was the last resident of the cabin, and a book that is filled with odd drawings and weird writing. They take the recording back upstairs and play it. It is the reminiscences of the professor and his study of a past civilization and his study of their Book of the Dead. The recording has the professor reading verbatim this incantations that (supposedly) will free the demonic spirits. Which, of course, they do.

The rest of the film is a series of "look out, the demons have possessed your friend",  as one by one the members of the group become possessed. The first to succumb to their evil machinations is probably the most graphic as Cheryl goes out to investigate some strange noises and is attacked by the trees. (That is a mild way of describing it. It's pretty disturbing.

Eventually, everyone but Ash ends up being made into a "new creation", so to speak. If you don't already know, there were several sequels to the original, including what I list as one of my favorites in the horror genre Army of Darkness (which is essentially Evil Dead III.) The series did eventually play up the humorous/horror camp aspect that made the rest of the films so enjoyable, but  there is very little of it in this first one. I warn you at the outset that this entry is fairly graphic. 

You want to know how "graphic"? Initially the American theaters refused to show it. It had to get its start showing in European theaters. And even then there were several countries that outright banned it.  When the movie was received in the countries that would deign to show it it had to be trimmed some to pass approval. And eventually it was released in the US, although initially with an X rating. Once again, it turns out that "X" (now call NC-17) was not always meaning some extreme sexual content. "X" was also a rating for extremely violent movies, which is why A Clockwork Orange was originally released with an "X" rating.

This is not a movie you want to watch with impressionable teenagers. Hell, it might not be a movie you want to watch yourself... This movie makes An American Werewolf in London seem like a kiddie movie. 

Believe it or not, however, my research shows that it currently has an 85% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was well received by the critics at the time. One reviewer, Bob Martin of Fangoria Magazine claimed that it could be " loved, embraced and hailed as a new milestone in graphic horror." I'm not sure how mainstream critics viewed it, although Roger Ebert did praise the "inventive, low-budget film making and intense, kinetic style", although neither he nor Gene Siskel really liked the movie.

The film did make a profit, with a $29 million box office from a $400 budget, thus making it one of the more profitable movies in the low-budget horror genre. Thus, we can see that a sequel (or two) would definitely be in the foreseeable future. Personally I like the sequels a whole lot better, but then I always did prefer a heavy sprinkling of camp and humor in my horror movies. 

Well, folks, that's it for this week. Drive safely. And, point of warning, if you see a sign that says that bridge up ahead is dangerous, take a word from the wise ad just turn around.

Quiggy

    

Officially Announcing the "Celebrate the Drive-In Week"

An event of epic proportions with a chance for audience participation. Hang on for the final reel (below)!

Note (after the fact): I just realized that I forgot to include a thanks to Rachel (Hamlette) in this post for the button.  Thanks, Rachel!

 

 

Drive-In Movie Day is Saturday, June 6th. If you have been following along all these years, you know of my endearing love for the drive-in movie experience. Many of my favorite memories involved going to the drive-in, either with my folks and my sister, or, as I got older, with a bunch of friends, or even sometimes solo. At the time, my only two sources were two drive-ins in Sherman/Denison area of north Texas. Both of these (pictured below), coincidentally, were located directly across the highway from each other, on the Sherman/Denison city limits dividing line (where FM 691 intersected Hwy 75, if you are of a mind to Google map the location...). My vague memory is one of them actually being on Denison side of that dividing line and the other actually being on the Sherman side, but my memory may be faulty... Both of them were torn down sometime late last century. (I was not living in the area at the time, so I can't actually say when, but one has been replaced by apartments and the other has a couple of convenience stores on the property formerly occupied by them).

 

 

(Photos courtesy of a website I found:  Pinball Rebel.) 

Of course, if I wanted to drive that far, there were plenty of drive-in options all over the Dallas - Ft. Worth area. Joe Bob Briggs, a columnist and drive-in movie critic for the Dallas Times Herald, had a weekly column that came in the Weekend supplement of the Friday issue of the newspaper.  Based on his recommendations, after I moved to that area, I found my way to the local D/FW drive-ins.

Memories abound in my recollections of movies I saw. The standard format for the drive-in was a double feature. The headliner, the draw, was a major recent release, while the second feature was an older movie, sometimes as much as 3 or 4 years prior. 

 

 

Many is the time that I remember that second feature and can't recall what the first feature was, the one I ostensibly went to see.  The Warriors is a perfect example. I went to the drive-in to see some film, I can't recall what, and the second feature was The Warriors. (Possibly could have been Conan the Barbarian, since I DID go to the drive-in for that one, but I'm not sure..) 

Another one was Partners, a buddy cop film with Ryan O'Neal as a straight cop and John Hurt as a gay cop going undercover as a gay couple to find a serial killer. Probably some gritty cop drama was the first bill movie.

For the week of this event, Celebrate the Drive-In Week, I am going to write up some of those movies I wish I had had the chance to see at the drive-in... I wasn't born until 1961, so I didn't see any of the 50's entries (not even born yet) or even 60's entries (too young). Even the 70's movies were not available for me for the most part, since I had a very restrictive upbringing. (Nothing rated higher than G, until I finally broke down my father's resolve and he let us kids go see Star Wars.) 

 

 

Over the week of the celebration you will see various reminiscences as well as reviews of the movies I chose. I did not pick any movies from the 1940's simply for the fact that the drive-in did not really come into its own as far as popularity until the 50's. The list, below in chronological order, rather than order I am going to present them (since even I don't know what order that is going to be...), are:

Hot Rod Girl (1956)

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

Day of the Triffids (1962)   

The Born Losers (1967)

Coffy (1973)

Drive-In (1976) 

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)  

There is a variety there, indicative of the kinds of stuff you could get at the drive-in in it's heyday. As I described this blog for the Classic Movie Blog Association, the essence of the drive-in movie can be distilled down to what I call the three "b"s, "beasts, bikes and babes".

For "beasts" you are getting "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" and "Day of the Triffids". For bikes (and by association, cars) you are getting "The Born Losers" and "Hot Rod Girl" (and "Smokey and the Bandit"). For "babes" you are getting "Coffy" featuring a butt-kicking Pam Grier and "Smokey and the Bandit", featuring a fairly enticing Sally Field. And as an added bonus, I am going to feature a comedy from the late 1970's simply titled "Drive-In".

Audience Participation! 

But, there is also a chance for you to join in the fun. If you would like to share memories of attending drive-in theaters in your younger days, or if you would like to highlight a movie that features a significant scene that takes place at the drive-in, or if you, like me, love those old cheesy low-budget movies you could only find at the drive-in and want to review one of them, then you can sign up to participate.

The following list is people who have agreed to participate in the celebration. Remember. This is NOT a blogathon. There are no rules about multiple entries on the same subject. If everyone wants to do a piece on the drive-in scene in Grease, that's fine by me. And last minute jump ins are totally acceptable.

Hamlette's Soliloquy: The drive-in scene in The Outsiders (1983). Also a personal memory at the drive-in.

Angelman's Place: "Stranded at the Drive-In" from Grease (1978). 

RealWeegieMidget Reviews: Enter the Dragon (1973).

Whimsically Classic: The Facts of Life (1960)

 

There will be door prizes involved.  Everyone who joins in and posts something about drive-in movies or a drive-in experience will get their names entered into a hat. I have a few drive-in theater related trinkets that I will send out after the event. I don't have access to a program, so if you are interested in a specific set, you will have to let me know in comments.

The items are a sticker and a postcard (one of the following three sets) Left side is the postcard, right side is the sticker.

Set #1:

 

 

Set #2:

 

 

Set #3:

 

Quiggy

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Rotten Movies We Love by the Editors of Rotten Tomatoes

Book Review: Rotten Movies We Love by The Editors of Rotten Tomatoes

If you have been a regular reader of The Midnite Drive-In, you know that I often reference the website of Rotten Tomatoes when discussing how a movie is or was received by the critics. You also know that I just love to watch movies that were considered "bad" by either the critics or the public.

So, to set the scene, Rotten Tomatoes is a website that collects the overall critical reviews of movies (as established by people who actually make their living writing reviews, unlike me, who just does this for my own , and hopefully your, entertainment.)  A Rotten Tomatoes rating could go as high as 100% (movies included in this category include Seven Samurai, 12 Angry Men, and The Treasure of Sierra Madre).  Conversely, a movie could garner a rating of 0% (movies such as Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever,  Return to Blue Lagoon, Problem Child and the Nicholas Cage fiasco Left Behind). 

In the context of this rating system, the dividing line between "Fresh" and "Rotten" is about 60%. The films that the editors picked to highlight are movies that, despite the critical reception, are ones that they think are worth a second look. The highest rated movie in this volume is at 59% Fresh is The Last Dragon. And the lowest rated movie, at 0% Fresh, is the aforementioned Problem Child. The movies in this volume have either been the subject of a review on this blog, or in some cases have been on the list for future reviews, or in the case of a few, movies that I missed completely, but are now on the back burner. (This would include an odd looking movie that somehow escaped me during it's release, The Strangers from 2008).

There are also a few featured guest reviewers (the professional critics I mentioned) talking about movies that they consider worth a second look.  For instance, Leonard Maltin, whom I assume you ALL know of, considers Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla to be a "guilty pleasure". 

Of course, a few of the movies will NEVER be featured on The Midnite Drive-In, no matter what any one else might have to say. It's no secret that I don't like that whackadoodle Tom Cruise, so even though Cocktail and Legend are among the movies selected you won't find me joining the bandwagon.

Some of the movies featured are ones that I adore, of course, and have even dedicated a post to them. Hook, for one, is one that I still like (this is the lowest rated movie that Steven Spielberg ever had a hand in, even lower than 1941...) Tim Burton, another director that I have a high regard for, appears in the book with his 1996 fiasco Mars Attacks!, which remains one of the few movies I saw more than once in it's theatrical release. In my review of Xanadu I even stated that I had fluctuated in my enamoration, really liking it on first viewing, but thinking it was trash later, and reverting now to actually liking it again. Other movies that I have a special place for in my heart that are included in this book are Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Three Amigos!, both of which I think are highly unworthy of the disparagement they have received.

The book proves that relying solely on the opinions of others, even if they are the highbrow critics that make their living from evaluating films, is sometimes entirely unfounded.  Of course, it's no secret if you have followed along with my blog, that I never let the opinion of others influence my movie watching habits. 

Keep watching this site, because I intend to watch a few of these again (or for the first time, in some cases) and post my own personal opinions (which, needless to say, should not influence you in your watching, but at least will make you aware of their status in the movie review world).

Drive safely, folks!

Quiggy

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #15: The Moonshine War

  

 

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 #15: Kentucky 

 

The state of Kentucky was established on June 1, 1792

Details about Kentucky:

State bird: Kentucky cardinal

State flower: goldenrod

State tree: tulip poplar

Additional historical trivia:

The state is the only one south of Ohio to have erected a memorial to Union soldiers. It is in the city of Vanceburg.

The city of Richmond, KY was considered as a place to establish the country's capitol, but lost out to the eventual winner, Washington, D.C.

(This one hurts...) The first oilwell in the country was not dug in Texas. It was dug in McCreary County.

"Happy birthday to you!" The familiar song was written by Kentucky natives.

Mother's Day originated through the efforts of a Kentuckian.

Of course you know that most of the country's gold reserve is in Fort Knox. 

Famous people born in Kentucky: Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Billy Ray Cyrus, Muhammed Ali, Edgar Cayce and Civil War presidents Jefferson Davis (Confederacy) and Abraham Lincoln (Union).

 

 

The Moonshine War (1970): 

Memory is such a transient and fleeting thing. When I was a young boy of about 15 I remember catching this movie on TV. In those days, before cable, we only had the three major networks, CBS, ABC and NBC, plus, if the weather was right, one or two independent UHF stations. The UHF stations would play syndicated reruns of older shows and most nights would run an older movie. So, about 1976, the local UHF station played The Moonshine War. As usual my tastes ran counter to whatever the rest of the family wanted to watch. (I may be wrong, but it was probably my sister's turn to pick the shows we had on the family room TV. They probably were watching The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie, neither of which I ever wanted to watch.)

So I migrated to the black and white Tv we kept in another room. And I remember watching this movie. I didn't remember a heck of a lot about it until I watched it again this week. Of course, I remember Alan Alda as a country bumpkin moonshiner butting heads with a corrupt Federal Agent played by Patrick McGoohan and his cohort, a less than reputable dentist turned gangster, played by Richard Widmark. Really, I could only recall the ending clearly (and I won't give it away here, but it was an unexpected and extremely satisfying ending).

The fleeting memory that I had, and remember I was very young at the time, was that it was a pretty decent movie.  The thing is, that was almost 50 years ago. And, truth be told, it didn't take a whole lot to impress me. But with 50 years under my belt, and the experience of having watched quite a number of movies since then, I can't say that the whole second experience with the film was all that satisfying.

For one thing, Alda was just getting started in his film career. This was only his third or fourth starring role, and he was still a couple of years away from his iconic role in the TV series, M*A*S*H*.  I have to say that I was not all that impressed with his performance. Some reviewers echo the same sentiments that I had, that he was entirely miscast. I never really could believe that he was some backwoods hillbilly.

In the supporting cast, too, there was some issue. Patrick McGoohan has been much better, especially in one of my favorite roles of his, as The Prisoner. Only Richard Widmark, as the evil dentist, really shines, for me. (And some of the reviews I read even took issue with his performance...) 

Will Geer is essentially Grandpa Walton here, as the local sheriff, but he is a welcome addition to the otherwise lacking cast. There are a couple of interesting cameos here, including Teri Garr in a brief role as part of a husband/wife team who are robbed of their clothes by Widmark's character's second hand man.

The premise is fairly straightforward, although some of the actual motivations of the main characters take a little while to come out. Initially it appears that Frank Long (Patrick McGoohan) is a straight arrow Federal agent seeking a stash of bootleg moonshine held by local moonshiner Son Martin (Alan Alda).  There is some motivation, however, behind his quest.  You see, it's a foregone conclusion that a) Franklin Delano Roosevelt is going to win the upcoming election (which he did), and that b) he is going to repeal Prohibition (which he also did). 

That stash of moonshine that Son has hidden becomes the MacGuffin of the story. It turns out that Long's motivations are not entirely above board. He is not seeking the moonshine to destroy it, he is looking to make a huge bundle of money off of it because it will represent a head start over the upcoming legal distributors that will come to the fore after the repeal. Added to this intrigue is that Son and Frank were fellow soldiers in World War I.  It doesn't appear at the outset that they were compadres during that conflict, however. Either that or their friendship deteriorated after Frank became an enemy due to his now being a Federal agent.

When his tactics don't seem to be making any progress Long calls in a former "associate", a dentist turned gangster, Emmett Taulbee (Richard Widmark).  Taulbee brings with him his right hand man, Dual Metters (Lee Hazlewood).  

Dual shows his stripes early on when he tries to buy a suit that strikes his fancy from a fellow diner at a restaurant. When the diner is not forthcoming with selling the suit Dual forces him and his girl (Claude Johnson and Teri Garr) to strip naked under threat of a gun.

When Son turns down Frank and Emmett's pittance offer to buy his stash (only $1 a gallon, when the fair market price would seem to be $5 a gallon), Emmett calls in some reinforcements. And there is going to be Hell to pay. These hillbillies are not about to go gentle into that good night, but they underestimate the ruthlessness that the other side is willing to go to to achieve their goal.  What happens is that Martin ends up facing off the gangsters alone because Emmett and company raid Son's neighbors and bust up their stills. (Is everyone in town running an illegal moonshine operation? It would seem that might flood the market a bit, but maybe I don't know how much effort the public was willing to go to get the contraband alcohol...) 

Emmett, when his efforts to turn the neighbors against Son don't get Son to cough up his stash, resorts to some of the same tactics that a fellow bootlegger in Chicago became famous for, that of eliminating anyone who might have some influence on Son's reluctance. Emmett's ruthlessness eventually leads to Frank starting to have second thoughts about the whole operation.

As I said earlier, the denouement of the film is one of the better parts. Son has alienated most of his neighbors by this time, since he steadfastly refuses to give up his stash, despite the unorthodox tactics that Emmett and Frank have been using against said neighbors. So, instead of helping defend Son from the authorities, they instead watch the last action play out from the surrounding hills as it seems that Emmett will finally achieve his objective.

Rotten Tomatoes rates this movie only at 36%. I'm not sure how well it did at the box office, but IMDb only has it standing at just slightly under a 6.0 rating, which means it probably didn't get well received by the public. Wikipedia only notes that the film went over budget on production, but doesn't give me any financial stats other than that.

As I said earlier, it is not entirely all that well acted, although there are several faces that will trigger recognition. Harry Carey, Jr., Bo Hopkins, Tom Skerritt and John Schuck are familiar, and if you like my series of "Hey! I Know That Guy!", you will be interested to know that I had another one of those memories crop up. One of the neighbors of Son is Bill Durham (also sometimes credited by his real name, Charles Tyner). Durham had a significant role in The Outlaw Josey Wales as the trading post operator where Josey acquired the young Indian girl, and as Gus the hotelier in Planes Trains and Automobiles.

So the verdict on this movie; is it worth watching? Well, I'd say it's interesting enough for one time, but as far as that factor of "re-watch-ability", I'd have to give it a "no".  Widmark is the only actor who really makes the movie watchable, but even he is not on his best mark. Given a chance to recast the film I would definitely find someone a bit more believable as a hillbilly than Alda. It had Bo Hopkins in it, and he could have probably essayed the role a bit better. And McGoohan is McGoohan. When he is playing British guys he is pretty much a good actor, but as an American he leaves something to be desired. 

Well, folks, until next time... drive safely.

Quiggy

Semiquincecentennial Movie Project #14: The Trouble with Harry

 

 

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 #14: Vermont -

 

The state of Vermont was established on March 4, 1791

Details about Vermont:

State bird: hermit thrush

State flower: red clover

State tree: sugar maple

Additional historical trivia:

Vermont is the home of the hippie's favorite ice cream, Ben & Jerry's.

The first postage stamp in the US was printed in Brattleboro.

The state was the last holdout to allow the Evil Empire (Wal-Mart) to open up a store in it's boundaries. They didn't get one until 1996...

There are more covered bridges in Vermont than any other state. Only about 8.000 people. But even the most populous city only has about 50,000 residents.

Vermont was the first state to outlaw slavery.

You won't find billboards in Vermont. It was the first state to outlaw them. 

Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, is the least populated capital city in the Union. 

Famous people born in Vermont: Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur (US Presidents), John Deere, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (founders of the Mormon church), and Bill Wilson (founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and, yes, I included him because I am a member of the recovery group...).

 

The Trouble with Harry (1955): 

The Trouble with Harry was a rarity in the oeuvre of Alfred Hitchcock, in that it was more of a comedy than a thriller. And the film is populated with some of the most oddball characters you'll see this side of Arsenic and Old Lace. 

The production of the film had as much oddball quirks as the characters in the movie itself. For one thing, when the production company showed up in Vermont to start shooting the film, they were expecting the trees to still be sporting the fall colors of just beginning to hibernate foliage. But the trees were almost bare of leaves... So the solution? Why, they glued leaves to the trees, of course... (As ridiculous as it sounds, they didn't do all that bad a job of it...)

The production team was also plagued with torrential rain. Some of the scenes actually had to be filmed in a rented gym. And the rain played hell with the production there, too. There was some extensive redubbing because the rain interfered with the sound. And, on top of that, a camera fell from the ceiling and almost hit Hitchcock. The good thing about all that rain; even though there was some local flooding, which was bad, the revenue from the film was donated to locals who had been affected by the flooding.

The Trouble with Harry had some fairly big names associated with it. It was the first movie that Shirley MacLaine was ever cast. It was also an early screen premiere for Jerry Mathers, who just a few years later would be cast for the lead in the TV series Leave it to Beaver. Also appearing in the film were Edmund Gwenn (Kris Kringle in the classic Miracle on 34th Street), John Forsythe (probably most well-remembered as the voice of "Charlie" on the TV series Charlie's Angels or Blake Carrington on Dynasty), two-time Oscar winner Mildred Dunnock (Death of a Salesman and Baby Doll) and Royal Dano (a familiar face to many people, like my sister, who watched those old TV westerns.)

The movie opens with young Arnie Rogers (Jerry Mathers) hiking through the woods with his toy gun when he stumbles upon a body. The body is that of Harry Worp (the body was played by Philip Truex, whose father. Ernest Truex, appeared in two classic Twilight Zone episodes). 

Arnie runs off to tell his mom of his discovery, but in the meantime, Captain Wiles (Edmund Gwenn) comes across the body. He thinks that Harry is the victim of an accident, having been shot by Wiles while he was out hunting rabbits.

Wiles has plans to hide the body, but he is discovered by Miss Gravely (Mildred Natwick). Miss Gravely is not entirely in shock, as you might expect. Instead she agrees to keep the body a secret, provided that the captain drops by her house for a social engagement. But when the captain tries to continue his plan to hide the body he runs into problems. The woods seem to be populated as much as the local town. Everybody and their mother stumbles upon the body (while the captain hides and mutters that he might as well have sold tickets to view the body.

Everyone who stumbles upon the body is likewise as unperturbed as Miss Gravely. It turns out that several people know who Harry is, and that they themselves are complicit in the death of the poor man.  This is the black comedy part of the film. (Yes, it's a black comedy. What other kind of comedy could we expect from the master of the macabre...?) 

Among those who drop in on the corpse are a tramp (Barry Macollum) who steals the corpse's shoes,

and Jennifer Rogers (Shirley MacLaine), Arnie's mom, who, instead of shock, exhibits what amounts to relief. 

Harry, you see, was her estranged husband and she had hit him with  milk bottle earlier and thinks that is probably what killed him.  And Miss Gravely? She is not so innocent as she appears. She, too, thinks that she was implicit in the death of Harry. It seems the only person in town that does not think her or she was involved in Harry's death is little Arnie.

Meanwhile, back in town, we meet a few more of the screwy residents. Mrs. Wiggs (Mildred Dunnock), who runs a local dry goods store and is the local postmaster to boot, confers with local artist, Sam Marlowe (John Forsythe). 

Sam has commissioned her to sell some of his paintings, but she hasn't had much success. It seems tourists don't stop by as often as would be useful. (I'm not entirely sure if there EVER ARE any tourists dropping by, but be that as it may...) Local sheriff Calvin Wiggs (Royal Dano) comes on the scene asking about some shooting he heard. The sheriff had previously posted a "No shooting" ordinance and wants to know who was doing some shooting. The sheriff, by the way, is the son of the postmaster/dry goods store owner.

Of course, into the scene comes a potential customer for the decidedly odd paintings, but he may have a bit of trouble in succeeding in his quest since it seems everyone else is preoccupied with other small town events. Later, when Sam goes out into the woods to do a little drawing he too stumbles across the body, as well as the captain who is still fretting over his supposed complicity in the exit of Harry. Sam agrees to help the captain bury the body.  And unbury it... And bury it again... And unbury it... And bury it again... This part of the film is ne of the funnier parts of the film as they try to decide what to do about Harry.

In the meantime a relationship between Sam and Jennifer develops. And, as can usual happen in such a comedy of errors, Sam wants to marry Jennifer. But she is still married to Harry.  And if it can't be proven that Harry is dead, they would have to wait until the requisite 7 years for Harry to be declared officially missing... So now Harry is going to have to be "found" by the officials and declared dead, if they don't want to wait it out.

The Trouble with Harry was not particularly well received by the critics.  Bosley Crowther, a critic for The New York Times wrote that it is not a particularly witty or clever script" and that Hitchcock's direction did not "make it spin". But he did compliment the way the cast was able to pull it off with some panache in the form of it's comedy. Another critic, John McCarten for The New Yorker, claimed that "Alfred Hitchcock, whose work has been going steadily downhill ever since he arrived in Hollywood, skids to preposterous depths."

It was not a big hit at the box office either, although it did manage to bring in a profit; $3 million in sales against a budget of $1 million. Despite that, Rotten Tomatoes ranks it as 88% Fresh. And, really, if you have an open enough mind to accept Hitchcock as a comedic director, it's pretty good. Note "laugh out loud" funny, like, say Blazing Saddles, or, if you want to go the black comedy route, Arsenic and Old Lace, but I did find myself snickering on several occasions. Peopled as it is with such oddball characters, it carried itself well.

Black comedy is, by nature, not for everyone. If you have trouble accepting a dead body as a source of comedy, then I suggest you leave this one alone. But if you are like me, and appreciate a jaunt into the outré, then by al means, set up the DVD player. Maybe even make it a double feature with the aforementioned Arsenic and Old Lace...

Until, next time, drive safely, folks.

Quiggy