Love and War

 

 This my entry in the Ingrid Bergman Blogathon hosted by The Wonderful World of Cinema.

 

 

There is probably no film in cinema history that has more iconic lines than Casablanca. In the list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Quotes, 6 of the 100 classic lines are from the film:  

"Here's looking at you, kid." (# 5) - Rick

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." (# 20) - Rick

"Round up the usual suspects." (# 32) - Louis

"We'll always have Paris." (# 43) - Rick

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." (# 67) - Rick

 

and of course: 

"Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'." (#28) -Ilsa

 

(BTW: You may already know it, but Rick's later quote in the film is NOT "Play it again, Sam!" The actual quote is: "You know what I want to hear. You played it for her, you can play it for me. If she can stand it, I can. Play it!" Which may, somehow, explain why the quote doesn't make it into the top 100...)

 

{As an added note: there are several great lines that don't make the list. My favorite is when Rick tells Ugarte: "I don't mind a parasite. I object to a cut-rate one."}  

 

Casablanca had some interesting background. As Roger Ebert noted in a review he wrote "no one thought they were making a great movie". At the time it was just another movie. Elsewhere I noted that there were some 50 movies in production at the time. This was just another film. It had no expectations of having the impact that it ended up having. 

Now, before we go on, I just want to point out that virtually nothing I could write about in discussing this movie could be considered new. In 80+ years of dissecting this film, everything that can be said already has been said in terms of its power and impact. The only things that can be considered new in this post is the effect the movie and facts behind the production had on me personally. 

For instance: During my foray into the background I found out that "As Time Goes By" almost didn't make it in to the film. Considering how impactful and memorable the song is (along the same lines as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, which was also almost removed from its film), it makes one wonder how much different the film would have been without it.

The composer from the film, Max Steiner, didn't care much for the song and lobbied to have it removed. However, by this time much of Bergman's scenes in the film had already been filmed, and Bergman had since had her hair cut for her next film. Re-shooting her scenes without the iconic song would have been economically unfeasible,  so Steiner instead ended up incorporating the song into the orchestral portion of the soundtrack instead.

One of the more interesting tidbits I found while researching: "As Time Goes By" was released as a song several years before and basically went nowhere with the public. But after it became a part of this film it enjoyed a phenomenal revival. The original version (done by Rudy Vallée) was re-released and topped the charts, 13 years after its original release.

 

  

Casablanca (1942):

"With the coming of the Second World War, many eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas. Lisbon became the great embarkation point. But, not everybody could get to Lisbon directly, and so a tortuous, roundabout refugee trail sprang up - Paris to Marseilles... across the Mediterranean to Oran... then by train, or auto, or foot across the rim of Africa, to Casablanca in French Morocco. Here, the fortunate ones through money, or influence, or luck, might obtain exit visas and scurry to Lisbon; and from Lisbon, to the New World. But the others wait in Casablanca... and wait... and wait... and wait." 

 

Thus we are introduced to the movie proper. It is my opinion that Casablanca is probably one of the greatest World War II films that doesn't have a single shot fired by army against army on a battlefield. 

The stage is very limited in that respect. 95% of the film takes place solely in Rick's Café Américain, a bar owned by Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart). Rick is an expatriate, formerly of the United States, who has been living for some time in Casablanca. In a previous life he had been involved in some political intrigue, but now he is supposedly trying to live a quiet life as a "neutral" citizen. As he states often over the course of the movie "I stick my neck out for no one".

 

This despite the fact that he has some passing "friendship" with some of the less scrupulous citizens of the city, including Ugarte (Peter Lorre). Ugarte approaches Rick and asks him to hold on to some papers he has "acquired". It is obvious that the papers are some exit visas that Ugarte got when a couple of German couriers had been murdered.

 

The opening setup for the film is to establish Rick as having no allegiances to anyone, including the French prefect, Louis (Claude Rains), who is a stooge for the Vichy France government in Casablanca. And, of course, not for Ugarte either. When the German leaders come to town and Ugarte is arrested by the French police, Rick refuses to help, thus Ugarte ends up being killed trying to escape later in the film.

 

The reason for Rick's hard-hearted outlook on life appears shortly. 25 minutes into the movie pass before we ever meet Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). It is not immediately revealed where these two had connected in their past, but the tension between the two is overtly shown from the very moment that Rick realizes that Ilsa has wandered into his "gin joint".   

 

The introduction of the reunion is the result of Ilsa asking Sam (Dooley Wilson), the piano player of the bar, to play "As Time Goes By".  She apparently knew him from sometime in her past (it is still not revealed of her connection at this point...) Rick had previously told his piano player to never play it and is incensed that the man disobeyed his order, but is immediately confronted with the presence of Ilsa. You can feel the somewhat subdued animosity Rick has towards Ilsa; not, as it would seem initially, a loss of emotional connection with her, but as we learn later a sense of betrayal that he has never quite gotten over.

 

Ilsa, for her part, still has an emotional attraction for Rick. Even though at this early point we don't know of their past connection, you can still see in Ilsa's face that she knows Rick and still holds a love for him. Note: It's hard to talk about this movie in the context of it's progression without delving into later developments that still, as yet, are unknown. Thus, when I talk about early interactions in the film, I have in mind what comes later shading my perception.

 

But then, even the most clueless reader of this piece probably knows a good portion of the film already. But in the spirit of fairness I will say spoiler alert! at this point, and recommend you watch the movie before proceeding if you haven't already seen it. 

The basic fact at this point is that Ilsa and her husband, Victor (Paul Henreid) have come to Casablanca to obtain letters of transit to allow Victor to escape Europe to America, where his services as a freedom fighter for people under Nazi rule can be put to real good use. Thus the exit visas that Ugarte earlier asked Rick to hide for me become the central "MacGuffin" of the film.

We eventually find out about the connection between Rick and Ilsa from the days before the Germans invaded Paris. They had a love affair. But just as they were about to depart Paris for safer places away from the now Nazi occupied Paris, Ilsa had left Rick standing at the train station with no idea about where Ilsa was. Only now we find out that Ilsa had discovered that her husband, Victor, whom she thought had been killed, was still alive. As a result she reconnected with Victor without revealing to Rick the nature of her departure.

 

Rick, who still has a deep affection for Ilsa, struggles with a dilemma. Should he allow Ilsa and Victor to have the exit visas and escape together, or should he try to wangle the situation so he and Ilsa can escape, essentially leaving Victor high and dry? The interesting fact of the script for the film is that it was being rewritten constantly, so not even the stars knew how it would eventually turn out until the day of shooting the final scene. Bergman tried to get director Curtiz to clue her in, but he kept it even from her, thus making Bergman have to work on the fly as to whom she was more dedicated, Rick or Victor. And this helped to make her performance in the role that much better.

Another interesting tidbit: The scene where the locals sing out the French national anthem in an attempt to drown out the Germans who are singing an anthem of their own has some profound background. The producers used a lot of refugees from countries that had been taking over by Germany, and the emotional impact of the scene has a greater impact due to the cast actually being displaced from their native country by the Nazis at the time. 

 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had a rule in place that prevented an actor or an actress from being nominated twice in any category, thus Bergman was nominated for Best Actress for her role in For Whom the Bell Tolls, while leaving the Casablanca role on the sidelines. The Best Actress Award eventually went to Jennifer Jones for The Song of Bernadette, but one wonders how the voting might have turned out if they had gone with the Ilsa role instead. Not that Jones for her role in For Whom the Bell Tolls wasn't great; she might have won the Award anyway. And really, the Academy missed the boat in at least one other category that year. Casablanca was nominated for 8 awards but only won 3 of them (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay). But I personally agree with Danny Peary who, in his book Alternate Oscars, declared that Bogart should have nabbed the Best Oscar over Paul Lukas' winning role in Watch on the Rhine. 

Casablanca was one of the films in the first batch of 25 movies to be preserved in the National Film Registry in the US. It has only a 99% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, leaving it just shy of that coveted 100% rating, and it got mostly rave reviews at the time. One particular review by somebody writing for The New Yorker, however only called it "pretty tolerable" and "not quite up to Across the Pacific". There is the scapegoat to blame for the film not having a 100% rating, in my opinion.  (The wikipedia article that I read quotes that from Aljean Harmetz's Round Up the Usual Suspects, which I don't have in my collection, so I can't call out the writer by name, even if I was inclined to do so... which I probably wouldn't have anyway...) 

A book I do have in my collection, Kenneth Turan's Not to Be Missed: Fifty Four Favorites From a Lifetime of Film,  sums up my feelings about this film better than a writer of my meager abilities ever could:

"How these complicated personal and political dynamics evolve, how they play off each other in continually unexpected ways, is the source of Casablanca's fame and success... Hollywood in it's prime knew how to put despairing, overpowering. elevating big love on the screen as well as any cinema ever has, and if that isn't enough to make Casablanca a classic, I don't know what is." 

The film is #2 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list, just behind Citizen Kane. Other lists have it at least in the top 5. As far as classic cinema I would rank near the the top, although if you are a fan of this site you know there are several others I would rank higher overall, just because my tastes generally run more towards the types of films that classic reviewers would disdain. Even so, I would at least have it in the top 10 overall on that list.

Well, folks, time to wrap it up and take the old Plymouth back to the safety of free country. Drive safely.

Quiggy

 

 

 

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #34: Short Circuit

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 #34: Oregon :

 

The state of Oregon became the 34th of the union on February 14, 1859.

Details about Oregon:

State bird: Western meadowlark

State flower: Oregon grape

State tree: Douglas fir 

Additional interesting facts: 

As pictured above, Oregon is the only state to have it's state flag with two different emblems, one on each side. 

The actual origin of the state name is inconclusive, but I find it interesting that one of the theories is it got it's name from the fact that oregano grew in lushly in the southern part of the state. 

Although the Springfield in The Simpsons is not exactly located in Oregon, a real town by that name was the inspiration for Matt Groening, the creator of the show.

The name of the city Portland, Oregon was decided by a coin flip. It was to be either that or Boston.

Oh, and one other thing I find extremely interesting: Oregon was the first state to establish a "state mushroom". (Think about it... it's almost like kismet... given that the state was a mecca for hippie back-to-nature advocates) It is the Pacific golden chanterelle.

Famous people born in Oregon: Matt Groening, Tonya Harding, River Phoenix, Sally Struthers, Doc Severinson (Johnny Carson's Tonight Show bandleader), Linus Pauling and Chief Joseph (of "I will fight no more forever" fame), 

 

 

 

Short Circuit  (1986): 

Preface (or possibly, a rant): As predictable in many movies of this stripe, the government (and the military by relation) is the big bugaboo. You might get the idea, reasonably I might add, that in times of conservative dominance in the White House, that Hollywood is decidedly anarchistic. To wit, this movie came out in 1986, right in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second term in the office of the President of the United States. During this, and other times, when the office was occupied by a Republican, quite a number of  Hollywood movies that had a dealing with government entities would show such entities in a negative light. Think E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (Reagan). Or Firestarter. (Reagan, again). Or V for Vendetta (George W. Bush). Or one of my favorites, They Live (George H. W. Bush), in which the government forces are not only evil, but they are also aliens from outer space. Don't get me wrong. I actually liked most of these movies, but I still find the Hollywood predilection for casting government in a negative light to be a bit off-putting. OK, rant over.

 

The film starts with some project in which the "evil" government is sponsoring a group of scientists involved in creating robots. (The government's plan is to use the robots to do soldier work, thus eliminating the necessity of using humans, which may be a good thing, but also putting thousands of men out of work if successful, so not ALL a good thing, if you ask me...) 

 

 

The main scientist, Crosby (Steve Guttenberg), would rather that the robots they are creating be used for more peaceful means, but, as usual, the idealistic scientist is trumped by the military in these situations.

 

At a display of the robots' power (there are 5 of these little beauties), they lay waste to an entire platoon of motorized vehicles, fortunately not manned by real people, just mannequins. At the after party, Crosby is reluctant to show his face despite the pressure of his boss, Dr. Marner (Austin Pendleton). 

 

 

Meanwhile, at the hobnob session, a smarmy general (Vernon Weddle) explains to a senator exactly what the point is behind these robots:

General: "The only way to secure the peace, Senator, as I'm sure you know, is to be prepared. See, we can parachute these robot guys behind enemy lines. They hide out till the first strike blows over. Then each one is able to just carry a 25-megaton bomb right up the middle of Main Street Moscow - like the mailman bringing bad news. We call it Operation 'Gotcha LAST!'"

(And you probably thought I was being overly critical of the way Hollywood portrays the military...)

Crosby, of course, questions the military applications of his robot. When his boss notes that Crosby has designed a machine that will keep people safe:

Crosby: "What's so safe about blowing people up?" 

There is a gremlin in the works, however, because while Robot #5 is on a charger a lightning bolt hits the transformer the charger is hooked up to, seemingly frying Number 5. But it is still functional. At least by initial appearances. But apparently that electromagnetic shock that the robot took scrambled it's operational wiring. And instead of going back to the lab, it hotfoots it out of the laboratory, off the grounds, and ends up in nearby Astoria.

Number 5, as the robot chooses to call itself, is on the ultimate quest to acquire as much information as it can ("need input"). It ends up with an amateur local animal shelter enthusiast, Stephanie (Ally Sheedy). But upon discovering the robot, she is under the impression that it is an alien that somehow crash-landed on Earth. (Yeah, she IS pretty clueless...)

Stephanie: "Oh, my God! I knew they'd pick me! I just knew it!" 

(Yeah, Stephanie... like you're the paragon of intelligent life in the universe...)

 

 

Number 5 and Stephanie hit it off, mainly because Stephanie is oblivious and so is Number 5 (who is voiced by Tim Blainey).  Stephanie, at Number 5's request for input, introduces the robot to her set of encyclopedias. Which, since he (and I am going to refer to him from now on as "he" because I am wanting to dispense with the gender neutral "it") is a robot, can consume all the information in a matter of seconds. Number 5 is on his way to becoming a fully thinking entity. 

 

 

After reading the entire library that Stephanie has, and still demanding more input, she introduces him to that vast purveyor of intelligence... local TV programming. (Now there's something every inquisitive being needs to access...) 

Meanwhile Dr. Crosby and his assistant, Ben (Fisher Stevens) are trying to recover Number 5. You might wonder, watching these two in action, how they ever managed to get through high school, much less advanced collegiate studies. 

 

Eventually Stephanie does get clued in that Number 5 is not an alien, but a rbot and her demeanor changes, because after all that laboratory down the road is an arm of the evil militaristic government...

(See? Government equals evil. It's so straightforward even a monkey could see it...)

Stephanie calls up Nova and Dr. Marner sends out the marines, or rather the Keystone Kops who sit in as security for the laboratories, led by Skroeder (G.W. Bailey), who makes the real Keystone Kops look like the Mensa patrol. 

 

And, unfortunately, now Number 5 is on the loose, because he knows that the laboratory is now coming to get him and disassemble him (in other words, he will be "dead"). Which is not good. As he now tells Stephanie:

Number 5: "Number 5...is alive!" 

So now Stephanie is on Number 5's side, and determined not to let that evil Nova have him back. But Nova (and by association, Skroeder) have other ideas. Not only that, but somehow Stephanie has to convince the only person that can even remotely help her, Crosby, that Number 5 has transmigrated from just a simple robot to a rational self-aware entity.

 

The second half of the film involves some of the better scenes in the movie, which include Number 5 taking the other 4 robots out of the picture. (No, not "dead", just convinced that their Nova mission is not the best idea for survival, at least, the survival of Number 5...) 

So what happens? I'm going to leave you with the opportunity to find out. And for those of you with little rugrats crawling around the house, this is one of those rare ones on my blog  that I can wholeheartedly recommend as family friendly.

Short Circuit had a fair bit of success at the box office. On a budget of $15 million it garnered a $40 million in receipts. Maybe not blockbuster material, but still a decent turn around. It was received with a mediocre rating by the critics. The New York Times critic, Vincent Canby, claimed that it was "a cheerful, inoffensive fantasy in which such attractive live actors as Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy play second fiddle to machinery."  But, on the other hand, Roger Ebert, whom I don't find necessarily unsympathetic many times, said that it was "too cute for its own good."

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 62% Fresh, which makes it somewhere near the middle of the pack. And, despite its box office showing, it only gets a 6.6 on IMDb. Is is good? That depends largely on your ability to accept some of the cheesier aspects of it. It is probably going to be a bigger hit with your kids or grandkids, I admit. But I think it's not bad, given the climate of movie output for the time. 1986 was also the year that gave us such feel good movies as My Chauffeur, Flight of the Navigator, The Karate Kid, Part II,  Labyrinth, and Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home. (It also gave us some of my favorites that are NOT family friendly types, like Big Trouble in Little China and Ruthless People, but a lot of the films that came out that year are childhood favorites for kids that were young at the time...)

Until nest time, drive safely, folks. And watch the roads. There may be some inexperienced robot trying to escape the evil government out there.

Quiggy

 

 

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #33: The Long Riders

 

 

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 #33: Minnesota -

 

A note on the state flag: The above design was adopted in 2024. For much of my life it was different:

 

 

The state of Minnesota was established on May 11, 1858 

Details about Minnesota:

State bird: common loon

State flower: lady slipper

State tree: red pine

Additional historical trivia:

(The obvious first fact I have to include...): A local Minneapolis station was the first place we saw the classic TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K).

The L.A. Lakers basketball team originally played in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" (thus explaining the origin of "Lakers").

Minnesota is the origin point of the Mississippi River and runs 681 miles or so through the state. (Compare that to Mississippi which only has about 400 miles of the river... so why not Minnesota River?)

The first pop-up toaster was invented in Minneapolis. It cost $15. (In 1920 the average wage was about $40 a week...)

The former stadium called the Metrodome in Minneapolis is the only place where there has been held a Super Bowl and a World Series and a NCAA Final Four. 

Famous people born in Minnesota: Prince, Judy Garland, Bob Dylan, Charles (Peanuts) Schulz, F, Scott Fitzgerald, J. Paul Getty, Roger Maris and Vice-President Walter Mondale.

 

 

The Long Riders (1980):

A unique film in the annals of Hollywood film history, The Long Riders brought together not one, not two, not three, but four sets of brothers on screen. Not only that, but it brought together actual acting brothers to play the roles of the brothers in the film's story. 

 

Over the years there had been numerous attempts to bring the story of the James-Younger gang to the big screen. Beginning in 1921, with the real son of Jesse James playing his legendary father, Jesse had been played by the likes of Tyrone Power, Audie Murphy and Robert Duvall. His brother Frank had been played by the likes of Henry Fonda, Jeffrey Hunter and Bill Paxton. The Younger brothers had been played by, among others, Alan Hale, Jr and Frank Gorshin (which, despite the familiar comedic names, was NOT a comedy) and Cliff Robertson. 

But in 1980, one of my favorite directors, Walter Hill, managed to bring together four acting families of brothers together to play characters that were actually brothers themselves. The Carradine family, three guys, David, Keith and Robert (whose father, John Carradine, was an acting legend himself ) played Cole, Jim and Bob Younger. James and Stacy Keach played Jesse and Frank James. Dennis and Randy Quaid played Ed and Clell Miller. And to round out this family outing, Christopher and Nicholas Guest played Charley and Robert Ford.

The Keaches as the James brothers

 

The Quaids as the Miller brothers

The Carradines as the Younger brothers

 

 

 

 

 

 

The result was this film, which was Hill's follow up to what is what I unabashedly claim as my second favorite movie of all time, The Warriors.  Continuing a theme of making "heroes" out of outlaws, the movie delves into the lives of the James - Younger gang in the late 1880's. The story begins, as is fitting, with the James boys, Frank (Stacy Keach) and Jesse (James Keach), along with the Younger brothers, Cole (David Carradine), Jim (Keith Carradine) and Bob (Robert Carradine) robbing a bank. With them are the Millers, Ed (Dennis Quaid) and Clell (Randy Quaid).

During the robbery, Ed, who is a bit of a loose cannon, shoots one of the tellers, for no apparent reason other than he thinks the teller is lying when he tells Ed the bank doesn't have a safe. Even though Ed is told by Cole that the teller is not lying. In the end, after the robbery, Jesse is disgusted with Ed and kicks him out of the gang. (At this point, I, for one am disappointed, not because it is not historically accurate... it is. What I am disappointed in is that it looks like I won't be seeing Dennis Quaid any more in this picture, and I like DQ...)

 

There are several long (and sometimes seemingly interminable)  scenes that involve what is basically character development. The lives of several of the characters become intertwined with relationship struggles as the robbers try to develop romantic entanglements with female counterparts. Of course, these guys being robbers, "good girls" are not part of it. There is Cole's love relationship with Belle (Pamela Reed), for instance. Belle is a prostitute, but maybe that's the best Cole could ever hope for, given his line of work. He even tells her that's the main reason he loves he, because she is a fallen woman. 

Jim doesn't have much better luck. He's kind of hooked on Beth (Amy Stryker), who is a much more reputable woman.  But it turns out that Ed (who wasn't just an early "one scene and done" character after all... thank God...) has stolen her from out of Jim's world.

 

In between the several opening sequences of character studies we do get some of the action that was the initial draw for people like me, who look to the western as a good old shoot-em-up. The gang rob a stagecoach, with a humorous scene involving the boys taking the clothes of a high and mighty character leaving him standing there in his skivvies with his wife. They also have a train robbery sequence. 

 

All this does is really piss off the Pinkerton men, the hired law enforcement group, led by a man named Rixley, played by James Whitmore, Jr. (Whitmore, Jr is the son of James Whitmore, whom many of you will probably remember as the trustee Brooks in The Shawshank Redemption). Rixley is almost as much a villain as the outlaws in this outing, exhibiting an obsessive drive to capture the James - Younger gang.

 

The story includes some memorable scenes, one of my favorite being when Cole Younger goes head to head in a knife fight with the half-breed that Belle had married while Cole was out doing his thing. The actor who plays Sam Starr is vaguely recognizable, but it was only when I read the credits that I found out it was James Remar. Remar is a veteran of Walter Hill films. His first big role was as Ajax in the previously mentioned The Warriors, and would be the bad guy that Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy were trying to track down in 48 Hrs. 

 

Eventually we get to what is the ultimate downfall of the gang when they try to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota.  (Note: this is the reason this film is counted as my Minnesota entry in the Semiquincentennial Movie Project, even though much of the action occurs elsewhere...sue me...) The problems mount during the robbery as nearly everything goes wrong, including the fact that the Pinkertons had been aware of the planned robbery and set up an ambush.

 

The appearance of the Guest brothers as the Ford brother, Charley and Robert, is minimal, at best. I think the only reason they were even included was to set up the final denouement as (spoiler alert, but is a part of history, so you may already know...) Charley shoots Jesse in the back a few years later.

And Christopher hardly even resembles the character some of would remember, Count Rugen, "the six-fingered man" from The Princess Bride...

The Long Riders was not a huge success. It budgeted at $million and only managed to pull in $15 million during it's initial run. But then, the number of movies that were financial boons for Walter Hill as director were not that many. And the big successes, financially speaking, involved the fact that major box office draws were cast in the leading roles; 48 Hrs. and Another 48 Hrs. (Eddie Murphy), Red Heat (Arnold Schwazenegger) and Brewster's Millions (Richard Pryor). Hill still had enough success that he continued (and still continues) to make movies, of varied success. As I stated in my review of The Warriors and Streets of Fire, I consider him to be one of the best directors for what I call "guy movies".

The film has an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It got mostly positive reviews upon it's release. Roger Ebert has referenced it as "as a prime example of Hill’s strong visual energy, atmospheric tension, and mastery over kinetic action and male camaraderie."  Ebert's counterpart, Gene Siskel, gave the movie 3 ½ stars, saying  "the Western will live as long as directors make Westerns as fresh and exciting as The Long Riders, which tells an oft-told story uncommonly well."

My personal view is that the action makes up for those frequent, rather dull, character establishing scenes involving the gang's trials and tribulations with their female counterparts. Could the movie have done without them? Maybe not. The point of these scenes is to present the characters as some kind of "anti-heroes", I think, and probably are needed so we don't have a film of an entire cast of unlikable characters. It goes without saying that the Pinkertons are not exactly presented as paragons of justice. But the James - Younger gang has very few really sympathetic members, either. Even Frank, who is probably the most likable candidate for the guy you want to root for is not entirely without his bad side.

Overall, I like this film. Not nearly as much as those gang films mentioned above, but still it is an entertaining piece.

Until next time, drive safely, folks!

Quiggy

 

  

Semiquincentennial Movie Project #32: Car Wash

 

 

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 #32: California -

 

 

The state of California was established on Sept. 9, 1850.

Details about California:

State bird: valley quail

State flower: golden poppy

State tree: redwood

Additional historical trivia:

The name California came from a novel by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo about a fictional island.

It's the only U.S. state to ever host a summer AND a winter Olympics. 

Fortune cookies originated in either Los Angeles or Chinatown area of San Francisco.

California has an official state "ghost town". It's Bodie and it's an official state landmark.

California has a bigger population than many independent countries in the world.

San Bernadino County clocks in as the biggest county in the whole country.

Famous people born in California: U.S. President Richard Nixon, Steve Jobs, Tiger Woods, Robert Redford, Ray Harryhausen, Madonna, Sammy Hagar, Randy Rhoads and way too many more to name...

  

Movie (1976): 

Note: In my previous reviews of Dazed and Confused and 200 Cigarettes I took a different approach to reviewing the films because, like today's film, those other two didn't really have a coherent straight forward plot. Each of these movies is more along the lines of a series of character studies. Therefore, instead of a review of the plot I chose to focus a brief overview of some of the characters that show up throughout the film (which, BTW, takes place over the span of only one day, much like those other two films).

The setting for the film is the Dee-Luxe Car Wash in Los Angeles. I did a little research, out of curiosity. The car wash that was used to film the movie was one located near MacArthur Park. Unfortunately it was torn down in the 80's and there is a strip mall on the site. (See? OCD does have some uses...)  And notice the buildings in the background... still the same 50 years later.

circa 1976

circa 2026

So the cast includes these. And these are listed in order of my favorites, not necessarily the order of their appearance in the film.  I also include a smattering of what I call Check Him Out In, which is a list of some other films in which to find the actor, as well as a favorite line from the film for each.

T.C. (Franklin Ajaye):

T.C. is a free spirit who sports an afro that the local planes flying in to the airport must have to have clearance warnings for. T.C. has only two abiding interests; disco music and Mona, a waitress at a local dive. His main goal, at least today, is to combine them both. That is he wants to win free tickets to a disco show that the local radio station is giving away, and then get Mona to go with him.

Best line (in response to Mona telling him the special at the restaurant for the day is ribs and wings):

"I've always been a breast and thigh man, myself." (Me too, T.C., me too...)

Check Him Out In: (Convoy, The Wrong Guys)

 

Lindy  (Antonio Fargas):

 

Lindy is the token "gay" character of the film. In as much as he is a caricature of what was typical at the time, Lindy may be problematic for the homosexual community, I don't really know for sure.  I think it's done with at least a modicum of taste. Lindy is always looking good, somewhat like Klinger did when he wore women's clothes on M*A*S*H*.

Best line (in response to a disparaging remark about his masculinity from Abdullah):

"Honey, I'm more man than you'll ever be and more woman than you'll ever get."

Check Him Out In: (The Starsky and Hutch TV series, Foxy Brown, Across 110th Street)

 

Abdullah (a.k.a. Duane) (Bill Duke): 

 

Abdullah is a new convert to Black Muslim theology, and is the essence of a disgruntled black man who has nothing but hostility towards the white race, and by association, anyone of the black race that he thinks of as an "Uncle Tom". As such Abdullah doesn't get any respect from his coworkers, except maybe Lonnie. I like Duke's performance here more than the character he is playing, and I think that is a credit to Duke. He stands out as one of the more memorable characters. And it was Duke's film debut!

Best line (to Daddy Rich):

"You talkin' just like a pimp!" 

Check Him Out In: (Predator, Menace II Society, Payback) 

 

Daddy Rich (Richard Pryor):

 

Daddy Rich is a local bigwig preacher, but not the kind of preacher that spouts hellfire and brimstone. Daddy Rich is a black version of someone like Joel Osteen, a preacher who spouts an entitlement theology (take the money because it's a God-given right to take the money). Except for Abdullah most of the employees look up to Daddy Rich, because he is successful (monetarily). 

Best line:

"There is a good place in this world for money and I know where it is. It's right here in my pocket!" 

 Check Him Out In: (Seriously? There are lots. But just to name a few. Silver Streak, Stir Crazy, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling, Uptown Saturday Night)

 

Scruggs (Jack Kehoe):

 

 

Ostensibly the "token white guy" in an all-black comedy, Scruggs is adorable. He plays a guy who is stressing out over the previous night's festivities. Apparently he had stayed out all night partying, failing to show up at home. He still hasn't shown up and is sick to death over what his wife is going to do. And apparently he participated in some extramarital adventures and is now worried he has a memory of the night he'd prefer not to have. (If I have to be more explicit, you are in the wrong theater...)

Best line (while on the phone to a clinic):

"Well, it's just kinda hangin' there, lookin' sick..." 

Check Him Out In: The Sting, The Untouchables, Serpico. 

 

Car Wash is replete with other characters who don't get enough screen time to really make an impact. I particularly like Geronimo (Ray Vitte). Vitte had a very short career. He died at age 33 from, I think, sickle cell anemia. But he was memorable whenever he showed up in film and TV. He was a friend and band member of Pedro (Cheech Marin) in Up in Smoke and he played a DJ in Thank God It's Friday. Lloyd and Floyd are pretty good as a pair of wannabe singers. Lloyd, BTW, was played by De Wayne Jessie, who had a separate career as a singer with Otis Day and the Knights. Otis and the band were created for a couple of scenes in Animal House, but went on to perform for real (much like Spinal Tap). Richard Brestoff is pretty good as the son of the car wash owner, who would rather be a Communist following Mao than be the son of a member of the white establishment. But even the people he really wants to connect with, the black working men, don't take him seriously. And I can't forget to mention Ivan Dixon as Lonnie. Ivan was most memorable as Kinchloe in the TV series Hogan's Heroes. He had retired from acting by this time to direct and produce films, but came out of retirement specifically for this role.

There are numerous other cameo roles throughout the film. Lorraine Gary, who played Chief Brody's wife in the Jaws movies, has a bit part as an overly hysterical upper crust woman worried more about what damage her Mercedes is going to take as a result of her kid throwing up on it than she is about the kid himself. Carmine Caridi, whose biggest impact was as gangsters in movies like The Godfather movies and Bugsy, shows up as a rather loser of a father who leaves his Doberman in the car, apparently just to mess with the attendants.

There is one minor complaint as far as it goes. I think they underused George Carlin, who makes several appearances in the film. But his sole purpose is kind of lame. He plays a cab driver, and his sole impact is he's just wandering around trying to find a girl who ditched him mid cab ride without paying her fare. That fare girl, as well, is not entirely all that interesting. The movie describes her character as a hooker. She hides out in the restroom changing her outfit for most of the movie and doesn't really have much to do once she finally comes out of it.

Car Wash made a pretty decent profit at the box office, bringing in $14 million against a $2 million budget, and currently holds an 86% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Our old buddy Roger Ebert actually liked the movie, giving it 3½ out of 4 stars, and his cohort Gene Siskel granted it 3 out of 4 stars. 

Interestingly enough (and here's a shocker for you highbrow readers who think Citizen Kane is high art and movies like this are only for the lowbrow masses...), Car Wash was actually a candidate in the final running  for the Palme d'Or  in the 1977 Cannes Film Festival, To be considered along the likes of Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Padre Padrone, the winner of that year's prize, as well as Wim Wender's The American Friend, Robert Altman's 3 Women and Ettore Scola's A Special Day I think is pretty significant. It even won two awards, for Best Music and the Technical Grand Prize.

From an interesting video I found on Car Wash:

If you saw this on commercial TV,  you saw a slightly different version. There were deleted portions, that focused on the gay character, Lindy, taken out, and instead inserted scenes that had been originally deleted from the theatrical release. These involved, believe it or not, Danny DeVito and Brooke Adams as a couple who owned a diner next door to the car wash. I couldn't find any clips online of the deleted scenes, so I don't even really know how DeVito made out in the role, but I bet he was pretty good.

Another interesting fact in that video. The producers created the soundtrack prior to actually filming the movie. Thus, when the characters are on screen dancing and jigging to songs on the soundtrack they actually ARE dancing and jigging to the actual songs, not just faking it to a music that would be added later. This was at the time a new development. Most movies would only add the soundtrack AFTER production had wrapped. This created a scene that was real, as opposed to just having the people dance to a song that wasn't even there.

And finally: this movie was originally written to be a stage play for Broadway. The writers envisioned a full blown stage play, complete with some working stage props to give it an authentic look. (Imagine all those people in the first few rows getting wet from the on stage action... I don't know about you, but it sounds somewhat like being front row for a Gallagher concert. Google "Gallagher" if you don't get it...) 

Well, folks, that's it for this time. Drive safely. And preferably in a nice clean car... 

 Quiggy