Movies & TV : 1976

Old is New – The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

MattM — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:02:00 GMT

The Film

After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1950, John Cassavetes began acting in theater. He would go on to appear in many television productions and Hollywood films, but his work as a writer and director of independent films is what makes up the bulk of his enduring legacy. His works have an improvised quality to them by making use of a hand held camera to achieve a truthfullness he found lacking in most films. Many deal with troubled marital relationships and feature his wife, actress Gena Rowlands. I have never been interested in these (Faces, Shadows, A Woman Under the Influence), but may reconsider after seeing his lone film in the gangster genre, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Mr. Cassavetes expressively reveals much about his characters and allows his actors so many unique moments in a film which is otherwise structured in a conventional fashion.

Cosmo Vitelli (Ben Gazzara) is not a winner. But that doesn't stop him from gambling. In the first few moments of the movie, the owner of a hole-in-the wall topless joint repays a substantial gambling debt. To celebrate his freedom from the loan shark, he picks up three of his lovely employees in a limo for a night out. After giving them each a corsage (ever the suave gentleman) they go out for drinks and... a little gambling.

By evening's end Cosmo owes the house $23,000. He meets with the gangsters running the place (which include Cassavetes' regulars Seymour Cassel and cult figure Timothy Carey). After a discussion in which he promises to repay the debt he leaves and takes the girls home. It isn't long before the underworld figures show up at his club to collect, giving him an option that will free him of his debt - the mob wants him to assassinate a local Chinese bookie. After some persuasive interchange, he finally agrees. Cosmo sets out alone to do the deed and become free again. But of course, the task will not be that simple.

As previously mentioned, Cosmo is a loser. His whole life is dedicated to a lowly topless club. The people there serve as his family. The girls perform ridiculous routines with the laughable master of ceremonies, Mr. Sophistication (Meade Roberts). The setting is not remotely erotic, only sad and embarassing. But Cosmo is a professional, dedicated to giving his audience a "good" show. He is a mess, yet constantly has a positive disposition. His earnestness makes him endearing to the point that we care what happens to him as he heads down the street to the bookie's house. Gazzara gives a wonderfully nuanced performance. The film has points where it lags a little, but its virtues outweigh its flaws.

The DVD

The best way to view this movie is on the disc from the Criterion Collection, part of a five part collection of Cassavettes titles. It is a new transfer with widescreen image and surround sound, including the 135-minute cut as well as the tightened 108-minute version (which is the version I reviewed). Both were edited by the director in the 1970s.

Film Connections

Several films in the 1990s made wonderful use of Cassavetes regulars Seymour Cassel and Ben Gazzara. Mr. Cassavetes progeny have directed several films as well. Nick has directed The Notebook and Alpha Dog. Zoe wrote and directed Broken English. Alexandra made the superb documentary, Z Channel: A Magnificant Obsession.

Old is New – Bound for Glory (1976)

MattM — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:45:00 GMT

The Film

Hal Ashby's fifth film, Bound for Glory, seems a perfect fit for a director interested in outsiders and nonconformists.The film follows the exploits of Woody Guthrie during the dust bowl era. It is based on Guthrie's autobiography, which apparently is not all together based on fact. The picture was nominated for several Academy Awards, winning a best cinematography Award for Haskell Wexler. It was recently screened at the Aero (which features Klipsch Cinema Systems) in Santa Monica, California with Wexler and two of the stars in attendance - David Carradine and Ronny Cox. It sounds as if... it didn't go as well as planned.

The setting is a Texas town in 1936 that is rapidly vanishing. Everyone is trying to come up with a plan to make some money, and most of those plans involve going to California. When we meet Guthrie (played rather brilliantly by Carradine) he is a sign painter and part time musician. He has a wife and kids to feed, and the economic challenges put a strain on the family. After a huge dust storm hits, there is even less opportunity, so Guthrie takes off hitchhiking for California to try to find income to support his family.

The film meanders with Guthrie as he hitchhikes and hops trains, meeting new people along the way. Eventually he comes to identify more and more with the thousands of poor and out of work people he finds living together in labor camps (Wexler reveals the camp with the first steadicam shot in film). A fortunate break allows him to start making an income as a musician, enabling him to bring his family out to California, but he never forgets the downtrodden workers and continues to be involved in the union movement. Even if your politics slant the other way, Bound for Glory is an interesting and well told tale.

As was common in films of the decade, Mr. Ashby paints an unheroic portrait of the protagonist. We see him, warts and all. Guthrie can seem completely committed to his family, but then cheats on his wife repeatedly. He is a complex, if frustrating character to watch. Carradine really brings a lot of passion to the performances, mostly in the movie's second half. But what keeps the movie really going is the excellent music. If you enjoy Woody Guthrie or folk music in general, you won't want to miss this film.

The DVD

The disc was released in 2000 and unfortunately includes no extra features. The image is high quality and preserves the dreamlike fogginess of the dusty plains. The music still sounds great in 2.0 mono.

Film Connections

The first connection that came to my mind was the boxcar rides of the experimental film I'm Not There, about various phases of Bob Dylan's life (there is a Guthrie phase). Walk the Line was a well made, more conventional biographical film based on a musician. Not about a musician, but Martin Scorsese's The Aviator also portrays the early, formative years of a legendary figure on the rise.

Old is New - Marathon Man (1976)

MattM — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:09:00 GMT

The Film

John Schlesinger began directing television and feature films in Britain during the late 1950s and early 1960s. His early work is part of a movement in that country called Kitchen Sink Realism. Mr. Schlesinger would go on to work in the United States with as much success, and considered himself a "mid-atlantic." His best known films include Billy Liar, Midnight Cowboy (Best Picture Winner), Sunday Bloody Sunday and Marathon Man.

As the film opens, we see archive footage of marathon runner Abebe Bikila. As he finishes a race we cut to a man running in New York City. His name is Thomas 'Babe' Levy (Dustin Hoffman), a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia in history. He is studying the same areas as his father before he committed suicide after a 1950s McCarthy-era investigation. Babe has a brother Henry, known as 'Doc" (Roy Scheider) who is often traveling. As far as Babe knows, he works for an oil company. While at the library studying Babe meets a beautiful young woman from Switzerland. When Doc comes into town the three of them go out for dinner.

Parallel to the story of Babe, we see an older German man at a bank looking at a safe deposit box. He takes something out, puts it in his pocket and leaves. As he drives away he has car trouble. An impatient Jewish man explodes in anger and the two begin racing down the street, smashing into each other on their way to crashing into a fuel truck. Fire and death ensue.

How do these two story lines connect? It isn't apparent at first. In fact, the movie is a little confuzing early on. But things pick up as we are given more pieces. Let's just say there is murder and torture involved, as well as double agents and Nazis. The brother of the German man is Dr. Christian Szell (Sir Lawrence Olivier), a Nazi criminal. After his brother's death, he attempts to visit their safe deposit box to retrieve the valuable contents. And Babe finds himself in the middle of it all, with even less understanding of what is going on than we have. The film is a great thriller filled with twists, turns and plenty of paranoia.

One last bit of info. Blogger pal Phil and I watched this movie during lunch at Klipsch in one of our listening rooms with the HD Theater 500. Sound was fantastic. Couldn't believe it was coming from such a small system.

The DVD

The DVD features a widescreen presentation and the option of Dolby 5.1 or Dolby 2.0 audio. Extras include a look back at the making of the film, as well as a featurette from the time and some original rehearsal footage.

Film Connections

Dustin Hoffman's most recent film, Last Chance Harvey, was also directed by a Brit. There is a reference to Marathon Man in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow when, after seeing a holographic image of Lawrence Olivier, a character repeats the infamous question, "Is it safe?" And for a more recent movie that involves international spying, murder and espionage (yet based on actual events) look into Steven Spielberg's Munich.