The Golden Era of the Good Script: Some Notes on "Isle of the Dead"

We will never know if Val Lewton was being self-referential or not, when he referred to Isle of the Dead as being “an unholy mess of a film”. The phrase ‘unholy mess’ was originally presumed to refer to a number of detrimental incidents connected to the  making of the film. The worst of these was that Boris Karloff had a serious back condition and was forced to have an operation, which held up production for a considerable time. According to most sources it was not an easy film to make for all persons concerned, hence Lewton’s (apparently)  dismissive remark. But I think that it needs a little more elucidation than that.  

The phrase “unholy mess” I think tells us more about the artistic pre-occupations of Val Lewton himself, than it does about Isle of the Dead’s troubled gestation. This seemingly off-the-cuff remark could also reflect Lewton’s sense of frustration at his status as a B-picture producer, with the concurrent pressures of getting a picture made on time with very little rehearsal, and even less money to spend on making it look (and sound) respectable.

Maybe Lewton  was (unconsciously) acknowledging a  primary theme of his movie by his use of the word ‘unholy’,  and the particular theme I am refering to is  the seeming incompatibility  between folk belief and organised religion in primitive cultures.  Isle of the Dead, whilst not exactly in the same league as Cat People  or I Walked With a Zombie  is a doom-laden saga about the inevitability of death, with a few effective scares thrown in for good measure. As a counterpoint to the 'action', there is also some interesting and somewhat provocative discussion between the characters about the nature of religion, and the decline of superstitious belief that, will certainly enthrall you if you find these issues to be important.

A bizarre publicity still for "Isle of the Dead"

 Keeping  in mind that Lewton may have said it was "unholy mess of a film" at a time when he was obviously unhappy with the finished product, we should also remember the number of  artists who have ever, in history, denigrated their work as being unfinished, unsatisfactory or just plain bad, ie ‘an unholy mess’ (I haven’t sat down to make a list, but I’m sure there’s lot).  I’d like to made the case that the power of the phrase ‘unholy mess’ is unfortunate, in that it turns potential viewers away from sitting down to watch the film to judge for themselves, and makes it more difficult for those of us who actually like Isle of the Dead, from explaining exactly why it is we do like it.

Recently I sat down to  watch Isle of the Dead for the umpteenth time, in order to nail down exactly why it was that I liked it on first viewing, and still do. I can think of no other way to do this, than  basically ignore all aspersions against it, and concentrate instead on giving the reader some kind of idea as to why it works for me, personally. To do this, I sat down to make a Cliff’s Note analysis of the plot, made out of all due respect, and hopefully without any spoilers. What I love most about the film is that it’s a fine example of the kind of literate script that most movie moguls of the golden era would kill for.  Or for that matter, move moguls of any era, including our own. If this gives the readers of this blog an indication of the quality of Isle of the Dead, then I should be very glad and not a little grateful. I include stills and posters in order to illustrate the main points, and to break the monotony for the reader.

The screenplay is credited to Ardell Wray, but was most likely unofficially revised by Lewton. This was Lewton’s approach to the screenplay, as with all of the films he made at RKO. Whilst some performances are of varying quality, I think that Boris Karloff acquits himself better than the supporting players. I can only discern two  of Lewton’s stock company  Skelton Knaggs  and Alan Napier in minor roles. Director Mark Robson seems to have concentrated on keeping Karloff’s character if not on-camera constantly, then at least being talked about by the other characters. 

The cinematography by Jack Mackenzie is atmospheric and striking, and the music by Leigh Harline is apparently taken from the Rachmaninoff Symphony of the same name. It is stunningly suitable for such lugubrious subject matter. Both film and symphony were suggested by the painting ‘Isle of the Dead’ by Austrian artist Arnold Boecklin. There’s an interesting web page about the artist here.  Despite what I’ve read elsewhere, I think that Boris Karloff gives a good performance as General Pherides, a handsome and distinguished Greek officer obviously troubled as a direct result of his experiences in the Balkan war of 1912 .

OPENING SCENE

Boris Karloff (General Pherides) orders one of his men to commit a self-destructive act over a minor infraction. Marc Cramer (Oliver Davis) is a journalist who looks on as the harsh judgment of the General is carried out. 

SINGING IN A CEMETERY

The General takes Davis to visit  a cemetery on an island away from the fighting of the Balkan war of 1912. A mysterious voice emanates  from far away.  Afterwards they take refuge at an inn on the island. Other people staying at the inn include Mr St. Aubyn (Alan Napier), his invalid wife (Katherine Emery) and her housemaid Thea (Ellen Drew). Thea is introduced to the General but is aware of his reputation for cruelty. 

THE CANDLE GOES OUT

Thea attends to her mistress and asks Mr St Aubyn for his wife's medicine. She runs into the General and they exchange angry words. Thea accuses the General of being a cruel martinet and not a true Greek nationalist.

A GRAVE MATTER/WE WILL FIGHT THE PLAGUE

Staying at the inn also is Londoner Mr Robbins (Skelton Knaggs). He is mysteriously found dead and the General suspects an outbreak of  plague. The General declares martial law, and allows nobody to leave the island, as he holds grave concerns about the health of his troops and what will happen if they are infected and unable to fight.

YOU CANNOT WASH AWAY EVIL

A vorvolaka is an evil spirit. Madame Kera (Helene Themig) is an old woman who believes the ancient superstitious folk beliefs of her people. Kera accuses Thea for being an evil spirit reincarnated,  whose presence is the cause of the outbreak of  plague. It appears that Mrs St Aubyn's husband has been infected but Mrs St Aubyn refuses to believe that he will die.

WATCHING THE WIND CHANGE

Mrs St Aubyn explains her fear of premature burial, as an invalid who often goes into a trance-like state where it appears she is no longer alive. 

A PRAYER TO HERMES

The Doctor (Ernst Dorian) surrenders his belief in science in deference to the Greek god Hermes,  He fears he is infected by the plague.

I'M NOT AFRAID OF DYING

Cerberus, the three headed dog guarding the gates to Hell

Mrs St Aubyn nurses the doctor. Other characters pray to Hermes but the General does not. The General explains he is an atheist. Oliver believes the General is a good man who is attempting to protect them.

FEEDING THE FIRES OF AN OLD GOD

Kera explains her beliefs in evil spirits to the General. During sleep, the spirit spends its time with demons.

ARE MY THOUGHTS DIFFERENT TO OTHER MEN?

Oliver sympathises with the General, realising he is fighting something bigger than the plague. Thea calls Kera's superstitions 'stupid'. The General threatens Thea with his knowledge of evil spirits and accuses her of causing the decline of Mrs St Aubun who is becoming weaker.

COULD IT BE MY SPIRIT

Mrs St Aubyn explains that she trusts Thea. The General confronts Thea and Oliver. Oliver defends Thea from the General's accusations. The General becomes unhinged and plots so that Oliver and Thea will not be able to leave the island. 

I CANNOT SEE THROUGH STONE AND MORTAR...LIKE SOME I KNOW

Thea informs Mrs St Aubyn of the General's threats. Mrs St Aubyn accuses the General of persecution and tyranny. Oliver tells the General he has no rights over any of them.

A CROSS OF ASHES ON THE DOOR

Mrs St Aubyn collapses and Thea fears she will be blamed for being a vorvolaka. The General forces his way into Mrs St Aubyn's room, and the General accuses Thea. Oliver tells Thea to avoid the General. 

THIS ACCURSED ISLAND

The General fears he has been infected with the plague. A slow  drip of water in an empty tomb suggests that maybe a vorvolaka exists amongst them after all. 

I HEAR IT

The General hallucinates on his deathbed about Thea. Thea hears a singing bird and looks for it in the forest, but fears for her safety and seeks refuge in a stone tomb, She escapes from an apparition who is hardly seen. The General recovers to find out he has been unable to protect Kira. 

WAIT MRS ST AUBYN!

Thea makes her peace with the General who thinks he saws the vorvolaka. Oliver and Thea are free to leave the island. 

The Power of the Commentary: Some Excellent DVD Audio Commentaries

As the title suggests, this is a list of my favourite audio commentaries. It's the quality of the DVD package that I'm refering to, rather than the overall quality of the film concerned and whether I like it or not. If you're interested in criticism, or just a casual observer, the special features that DVDs provide are invaluable. You can listen to a commentary as often as you want, or only  just once and never again if  you've got a good memory. It's there on the disc for the asking, and whilst the films themselves are certainly good, the commentaries were terribly important to my understanding and enjoyment of them.  Of course this is all highly subjective.

 I should add with a certain amount of frustration, that a number of titles available in Region 4 are released without their special features, but  I don't know why this is so. Instead of opining about what I've missed, the purpose of this post is to alert people to an almost endless stream of high-quality commentaries that are out there. Sadly, it's impossible to say how much longer this will last, with the upheaval caused by digital technology and the film industry's struggle to keep a hold on Hollywood's preponderance, which appears to be precarious at best. But that's  just my humble opinion. Anyway, here's the list with my favourite title The Magnificent Seven,  coming in at last position:

There's always a catch

10. Catch-22 (1970), directed by Mike Nichols; audio commentary by Mike Nichols and Steven Soderbergh, Paramount.  This isn't one of my favourite movies, but what I understand of it is mainly due to the informative commentary by director Nichols with assistance from Steven Soderbergh. Being in the minority for not having read Joseph Heller's book, I thought it would be convenient for me to watch the film. I was 20 minutes into the film on first sitting,  but honestly, did not have a clue what it was about. So, I started to watch the DVD over again with the commentary track turned on. It can be a schizoid experience dividing your concentration between the commentary and the movie but I was determined to know what was happening. Nichols is known for his erudition and he takes the viewer on an informative and entertaining ride explaining the difficulties of film making and casting (with some good vignettes about Orson Welles), and how difficult in today's Hollywood it would be to make a film of this kind.   For viewers either familiar with the book or not, the commentary is a superior and informative experience, but I leave it up to you if you are as silly as me, and  you need to listen to the commentary before you see the film.

9. Ryan's Daughter (1970) directed by David Lean; audio commentary by Lady Sandra Lean, Petrine Day Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Michael Stevens, Roy Stevens and a number of others; Warner Home Video. This is one of those films that's been re-appraised down the years. It was badly treated by the critics who attacked David Lean to the extent that he only  made one other, "A Passage to India" which was sadly his last. Some commentaries that are cobbled together with a lot of participants can be confusing when it seems they have no idea what the person before or after them is going to say, but this is seamless. All the participants worked on "Ryan's Daughter" and they are quick to point out its virtues, and the technicians who worked  behind the camera are touching in their obvious affection for David Lean.  Sarah Miles is funny, and loyal to her late husband Robert Bolt, Lean's long-time collaborator and has some good stories about working with Robert Mitchum in a role in which he seemed to be miscast. Leans' widow Lady Sandra Lean is respectful and informative throughout. This commentary is a real pleasure and enhances the movie greatly. I think it's really a beautiful film, and the commentary assists no end in convincing me of that opinion.

8.Blackboard Jungle (1955) directed by Richard Brooks; audio commentary by Peter Ford, Paul Mazursky, Jamie Farr and Joel Freeman; Warner Home Video. I discovered this recently, the movie itself which I had briefly seen years ago on television. The commentary is neat, informal and very entertaining. Peter Ford is the son of Glenn Ford who had a successful career in Hollywood playing parts like this, a teacher in a deprived neighbourhood trying to make a difference to the lives of his students. The film is frank for the period in its depiction of juvenile delinquency and it seems that racial issues were as much of a problem then as they ever have been. Peter Ford speaks with affection about his father, and Mazursky who became a reasonably famous director has some anecdotes about his  friends and acquaintances from New York and their efforts to break into the movies. Jamie Farr had an on-going role in the MASH TV series and seems grateful for "Blackboard Jungle" and how it helped his career. Also note Peter Ford's modest attribution concerning "Rock Around the Clock"  the film's signature tune, as well as numerous other insights into the careers of other cast members and director Richard Brooks.

"those glorious people out there in the dark..."

7. Sunset Boulevarde (1950) directed by Billy Wilder; audio commentary by Ed Sikov; Paramount. This is probably my favourite film on the list, and I'm glad the commentary chores were given to Ed Sikov, the  author of a brilliant book on the career of Billy Wilder, called, appropriately enough, On Sunset Boulevarde. Mr Sikov turns out to be a brilliant  raconteur as well as analyst, as he discusses the making of the film, the genesis of the script (as Wilder was a stickler for the written word) and the tone of the film itself, which one could only describe as ironic and bizarre. Most of the iconic stories about the film are for the taking on this wonderful commentary, as well as some others you may not be familiar with, including the (original) bizarre opening sequence that flopped with  preview audiences. Suffice to say, the replacement sequence, with William Holden face down in a swimming pool was a hit, as Wilder skillfully manipulates us into a world of Hollywood shysters and has-beens. The commentary is almost as essential as the movie.

Baby! Baby!

6. The Hills Have Eyes (1977) directed by Wes Craven; audio commentary by West Craven and Peter Locke. Umbrella Entertainment. Better known today for his 'Scream' franchise, director Wes Craven is responsible for some touchstone horror films that have become vastly popular on DVD. This is one of those, which I first found on ex-rental video. Waiting for a DVD release was worth it, and the special features are awesome including a chatty and informative commentary by Craven and producer Peter Locke, as well as an enteraining look-back documentary with many members of the cast. As the film was shot on location in the desert, there are many funny and interesting stories about the gruelling conditions the cast and crew had to endure in their efforts to make it big in Hollywood, as most were young and unknown. Craven's other films including 'Scream' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street' also have excellent commentaries, but this package stands out as being the last word on the subject, packed as it is, the advertising states, 'with a bounty of bloody extras.' No truer words were never spoken.

5. Days of Wine and Roses (1962) directed by Blake Edwards; audio commentary by Blake Edwards. Warner Video. This is one of the most off-the-cuff commentaries you are likely to hear, but this only enhances Edwards' sincerity and lack of affectation. Based on a successful television play, Days of Wine and Roses is a harrowing portrayal of a married couple trapped in a loving but dysfunctional relationship that unfortunately includes alcohol as a third party. Edwards candidly discusses his own problems, and what you get is a riveting dialogue about Hollywood and its possible dangers. As well, Edwards has stories about stars Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick and what it was like to make movies in a  Hollywood that no longer exists. The beautiful title song written by long-time collaborator Henry Mancini also gets a nod. I have to say this is a terribly sad, but ultimately touching commentary that should not be missed. There's nothing self-aggrandising about it, Edwards just talks, and you have to listen. But it is great talk, and gives you an enormous amount of appreciation for the film you may not have had before.

watch Harper like girls

4. Harper (1966) directed by Jack Smight; audio commentary by William Goldman; Warner Home Video. William Goldman is a legendary Hollywood screenwriter and 'Harper' was one of his early writing successes. Based upon the Ross McDonald novel 'The Moving Target', the script caught the attention of Paul Newman as he was riding a wave of success in the mid-sixties, when it seemed he could do no wrong in the eyes of the audience. Goldman's audio commentary is fascinating as he alerts the audience to any number of difficulties that had to be overcome to getting Harper onto the screen, as cheaply and in as little time as possible, which apparently was the way they did things in Hollywood in the sixties. I also like William Goldman's audio commentary for 'Misery', directed by Rob Reiner in which he possesses the same amused irony of an ordinary bloke who wouldn't  dare dream of being accepted into Hollywood's inner sanctum. Goldman doesn't have a bad word to say about anyone, but he still seems baffled by the process of making a film and this is what makes this audio commentary so insightful and amusing for any attentive listener.

3. The Conversation (1974) directed by Francis Ford Coppola; audio commentary by Francis Ford Coppola; Universal Studios. This is the film Coppola made between the two Godfather movies, and it's indicative of the director's desire to make more personal films without pressure from any studio to make it their way. The Conversation is one of a kind, and the audio commentary brings this home to the listener. Shot on location  in San Francisco, The Conversation is a frightening look at a paranoid wire-tapper who overhears (and tapes), a  benign conversation between two people. The fact that the conversation has been overheard has tragic ramifications, despite the wire-tappers efforts to withdraw himself from the consequences of his actions. Like a lot of great films when you attempt to encapsulate the plot, this hardly seems riveting, but it is. And the commentary is obviously the product of a talented filmmaker who knows exactly what he wants and how to achieve it. A lot of exciting extrapolation of plot and character, Coppola sounds like a born writer, and his stories of some grappling with the studio in order to make this film to the best of his ability, make for great listening. This is a fantastic film, and Coppola has done himself proud by contributing a fantastic commentary.

She's alive!

2. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) directed by James Whale; audio commentary by Scott MacQueen. Universal Studios. The work put into making the Classic Monster Collection is awesome  (and still is), and it was difficult to decide which title deserved to be on my list. I was a hold-out of the Bride, despite its reputation as the best Universal horror film. But after several watches and listening to the audio commentary, I was finally convinced. Scott MacQueen's commentary is thorough and exhaustive, especially relating to the censorship problems the film had in 1935. The means in which film makers got round the prohibitive censorship laws make for some informative commentary, and MacQueen explains with great clarity and interest how James Whale thumbed his nose at the censors by being outrageous in ways that were undetectable, and irreversible once the film had been released. I should also note the excellent documentary with  contributions from notables who regularly pop up in the special features of other titles in the Classic Monster Collection such as Greg Mank and Rudy Behlmer.

The 7 in action

1. The Magnificent Seven (1960) directed by John Sturges; audio commentary by James Coburn, Eli Wallach, Walter Mirisch and Robert Reylea. MGM DVD. I first saw this film on television and was taken in  by its confidence in its ability to entertain an audience, as deliberately naive as that may sound today.  Gun-slingers from north of the border defend a small Mexican town from a corrupt bandit and his bloodthirsty gang. A rousing adventure, the audio commentary of The Magnificent Seven reflects the film's sense of fun and adventure. James Coburn explains how the actors were cast, and basically how much fun they all had. There was a famous feud between Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen which involved the entire set whilst they were shooting in Mexico. Director John Sturges championed a young unknown German actor that nobody liked, but he stood his ground and made a mark for himself. There's a swag of information in this commentary with a lot of laughter and good times thrown in, explaining what The Magnificent Seven meant to those who made it, as well as to those who are its fans, with an excellent documentary thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!

Giving Credit Where It's Due: A Rumination on the Life of A Character Actor, Credited and Uncredited

Note Cary Grant's name on cast list 

One of the pleasures of a movie collection is gaining an appreciation of the performers who play the parts that are not the leading roles in many of  our favourite films. In old Hollywood studio movies the leads and supports seem reasonably well demarcated. With the exception of a few like Humphrey Bogart who made it big time after being cast in a string of supporting parts in mediocre films, the best looking actors usually got the lead roles in big budget prestige movies. Cary Grant was more conventionally handsome than Bogart, say, but he also did not become a star overnight, but managed an uncertain career  through years of dogged  persistence, and the emergence of a talent that may have taken an unsuspecting audience unawares, considering his looks.

 Other performers, who were  not so dependent upon their, -- shall we say 'presentation', were given the smaller parts which hopefully contributed to the narrative and a significant amount of audience attention. Character actors such as Thelma Ritter, Peter Lorre, Anthony Quinn and Claude Rains became performers of renown in their own right with a body of work that impresses us today, maybe more than ever before. It could be argued that  character actors are the ones the audience want to actually know and remember for later, after  the names of the  performers in the leading parts have long escaped us. Which is maybe as it should be.

Bogart's name way down the list

I have my own list of favourite supporting players, and I am sure others do as well. The list of their credits may seem endless if like me, you enjoy using the IMDB  to research the work of your favourite supporting players  that may have escaped from under your personal radar. And because many golden age films only listed the minimum number of credits, I can say that  the IMDB has insinuated itself into my psyche,  for the purpose of identifying performers who have either not received a credit at all,  or an acknowledgement of the part that they played at the film's conclusion. Most if not all old movies have performer credit listings before the movie begins. Some studios did not always feel the need to have them after the movie was over.  'The End' card  was displayed  and that meant literally the end of the movie. By the time you were thinking to yourself  "that was good but I wonder who played so-and-so", the movie was finished and you were meant to get back to your life and forget about it.

But the reality is that not all of the films our favourite supporting actors made in the past are actually  available for us to view today. Take Claude Rains for instance. Naturally, I am well  aware of Rains' best known films such as "Casablanca", "Notorious" and "The Invisible Man", the first two at least made when Rains was at the peak of his career. However, I am also aware that "Lady With Red Hair" (1940); "White Tower" (1950); and the  remake of "The Lost World" (1960) would be for Claude Rains completists only. To me, they're only listings on the IMDB which I am doubtful of ever seeing.

Now, who doesn't know for example, that Thelma Ritter plays the maid in "All About Eve", even if you're like me who. with some shame has to admit hasn't  even seen the movie? The movie, and Thelma Ritter's presence in it, are that iconic. Then again, who has ever heard of "I'll Get By" (1950); "The Second Time Around" (1961); or "The Proud and the Profane" (1956), except for those hard core Thelma Ritter fans  who are champing at the bit to see the complete output she made throughout her illustrious career no matter how good or bad it may be?

Robert Osterloh plays a convict in White heat

 After a period of adjustment to that fact, I have found myself seeking out the identities of some character actors (two in particular), who never received a credit in the movies I first saw them in. Their bodies of work seem like an open book, compared to the iconic status of many supporting players from the classic era who are well known today, but  whose best known work is probably the only opportunity we may ever have of seeing them. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I would like to point out that there are other performers just as deserving of our praise. We finally have the opportunity to discover who they might have been, the other work they did, and why we should give them, finally some attention.

One of my favourite unknown supporting players: Lawrence Dobkin

Two supporting actors have captured my attention over a number of years until I was so upset at not knowing who they were, I just had to look up the IMDB to make sure I wasn't hallucinating their presence(s). One is an actor by the name of Robert Osterloh (1918-2001), and the other is Lawrence Dobkin (1919-2002).

 I first came across Robert Osterloh in "White Heat". This is one of James Cagney's best known films, an iconic Warners gangster film packed with a lot of action as well as a good helping of weird Freudian goings-on. Osterloh's name is not listed with the other performers at the beginning of the film, and there are no credits at the end. Osterloh plays Tommy Ryley, a small-time hood and Cagney's right-hand man when he admits to a relatively minor offence and has to do some time in prison. It's a great part that Osterloh has. It has a reasonable amount of screen time and he and Cagney make a great team.

At the end of the film I was keen to know who played the part of 'Tommy Ryley', and why he wasn't given any credit for it was a mystery to me. Since I didn't know what his name was, I had to remember his face in case he popped up again in some of my other favourite titles. And he did. But I still didn't know his name! That came later. The clip I'm including below from White Heat is pertinent. Osterloh is sitting on Cagney's right-hand side as Cagney is about to do something pretty spectacular. Osterloh has to communicate to Cagney some bad news, and just watch what Cagney does when he finds out.

After some time, I also noticed Robert Osterloh in two more of my favourite . films, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". They are only small roles, and both of these are also uncredited. If you think I'm only making this up you can check out his IMDB page here, where you can see that Robert Osterloh has a list of performances, both credited and uncredited, as long as your arm. These include, but are not limited to Rosemary's Baby  (uncr); Inherit the Wind (uncr); Violent Saturday (uncr); The Wild One (credited); Pinky and Criss Cross (uncr); and Gun Crazy directed by Joseph Lewis (credited.) He also had an extensive presence on television, appearing in such successful shows as Perry Mason; Laramie; Wagon Train; and Ironside, all classic television shows that are still remembered today.So, if I wanted to be a Robert Osterloh completist, I would certainly have a long haul ahead of me. But I'll never forget him in 'White Heat', and my journey to find out his identity, for the simple reason I thought it wasn't fair that he should receive no credit.

The case of Lawrence Dobkin (aka Larry Dobkin), is not dissimilar. Lawrence Dobkin first came to my attention in 'Sweet Smell of Success', a classic 50s film about the doings of a famous columnist played by Burt Lancaster and his weasel of press agent played by Tony Curtis.  Dobkin plays a rival press agent of Curtis' named Leo Bartha. Bartha gets embroiled in a scheme to separate Lancaster's sister (Susan Harrison) from her boyfriend (Martin Milner). Lawrence Dobkin is not credited at the beginning of the film with the other players, nor at the end, and it struck me as strange. It's a good part with its fair share of screen time; it is also well written so we don't know what to actually think of Bartha. The clip I'm including from 'Sweet Smell of Success' has a scene where Bartha is exposed to his wife as a heel, rather than a man of principle after years of kow-towing to others in order to keep on their good side.  I think it's his best scene in the film and starts at 1:57.

I also discovered Lawrence Dobkin's participation in a few other films that I was acquainted with, most notably The Defiant Ones (credited); Them (uncr.) and North by Northwest (uncr).  Other titles he appeared in include 'The Ten Commandments (credited); Twelve O'Clock High; Deadline USA; and Whirlpool (all uncr.). You can check out Lawrence Dobkins' IMDB page here to see his full list of credited and uncredited appearances. As well as working in front of the camera, Dobkin has 72 credits as a director of television series and these include but are not limited to Gilligan's Island; The Munsters; and 77 Sunset Strip. So if you just watched that clip from Sweet Smell of Success, you'll see what a talented actor Dobkin really was, and how, judging from his credits, we will probabaly never get to see everthing he ever did in front of, as well as behind the camera. I should also note that he may be best known in the United States as the narrator of the television series Naked City. He has a distinctive voice like most good actors, but since he wasn't seen, his actual appearances in front of the camera were not nearly as well known as they might have been.

Anyway, I should go back now and resume making my tenuous connections, and modest proposals for an extension of the canonical names in supporting history. Let's hope some performers become better known, as their work deserves to be credited as part of the history of film.

The Decline of the Musical? Says Who?

The album cover of the original soundtrack of 'Camelot' (1967)

The decline of certain genres of Hollywood movies is not something to be celebrated. I was raised on a heavy dose of musicals a a time when the genre was in decline. It comes to something when you're eleven years old and after the movie is finished you turn to your mother and say: "That was terrible. Why did we come to see this for??" There was a rash of musicals released roughly between 1966-1971 that are now almost canonical in their badness. They are blamed for such things as sinking their studios because they were too expensive to make, turning audiences off in droves, wasting the talent of performers and technicians and generally giving the genre a bad name and reducing it to a sad oblivion in contrast to the glories of its past achievements. I was taken to see most these 'canonically' bad musicals, and wasn't impressed at the time. But they've kind of grown on me down the years, and I have reserved a soft spot for them in my heart. They weren't all bad I guess, and it's true that despite the mediocrity, the music itself could not be disparaged, that is if it had any merit at all, and it usually did.

The remake of  'Goodbye Mr Chips' was not a success. But  it has its admirers today.

 The point I'd like to make is that one generation's decline in interest in a genre, may be another's rise. I checked on the IMDB lately to find out if westerns were still being made, and it seems they are. The westerns that I remember, when they were made at all, questioned the notion of manifest destiny, say, in a way that more traditional westerns made in the forties and fifties wouldn't have dared. But there was a revolution in social mores going on in the late sixties, so that if  westerns got made at all, we were expecting them to question the conventions of the genre they supposedly represented. That's just the way things were back then. These days, I think that audiences prefer not to have their basic assumptions about life questioned, and maybe that's a good reason for a lot of the pedestrian entertainment we have to tolerate. And I now proceed to directly contradict myself by coming to the defence of a collection of films that were deemed to be, exactly that: mediocre, trite and a complete waste of time to anyone with an IQ above their shoe size.

Bet you didn't know that Lee Marvin could sing. Well  he couldn't...exactly.

You could hardly call the following titles a mixed bag. None of these received much in the way of critical acclaim and they didn't do very well at the box office either.  And I got to see them all, thanks to my overzealous family who wanted me to have an appreciation of musicals. And I guess that's what I got, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this post. My life wouldn't  be the same without them, although that can't be said of most people. So, hold your breath for a collection of '60s kitsch that will make you wonder what you may have been missing, that is if you hadn't been born yet to appreciate it.

Vanessa Redgrave looking beautiful in 'Camelot' as Lady Guinevere, who marries Arthur and becomes  queen.

As a genre, the musical was popular and profitable from the advent of talking pictures onwards. But by the late sixties, the musical was having a difficult time surviving the new Hollywood of raging bulls and easy riders.Fantasy became frowned upon by a new sense of realism, the abandonment of the Hays Code, and a societal shift that thought it was pretty silly having people singing their thoughts out aloud and dancing in the rain. After the success of 'The Sound of Music' (1965), the musical took a turn for the worse, and the following, are held to blame for what is still thought of today as the decline of the genre. Since I've become more sentimental down the years, I have chosen to abandon my ridicule, and thank my lucky stars instead that I had a chance to see them at all, and leave it up to others to judge whether they should be so unfairly treated.

CAMELOT (1967): Starring Richard Harris Vanessa Redgrave Franco Nero. Music and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. I was taken to see 'Camelot' three times by an older sister who had a crush on Richard Harris. I rightly felt it was a little above my head. I didn't understand the romance and could only see the pain that people go through when they fall in love and didn't have an explanation for it. But the songs were bewitching and I always remembered them. Standards like 'If Ever I Would Leave You', 'What Do the Simple Folk Do' and many others guaranteed that this Broadway hit would be transfered to the screen. The part of King Arthur on-stage was played by Richard Burton, who apparently talked the song lyrics as if he were reciting poetry because he couldn't sing. Richard Harris plays Arthur in the movie and he went on to have a successful recording career as a singer, most notably with 'Macarthur Park' which was a worldwide smash hit in 1968. It's a very long film which runs for at least two hours, and when there is no music, it tends to lag. It's beautifully photographed and won an Oscar for Best Costume Design. To me, Vanessa Redgrave who plays Queen Guinevere will always be 'the pretty lady wearing the pretty costumes' in 'Camelot'. And they were beautiful. Franco Nero makes a dashing French knight and there is plenty of whimsy combined with the more adult storyline of a woman loved by two men who want her exclusively for themselves. I own 'Camelot' on DVD and watch it every now and then for the music and if I'm feeling a bit blue on a Sunday afternoon. It's that kind of movie.

Julie Andrews had 125 costume changes in 'Star'. This is one of them.

STAR! (1968): Starring Julie Andrews Daniel Massey Richard Crenna. Music arranged by Lennie Hayton. Director Robert Wise enjoyed working with Julie Andrews so much in 'The Sound Music' that he suggested  they re-unite for a biography of British stage actress Gertrude Lawrence. Most of the musical numbers take place as I recall, on the stage which does away with characters suddenly breaking out into song for no apparent reason. Whilst receiving mixed reviews on its release, 'Star' has stood the test of time and has a loyal following of fans, who make sure that its virtues are not glossed over. Daniel Massey received an Academy Award nomination for his role as Noel Coward, a life-long friend and supporter of Lawrence's as she went through the many ups and downs of her private and public lives. The film was hacked about a bit, and taken away from Robert Wise by 20th Century Fox because hopes dimmed of recouping the money it took to make it. Julie Andrews is required to use some salty language in keeping with Lawrence's roots in working class London, which came as a bit of a shock to those of us who were more comfortable with her image as a goody-two-shoes. My favourite musical number in 'Star' is 'Has Anybody Seen Our Ship', a hilarious music-hall number with Andrews and Massey dressed up as two drunken sailors who remain landbound after a hard night. See the video below.

SWEET CHARITY (1969) Starring Shirley MacLaine John McMartin Chita Rivera Paula Kelly Sammy Davis Jnr. Music by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields. Choreography by Bob Fosse. Originally a stage musical, this was adapted by Bob Fosse from the Fellini film Nights of Cabiria, about the life of an optimistic Italian prostitute. The character became instead a taxi dancer in New York who has bad luck with men but remains hopeful of finding true love. What sells 'Sweet Charity' is firstly the great costumes, secondly its setting in the present-day, and thirdly, the spectacular dance numbers. MacLaine gives it all she's got and had been a dancer when she first started in show business. Paula Kelly and Chita Rivera are prominently featured as Charity's friends and their dancing is really amazing.  Charity is a sympathetic character, if a little dim as she confides in her dance hall girlfriends about how badly men treat her. Unfortunately, the space between the musical numbers isn't terribly interesting. Sammy Davis Jnr sings and dances to 'The Rhythm of Life' and other great songs include 'There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This', 'Hey Big Spender, and 'Rich Man's Frug' which is actually a dance number with no singing. I enjoy" 'Sweet Charity', it's charming but wafer-thin especially on the story side but the music is very entertaining and will keep your toes tapping for most of its 149 minute running time. Below is the 'Hey Big Spender' dance number.

SONG OF NORWAY (1970) Starring Florence Henderson Toralv Maurstad music by Robert Wright and George Forest, based upon the music of Edvard Grieg. This was an attempt to cash in on the success of  'The Sound of Music', but it is a very pale imitation. Harry Secombe, who had a supporting part commented later that "Song of Norway is the kind of film you can take the kids to see....and leave them there" and he's not far wrong. Shot on location, the only thing spectacular about this is the scenery. I simply do not remember the music, because it was that awful. A supposed biography of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, who wrote 'In the Hall of the Mountain King', this is really terrible. It didn't make a nickel and everybody hated it. 'Song of Norway' is by far the worst musical on this list. It deserves its obscurity and if any single film is to blame for the decline of the musical, this must surely be it. No previews of this one, you may not be able to take it. I know I couldn't.

FINIAN'S RAINBOW (1968) Starring Fred Astaire Petula Clark Tommy Steele, music by Burton Lane. 'Finian's Rainbow' is a harmless piece of whimsy, unkindly described by one critic as a 'cheesy, joyless thing'. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it is difficult to believe that this is as disappointing as it is, but it is. Warners had the rights to the stage play for twenty years, and hoping for musicals to have a resurgence, Jack Warner got back into the dangerous waters of predicting audience interest after the success of 'My Fair Lady', but this may have been a miscalculation.  Petula Clark is the best thing in it, she has a lovely voice and a warm personality on-screen and was well-known at the time for pop hits such as 'Don't Sleep in the Subway' and 'Downtown'. This was Fred Astaire's last dancing role and critics complained that he looked too old. Tommy Steele plays Og the leprechaun and he may be energetic, but it is tiring to watch. I thought the story was convoluted when I saw it as a youngster and there is a racial sub-text which the Wiki page labels 'pre-Civil rights' in its depiction of race relations, and I'm inclined to agree. The fantasy aspects of the plot never quite merge to make the film a whole, and it just comes across as simply unbelievable. The songs include 'Old Devil Moon', 'Look to the Rainbow' and 'How are Things In Glocca Mora'. The film was partially choreographed by Astaire's long-time collaborator Hermes Pan who was fired by Coppola before the film was finished. See Petula Clark sing 'Old Devil Moon' below.

Wake Me Up I'm Dreaming! Some Good Parallel Universe Movies

It could be argued that parallel universes are the ones we aren’t supposed to be living in ourselves, because to some, reality is merely what we think it is -- but such a premise is not very scientific. If anything the possibility of universes existing beside our own sustains fiction more than it does provable fact, which is not to denigrate the possibility. Merely to suggest that reality is sometimes what Hollywood says it is. And THAT is very disturbing, when you think about it.  This is a list of some movies that I like, because they focus on the possibility that our reality is not the only reality that may exist.  Unfortunately it seems to be only mentally ill people who suffer the most from this delusion, that is, if it is a delusion. H.P. Lovecraft didn’t think so. But then again, he was crazy.

 The Forgotten (2004) When Roger Ebert gives a movie the thumbs down, I usually take notice, but with ‘The Forgotten’ his bad review unintentionally tweaked my interest. Normally wary (as well as weary) of the ‘You must believe me I’m not mad’ or the ‘You must believe me I’m not guilty’ [cue Hitchcock] genre of misunderstood heroes, ‘The Forgotten’  convinced me to suspend my disbelief in its first half hour. I can’t speak for anyone else really. I guess I’m just gullible. I believe what  Julieanne Moore says, and what she’s going through. I also enjoyed putting the boot into all of the [male] characters, who are either deliberately contradicting her, or trying to put her away. I’m not making a case for it as the best movie ever made, but director Joseph Ruben, writer Gerald DiPego and the entire cast put their heart and soul into making the story as believable as possible. Ruben previously directed ‘The Stepfather’. It was pretty good and I think that ‘The Forgotten’ has that same dogged intention to make the audience  consider the possibility that what they  are watching could maybe happen.  What ‘The Forgotten’ lacks in veracity, it makes up for in courage and panache, and to me that can’t be a higher recommendation.

The Others (2001)  This is the scariest ghost movie since ‘the Innocents’, and has a lot going for it. It’s written with a great deal of imagination.  Its leisurely paced (but in a good way),  good to look at and in a nutshell, turns the scary ghost movie on its head. The plot twists do not become stale with further viewing – they still surprise me when I’ve actually seen them before which  encourages me  to watch the movie  again with the same sense of anticipation. The viewer is for the most part as lost as Grace Stewart, played by Nicole Kidman, who is living in a large  house on the island of Jersey in the closing years of the second world war. She is expecting her soldier husband  to return home, while she is left alone with her children, and a strange trio of servants whom we are left to wonder what they in fact,  are doing in the movie. To say any more would be spoiling this bizarre foray into a parallel universe that confounds the viewer as much as the characters. But that’s just part of ‘The Others’ eerie charm and its pervading sense of mystery that has the viewer caught off-guard till the denouement which is as tragic as it is  convincing.  Directed by Alejandro Amenabar.

Johnny Depp's dressing gown is wonderful

Secret Window (2004). There’s an excellent set-up by writer/director David Koepp in the first hour, which loses  momentum by the end, as  it tries to tie up its  loose ends  a bit too neatly. At least for my liking.  Koepp’s affection for ‘Psycho’ and ‘Repulsion’ is apparent. Comparisons to  Polanski’s acclaimed fable of mental illness would be unfair but ‘Secret Window’ is reasonably smart and scary, as it attempts to portray its main character’s descent into a parallel universe, which I think would question the nature of madness itself if it wasn’t for the film’s predictable descent into slice-and-dice by the conclusion.  Johnny Depp is believable and surprisingly subdued as Mort Rainey, a writer of mystery stories who is being stalked by a demonic kind of fan who doesn’t like him very much. The other supporting players are a little off kilter themselves, which makes the audience uneasy about the veracity of anything that seems to be going on in the strange town of Tashmore Lake, where things are not  as they appear. [Cue for raised eyebrows and creepy organ music].

Carnival of Souls (1962) I voted for this when I first went on-line, as the best independent horror movie ever made, and I see no reason to think differently now. Director Herk Harvey appears in his own film as an apparition stalking our heroine Mary Henry, played by Candace Hilligoss,  a church organist who emerges unscathed from a car which drives off a bridge in which she was  passenger. The ‘passenger’ metaphor is continued, as Mary’s dilemma consists of being aware that life and the living of it does not last forever.  There is definitely something strange going on, as she drifts in and out of what we would like to call ‘conventional reality’. ‘Carnival of Souls’ weaves its spell on the most jaded viewer as it draws us into its vortex of uncertainty and impending panic.  The audience is offered little explanation until the end, but  frankly I wasn’t the least bit surprised. I unabashedly love ‘Carnival of  Souls’, even the budget Region 0 version that I own without  special features, and I wouldn’t trade it in for a hundred Matrixes, Minority Reports or Inceptions

.  

My what a big hypodermic you have. The doctor from hell.

Jacob’s Ladder (1990).  The brainchild of writer Bruce Joel Rubin. ‘Jacob’s Ladder’  spent years in development hell, but I think the wait was worth it. Taken with a grain of salt on first release, the film  rises in  estimation with repeated viewings. In other words, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ is the kind of film that digital technology was made for, and I think it’s  as perfect as a movie can be, about the possibility of an alternative or parallel reality which exists outside our own dimension.  Jacob Singer as played by Tim Robbins  returns home from Vietnam and works as a postman. His  existence is not as mundane as it seems, as Jacob begins to have hallucinations. What really happened to him in Vietnam?  The hallucinations get worse as director Adrian Lynne pulls out all the stops with amazing visuals that are so real we can understand  what Jacob is feeling, and it is certainly alarming.   Elizabeth Pena plays girlfriend Jezzie without giving  the story away, and Danny Aiello is an osteopath without a halo, telling Jacob he must give up his memories in order to  journey on up the ladder.  I found, and still find ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ a riveting experience, sympathetically played, beautifully presented, and a satisfying example of Hollywood commerciality at its noblest and most artistic.

 

NOTE: Roger Ebert’s review of ‘The Forgotten’ may be online.  I haven’t checked because it’s included in one of his yearbooks: Roger Ebert’s Movie Year Book 2007, Kansas, pp. 241-242. I haven’t quoted or even paraphrased, but used it as a jumping-off point for my own ideas. It certainly makes for a good read even if like me, you kind of enjoy the film unlike Roger. 

Shoot first, ask questions later: Some great rogue cop movies

A random rogue cop: Emile Meyer in Sweet Smell of Success at right.
'Come here Sidney - I want to chastise you.'

I sometimes think that rogue cops are the most interesting characters in movies. Often they are vile, usually corrupt, but always compelling. In their moral...er,  abstruseness, they give the audience a sense of  existing vicariously on the edge without the bruises, the stress, the heart condition and the alcoholism to prove it. 

Let's face it, blanket approval of the rule of authority can get a bit tedious to watch. Rogue cop films fill the vacuum between movies which expect us to go hurrah when some poor sucker gets nabbed, and those that make us angry when an obvious injustice has occurred because of a corrupt system.  Court-room films for example can bristle with their sense of injustice, but somehow getting a big guy to do your dirty work for you can be far more effective than presenting a case in a courtroom where you could possibly lose. 

Made to look in from the outside because of their sheer imperviousness to rules and regulations, and because of their psychotic devotion to a sense of law and order all their very own, rogue cop justice is  dished out without fear or favour to suspects whether they happen to be guilty of a crime or not. The rogue cop is a law unto himself, and sometimes a creature that we are meant to show a certain amount of sympathy for. After all, isn't he just performing a civic responsibility which we lack the nerve to perform ourselves? I sometimes feel a distinct sense of moral twilight coming over me when  asked to sympathise with a violent, incorrigible overage delinquent who roughs up suspects, indulges in bribery, plants evidence, and thinks that he can get away with it. But hey, that's just me.

The occupational hazards of police corruption. Was Sterling Hayden a
rogue in 'The Godfather?' You be the judge.

  If the viewer leaves his/her politically correct values at the door, he/she can indulge in a nostalgic sense of  longing for a time when the  police arrived on your doorstep immediately you called them. When crime was a simple case of personal assault or theft. When, in a nutshell, the police were the good guys and the criminals were the bad guys, and all remained well with the world for this particular demarcation. 


The following films will leave no room for doubt that rogue cops have an underlying appeal to audiences who respond to their viscerality  when the rest of us, in their place, would be considering the implications of our actions, and the conundrum which arises. Should we blame the cop for his moral weakness, or the system for its inability to stay pure in the face of ultimate compromise?  That is the burning question for most films that feature rogue cops as their main protaganist.

     Notes on some boundaries of this list. 


 *Russell Crowe gives a great performance in L.A. Confidential but  is redeemed by the love of a good woman by the end of the film so he doesn’t count.

Clint may be cool, but Dirty Harry isn't included.
You could however, check out 'Tightrope'.

* Gary Oldman gives a good performance as a rogue cop  in Romeo Is Bleeding, but it’s a crummy film I wouldn’t recommend to anybody that I liked.


* He makes so many movies that I could be wrong, but I don’t think Christopher Walken has ever played a policeman. But it's been a long career filled with a generous share of low lifes. He makes a great drill sergeant in ‘Biloxi Blues’. So you could check that out. 


*You may question my omission of Harvey Keitel in ‘Bad Lieutenant’, but he’s a bit too much of a rogue if you get my meaning. The film  is strictly for adults only and is something I shouldn't admit to even seeing because it could get me into trouble.
  
*Clint Eastwood works so hard to make his ‘dirty harry’ persona appear to be a cog within the system, that I  never envisioned the character as an outsider, so I also haven’t included the initial film, ‘Magnum Force’ (which I actually prefer over the original), or the other sequels to the series,  whose names have, down the years,  totally escaped me.

*Sterling Hayden deserves an honourable mention for his performance as the corrupt policeman in 'The Godfather' but his screen time is minimal -- unfortunately, as I would have liked to see an entire back story devoted to his character. But that was not to be, and we are left  with a portrait of depraved authority. Hayden tells the made men how to run their business, resulting in his demise at the hands of an emerging godfather far more ruthless and brutal than the one he has been used to dealing with. So say goodbye, Sterling.

On Dangerous Ground (1952) Detective Jim Wilson played by Robert Ryan. Directed by Nicholas Ray

Robert Ryan stars as a rogue cop on the edge of sanity, working the city streets where he roughs up suspects in order to get an arrest with no qualms about how unethical his behaviour may be. His superior, wary at the prospect of being responsible should his 'unconventional' methods be revealed, banishes Ryan to a mountain locale where the hunt is on for a suspected killer. Unbenownst to Ryan, the killer is being protected by somebody closest to him. Ryan is humanised by his relationship with a blind woman (Ida Lupino) and attempts to distance himself from the depraved life he's led in the city.


 Charitably described by David Shipman as a "disillusioned, fist-happy cop", Detective Jim Wilson is portrayed by Ryan as alternately psychotic and sympathetic, with nothing much in between. The VHS  which I was privileged to see a number of years ago looked like a transfer of an old television print, but after conducting some research online, I  discovered that this is the way the film was originally photographed. To me, it seemed almost soft-focused, unlike many noir titles with their expressionistic lighting and attention-getting contrasts.  


An appealing mixture of downright dirty police procedural and poetic realism, 'On Dangerous Ground' does a plot about-turn at its half-way mark, but remains a unique introduction to the rogue cop (sub) genre and is as  good a way as any to tune into the many other film noir titles of the 1950's. An interesting review of 'On Dangerous Ground' is available here.

Touch of Evil (1958) Detective Hank Quinlan played by Orson Welles. Directed by Orson Welles

'If you're mean enough to steal from the blind, help yourself'. Charlton Heston
plays a Mexican drug enforcement officer in 'Touch of Evil'.

A noir with the unmistakeable Welles brain propelling it into action, 'Touch of Evil's critical  reputation has increased with the years and rightly so. Orson Welles directs himself as a sociopath whose venality knows no bounds, but is nonetheless human in his monstrousness.

Since expecting some kind of social commentary to magically emerge in '50s movies would be unfair, I think  that our modern, more moralistic expectations of a corrupt system being exposed is not entirely satisfied by this film. Instead we are led down a labyrinth of personal evil on the part of Quinlan, whose corruption began to decay him as a human being long before the story began. That's not to say that the repressive social structure which Quinlan represents is not always present. Quinlan is a lackey of American imperialism, reluctantly sharing his border with a less economically prosperous and much needier partner which, as an American, he has no choice but to resent.

The calm before the storm. Janet Leigh's denouement comes
later.

 Hank Quinlan is nobody's idea of a cultural ambassador or positive role model in law enoforcement.  What he seems to represent to Welles, who never portrayed the wheels of justice in a positive light, (see 'Lady from Shanghai'),  is the unredeemed individual who can blame nobody but himself for his corruption and his inability to any longer protect himself from accusations of  bribery, dishonesty and murder. Honest individuals are needed for the system to function, and this is the only way for corruption to be stamped out. Welles gives a towering performance filled to the brim with menace and regret, and  receives excellent support from Charlton Heston, Akim Tamiroff, Janet Leigh, Marlene Dietrich and Mercedes McCambridge. For Charlton Heston's stories on the making of 'Touch of Evil', you can click right here.here

The French Connection (1971) Detective Popeye Doyle played by Gene Hackman. Directed by William Friedkin

Popeye waves goodbye to his bust, an ironic commentary that only the
connection will understand

A  documentary with a noir sensibility made in colour, 'The French Connection' is a hard-hitting suspense thriller concerning a policeman's pursuit of  the greatest drug bust in history. Gene Hackman's portrayal of Popeye Doyle is based upon the exploits of a real-life police partnership between Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso (Buddy Russo in the film as played by Roy Scheider). 

Popeye Doyle hates drug pushers -- he sees himself on the side of the angels, but he does unfortunately use somewhat questionable tactics.  On a hunch, the partners begin to tail a small-time hoodlum and his wife living in Brooklyn, where they uncover a million dollar drug deal dependent on the approval of payment to the French connection of the title.

Set personnel rugged up for one of New York's worst
winters in living memory.

 Doyle is a bit of a duffer in his funny hat -- he fancies himself as a ladies man, but doesn't have many social graces. What he knows how to do is his job which is to catch criminals, unrelenting in his purpose.  The hunch turns out to have credence, but questions throughout the film arise as to the methods the partners are using and an audience perception that Doyle is merely a thug out to convict a man because of his cultural difference.

 Aside from these existential meanderings, the film has a number of spectacular set pieces including an attempted shooting  at a housing estate, and a car chase involving a train that is one of the most exciting ever committed to film. I find 'The French Connection' to be neutral-free in the way it portrays every-day police work and its portrayal of Doyle leaves little room for questions of guilt or conscience. The man is what he is, and in the pre-Miranda era, he's a guy that you'd like to have on your side.  The fact that he's a thug is not glossed over, so much as left to audience expectation as to whether it makes much of a difference to the conclusion of the story. Which I suppose, makes it glossed over after all. 

The Offence (1973) Detective Sergeant Johnson played by Sean Connery. Directed by Sidney Lumet

Made as part of a deal with United Artists in return for Sean Connery consenting to make his last James Bond film after an absence of five years, 'The Offence' (aka 'Something Like the Truth') has languished as a film made by an important star and a prominent director which never received a proper release in the United States. This shabby treatment of 'The Offence' begs a lot of questions regarding the rise of digital technology which I won't go into right now. But this does not detract from that fact that it's an awesomely fine movie which will eventually find its audience after many years of  being neglected. 

Living in interrogation hell. Det. Johnson goes through the
motions

 Detective Johnson is a riveting character with all the necessary criteria to be classed as one of the  great rogue cops of modern cinema. A demon to work with and a home life which exists but is not the least bit bearable, Johnson is a man obviously at the end of his tether. Working on a child molestation case, he cracks and kills the suspect, a nerdy and unconventional man who goads him into looking at himself before condemning anyone else to a life of punishment and mortification in prison. The guilt or innocence of the suspect (played by Ian Bannen) becomes irrelevant, as Johnson himself is put on trial by his conscience and his almost disturbing self-awareness that his past has most surely caught up with him. 

Sean Connery seems energised by the exceedingly well-written material and Trevor Howard and Vivien Merchant give able support to a majestic performance of dessication, loneliness and despair as interpreted by Connery. The criminal justice system is itself put under the microscope and left severely wanting, and the audience is left with a bereft feeling of being cheated of justice because of the shortcomings of the practitioners. This is a must-see movie which will one day take its place as an exemplary example of film-making, with its astounding central performance and its  insights into the meaning of justice and the human condition.

Q&A (1990) Detective Lieutenant Mike Brennan played by Nick Nolte. Directed by Sidney Lumet

This is another Sidney Lumet entry, with Nick Nolte receiving the acting honours as Mike Brennan, a decorated New York cop with an impeccable reputation, who the audience sees within the opening minutes of the film shooting a man  outside a nightclub. The suspense arises from his colleagues discovering that he is not the honourable cowboy they have been always led to believe, mainly from his record of convictions and his forthright demeanour. After the body is discovered, a conventional investigation is called by the DA's office, but this is only meant to clear Brennan from any wrong doing and close the case. Brennan becomes increasingly jittery as circumstances arise where not only his judgment, but his character is questioned over the incident. 


Cop turned assistant DA Al Reilly (Timothy Hutton), in the manner of most cops, is reluctant to railroad his former colleague, but  evidence of wrong-doing remains. The New York police force is struggling with racism within its own ranks, and Brennan appears to be a dinosaur from another era, who shoots first, roughs up suspects at the faintest provocation and is gun-happy to boot. He has become an embarrassment.  Colleagues Valentin, a Latino (Luis Guzman), and Chapman, an African-American (Charles Dutton), have their loyalty to Brennan exploited by the system and by Brennan himself until it becomes obvious they can no longer stand by him. 


Nick Nolte gives a great performance, recalling Hank Quinlan as a man of little scruple and monstrous in his venality. A good-old-boy chewing the fat with his colleagues as he waits to be interviewed by the investigation, Brennan appears to not be the least bit concerned about the Q&A. That is, until its too late for his soul. 


An annoying sub-plot concerning Reilly's love life is only necessary in that it brings into the plot Bobby Texador, (Armand Assante) married to Reilly's ex-girlfriend and not at all happy that he's been included in the proceedings. All performers mentioned are excellent, but are somewhat overshadowed by this dark, enigmatic and menacing figure that is Mike Brennan. Perhaps not as deep as it would like to be, Q&A is an entertaining police procedural  with a performance from Nick Nolte that is great to watch and highly recommended.


Training Day (2001) Detective Alonzo Harris played by Denzel Washington. Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Alonzo sizing up Jake. It's not complimentary.

'Training Day' is exactly what it's name suggests -- a day in the life of a rookie LAPD cop Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), who wants to join the narcotics unit of Detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington). You could call it a pretty long day, because Alonzo makes no bones about showing the newcomer what he's in for, and what life is like on the mean streets of East L.A. Summing up Jake on their first meeting in a restaurant where Alonzo is miffed at being interrupted from reading his newspaper, we can clearly see that Jake could well be out of his depth with this  street-savvy narcotics officer who seems to have seen it all, and done it all. Our sympathy goes out to Jake. 


What follows is a series of tacky events mainly involving drugs, money, and murder in which Alonzo tests Jake to see what kind of mettle this white boy is  made of. The fact is, Alonzo has been messing with the wrong people and his superiors are not  happy with him. Jake does not realise this until its's too late for Alonzo, but not too late for Jake.

Who's the boss. Detective Alonzo Harris, that's who.

 'Training Day' is a really terrific film that takes the viewer on a roller-coaster ride of emotions --  mainly anger, fear, sadness, exhilaration and finally resignation.  A dire sense of fatalism is somehow balanced out by the marvellous character study of Alonzo.  Denzel Washington's portrayal of a cop, a rogue on the outside for the very reason he is a walking time-bomb, is sensational. Washington deserved his 2001 Best Actor Oscar with bells on, he is so good you just have to see the nefarious dealings this character gets up to, and it's a great ride. 


There aren't a lot of other characters with speaking parts, mainly the suspects whom Alonzo either shakes down, or beats up. Scott Glenn is superb in a small but very important role and he makes his mark. Macy Gray makes her debut in movies and I was also impressed by the realism of her performance.  Tom Berenger, Raymond J. Barry and Harris Yulin play the Troika who seem to hold sway over Alonzo, and are suitably sinister puppet-masters, but shown only long enough to make their presence felt in a very effective way.

'Training Day' has a lot of things going for it, and as a study in rogue police behaviour, it may be a template for the next century or so. I really loved it.

Dark Blue (2003) Detective Eldon Perry played by Kurt Russell. Directed by Ron Shelton

I was taken aback by 'Dark Blue' when I first saw it. It had been hyped a bit, and often I take that to mean that because something's not very good, the powers that be have to make a noise about it. But with 'Dark Blue' the hype was justified.

'Dark Blue' is an excellent police procedural and uses as its backdrop events leading up to the Los Angeles riots of 1992. I like this sly combination of fact and fiction, and it actually has a point to it, which is to heighten the drama and make what's going on look far more factually correct than it may have been otherwise. Saying that something has a 'documentary feel' to it is such a cliche, but if it's done subtly the viewer hardly notices, which is, I think, the best way to go about things.

As played by Kurt Russell, Eldon Perry does not have a lot to complain about. He has a good job, and a wife waiting for him at home in the suburbs. Unfortunately, he has a demanding boss in the form of Jack Van Meter (Brendan Gleeson), who treats Perry as his personal attack dog. Anything arriving at Van Meter's desk that's gross, he only has to call on Perry to do it, and it's done. Perry and his younger partner are called in to investigate a combination murder/robbery at a convenience store. Van Meter nominates a couple of suspects. Perry first goes along with this, until he realises that Van Meter is lying, and what follows is a messy descent into double-cross and ultimately murder.

The riot's already started, and I haven't collected my badge yet! Shucks...

Naturally, all is not what it seems with Perry's personal and professional life. He is not married happily, and like Hank Quinlan,  is beyond redemption because the corruption of his spirit has been going on for an eternity. (Or at least before the film started). But what happens is surprising. Perry attends a promotions ceremony and at the podium in front of a big crowd, implicates Van Meter for his corrupt behaviour. The character's sarcasm, and self-loathing are brought to bear in an amazing speech that thankfully rises above self-pity.  Perry's dislikeability is  made bearable by his decision to to take a certain amount of responsibility for the years of racism and neglect that have turned Los Angeles into a riot zone.

 Kurt Russell is wonderful in a part that he just eats up, and 'Dark Blue' is definitely his show. A lot of supporting characters are around but they don't make a big impact and their sub-plots are not as interesting to watch as Perry's character arc. Scott Speedman as Bobby, Perry's partner, seems a bit overwhelmed  as the moral centre of the film, and Ving Rhames doesn't have much to do as the black officer who hates Van Meter and everything he stands for.

Despite these reservations, 'Dark Blue' is very good in almost every other department, and Kurt Russell has a well-deserved place in the rogue's gallery of out-of-control policemen. Congratulations, Kurt!