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SLING
BLADE (1996): It's
been nine years since we first met Billy
Bob Thornton's signature creation Karl
Childers, just released to Arkansas society
after years in “the nervous hospital”
for killing his mother and her lover as
a child. Billy Bob established
himself as a major talent with SLING BLADE,
writing, directing and starring in a rural
drama with heart, pathos, and tragedy,
and a memorable co-star in Lucas Black,
the little boy who “likes the way he talks.”
Buena Vista Home Entertainment celebrates
SLING BLADE with a two-disc collectors
edition featuring the 148-minute director's
cut, complete with a compelling commentary
from Billy Bob. Disc Two has a slew of
extras, including two documentaries, a
roundtable discussion, new conversations
with Billy Bob, co-star Robert Duvall
and composer Daniel Lanois, and outtakes
of co-star Dwight Yoakam.
Billy
Bob Thornton was the second recipient
of the NBR Award for Special Achievement
in Filmmaking, for writing, directing
and starring in Sling Blade (1996);
two months after the 1997 NBR Gala, Thornton
won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Sylvia Caminer and I interviewed him at
the time of the film's release:
SYLVIA
CAMINER: You've made your character of
Karl such a lovable and ingratiating character.
BILLY
BOB THORNTON: He's almost a little like
Frankenstein, y'know? Not that I ever
personally had that in my head but I was
talking to a horror movie fan today and
he said, "Well, of course, it has
Frankensteinian overtones." I was
like, "OK".
JOHN
GALLAGHER: What directors did you talk
to before you shot?
BBT:
I called two directors, Jim Jarmusch and
Taylor Hackford. I really got the confidence
to do it my way from Jarmusch and the
confidence to be the boss from Taylor.
SC:
How many days did you shoot?
BBT:
24. 24 days for a million dollars and
we actually, this sounds like I'm being
a braggart about this but I always like
to tell people who are also filmmakers,
cause we had 25 days, so I was a day under.
I was just proud that my first movie I
was a day under.
JG:
You borrowed a lot of buddies that you
worked with from other pictures -- like
Robert Duvall.
BBT:
I was criticized for using Duvall from
a couple of people. They said why was
Robert Duvall so underused, and they obviously
don't get the point. You're using a guy
like Duvall because he can take five lines
and turn it into something and not milk
it like a guy who only gets five lines
in a movie. I knew that Duvall would sink
back into that chair and become Karl's
father for the two hours he was there
shooting.
JG:
It's gotta be hard for anybody to act
and direct, but especially that character.
BBT:
Y'know what, it wasn't so bad cause I'd
done Karl in the theater in a one-man
show for so long. I feel very comfortable
playing Karl. I don't know what that says
about me, but I do. So it was so natural
to me to go into that character. Coming
out of it at the end of a scene was harder
because you really want to let the moment
hang. I mean that's one of the things
I did but also you get criticized for
it, "It's too long, it's too slow-paced."
It's exactly what I wanted to do. I mean
it's like we're gonna go anti-MTV here
and I wanna force people to watch this
movie. You have to watch. You can't go
get popcorn for five minutes, it's not
being thrown in your lap, y'know, you
have to be the person who figures it out
cause I won't be figurin' it out for you.
And
also at the end of scenes I just hate
the way they cut the moment. That moment,
especially in huge commercial films, but
even sometimes in independent films cause
we're so conditioned to get the hell on
with it that so much is said at the end
of things in silence. Given this character
of Karl, that's the way he is anyway,
so the movie is going to go at the pace
of this guy, I'm sorry, y'know. That's
why alot of times I would call "Cut"
quite a while after the moment of the
last line. Sometimes just to screw around
with the crew a little bit I would say
"Cut" as Karl and then keep
giving directions to people like that.
I would goof on 'em a little bit sometimes.
SC:
What was the atmosphere like on the set?
BBT:
I told the crew from the very beginning,
"I've got two rules. One is that
video playback is only for me, y'know,
cause we don't have much time and I don't
wanna be showin' everybody in the world
what the scene looked like and having
you say, “Ohh, the makeup's not quite
right on his nose.” The makeup's fine.
The other rule is nobody argues on this
movie. If the director's not nervous you
have no reason to be nervous and I'm never
nervous so don't you be nervous, so they
were all bein' nervous one day and I'm
like "What's wrong? This is my ass
here, not yours, you don't worry about
it and I don't care, we're fine, everything's
OK, I haven't yelled at any of ya."
JG:
The fact that you shot masters wasn't
just economical -- it was a conscious
style.
BBT:
Anytime they try to accuse me of doing
it that way because I didn't have time
or money I'll always remind ‘em of the
25-day and the 24-day difference. I had
plenty of time.
SC:
Yeah, you don't want to have those cutaways
really.
BBT:
Absolutely. I like to see actors react
to each other. If I got nine guys in a
scene like I did in that band scene or
something, I wanna see ‘em all. Like if
Dwight Yoakem's character's talkin' to
John Ritter's character maybe the guy
over here is reachin' down and pulling
up his sock or something and he's not
payin' any attention and then maybe somebody
says something that he notice and he turns.
I wanna see that, y'know, and that's why
this Knots Landing way of cutting
movies is just, it drives me out of my
mind. The thing is they don't knock --
every now and then I get on a soapbox
about this -- but if I were British or
Australian, nobody would ever say a word
about it. "Oh it's wonderful, it's
art," y'know. With me it's like I'm
a hillbilly so it's like what the hell
is this hick doing, he's lazy, and they
would do it to you guys too from New York,
even your own people, but if you're British
it's OK.
JG:
Look at John Ford.
BBT:
Of course.
JG:
John Ford used closeups only when it was
absolutely necessary.
BBT:
Absolutely. That's why THE SEARCHERS (1956)
is a beautiful movie to watch. What's
the one with Jimmy Stewart about the rifle?
JG:
WINCHESTER ‘73 (1950).
BBT:
WINCHESTER '73. I'm watchin' that and
they played the whole scene like we're
sitting like this and the camera was here
at kind of a low angle, so we were like
in the foreground and the people talking
all the way in the background, he (Anthony
Mann) played the scene on these guys in
the foreground playin' cards or something.
Every now and then they had a line or
two. That's great. And nobody knocks Orson
Welles for it.
MORE
FROM BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT :
The NBR voted FINDING NEVERLAND
the Best Film of 2004, and the
DVD release does it full justice in a
stunning transfer. The always wonderful
Johnny Depp and the always wonderful Kate
Winslet co-star in the story of J.M. Barrie's
inspiration for his play PETER PAN, under
the inspired direction of Marc Forster
(MONSTER'S BALL). This is a lovely, emotional
film, a beautiful evocation of an artist's
mind, yet another testament to Depp's
versatile acting skills. The disc includes
audio commentary from the filmmakers,
several well-done documentaries, outtakes
and deleted scenes.
NATIONAL
TREASURE takes a little INDIANA JONES,
a little DaVINCI CODE, and mixes together
a terrific adventure that was one of 2004's
most popular movies. This is grand entertainment
for the whole family, one of the best
movies from prolific Jerry Bruckheimer
(another 2004 NBR Award winner for lifetime
achievement in producing, along with cinematographer
Caleb Deschanel, who we awarded a career
award for his body of work). I especially
like the fact that the story is rooted
in American history, with some great sequences
set in Washington, Philadelphia and New
York. All three locations are utilized
in fresh and exciting ways, a tribute
to Deschanel and director Jon Turteltaub
(PHENOMENON). There are deleted scenes
and an alternate ending (both with optional
director's commentary, the usual making-of
featurettes, and a unique multi-level
“treasure hunt” that reveals a range of
“easter eggs” (hidden extras).
COYOTE
UGLY : OK, I admit this is a
guilty pleasure but I couldn't resist
the Unrated Extended Cut. It's the old
story about the small town girl (Piper
Perabo) trying to make it in the Big Apple;
our girl gets sidetracked by bartending
in a crazy downtown saloon. I'm not spoiling
anything by saying there's a happy ending
– that's about it as far as story
goes. But if you are a fan of this flick,
this set's for you, with engaging audio
commentary by producer Jerry Bruckheimer,
director David McNally, and the “Coyotes”
– including Perabo, Tyra Banks,
and Maria Bello -- plus additional footage
(including a Perabo-Adam Garcia sex scene),
a Leann Rimes music video, and a couple
of documentaries.
SCRUBS
SEASON ONE : This is quite simply
one of the best series on TV. Original,
inventive, fresh, with great ensemble
acting from Zach Braff, Donald Faison
and Sarah Chalke as new doctors at Sacred
Heart Hospital, with John C. McGinley
in a key role as a cynical veteran doctor.
The writing and direction is consistently
excellent, loaded with great dialogue,
over-the-top fantasy scenes (including
great musical bits), and, on occasion,
truly emotional truths about death and
dying, life and living. I directed Zach
Braff in my feature BLUE MOON (2000);
I had seen him star in an excellent indie
called GETTING TO KNOW YOU, and he gave
a great audition, so we cast him in a
supporting role. He was terrific as the
spoiled brat son of a 1959 UN diplomat
and you just knew he was going places.
Sure enough, he went into SCRUBS a year
later, and of course, directed and starred
in last year's GARDEN STATE (an NBR winner
for Best Directorial Debut). I'm proud
of Zach – if you only know his work
from GARDEN STATE, then do yourself a
huge favor and pick up SCRUBS –
I guarantee you'll be hooked. This set
includes all 24 first season episodes,
outtakes, various audio commentaries and
documentaries tracing the evolution of
the show, currently in its fifth season.
VINTAGE
MICKEY brings together nine
early Mickey Mouse cartoons, including
the very first, PLANE CRAZY (1928), the
first talkie, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928),
plus THE KARNIVAL KID (1928), THE BIRTHDAY
PARTY (1931), THE CASTAWAY (1931), MICKEY'S
ORPHANS (1931), MICKEY'S REVUE (1932),
BUILDING A BUILDING (1933), MICKEY'S STEAM
ROLLER (1934). During the six years represented
here, we see the evolution of Mickey (voiced
by Uncle Walt himself) from a somewhat
mean little rodent to a lovable scamp.
It's impossible today to understand the
impact of these cartoons at the time of
their first release – many Depression-era
theatres stayed in business by top-billing
these cartoons above the main feature!
JAWS
(1975): Universal Home Video
celebrates the30th anniversary of Steven
Spielberg's great adventure movie with
a two disc set. The movie that changed
the nature of contemporary filmmaking,
the first summer blockbuster film, the
movie that put Spielberg on the map, the
ultimate popcorn movie … JAWS is all of
the above, and remains a rollicking thrill
machine. So many elements combine to give
JAWS its perennial cinematic power –
the performances of Roy Scheider, Richard
Dreyfuss and the late Robert Shaw (Spielberg
wanted Lee Marvin originally), the John
Williams horror score, Verna Fields' dazzling
editing, Spielberg's suspenseful direction.
I
interviewed the filmmaker for my college
film journal Grand Illusions in
1977; here's what he had to say about
JAWS only
two
years after its initial release:
JOHN
GALLAGHER: What was your experience like
making JAWS?
STEVEN
SPIELBERG: There were so many obstacles
in the path on the production of JAWS.
The experience was so physically exhausting
that the only special feeling any of us
shared was watching Bruce the Shark stay
afloat long enough for a shot to be completed.
There was no way of knowing whether JAWS
would be a big hit or a little
turkey. I'd never doubted that the movie
wouldn't fail to make its money back,
but much of its original success was beyond
my imagination even during those private
moments when you daydream about gold and
glory.
JG:
What do you think was responsible for
the film's overwhelming success?
SS:
The great imagination of the world's audiences
and one slightly oversized Carcharodon
carcharias .
JG:
Conflicting accounts have been published
regarding the inspiration for the U.S.S.
Indianapolis sequence in JAWS.
Could you clarify?
SS:
After Peter Benchley left the scene to
write the novel for THE DEEP, I hired
Howard Sackler and the two of us improvised
an entirely new story. Howard was scuba
diving in Florida when he first heard
the Indianapolis tale and after some research
phoned to tell me that it was not apropos
but had been underplayed for years by
the Navy. Howard wrote a very terse speech
while I felt it warranted a larger berth
in the movie, so I went over to John Milius'
house one day and told him the story and
when he put his eyes back in his head
and rifled through the library research
he wrote a nine-page monologue in fifteen
minutes. I let Robert Shaw draft a revision
based entirely on John Milius' writing
skills. He changed a few words here and
there and together we condensed the lengthiness
of the speech. The impact of what was
heard must be credited to Robert Shaw
and his skills as an actor and to the
writer John Milius who really wanted me
to cast him as Quint all along and wrote
the speech as only John Milius would say
it.
Universal
gives JAWS a top-of-the-line presentation,
with both Dolby Digital and original theatrical
mono soundtracks, a two hour documentary,
fantastic deleted scenes and outtakes,
loads of production photos, storyboards,
marketing tools, a commemorative photo
booklet and a rare film interview with
Spielberg from the set of the picture.
MILLION
DOLLAR BABY : The Academy's
2004 Best Picture comes to DVD in an impressive
3-disc set from Warner Home Video. If
one considers the storyline – against
his better judgement, hard-boiled boxing
trainer guides a girl boxer to success
and ultimately tragedy – a hundred
and one clichés come to mind. But in the
hands of maestro Clint Eastwood, Paul
Haggis' script comes to life with style,
subtlety and emotion. MILLION DOLLAR BABY
is a low-key gem, sparked by its three
leads – Eastwood, the unforgettable
Hilary Swank and the amazing Morgan Freeman
(the latter two in Oscar-winning roles).
The NBR gave Eastwood a Special Filmmaking
Achievement Award for directing, starring,
and composing the film's score; repeat
viewings reveal how extraordinary Clint's
own acting performance is. My generation
grew up on The Man with No Name and Dirty
Harry; it's a beautiful thing to have
witnessed Eastwood's maturation into one
of our finest filmmakers. MILLION DOLLAR
BABY is his masterpiece. Disc One of the
DVD set includes the feature and its trailer;
Tom Stern's film noirish cinematography,
Joel Cox's editing and Henry Bumstead's
production design are outstanding. Disc
Two contains a roundtable discussion with
Eastwood, Swank and Freeman moderated
by James Lipton the day after the Oscars;
a documentary on producers Al Ruddy and
Tom Rosenberg; and another documentary
focuses on the parallels between the Swank
character and boxer Lucia Rijker. Disc
Three is the CD soundtrack of the Eastwood
score, including some selections not heard
in the film. MILLION DOLLAR BABY is an
essential addition to your DVD collection.
THOSE
AMAZING WARNERS BOX SETS
just keep on comin'! During the first
half of 2005, they've already given us
an essential Classic Comedy collection,
the dazzling Warners Gangsters set, the
diverse Controversial Classics collection
and boxed sets devoted to James Dean,
Steve McQueen, John Wayne and Doris Day.
Here are three more indispensable collections:
BETTE
DAVIS : WHV collects five quintessential
Davis pictures produced at the peak of
her career. Edmund Goulding's DARK
VICTORY (1939) is the ultimate
“weepie,” with Davis as a party girl socialite
who is slowly dying of a rare disease.
George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Humphrey
Bogart and Ronald Reagan co-star in one
of the best pictures from what is widely
considered Hollywood's greatest year (other
1939 releases included THE WIZARD OF OZ,
STAGECOACH, THE WOMEN, MR. SMITH GOES
TO WASHINGTON, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, NINOTCHKA,
BEAU GESTE, DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, GUNGA
DIN and GONE WITH THE WIND!). The film
has been beautifully restored and remastered,
and features audio commentary by historian
James Ursini and CNN film critic Paul
Clinton, a documentary 1939: TOUGH COMPETITION
FOR DARK VICTORY and the original theatrical
trailer. Davis made three of her best
films with director William Wyler –
JEZEBEL (1938), THE LITTLE FOXES (1941)
and THE LETTER (1940).
THE LETTER is included in this set, and
it's a tremendously atmospheric drama,
based on a Somerset Maugham novel, that
casts Davis as a murderess who almost
pulls off a perfect crime. In Wyler's
hands, the movie is a riveting experience,
with Davis doing some of the finest work
of her career. A recently discovered alternate
ending is included here as well as two
Lux Radio presentations from 1941 and
1944 starring Davis and her
co-stars James Stephenson and Herbert
Marshall. NOW VOYAGER
(1942) is yet another key Davis performance,
a timeless romantic drama with Davis as
a spinster who defies her dominating mother
(Gladys Cooper) to find true love with
Paul Henreid. It's also the movie that
gave us one of the great iconographic
moments in Hollywood history – Henreid
lighting two cigarettes, giving one to
Davis. There's a unique special feature
on the disc – Max Steiner's scoring
session music cues, a fitting addition
since Steiner scored so many Bette Davis
movies. MR. SKEFFINGTON
(1944) is epic Davis, restored to its
original 147 minute running time. Bette
and Claude Rains age 25 years in this
melodrama about the vagaries of beauty,
distinguished by a lavish Warners production
and the two stars' stellar work. We're
blessed here by 99-year-old director Vincent
Sherman's audio commentary, reminiscing
about Davis and the production, and the
disc also includes a documentary and a
trailer. THE STAR (1952)
is one of my favorite Davis films –
she plays a washed up movie star, broke
and drunk, trying to put on a good face
for teenage daughter Natalie Wood, finding
romance with regular guy Sterling Hayden.
There are some terrific inside-Hollywood
moments in THE STAR, not the least of
which is Bette drunk-driving with her
Oscar propped up on the dashboard of her
car (it was one of the two real statuettes,
by the way). The movie star represented
in this movie was emphatically NOT based
on Bette Davis, rather, according to the
writers, Joan Crawford was the true inspiration.
THE STAR includes a documentary and a
trailer. THE BETTE DAVIS SIGNATURE COLLECTION
offers hours of compelling entertainment
from the great Davis; every film in this
set earned her a Best Actress nomination
from the Academy. I hope it sells really
well, since Warner Home Video also owns
most of her great films (THREE ON A MATCH,
DANGEROUS, JEZEBEL, THE OLD MAID, TE GREAT
LIE, IN THIS OUR LIFE) and has more than
enough material for another one or two
Bette Davis collections.
JOAN
CRAWFORD : WHV gives Davis' arch-rival
the same deluxe treatment with THE JOAN
CRAWFORD SIGNATURE COLLECTION. Like the
Davis set, it bypasses her Thirties work
to focus on her more mature peak years.
THE WOMEN (1939) is
the earliest Crawford film represented,
a brilliant, scathing comedy (based on
the Clare Boothe play) perfectly handled
by director George Cukor, with an all-female
cast including Norma Shearer, Paulette
Goddard, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine
and Mary Boland. Crawford steals the show
trying to steal Shearer's off-screen husband;
this is a bonafide classic, an absolutely
delicious movie. This edition includes
the Technicolor fashion sequence, and
the many extras include a black-and-white
alternate fashion scene, plus two documentaries,
scoring session music cues, and trailers
for THE WOMEN and its 1956 musical remake
THE OPPOSITE SEX. Crawford left her long-time
home studio MGM in 1943 and was signed
by Warners, where she made a huge comeback
with her Oscar-winning star turn in MILDRED
PIERCE (1945). Under Michael
Curtiz' brilliant direction, this is one
of the great melodramas, based on a novel
by mystery maestro James M. Cain (DOUBLE
INDEMNITY, THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE).
Crawford plays a working mother who sacrifices
everything for her spoiled daughter (Ann
Blyth), in a kind of perverse re-working
of STELLA DALLAS. This is another gorgeously
restored version of a classic film, and
the black-and-white cinematography is
luminous. There's also a Crawford documentary
and a Crawford trailer gallery. In Jean
Negulesco's HUMORESQUE
(1946), Crawford begins to take
on the MOMMIE DEAREST persona for which
she is best remembered, with a cold, almost
manly persona. She plays a self-centered
socialite who becomes obsessed with concert
violinist John Garfield (his violin playing
was dubbed by Isaac Stern). HUMORESQUE
is an overwrought, almost hysterical movie
that plays pretty kitschy today. A documentary
about the film's music is included, along
with a theatrical trailer. Curtis Bernhardt's
POSSESSED (1947) is
much more satisfying, a top-notch, classy
film noir with Crawford giving one of
her best performances as a jilted lover,
a role for which she earned an Oscar nomination.
Drew Casper provides audio commentary
and there's a featurette about the making
of the movie and a theatrical trailer.
Finally, the box set includes a surprise
selection – Vincent Sherman's entertaining
drama THE DAMNED DON'T CRY ( 1950),
a throwback to Crawford's early Thirties
MGM potboilers, as she works her way up
the social ladder through racketeers and
society swells. The movie is little known
but its inclusion here will change that
and allow movie lovers to discover a really
fun, campy near-classic. The director
offers audio commentary, and there's a
featurette and trailer. As with the Davis
collection, this Joan Crawford set is
welcome indeed for Crawford fans, and
serves as a nice introduction to her work
for the uninitiated. Again, WHV has all
the Crawford MGM movies from 1926-1943,
and therein lies a wealth of wonderful
films presenting a softer, more vulnerable
Crawford than the personality presented
here. Hopefully we'll be seeing another
Crawford collection that explores such
titles as OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS, PAID,
DANCE FOOLS DANCE, POSSESSED (the 1931
Gable movie, unrelated to the '47 film),
LETTY LYNTON, DANCING LADY, FORSAKING
ALL OTHERS and SADIE McKEE, to name a
few of her finest Metros.
FILM
NOIR PART TWO : Last year Warner Home
Video had a great success with a collection
of classic noir titles (including OUT
OF THE PAST, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE and GUN
CRAZY). Here's a follow-up consisting
of six tremendous titles, all given the
Warner treatment (outstanding transfers,
lots of extras, respect for our film heritage).
DILLINGER (1945) is a super low-budget
crime flick that was a sleeper hit upon
its first release. Very loosely inspired
by the life of Public Enemy Number One
John Dillinger, Max Nosseck's disjointed
film is held together by the sheer force
of Lawrence Tierney in the title role.
Even at their most misanthropic, there
was still something appealing –
or at least charismatic -- about Cagney,
Robinson or Bogart in their gangster roles.
Not so with Tierney – he is simply
a vicious, sadistic killing machine with
absolutely no redeeming features ... hence
our fascination with him. And I love his
gang in the movie, some of my favorite
character actors – Edmund Lowe,
Eduardo Ciannelli, Marc Lawrence and Elisha
Cook, Jr. Production values in DILLINGER
are non-existent, as sets are re-used
with very little re-dressing, and the
big heist-in-the-rain scene is stock footage
lifted intact from Fritz Lang's YOU ONLY
LIVE ONCE (1937), but the movie defines
Monogram Pictures' low-budget ethos –
and remarkably, the score is by the great
composer Dimitri Tiomkin (IT'S A WONDERFUL
LIFE, RED RIVER, GIANT). My only disappointment
with this disc is (incredibly) the audio
commentary by John Milius, who made his
directing debut with the 1973 DILLINGER.
I am a HUGE Milius fan but the commentary
sounds like he just stopped by the studio
and watched the movie for the first time.
While he offers some interesting biographical
info, he just seems disinterested. Fortunately,
the commentary is interspersed with interview
excerpts from the film's screenwriter
Philip Yordan, who was actually nominated
for an Oscar for his original screenplay.
If you think Lawrence Tierney is a vicious
sadist in DILLINGER, wait until you see
him in BORN TO KILL (1947) – he's
even more venal! A B-movie from RKO, BORN
TO KILL is an early directing effort from
Robert Wise, who went on to glory with
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951),
WEST SIDE STORY (1961), THE SAND PEBBLES
(1966) and THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965).
Tierney plays a killer who works himself
into the world of heiress sisters Claire
Trevor and Audrey Long, marrying Long
while carrying on an affair with Trevor.
I interviewed Robert Wise for Grand Illusions
and this is what he had to say about BORN
TO KILL:
ROBERT
WISE: I liked that project very much and
I liked the book that it came from. I
hated the title we ended up with. I thought
the original title DEADLIER THAN THE MALE
was much better but the front office thought
it somehow was too literary and didn't
have marquee value. I did work very hard,
though, to get the mood and suspense and
establish the byplay between Claire Trevor
and Lawrence Tierney. I was very careful
in my casting, and I thought Walter Slezak
was very good as the private detective.
Lawrence
Tierney had a reputation for drinking
and brawling, and while he worked sporadically
over the years, it wasn't until Quentin
Tarantino cast him in RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)
that he began to get some attention. He
did a memorable guest spot on SEINFELD
as Elaine's father; while he was great
in the episode, the story goes that he
terrified the cast and was never asked
back to reprise the role. DILLINGER and
BORN TO KILL give us the chance to see
this unusual actor in his prime. The BORN
TO KILL disc includes commentary by Eddie
Muller, author of The Art of Noir ,
with interview excerpts from Robert Wise.
Edward Dmytryk's CROSSFIRE
was also made at RKO in 1947, but this
was a prestige picture, an important film
starring Robert Young, Robert Mitchum
and Robert Ryan, nominated for give Oscars,
including Best Picture. A taut, tense
police procedural thriller, CROSSFIRE
broke new ground in Hollywood, since the
murder being investigated here is a bias
crime, an anti-Semitic hate crime. Dmytryk,
like Wise a former editor, utilized the
chiaroscuro noir lighting to great effect
as he explores the evil that lurks in
men's souls, particularly the soul of
Robert Ryan as the unrepentant bigot.
Film noir experts Alain Silver and James
Ursini offer stimulating commentary, with
interview excerpts with Dmytryk and a
new featurette. THE NARROW MARGIN
(1952) is another RKO “B” that
became one of the best pictures of its
era. Charles McGraw is an L.A. police
detective charged with safely delivering
mob wife Marie Windsor from Chicago to
the California grand jury. Throughout
the entire train ride west, the mob is
on their trail, making for a suspenseful
and action-packed thriller, one of the
best train pictures ever made, right up
there with Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES
(1938). Fleischer was a relatively new
director at the time; the son of Betty
Boop/Popeye animator Max Fleischer, he
went on from this film to a successful
directing career that included 20,000
LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1954), THE VIKINGS
(1958), COMPULSION (1959), FANTASTIC VOYAGE
(1966) and DR. DOLITTLE (1968). In THE
NARROW MARGIN, he manages the confined
space beautifully, and even stages a fist-fight
that became a model of realistic action.
Director William Friedkin (THE FRENCH
CONNECTION, THE EXORCIST) provides an
audio commentary that is one of the best
I've ever heard; his passion for this
movie is evident, his thoughts about the
direction obviously well informed. The
track also includes interview excerpts
with Fleischer. CLASH BY NIGHT
(1952) is one of the best Fritz
Lang movies, a triangle love story between
Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan and Paul
Douglas, with Marilyn Monroe in support,
on the brink of her own stardom. Based
on a Clifford Odets play, set in a Northern
Calfornia fishing village, CLASH explores
the dark side of passion with Lang's typical
flair for the sordid (among his classics
are METROPOLIS, M, FURY, THE WOMAN IN
THE WINDOW, SCARLET STREET, and THE BIG
HEAT). Peter Bogdanovich delivers the
commentary on this one, interspersing
his remarks with Lang's own comments from
their mid-60s interview. CLASH BY NIGHT
is ripe, juicy melodrama highlighted by
a key early Monroe performance. POINT
BLANK (1967), an early work
by director John Boorman, casts Lee Marvin
as Walker, a bad ass trying to get his
93 grand back from the mob. This is tough,
unrelenting post-noir action drama, influenced
in part by French New Wave, using Marvin
as an iconographic archtype. Boorman and
Steven Soderbergh do the audio commentary,
and there are two contemporary featurettes
as well. POINT BLANK, based on Richard
Stark's novel The Hunter, was remade in
1999 as PAYBACK, starring Mel Gibson in
the Lee Marvin role.
FOX
FILM NOIR : Fox has its own
noir series; the latest edition features
William Keighley's THE STREET WITH NO
NAME (1948) and its remake, Sam Fuller's
HOUSE OF BAMBOO (1955), and Edmund Goulding's
NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947). THE STREET
WITH NO NAME cast Lloyd Nolan
in a reprise of his role from THE HOUSE
ON 92 ND STREET (1945), the film that
kicked off Fox's semi-documentary noir
series, playing an FBI agent who sends
Mark Stevens undercover to infiltrate
the gang headed by Richard Widmark. Keighley
had directed the first FBI picture, G-MEN
(1935), and does a good job in lifting
the proceedings out of the ordinary. James
Ursini and Alain Silver give the audio
commentary, as they do on HOUSE
OF BAMBOO , the film's widescreen
color remake. Sam Fuller, as wonderfully
quirky as ever, directs; this time Robert
Stack goes undercover to break into Robert
Ryan's gang. Fuller shifts the action
to post-war Japan, shooting on location
and making the most of it. There's an
undeniable homoerotic subtext with Ryan,
giving the movie a sensibility years ahead
of its time. This isn't one of Fuller's
best known films, but definitely demands
a visit. Edmund Goulding's NIGHTMARE
ALLEY is perhaps the darkest
film to ever come out of mainstream Hollywood
during the Golden Age; the only film remotely
close to it is 1932's FREAKS, which shares
a sideshow background. Tyrone Power has
the role of a lifetime as a carnival barker
who makes it to the posh world of millionaires'
mansions and swanky nightclubs before
his own hubris sends him into madness
as a freak show geek. Goulding, who also
directed GRAND HOTEL and DARK VICTORY,
shows his versatility with this film,
aided by a powerful script from frequent
Hawks-Sternberg collaborator Jules Furthman.
NIGHTMARE ALLEY retains its ability to
shock, and remains a very disturbing motion
picture. The Ursini-Silver commentary
is especially interesting,
Fox
also releases HIDE AND SEEK
(2004) with Robert DeNiro and Dakota Fanning
as father and daughter mourning the loss
of wife/mother Amy Irving, moving from
New York City to the country upstate.
DeNiro is restrained (unusual for him,
it seems, for the last ten years), Dakota
Fanning is a truly remarkable and natural
actress (and she doesn't freak me out
like her predecessor wunderkind Haley
Joel Osment), and I thought the movie
was terrific until the last act, when
it completely falls apart. As if aware
of this flaw, Fox includes no less than
four alternate endings to the DVD. There's
actuallyone that's relatively subtle,
but I don't want to spoil it for you.
There's also audio commentary by director
John Polson, screenwriter Ari Schlossberg,
and editor Jeffrey Ford, plus 14 deleted
or extended scenes, conceptual storyboards
intercut with live action, and a making-of
featurette. As much as we love DVD extras,
this is one case where there's too much
information, considering the end result.
SONY
PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT :
SPHE's THE GRUDGE (2004),
on the other hand, is one scary movie,
maintaining the chills for its entire
length (the extended director's cut is
98 minutes, six minutes longer than the
theatrical release). Sam Raimi and Rob
Tapert helped re-define horror with the
EVIL DEAD movies, produced before Sam
became one of Hollywood's most powerful
filmmakers with the stupendous SPIDERMAN
movies, and their Ghost House Pictures
is responsible for THE GRUDGE, so you
KNOW it's going to do justice to the genre.
Like THE RING and DARK WATERS, this is
a remake of a Japanese horror flick (JU-ON),
but Raimi and Tapert were smart enough
to bring back the original director, Takashi
Shimizu, keep Japan as the setting, and
cast genre favorite Sarah Michelle Gellar
in the lead. The DVD offers some very
cool extras – candid and often hilarious
commentary by Shimizu, producer Taka Ichise,
and actress Takako Fuji (subtitled); fifteen
deleted scenes with optional commentary;
Shimizu's two JU-ON short films, both
brimming with the same atmosphere as the
feature; video diaries from Gellas and
actress KaDee Strickland; a tour of the
house set,and featurettes on the storyboards
and the production design. Hands down,
THE GRUDGE is the scariest movie in a
long time. Apparently audiences felt the
same way – it grossed well over
$100 million in U.S. theatres alone.
GUN
FURY (1953): Raoul Walsh's name
on a movie guarantees vigor, energy, action
– WHITE HEAT (1949), OBJECTIVE BURMA
(1945), HIGH SIERRA (1941), THE ROARING
TWENTIES (1939), THE BOWERY (1933) spring
to mind. When it's a Raoul Walsh Western,
well, you know it'll be on the order of
THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON (1941),
PURSUED (1947) or COLORADO TERRITORY (1949).
In 1953, free-lancing for Columbia Pictures,
Walsh made GUN FURY on location in Sedona,
Arizona, with his Technicolor cameras
capturing the famous red rocks, casting
his discovery Rock Hudson as a man whose
bride-to-be (Donna Reed) has been kidnapped
by Phil Carey, Lee Marvin and Neville
Brand. The result is a terrific Western,
one of the Fifties' best, originally filmed
in 3-D (that's why there are so many shots
of rocks, fists and miscellaneous objects
flying right into the camera!). This is
an absolute must film for Western fans.
When
I interviewed Lee Marvin in 1986, I asked
him about the movie:
LEE
MARVIN: Old Raoul was just one of the
greats. We made that down in Sedona, rattlesnakes
all over the place. Raoul loved it when
he had horses and stagecoaches to shoot.
If it was a dialogue scene, he'd call
“Action,” roll a cigarette, take a walk
away from the set, come back and call
“Cut.” Never watched the scene. He only
cared about pictures. Moving pictures.
GUN
FURY, like all of Walsh's work, moves
.
•
JOHN GALLAGHER
•
jgmovie@aol.com
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