Tag: Don Siegel

TOP TEN TUESDAY: The Best Of Clint Eastwood (The Actor)

When J. EDGAR was released last Fall, We Are Movie Geeks published our Top Ten Tuesday article on Clint Eastwood’s best films as director. With word that Eastwood has come out of acting retirement, it’s time for another Top Ten list, this time of movies that Clint has starred in. TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE is currently filming and stars Clint as an ailing baseball scout in his twilight years who takes his daughter (played by Amy Adams) on the road for one last recruiting trip. This will be Clint’s first acting role since GRAN TORINO in 2008.

Super-8 CLINT EASTWOOD Movie Madness will be a great way to celebrate the life and films of this legendary American actor. It takes place February 7th at the Way Out Club in St. Louis (2525 Jefferson in South City). Condensed versions of these memorable Clint Eastwood films will be shown on a big screen on Super-8 sound film: WHERE EAGLES DARE, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, and THE EIGER SANCTION each run 18 minutes, and HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER runs 35 minutes. We’re also bring our 16mm projector and showing a 16mm print of an episode of RAWHIDE, the western TV series that Clint Eastwood starred in in the 1960’s and 8-minute versions of TARANTULA and REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, two ’50s sci-fi films that Clint Eastwood had small roles in early in his career. We’ll have Clint Eastwood trivia with prizes, and much more. The Way Out Club is located at 2525 Jefferson Avenue (at Gravois) in South St. Louis. Admission is only $3.00.

Clint Eastwood has appeared in 67 films in his six (!) decades as an actor, and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best:

Honorable Mention: HONKYTONK MAN

By the 1980s, Clint Eastwood was one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.  With his own production company, directorial skills, and economic clout, Eastwood was able to make smaller, more personal films.  A perfect example is the underrated HONKYTONK MAN, which also happens to be one of Eastwood’s finest performances.

Drawing upon Eastwood’s love of both music and period history, MAN tells the story of Red Stovall, a consumptive but hard-living country singer, set sometime during the Depression.  While on his way to Nashville for a shot at the Grand Ole Opry, Red stops to collect his nephew Hoss (charmingly played by Eastwood’s son, Kyle) from his sister’s farm in the Oklahoma dust bowl.  Also tagging along is Hoss’s grandfather (John McIntire), who wants to return to his family homestead in Tennessee.  From that setup, the film is essentially a road trip full of adventures—both comic and tragic—that will affect Hoss forever.

This fairly simple story is told with great affection by Eastwood the director.  The period detail and setpieces are wonderful, with Eastwood again showing a keen eye for both comic timing and character-driven drama.  He even throws in some suspense, as once again Eastwood the actor wields a gun—but this time with humorous results.  And a traffic stop which begins with some tension ends with an extended punchline.  Eastwood also handles his actors with ease, drawing first-class performances from a group of great character actors, including Eastwood “regulars” Verna Bloom (HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER) and Matt Clark (JOSEY WALES), plus Barry Corbin, Tim Thomerson, and Gary Grubbs.  As grandpa, the veteran McIntire was never better; the scene where he recalls the Land Rush of 1893 is simply perfect.  Also giving a fantastic performance was Alexa Kenin as Marlene, a young stowaway on the road trip who provides much comic relief.  A familiar face on 1970s TV, Kenin was a rising young supporting actress (PRETTY IN PINK) who was found dead in her apartment a few years later at age 23.  Her cause of death has never been disclosed.

MAN is also peppered with some of the brightest stars of country music.  Ray Price, Shelly West, David Frizzell, and Porter Wagoner all make brief appearances, and Marty Robbins, who died a short time after filming, had a Top 10 country hit with his rendition of the title song.  In addition to the country music which fills the soundtrack, there is a healthy shot of blues in the form of Linda Hopkins.  Eastwood does all his own singing for the film, and has a pleasant enough voice to make his performance entirely believable.  Relaxed and funny, Eastwood seems right at home with the period dialogue, such as “my raw-boned Okie girl,” and “double damn tarnation!”  Whether he’s on stage singing, or teaching his nephew the ways of the world, or stealing chickens (!), Eastwood dominates the film and shows just what a great screen presence he is—sometimes rough, sometimes sensitive, but always likable.

10. ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ

Fact: Alcatraz is an impenetrable island fortress. Fact: No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz. Fact: Clint Eastwood doesn’t care much for facts! In ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ Eastwood gave one of his best screen performances; distinctive, persuasive, and powerful. We know very little of his Frank Morris except that he has escaped from prisons before and has been sent to Alcatraz because no one gets off the Rock. Eastwood’s fifth and final film with director Don Siegel has aged well, with no sentiment or melodrama to get in the way of the details of the escape. ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ doesn’t proceed at the break-neck pace of your typical action film. Siegel follows the breakout plan with meticulous detail. Even when Morris and his two comrades manage to get out of their cells, the story doesn’t focus on the suspense of the chase between escapees and guards. In fact, the prison officials are not seen until the discovery on Angel Island, and at that point, the prisoners are never seen again. Instead, the battle is between men and the physical space they have to conquer. It’s less about avoiding guards and more to do with navigating heights and depths and barriers. The prison itself, rather than those who oversee it, becomes the antagonist. When Eastwood won his first directing Oscar, he thanked Siegel (and Sergio Leone) and when watching ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, a masterful piece of storytelling in which the characters say little, letting the camera explain the action. the older director’s influence is apparent.

An 18 minute condensed version of ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ will be screened at Super-8 CLINT EASTWOOD Movie Madness February 7th at The Way Out Club

9. IN THE LINE OF FIRE

As Clint Eastwood’s movie career neared the fifty year mark, his characters eased into old age, slowed down physically, and were haunted by their ghosts of the past. This is definitely the case with Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan in Wolfgang Peterson’s IN THE LINE OF FIRE. Frank’s still on the job, and he sweats and wheezes as he joins the much younger agent s in running alongside the presidential limo. Besides his shortened stamina, he’s haunted by that Fall day in Dallas over thirty years ago, when he couldn’t shield the young Commander-in-Chief in time. As Frank puts it, ” If I had taken that bullet, it would’ve been alright with me”. Unfortunately a deranged assassin played with gusto by John Malkovich knows of Frank’s past and taunts him ( ” I see you standing over the grave of another president’ ) in several encounters. Eastwood’s registers Frank’s every emotion ( shock, disgust, fear while trying to keep him on the line long enough for a trace ) during several phone conversations with the threatening gunman. Besides these scenes with Malkovich, Eastwood shows a different side with two of the other young actors in the film. With the novice agent played by Dylan McDermott, Eastwood’s a teacher, mentor, and father figure, while with Rene Russo’s Lilly Raines, he attempts a gentle, hesitant friendship that becomes a tender romance. Peterson has crafted a gripping, edge-of-your-seat action thriller anchored by one of Eastwood’s best, mature, vulnerable performances.

8. THE BEGUILED

THE BEGUILED was a gothic tale of deception and horror from 1971 set in the time of the Civil War. Clint Eastwood played John McBurney, a wounded Union soldier who takes refuge in a Southern school for ladies whom he must keep beguiled or risk being turned over to the Confederates. Directed by Don Siegel, this gothic horror story ends with the captive paying dearly for his ingratitude towards his captors’ sick brand of Southern hospitality. In addition to the implied sexual situation, there is an explicit seduction followed by a gruesome amputation scene. Siegel (whose DIRTY HARRY would open a couple of months after this box-office failure) not only paces THE BEGUILED with a solid mix of sexual tension, eroticism and black humor, he fits the female cast perfectly to their roles – from Geraldine Page’s yearning spinster (with a very dirty secret), to Elizabeth Hartman’s naive nineteen-year-old with chaste romantic fantasies, to Jo Ann Harris’s seductive teen slut. The characters Eastwood played in his career survived Nazis, lynchings, assassins, and gangsters but John McBurney never stood a chance in a house full of scorned women.

7. HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER

One of the headstones in a graveyard in HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER bears the name Sergio Leone as tribute as the first western that Clint Eastwood directed exudes the mythical aura of many of Leone’s genre offerings. Basically reprising his “Man With No Name” persona from the Leone trilogy, Eastwood took the standard Western revenge story to new levels. In HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER Eastwood is “The Stranger” who wanders into the small mining town of Lago to merely have a few drinks, a quick shave, and bath. Before long, he’s killed three bad guys, raped the town tramp, forced the town to rename itself ‘Hell’ and has literally painted it red. And he’s the hero! Almost all the characters in HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER are repellant and unlikeable especially the cowardly townsfolk who stood by idly and watched as three gunmen bullwhipped their sheriff to death. No wonder John Wayne, after seeing HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, wrote an angry letter of protest to Eastwood complaining about the negative depiction of Wayne’s beloved “spirit of the West”. Too bad Duke, HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER is one of the greats!

An 35 minute condensed version of HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER will be screened at Super-8 CLINT EASTWOOD Movie Madness February 7th at The Way Out Club

6. MILLION DOLLAR BABY

For a fella that’s long past most folks’ retirement age, Clint Eastwood is full of surprises. And great performances. In 2004’s MILLION DOLLAR BABY, which he also produced, directed, and scored, Eastwood is grizzled old boxing medic Frankie Dunn. Like many of his later characters Dunn is haunted by the past. But it’s not just the memories of big fights and title bouts, it’s his estrangement from his daughter. In his golden years his only family is another former boxer Eddie ‘ Scrap-Iron’ Dupris played by Morgan Freeman who helps in running Dunn ‘s seen-better-days training gym. Just as in  UNFORGIVEN the two actors have a great relaxed rapport as they wax nostalgic about the good ole’ days ( correcting each other’s recollections ) and disparage the lack of class and grit in the new kids. And then Hilary Swank’s Maggie enters their lives. We see Eastwood act casually dismissive of the ” lady ” boxer, but he gradually responds to her spirit. Reluctantly he becomes her stern trainer and slowly becomes a surrogate father to Maggie. In one terrific sequence Maggie’s greedy, ” trashy”, relatives berate and bully them. The Eastwood of a couple of decades ago would’ve put that young ‘mouth-y’ punk through a wall, but the older, wiser man knows this thug isn’t worth the effort or abbreviation. He’s worth no more than a hard, disgusted stare. In the film’s heartbreaking final scenes we get to see a tender, loving Eastwood that he’s rarely shown on screen. The final encounter between Frankie and Maggie may have the most macho movie fan reaching for his hankie. Although Eastwood earned no acting gold , his co-stars Freeman and Swank both earned Oscars. It’s quite a testament to Eastwood’s acting ( and directing ) skills – he’s so good he pushes his fellow thespians do their best work.

5. GRAN TORINO
In 2008, Clint Eastwood made GRAN TORINO, both as a director and as an actor, but Eastwood himself pronounced this would be the last time he stars in one of his films. Whether or not that holds true is yet to be seen, given rumors about his next film TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE. What was, perhaps painfully clear however, is that Eastwood is no longer a spring chicken. Much like his character in the film, Walt Kowalski is an aging and stubborn man, set in his ways. Walk sets out to teach a teenage neighbor a thing or two after he attempts to steal Walt’s pride and joy, a sweet 1972 Gran Torino muscle car. The tension arises as Walt, a Korean War veteran, builds an unlikely friendship with the boy of Hmong ethnicity, both of whom live in a crumbling urban neighborhood. Walt sees the world around him falling apart in his eyes, but eventually comes to terms with his own prejudice through his actions in the teenage boy’s benefit. Eastwood plays the crotchety curmudgeon with a natural ease, drawing a bit from Dirty Harry’s own sense of charm and manners. It’s great to see Eastwood expanding his storytelling craft into more meaningful films, while also embracing his age as an actor in a less flattering role, giving the film a stronger resonance.

4. DIRTY HARRY

“You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” Clint Eastwood muttered his most famous line in DIRTY HARRY, starring as Harry Callahan, the hard-working San Francisco cop who can’t finish his lunch without having to stop a bank robbery with his 44 Magnum (“the most powerful handgun in the world”). Harry must take the law into his own hands when a psychotic killer is released on a technicality and the cat and mouse play between Harry and the killer ‘Scorpio’ is taut, suspenseful and horrifying but critics in 1971 attacked the movie for evading the complex legal problems and moral issues of vigilante justice. Clint’s cynical superhero is basically irresponsible in endangering the lives of innocent people in his personal crusade against criminals but that just made Harry more endearing to most audiences and the movie was a smash success, spawning four (excellent) sequels. Director Don Siegel keeps the action tightly-wound and fast-paced and Andy Robinson is one of the most vicious, warped, and complex villains in cinema. Due to Callahan’s fascist nature, John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, and Paul Newman all reportedly turned down the part. Eastwood stepped in to the role and when he’s twisting Scorpio’s broken arm (“I have a right to a lawyer!” Scorpio whines), he smiles just a little and we behold the perfect match between actor and character.

3. THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES

In 1976, the nation’s Bicentennial received a special gift with the release of THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES, arguably Clint Eastwood’s best Western film, and one of the best Westerns ever made.  There is so much about JOSEY WALES that is remarkable, compelling, and downright entertaining, that I reckon we’ll begin with the making of the film.  Based on a novel by Forrest Carter, the film follows the books’ mixture of vengeance tale, travelogue, buddy story, Old West folklore, and realistic Native American characters, with a sprinkling of actual historical figures, such as the great Comanche leader Ten Bears.  (The author himself is a fascinating story, as he was originally a segregationist speechwriter named Asa Carter, who worked for George Wallace and even ran for public office before reinventing himself as an award-winning author sympathetic to Native American causes.  For years, “Forrest” denied that he was Asa Carter and even tried to give the impression that he was Native American.)

The film’s production is also a grand tale of Hollywood lore.  Originally, Phil Kaufman (RIGHT STUFF) was hired to direct the movie with Eastwood and his company producing.  Kaufman worked on the pre-production and casting, rewrote the script, and began principal cinematography.  However, less than a month into shooting, Kaufman was unceremoniously fired from the production, and Eastwood took over as director and finished the film.  The Director’s Guild became involved and created a new rule that prohibits anyone working on a film to replace a director fired from the same film.  This rule (unofficially called the “Eastwood rule”) is still in effect today.  According to legend, Kaufman was fired because both he and Eastwood were smitten with a pretty young actress in the film named Sondra Locke.  In fact, Locke and Eastwood became a couple afterwards and worked together on five more movies before their relationship crashed and burned in a stormy public breakup 10 years later.  However, a more likely reason for the firing was Kaufman’s detail-oriented style using multiple takes.  An economy-minded Eastwood supposedly had his fill when Kaufman drove miles back to town from an isolated set to acquire a small prop he wanted to include in a scene.

Whatever its origins, JOSEY WALES has become a modern classic.  One of the few Western films to be included in the National Historic Registry, the movie succeeds on all levels.   JOSEY WALES begins as a post-Civil War revenge tale, but this plotline is soon more or less resolved in what is the first of many amazingly filmed gun battles.  The story then becomes a road movie, with Wales on the run from the evil bluecoats.  It is interesting to note that in nearly every other film treatment of the Missouri/Kansas border wars, the pro-Union Kansas abolitionists are portrayed as the good guys, while the Missouri rebels are the bad guys.  JOSEY WALES neatly flips this model so that we immediately sympathize with the outlaw.  During his flight to safety in the Indian Nations, Wales collects a ragtag group of citizens (a Native American man and woman, two Kansas women, a Mexican, etc.) who seem willing to forgive whatever crimes are in his past and follow him.  It also doesn’t hurt that Wales is mighty handy with a pistol, and has saved many of their lives.

The film is built as a series of misadventures, and Eastwood the director shows an exceptional flair for character-driven comedy, and for staging some of the coolest gunfights ever to hit the silver screen.  Eastwood the actor gives one of his best performances as Josey Wales, a man who has lost everything but finds he is not alone.  As the film progresses, we see the brittle hardness of the outlaw soften into a man with hope for a future.  The supporting roles are uniformly excellent as well.  John Vernon (POINT BLANK, ANIMAL HOUSE) is the turncoat who comes to sympathize with Wales.  Bill McKinney (DELIVERANCE) is the obsessed evil bluecoat leader.  Sam Bottoms, Woodrow Parfrey, Sheb Wooley, and Royal Dano are all great character actors who are marvelous here.  Locke is simply wonderful in her scenes and brings a sweet note of innocence to the movie.  But special mention must go to Chief Dan George (LITTLE BIG MAN), the great Native American actor as Wales’ first new friend, Lone Watie.  Part Scarecrow of Oz, part spokesman for the Native American plight, and part action hero, George steals every scene he is in.

And the classic dialogue- much of it lifted right from the novel –is simply unforgettable:   “Dyin’ ain’t much of a living.”  “Hell is coming to breakfast.”  “Endeavour to persevere!”   Most important of all, the film has a big, bold heart as Eastwood unabashedly shows both his love for this period of American history and his love of film, never shying away from softer moments, such as with Locke, or from the violence of the frontier which could happen at any moment.  In the meeting with Ten Bears, the thematic climax of the film, these elements combine beautifully in a brilliantly executed scene that contains the wonderful “There is iron in your words of death” speech delivered by actor Will Sampson.  The struggles of the modern world may not be life or death, but we as moviegoers and Americans can certainly relate to stories of friendship, adversity, and everyday human truths.

2. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

In 1964, Clint Eastwood accepted the lead role in a Western being filmed in Spain titled “The Magnificent Stranger.”  The part had been offered to many of Hollywood’s most rugged actors, including Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, and Charles Bronson.  Eastwood, on break from his TV series RAWHIDE and looking for a film project, immediately recognized the story as a remake of Kurosawa’s YOJIMBO.   When the movie was finally released in the US, the title had changed to A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, and both a star and a new genre, the “spaghetti Western,” were born.

The “Man With No Name” series of Westerns directed by Sergio Leone and starring Eastwood came to a spectacular conclusion with THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY.   Set amid the turmoil of the Civil War, the story follows three men (hence the title) on a quest for gold treasure.   Leone directs with his usual dramatic flair, filling the screen with landscapes, gunfights, closeups of dangerous men, treks through the desert, prison camps, Civil War battles, and an incredibly suspenseful and satisfying conclusion.  With cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, who would later shoot films for some of Europe’s greatest directors (Louis Malle, Roman Polanski, Lina Wertmuller, etc.) and composer Ennio Morricone (who topped his previous two No Name Westerns with one of the great film scores of all time here), Leone created what some critics regard as his masterpiece.  Yes, even better than ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST.

Eastwood’s “No Name” character fills the good role of the title, while great character actors Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach are the bad and the ugly.  Van Cleef, the co-hero of Leone’s and Eastwood’s previous Western FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, here perfectly personifies evil.  Ruthless and calculating, with his “devil eyes,” Van Cleef is a great screen villain.  Wallach gives the performance of his career as Tuco, the ugly.  Whether he’s faced with death on the hangman’s noose, or confronting his Catholic heritage, or trying to revive his “friend,” the marvelous Wallach always makes Tuco sympathetic and likable—so much so that you’re alarmed when Eastwood’s character is mean to him.

Eastwood has joked that the small cigarillos he had to smoke kept him in character as The Man With No Name because (a) he’s a non-smoker, and (b) they tasted really, really bad.  In his final Leone Western, Eastwood shows the same laconic squint that made him so famous.  But he also shows a bit of the same compassion we only glimpsed in the previous No Name Westerns, here in his relationship with Tuco, and in smaller moments, such as witnessing the carnage left after warfare.  In its final images of Eastwood riding off into the sunset, rich and invincible, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY capped an incredible trilogy in the annals of film mythology.

1. UNFORGIVEN

In the 1960’s Clint Eastwood broke free of his television work and helped redefine the movie Western ( along with film maker Sergio Leone ). Nearly thirty years later Eastwood decided to close the door on his work in the ‘oaters’ with the character of William Munny in UNFORGIVEN. While most of his Westerners were anti-heroes or rebels, Munny is a full-fledged outlaw who’s tried to change his ways. You can see the toll this life has taken on Munny’s face : exhausted by his failure at farming during the day and from sleepless nights haunted by the ghosts of his victims of his lawless years. Eastwood has great rapport with his co-stars. Morgan Freeman shares the trail ( and criminal memories ) during the trip to avenge the “working” ladies. The two old saddletramps are almost an elderly married couple who calls out the other on their B.S. without hesitation. Eastwood becomes the teacher/ mentor with Jaimz Woolvett as the full-of-bravado ‘ Schofield Kid’. After a bloody shoot-out they exchange the film’s best lines. The visibly shaken Kid : ” Yeah, well, I guess they had it coming.” The weary Munny replies, ” We all got it coming, kid “. And then there’s the scenes with the town Sheriff, ” Little” Bill Daggett expertly played by Gene Hackman ( earning a well-deserved Oscar ). After Bill shows his true colors, Eastwood releases his inner beast from his younger violent days in a memorably brutal, bloody climax. His ” Man with no Name” may be his most famous Western character, but Willian Munny makes for an exceptional final act for Eastwood’s work in this genre.

Clint Eastwood has made so many great films and runner-ups for this list would have to include A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, BRONCO BILLY, TIGHTROPE, and WHERE EAGLES DARE.  Stop by the Way Out Club February 7th for more Clint mania.

Top Ten Tuesday – The Best of Lee Marvin

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Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman

Lee Marvin rose through the ranks of movie stardom as a character actor, delivering mostly villainous supporting turns in many films before finally graduating to leading roles. Regardless of which side of the law he was on however, he projected a tough-as-nails intensity and a two-fisted integrity which elevated even the slightest material. Born February 19, 1924, in New York City, Marvin quit high school to enter the Marine Corps and while serving in the South Pacific was badly wounded in battle when a machine gun nest shot off part of his buttocks and severed his sciatic nerve. He spent a year in recovery before returning to the U.S. where he began working as a plumber. The acting bug bit after filling in for an ailing summer-stock actor and he studied the art at the New York-based American Theater Wing. Upon making his debut in summer stock, Marvin began working steadily in television and off-Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in a 1951 production of Billy Budd and also made his first film appearance in YOU’RE IN THE NAVY NOW in 1951. Soon Marvin began appearing regularly onscreen, with credits including a lead role in Stanley Kramer’s 1952 war drama EIGHT MEN OUT. After a string of villain roles, Marvin grew unhappy with studio typecasting and moved to television in 1957 to star as Detective Lieutenant Frank Ballinger in the police series M Squad, which lasted three seasons.

Marvin’s return to the big screen was in 1961 opposite John Wayne in THE COMANCHEROS and starred again with the Duke the next year in the John Ford classic THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE. In 1965 he appeared in a dual role as twin gunfighters in the Western spoof CAT BALLOU opposite Jane Fonda, a performance which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor (his first and last nomination).  Next was THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) the biggest hit of his career and he followed that with such great films as POINT BLANK (1967), HELL IN THE PACIFIC (1968) and even sang in the 1969 western musical PAINT YOUR WAGON with Clint Eastwood (now considered a fiasco, it was actually a financial success and earned Marvin a Golden Globe nomination). Some of his best films from the ’70s were PRIME CUT, EMPEROR OF THE NORTH (both 1972), and THE ICEMAN COMETH (1973). Marvin slowed down in the ’80s but did star in Sam Fuller’s great WWII epic THE BIG RED ONE in 1980 and worked opposite Charles Bronson in the memorable DEATH HUNT in 1981. His final screen role was alongside Chuck Norris in DELTA FORCE in 1986. Lee Marvin died of a heart attack on August 29, 1987 at age 63 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Lee Marvin appeared in 61 films in his four decades as an actor, and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best:

Honorable Mention: THE BIG HEAT

After several small roles, Lee Marvin had his ‘Star is Born’ moment in Fritz Lang’s THE BIG HEAT (1953) where, as Vince Stone, the sadistic goon of ganglord Alexander Scourby, he mutilates Gloria Grahame’s face by throwing scalding coffee on it. It was such a cruel, violent, and unexpected outburst that shocked audiences (and critics) suddenly took notice of this rugged new actor and it led to further villain roles  the next year opposite Marlon Brando in THE WILD ONE and Spencer Tracy in BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK. Marvin would go on from here and deliver a ream of brilliant gruff hard bastard performances. THE BIG HEAT is a tough, uncompromising drama starring Glenn Ford about one man’s crusade against corruption and the high cost his actions have on his own life and the lives of those around him. It’s a violent, fast paced story of an honest cop’s angry and vengeful struggle against the mobsters who killed his wife. Exciting and gripping throughout, the mean-spiritedness it depicts gives it a harder edge than most film noirs of its period.

10. PRIME CUT

Michael Ritchie was certainly an odd choice to direct a film about Irish mobsters starring the iconic Lee Marvin.  Ritchie built a career crafting a series of near-perfect films that examined the social and political aspects of competition (THE CANDIDATE, SMILE, SEMI-TOUGH, BAD NEWS BEARS).  While PRIME CUT is an entertaining but somewhat cliched gangster film, it is remembered today only for some great imagery and for the feature film debut of future Oscar winner Sissy Spacek. Marvin plays Nick Devlin, an enforcer for the mob who is sent to Middle America to reign in an insubordinate crime boss (a gleefully malevolent Gene Hackman). Unfortunately, these two have a history that (of course) involves a woman (the beautiful Angel Tompkins), so things head south real fast (as they say in farm country).  Marvin here proves that he was one of the coolest anti-heroes ever, rivaling Eastwood’s or Bronson’s calm exterior that could explode with violence at any moment.  PRIME CUT is betrayed by an episodic, hackneyed script with scenes that have no payoff (a young man leaving his family, Hackman’s weird brother, etc.), while other scenes border on parody (Spacek recounting how she used to snuggle with her girlfriend at the orphanage sounds like something from Penthouse Letters).  But the opening sequence is both gruesome and funny, as easy listening music plays while cattle (and one unlucky human) are literally led to slaughter, intercut with some meatpacking scenes.  The sex slavery storyline is revealed casually in a sequence that’s shocking even by today’s standards (the film contains copious amounts of nudity) but also emphasize the movie’s themes of man’s status as an animal.  Utilizing the wide open spaces of Midwestern farmland, Ritchie juxtaposes images of clean-cut, blonde, overall-clad farm boys armed with shotguns hunting human prey– through a vast field of sunflowers!  In the film’s most famous sequence, Marvin and Spacek run from a deadly combine hay-baler through bright golden wheatfields in broad daylight (the machine ends up destroying an automobile which leads to a nice visual joke).  And the climax is all-out mayhem at the hands of Marvin/Devlin and a submachinegun, as only the man with the steely blue eyes can dispense it.

9. DEATH HUNT

Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson had interesting parallel careers that intersected several times including right at the beginning. They both made their big screen debuts in the 1951 military comedy YOU’RE IN THE NAVY NOW (Bronson had several lines. Marvin had none). They both had bit roles the next year in DIPLOMATIC COURIER and in 1958 Bronson made a guest appearance on an episode of Marvin’s TV cop show M-Squad. Marvin would go on to win an Oscar for best actor in 1965’s CAT BALLOU while Bronson would be accused of being a non-actor, a ‘wooden indian’ who nonetheless managed to coast on his brooding charisma to the top of the international box-office. THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) was one of the biggest hits of both men’s careers and two unrelated episodes of the TV western The Virginian each actor had guest-starred in were strung together and released theatrically as THE MEANEST MEN IN THE WEST later that year to make it look like they had teamed up yet again (scenes were awkwardly edited to make it look like they’re interacting). In 1981, the actors worked together one last time for the snow-bound action adventure DEATH HUNT. Loosely based on a true story, it’s the tale of mysterious lone trapper Albert Johnson (Bronson) who’s killed some people in a dispute over dogs. This triggers a massive manhunt by the Mounties, led by hard-bitten Sergeant Ed Millen (Marvin) through the unforgiving Canadian Yukon wilderness. DEATH HUNT is simple blood and thunder stuff, with a rugged supporting cast (Ed Lauter, Carl Weathers) and a handful of violent action sequences well-directed by Peter Hunt, a highly-regarded British film editor who had helmed the 007 classic ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE.  Marvin and Bronson’s gruff charisma bounce off each other nicely though they only share a couple of scenes and director Hunt shows great skill as looks, nods and raised eyebrows show the two men’s grudging, mutual respect. Angie Dickinson plays Sgt. Millen’s girlfriend and will appear two more times on this top ten list.

8. ATTACK

It’s unsurprising that Robert Aldrich directed three of the films in this top ten list as so many of his films, VERA CRUZ (1954), FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (1965), THE LONGEST YARD (1974), depict an isolated a group of rugged men in a self-contained and threatening universe. (WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE and KISS ME DEALY showed off his diversity), so it’s natural that he worked so well with a physical actor like Lee Marvin. Their first collaboration was ATTACK! (1956), a dark and cynical look at men at war and is one of Aldrich’s very best films, bearing his personal signature in a portrait of infantry warfare set in Belgium circa 1944. Scripted by James Poe (husband of Barbara Steele!) and based on the play The Fragile Fox by Norman Brook, ATTACK! is an intimate battle saga centering on the craven Captain Cooney (Eddie Albert), a coward who has achieved his rank due to family connections, specifically his father’s political power. In a strong supporting performance, Lee Marvin plays Colonel Bartlett, an officer who’s aware of Cooney’s incompetence but overlooks the problem in order to promote his own personal ambition and tasks him with setting up artillery observation posts in a strategic, heavily bombarded area. However, the platoon, led by Lt. Costa (Jack Palance), feels victimized, resents the situation and vows to take revenge. Though Marvin’s character is not part of the ultimate conflict, ATTACK! features a number of memorable scenes which combine physical action, superb dialog and emotion perfectly. One scene in which a mortally wounded Lt. Costa prays that God will let him live long enough to kill Cooney is gut-wrenching. The dynamic between Palance and Albert is similar to that of Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger in PLATOON thirty years later. ATTACK! Is one of the toughest and most realistic films about WWII combat from the the 1950s.

7. THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE

By 1962 television was the main showcase for stories of the old west. This is when the greatest director of those tales, John Ford, made his last truly classic Western motion picture: THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE starring Marvin as the title character. He had played several cowboy villains on the screen before, but Valance may be his most memorable. In his first scene Valance orchestrates a stagecoach robbery and has to be restrained by his toadies Lee Van Cleef and Strother Martin before he kills lawyer Jimmy Stewart with his heavy, silver bullwhip . Every time Valance sees his victim he calls him “dude” in a gutteral, taunting growl. Marvin plays an evil, sadistic bully who intimidates everyone in the small town ( including Andy Devine’s ineffectual sheriff ) except for John Wayne’s Tom Doniphon. There’s a terrific stare down between Marvin and Wayne in the diner where Stewart works. Gunplay is averted, but it’s clear that Valance is a mad dog that needs to be put down. When the newspaper office is trashed and the editor beaten, Stewart’s had enough. In one of the greatest screen showdowns he faces off against the brute who gleefully ‘licks his chops” at the chance to finish off the “dude”. Well, I guess the title kind of gives it away. Still there’s secrets and mysteries behind it that are well worth exploring. As the newsman says at the film’s climax, ” When the legend becomes fact, print the legend!”.

6. EMPEROR OF THE NORTH

This slice of Depression-era Americana is one of Lee Marvin’s best but least-known films.  The movie opens with a lyrical shot of a train chugging through some beautiful Midwestern countryside, smoke billowing behind, mellow country tune playing on the soundtrack.  However, this Norman Rockwell-esque vision soon gives way to a scene of brutal murder at the hands of a superbly menacing Ernest Borgnine.  Borgnine, often cast as a heavy later in his career, here plays one of his best bad guys as ‘Shack’ – captain of a legendary train on which no hobo or drifter ever gets a “free ride”.  Shack enforces this simple rule with a variety of deterrents, such as chains, lead weights, and sledge hammers. Marvin portrays ‘A- Number 1’,  a seasoned, veteran hobo who is smart, strong, and pragmatic.  He sums up his philosophy of life nicely as a rail-hopping metaphor:”Don’t ever grab unless you’re sure you can hold on, [because] you ever let go, she’ll throw you under.”  Part of the fun of EMPEROR is knowing, almost from the first frame, that these two grizzled men are heading for a grand showdown. Director Robert Aldrich is mostly known for his tough guy films (KISS ME DEADLY, DIRTY DOZEN, LONGEST YARD, etc.), and EMPEROR is no exception.  The movie expertly builds to the final confrontation, which takes up nearly the entire second half (including an awesomely suspenseful imminent train collision).  Also thrown in are atmospheric and flavorful set pieces  such as hobo camps and trainyards where some great character actors have names like Hogger and Cracker, and a buddy subplot with Marvin mentoring a young wannabe, rather annoyingly played by Keith Carradine. The film can also be seen as a commentary on the state of things in America, then and now–the characters and even the trains could symbolize different aspects of society or government. But it is Marvin’s persona, in one of his best performances, that is the core of the film.  Violent and cynical, witty and playful, philosophical and resigned, Marvin displays all of this and more, delivering some of the best lines of his career. The train is “my hotel,” he tells Carradine, “The stars at night — I put them there!”  This rough and rugged film (devoid of women except for one brief humorous scene) is truly an underrated classic. An 18 minute condensed version of EMPEROR OF THE NORTH will be screened at Super-8 LEE MARVIN Movie Madness September 6th at The Way Out Club

5.CAT BALLOU

In 1965 Lee Marvin had already made a name for himself on screen as a great Western villain most notably in 1962’s THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERY VALANCE. Perhaps he thought that it was time to poke some fun at that image by taking on a duel role in director Elliot Silverstein’s comedy-oater . That’s right, a duel role! Marvin is the evil hired killer Tim Strawn, dressed in black and sporting a silver fake nose. After gunning down Catherine ” Cat” Ballou’s daddy she sends for legendary gunfighter ( he stars in pulp novels! ) Kid Shelleen (also Marvin). He has one of the greatest movie entrances ever as he arrives via stagecoach ( in the luggage compartment). Thanks to his love of the bottle, Shelleae’s is far from his gun slingin’ best ( “He missed the barn!”). In those dark politically incorrect days you could still derive humor from the tipsy. Whether he’s about to fall off his galloping steed or ripping the towel off a pompous rich bather, Shelleen is a hoot! He’s even better when he straightens himself up ( with the help of trainer Tom Nardini ) and has a showdown with Strawn. After that Shelean strikes a classic pose as he and his horse lean against a building after a boozy night. CAT boasts a bouncy title tune performed by roving narrators Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye and an incredibly cute Jane Fonda, but it’s Marvin that makes it a classic. The Motion Picture Academy thought so and awarded him the Oscar for Best Actor. An 18 minute condensed version of CAT BALLOU will be screened at Super-8 LEE MARVIN Movie Madness September 6th at The Way Out Club

4.THE BIG RED ONE

In his last decade as a movie star, the 1980’s, Marvin made just a handful of films. Sam Fuller’s 1980 epic war film stands out as one of the best of either man’s screen careers. Real life WWII vet Marvin plays the grizzled GI who’s only referred to as the sergeant ( we never hear his full name ) who leads an ever dwindling squad including Robert Carradine’s aspiring writer ( a surrogate for Fuller? ) and Mark Hamill ( in between his first two Star Wars gigs ) as a cartoonist through the last battles of the European combat theatre. Marvin’s terrific as the gruff, fatherly figure trying to keep these young men alive. His most memorable scenes, though, may be away from his boys. He’s introduced in a tense battlefield showdown with an unseen enemy at the start of the movie. Later  the sergeant befriends a young refugee after a grueling fire fight. When the boy puts a helmet on his head, so he can play “soldier”, the sergeant gently takes it off and  sadly tosses it aside. He’s seen too many young men, not much older than this boy, march to their deaths. In the film’s final sequence the sergeant desperately tries to save the life of an enemy soldier he had just shot. Seems the war had ended just moments before. With very little dialogue Marvin conveys such much of this weary fighting man’s emotion using only his tired, red eyes. We had gotten to see Marvin’s tough side many times before, but here we get a rare glimpse at his tender side.

3.THE DIRTY DOZEN

In THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), the biggest boxoffice hit of his career, Lee Marvin played WWII Major John Reisman (a role turned down by John Wayne), leader of the unusual and top-secret mission to take twelve soldiers convicted of felony offenses, either serving prison sentences or condemned to death, and turn them into a unit capable of a tough suicide mission: attacking a chateau in France that’s a gathering for a large group of Nazi officers.THE DIRTY DOZEN remains one of the most popular and enduring war films of all time (a reputation that not even three crappy made-for-TV sequels, one starring Marvin, in the late ’80s could taint). Its enduring legacy comes partly from its ensemble cast, several of them actual combat veterans, which includes Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, and Clint Walker. But the film’s main appeal is Robert Aldrich’s direction, which delivers entertaining, big-scale action and macho posturing. With so many great actors competing for screen time, it’s an impressive feat for anyone to catch the audience’s attention. Given the prominence of his role, Marvin, who always gave 100% to any performance, certainly does. The actor’s legendary screen presence allows him to command the viewer’s attention any time he’s on screen. Other standouts include an understated Bronson, a despicable Savalas and wild-man John Cassavetes, who earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work as Franco, the most outspoken of Reisman’s convicts. THE DIRTY DOZEN easily stands the test of time, as entertaining today as I’m sure audiences found when it was released in 1967. The nature of war has changed, but the impact of THE DIRTY DOZEN has not. An 18 minute condensed version of THE DIRTY DOZEN will be screened at Super-8 LEE MARVIN Movie Madness September 6th at The Way Out Club

2.THE KILLERS

THE KILLERS (1964) was based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway filmed previously in 1946. It was originally intended as a TV movie but when producers saw the opening scene where Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager, as two contract killers, walk into a school for the blind and cold-bloodedly murder John Cassavettes, they decided a theatrical release more appropriate. The story’s told mostly in flashbacks as an investigation by these hit men of why their target, a former race car and getaway driver, didn’t run when he had the chance. This leads to a hidden million dollar stash from a heist years before by a mail robbery gang led by Ronald Reagan (in his last film – looking presidential despite bad hair and a nasty moment slapping Angie Dickinson silly!). Marvin was excellent in perhaps is most iconic role as Charlie Strom, a growling killing machine in a tailored suit and shades. He steals the show as the brains behind the assassination outfit, but he’s so confounded by the willingness of Cassavettes to meet his ultimate fate that his curiosity leads to his own. He and Gulager almost anticipate Travolta and Jackson’s similarly argumentive pairing in PULP FICTION thirty years later especially in a scene where they bicker over who is going to finish their steak first. Marvin is the perfect thinking man’s hit-man, never wasting a word, thinking ahead and planning his moves. He garners respect even when brutalizing a blind librarian. Director Don Siegel would go on to DIRTY HARRY among others and does a nice clean job setting THE KILLERS in a brightly lit, cheery L.A. that’s at odds with the grim story. It’s a film noir without the noir and one of the best crime films of the ’60s.

1. POINT BLANK

One of the most influential films of the 1960s, director John Boorman’s take on the crime thriller is perhaps Lee Marvin’s best film.  Based on the novel THE HUNTER by Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake), Marvin plays Walker (no first name, “not even for his wife”), a man betrayed during a heist by his good friend Reese and wife Lynne (screen debuts of John Vernon and Sharon Acker).  Years later, Walker returns to exact his revenge, and reclaim his cut of the loot–the rather mundane amount of $93,000 – with the help of sister-in-law Chris (Angie Dickinson, who has never been sexier). Boorman tells this story using nearly every cinematic tool at his disposal.  Rapid edits and jump cuts not only change locations but whip us from past to present. Sound effects overlap from one scene to the next, and dialogue or sounds from a previous scene play over an entirely different scene.  Colors change throughout from muted, washed-out hues to bright, vibrant shades as the movie becomes more exciting or violent (note that even Marvin’s hair color changes!).  In one striking sequence (which predates a similar one in Kubrick’s 2001), Walker goes from room to room as the decor changes, leaving us questioning both time and reality. Add in some great dialogue (mostly lifted right from the book), a tense musical score by Johnny Mandel, and a veteran cast (Keenan Wynn, Carroll O’Connor, Lloyd Bochner), and you have a constantly inventive film that’s full of surprising touches.  Dickinson plays a tough cookie very well–when she finally loses it and starts beating on Walker, it’s a classic scene. Marvin met Boorman in England while shooting DIRTY DOZEN and became intrigued by the character of Walker.  According to Boorman, Marvin had a great deal of creative input into the film and its structure, and Boorman believed Marvin saw some of himself in the story of a man seeking to reclaim his own humanity.  One ongoing debate about POINT BLANK is whether the entire film is a dying man’s dream.  Whether that’s true or not, it is definitely the stuff that dreams are made of for true lovers of cinematic masterpieces.

Lee Marvin made so many great films and runner-ups for this list would have to include THE WILD ONE, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK, DELTA FORCE, and HELL IN THE PACIFIC.  Here’s a wonderful illustration of Lee Marvin by our friend Paul Daly. More of Paul’s artwork can be seen on Facebook HERE



Throwback Thursday: ‘The Beguiled’

the beguiled

One man…seven women…in a strange house!

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to see Clint Eastwood play a villain?  Ever been curious as to how he might fare in a horror film (outside of his part as Jennings the Lab Technician in 1955’s ‘Revenge of the Creature’)?  Well, if these notions have ever dotted your movie-loving mind, then you need not look any further than Don Siegel’s gothic, psychosexual film from 1971, ‘The Beguiled.’

Made just before ‘Dirty Harry,’ ‘The Beguiled’ stars Eastwood as Corporal John McBurney, a Yankee soldier near the end of the Civil War.  After being wounded in the field, McBurney seeks shelter in an all-girl boarding school deep in the South.  After being nursed back to health, McBurney begins to use his charm in enticing the young women, one at a time.  Needless to say, things get heated, and, before too long, they get violent.

Just as McBurney is not a typical role for the Man With No Name, ‘The Beguiled’ is not a typical horror film.  Under Sigel’s artistic and confident direction, the film finds a comfortable balance between drama and the violent nature that drives the film’s more terrifying moments.  Never resorting to standard, horror trappings, the film oozes gothic and atmospheric sentiment, never allowing the audience to rest easy in their seats.  You know something is afoul in the boarding house, and you know that, before too long, it is going to reveal itself to McBurney.  He, being a charismatic and naive fool, sees nothing amiss, and, as he grows more and more comfortable in his seat in the house, we find ourselves growing more and more uneasy in ours.

Of course, Siegel wouldn’t have been able to pull the film off all on his own.  Eastwood gives an outstanding performance, made all the more brilliant seeing as how completely against type it is.  This is a man who, in 1971, had recently finished the Leone trilogy (‘A Fistful of Dollars,’ ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,’ and ‘For a Few Dollars More’) and had already begun his hero drive towards Dirty Harry with turns in ‘Coogan’s Bluff’ and two war films ‘Where Eagles Dare,’ and ‘Kelly’s Heroes.’  In 1971, Eastwood wasn’t completely pigeonholed as the macho action hero.  He had already tried his hand in a musical, ‘Paint Your Wagon,’ and had already set himself to play the villain Two-Face on the TV version of “Batman.”  The show was cancelled before Eastwood could film an episode, but the wheels were greased for him to step into the role of a villain.

1971 would end up being a banner year for Eastwood.  His production company, Malpaso, was established, Eastwood directed his first film, ‘Play Misty for Me,’ and he would step into the role that would become his most iconic, Dirty Harry.  1971 also saw Eastwood finally set himself to playing the baddie, as he re-teamed with Siegel, who he had previously worked with on ‘Coogan’s Bluff’ and ‘Two Mules for Sister Sara.’  ‘The Beguiled’ was released on March 31st of ’71, and, almost immediately, the film felt the weight of Eastwood’s play against type at the box office.  Not sure on how to market the film, Universal ended up selling it as a straight, romance picture.  It is anything but.

Despite its failure at the box office, ‘The Beguiled’ is remembered as being a dangerous and somewhat creepy film about bottled up emotion and the explosion that occurs when it is subdued for too long.  Eastwood is great as McBurney.  Due to the iconic nature of many of the characters he has played, you can’t say McBurney is one of his more memorable performances, but it is, arguably, one of his best.  McBurney is chauvinistic and dangerous, yet, oddly, fascinating.  It is easy to see how he is able to make the women fall in love with him, but it ends up being no surprise at all when he grows violent towards them.

Eastwood and Siegel aren’t the only ones firing on all cylinders for ‘The Beguiled,’ either.  Geraldine Page as Martha Farnsworth, the headmistress, is superb, as are most of the young women who make up the house’s inhabitants.  Siegel and cinematographer Bruce Surtees work well together, injecting a vibe of atmospheric sensuality and foreboding danger throughout the picture.  It isn’t any wonder Siegel would bring Surtees back for ‘Dirty Harry,’ nor is it any wonder Eastwood would continue to work with Surtees throughout the rest of the ’70s and on into the ’80s.  Lalo Schifrin, who Siegel had previously worked with on ‘Coogan’s Bluff,’ offers a provocative and dangerously seductive musical score.  He, too, would go on to work with Siegel and the rest of the returning crew for ‘Dirty Harry.’

‘The Beguiled’ is a forgotten gem, a psychological thriller that is charged from within and brought to the bubbling surface by an outstanding performance by Eastwood and the excellent direction from Siegel.  It is a film that holds you throughout, never slowing down yet taking its time in setting up the characters and relationships between them.  It is somewhat a horror film, somewhat a gothic drama, and somewhat a dark fable of the evil within all of us, and what it takes to unleash that evil upon another human being.  It is a highly recommended piece of filmmaking that is made all the more intriguing by the off-kilter performance by one of Hollywood’s most famed heroes.