Marathon Man. 1976 Paramount Pictures.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, William Devane, Roy Scheider, Marthe Keller
Director: John Schlesinger
Buy Marathon Man from Amazon.
"Is it safe?" Number 70 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes list.
Dustin Hoffman is Thomas "Babe" Levy, a running enthusiast who is also working towards his Ph.D. in history researching the same field as his dad, who killed himself after he was investigated during the Joseph McCarthy era. His brother Henry (Scheider), or "Doc" if you prefer, poses as an oil company executive, but unknown to Babe, he is a government agent working for one Peter Janeway (Devane). Doc is in New York under the guise of visiting his brother, but in fact, he is tracking a Nazi war criminal named Dr. Christian Szell (Olivier), whose brother possesses a key to a safety deposit box containing an extremely valuable collection of diamonds (we learn later on that the diamonds were taken from Jewish victims that Szell personally executed at Auschwitz during World War II). Szell's brother dies following a road rage incident with a short-tempered Jewish American motorist. Meanwhile, Babe starts dating a fellow student named Elsa Opel (Keller), who says she's from Switzerland. One day, they're mugged in the park by two men in suits. Later, Doc takes them both to lunch, where he tricks Elsa into admitting she was lying about her past, because Doc suspects she has some kind of tie to Szell.
Doc is later stabbed by Szell, and he manages to make it back to Babe's apartment where he dies before telling him anything. The police interrogate Babe for hours, until Janeway and his men arrive. Janeway informs Babe of Doc's past as a government agent, and is convinced that Doc made his way back to Babe's apartment to share vital information. Later, Babe is abducted by the same two men who attacked him and Elsa in the park, who bring him to Szell, and Babe is tortured by the Nazi who repeatedly asks "Is it safe?" Babe denies any knowledge of what's happening, and is rescued by Janeway. After informing him of Szell's intentions for the cache of diamonds, and after Babe again stresses that Doc did not share any information with him before dying, Janeway reveals he is in cahoots with Szell. Szell had agreed to inform on his fellow Nazi war criminals in return for immunity. Babe is sent back to Szell, who is surprisingly gentle in his explanation why he's being held captive: he suspected Doc would attempt to seize the diamonds, or inform the authorities, and Szell wants to know if it's "safe" to withdraw the diamonds. Babe again says he knows nothing, and following more torture (dental torture!!), Babe escapes, outrunning Janeway and Szell's henchmen.
After this, Babe formulates a plan for revenge, and it could prove fatal for more than one person involved.
Laurence Olivier was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role as Dr. Szell, and he won a Golden Globe in the same category. Olivier was also suffering from cancer at the time of filming, and Paramount initially didn't want to use him during production, but producer Robert Evans called on his friends Merle Oberon and David Niven to meet with the House of Lords in England to convince them to urge Lloyds of London to insure Olivier. In the end, Olivier's cancer went into remission, and he lived for another thirteen years.
Highly recommended thriller, thanks to the performances of Hoffman and Olivier, although some might find the dental torture scenes a little too hard to watch. Be forewarned!
Showing posts with label john schlesinger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john schlesinger. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy. 1969 United Artists, distributed to DVD by MGM.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight
Director: John Schlesinger
Available at Amazon (two-disc special edition).
"I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!"
A young Texan named Joe Buck (Voight) quits his job washing dishes in a diner, packs a suitcase, and departs on a bus for New York City dressed as a cowboy, hoping to lead the life of a "kept" man. Upon arrival in the Big Apple, Joe goes broke quickly, and is a hilarious failure in his attempts of being hired as a "stud" for wealthy women. He soon meets Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo (Hoffman), a crippled, third-rate con man who fleeces Joe out of twenty dollars. Ratso briefly drops out of sight while Joe goes totally flat broke, gets thrown out of his hotel room, and finds himself attempting to sleep with another man in hopes of making cash (this fails).
After encountering Ratso, who is suffering from something that gradually worsens over the course of the film, at a diner, Joe shakes him down for every cent, but Ratso offers to help Joe by sharing his "place", an apartment in a condemned building. Ratso refuses medical attention, saying his condition will improve when he finally goes to Florida for good.
We also see flashbacks from Joe's life, starting with a bad experience while being baptized, and growing up with the only two people he ever loved: his grandmother Sally, and a former girlfriend known as "Crazy Annie". After being gangraped by a mob, Annie was sent to a mental institution, and she remains a constant presence in Joe's mind.
After being invited to a party that's very Warhol-esque, Joe gets very stoned, and goes home with a socialite offering him twenty dollars. Ratso falls down a flight of stairs, but insists he's okay, and goes back home. Joe has some performance issues at first, but is eventually able to earn that twenty. After returning home, Joe finds Ratso in bed, sweating and feverish. Ratso again refuses medical attention, preferring to go to Miami instead. Joe goes out to find some money, picking up an older male customer who he ends up beating and robbing after the gentleman suddenly chickens out. With the stolen money, Joe gets two bus tickets for Florida, but sadly, Ratso dies before the final stop.
Highly recommended.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight
Director: John Schlesinger
Available at Amazon (two-disc special edition).
"I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!"
A young Texan named Joe Buck (Voight) quits his job washing dishes in a diner, packs a suitcase, and departs on a bus for New York City dressed as a cowboy, hoping to lead the life of a "kept" man. Upon arrival in the Big Apple, Joe goes broke quickly, and is a hilarious failure in his attempts of being hired as a "stud" for wealthy women. He soon meets Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo (Hoffman), a crippled, third-rate con man who fleeces Joe out of twenty dollars. Ratso briefly drops out of sight while Joe goes totally flat broke, gets thrown out of his hotel room, and finds himself attempting to sleep with another man in hopes of making cash (this fails).
After encountering Ratso, who is suffering from something that gradually worsens over the course of the film, at a diner, Joe shakes him down for every cent, but Ratso offers to help Joe by sharing his "place", an apartment in a condemned building. Ratso refuses medical attention, saying his condition will improve when he finally goes to Florida for good.
We also see flashbacks from Joe's life, starting with a bad experience while being baptized, and growing up with the only two people he ever loved: his grandmother Sally, and a former girlfriend known as "Crazy Annie". After being gangraped by a mob, Annie was sent to a mental institution, and she remains a constant presence in Joe's mind.
After being invited to a party that's very Warhol-esque, Joe gets very stoned, and goes home with a socialite offering him twenty dollars. Ratso falls down a flight of stairs, but insists he's okay, and goes back home. Joe has some performance issues at first, but is eventually able to earn that twenty. After returning home, Joe finds Ratso in bed, sweating and feverish. Ratso again refuses medical attention, preferring to go to Miami instead. Joe goes out to find some money, picking up an older male customer who he ends up beating and robbing after the gentleman suddenly chickens out. With the stolen money, Joe gets two bus tickets for Florida, but sadly, Ratso dies before the final stop.
Highly recommended.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Billy Liar
Billy Liar (Criterion #121). 1963 Janus Films, Rialto Pictures & StudioCanal.
Starring: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne
Director: John Schlesinger
Buy Billy Liar at Amazon.
Somewhere in the north of England, Billy Fisher (Courtenay) lives with his parents and works as an assistant at a funeral parlor. Billy counters his drab, wretched life with his imagination, where he pretends to be the ruler of an imaginary country named Ambrosia, when he isn't exaggerating the facts of his real life to make it seem more interesting or shocking. Billy is also engaged to two women at the same time, but has another girlfriend named Liz (Christie) on the side. He also has a fantasy about becoming a screenwriter.
Billy's oft-stated intention, which he's never acted upon, is to move to London, where his dreams will become reality. Liz encourages him to pursue this dream, which Billy finally does on a really bad day (his fiancees find out about each other, and he almost gets his grandmother killed). However, when the train departs for London, will Billy really be on it? Or will he be headed back to his parents' house, planning to get lost in his imagination once again?
This is the second time I've watched this DVD, and I'm glad I gave it a second chance. The last time, I shut it off more than halfway through, and never finished it. Courtenay gives a decent performance as the dreamer too lazy to get up and pursue what he wants. Recommended, since we've all got some Billy Liar inside of us.
Starring: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne
Director: John Schlesinger
Buy Billy Liar at Amazon.
Somewhere in the north of England, Billy Fisher (Courtenay) lives with his parents and works as an assistant at a funeral parlor. Billy counters his drab, wretched life with his imagination, where he pretends to be the ruler of an imaginary country named Ambrosia, when he isn't exaggerating the facts of his real life to make it seem more interesting or shocking. Billy is also engaged to two women at the same time, but has another girlfriend named Liz (Christie) on the side. He also has a fantasy about becoming a screenwriter.
Billy's oft-stated intention, which he's never acted upon, is to move to London, where his dreams will become reality. Liz encourages him to pursue this dream, which Billy finally does on a really bad day (his fiancees find out about each other, and he almost gets his grandmother killed). However, when the train departs for London, will Billy really be on it? Or will he be headed back to his parents' house, planning to get lost in his imagination once again?
This is the second time I've watched this DVD, and I'm glad I gave it a second chance. The last time, I shut it off more than halfway through, and never finished it. Courtenay gives a decent performance as the dreamer too lazy to get up and pursue what he wants. Recommended, since we've all got some Billy Liar inside of us.
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