As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasion ally Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We snark our way through it.
Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1999’s Final Voyage!
It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Final Voyage on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
It’s John Wayne’s birthday! Here’s 4 shots from the Duke’s unforgettable career.
4 Shots From 4 Films
Stagecoach (1939, directed by John Ford)
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949, directed by Allan Dwan)
The Searchers (1956, directed by John Ford)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962, directed by John Ford)
Immediately following the Civil War, a group of U.S. soldiers and a group of former Confederates have to work together to survive an Apache ambush. The leader of the soldiers is Sgt. Matt Blake (Scott Brady) and he’s escorting a gunrunner (Baynes Barron) to a nearby fort. Leading the former Confederates is Sam Prescott (Frank Gerstle). The two groups are, at first, suspicious of each other. Confederate Judge Stanfield (Irving Bacon) thinks that Blake should just give the gunrunner and his guns to the Apaches, since that’s what they want. When Blake disagrees, Prescott tries to encourage a young and angry former Confederate named Keith (Clint Eastwood) to challenge Blake’s command. In the end, the former enemies have to learn how to set aside their differences to survive and to make it to the fort.
This was one of Eastwood’s earliest performances and only the fourth time that his name actually appeared in the opening credits. (Eastwood had appeared, uncredited, in several films before this one.) Eastwood later called Ambush at Cimarron Pass “the lousiest western ever made” and claimed that he hated the film so much that he almost gave up on acting after seeing it. I think he’s being too hard on the movie. It’s a low-budget B-movie that pretty much takes place in one location and it has an tending that feels tacked-on but, when it concentrates on the action and the hostility between the two groups, it’s not that bad. It feels more like an episode of Death Valley Days than an actual movie but Scott Brady is a convincing hero and his brawl with Eastwood is one of the movie’s highlights. As for Eastwood’s performance, he’s stiff but convincing when he’s angry. It’s obvious that, in 1958, Clint Eastwood still had a long way to go an actor but his physical presence makes him stand out whenever he’s in a scene. Ambush at Cimarron Pass is nothing special but it’s good enough to work for fans of the genre who might be looking for a brief diversion that features a handful of familiar faces.
After appearing in this film, Eastwood would land the role of Rowdy Yates on Rawhide and spend the next six years on television. His next film would be A Fistful of Dollars, a western that made a much deeper impression on audiences than Ambush At Cimarron Pass.
Here at The Shattered Lens, we’re celebrating Clint Eastwood’s birthday on May 31st. I decided to revisit his 1999 film, TRUE CRIME.
Clint Eastwood directs and stars as ace journalist, Steve Everett, who also happens to be a bad friend, a terrible dad, and an even worse husband. Literally the only thing that he’s got going for him is his “nose,” his ability to sniff out a story where no one else can. Even that has begun to fail him, mostly due to his recents bouts with alcoholism, which he seems to somewhat have a handle on at the time of this story. When a young, beautiful colleague tragically passes away in an auto accident, Steve is given her previous assignment to cover the execution of convicted murderer Frank Beechum (Isaiah Washington). Not the kind to write a human interest “puff piece” like the Oakland Tribune is wanting, Everett begins digging into the past and pretty soon that nose of his starts telling him that Beechum is a victim of circumstantial evidence. Despite his editor Bob Findley’s (Denis Leary) objections, he’s able to convince his newspaper boss Alan Mann (James Woods) to let him dig deeper into the story. As he tries to juggle his myriad personal problems with his growing belief in Beechum’s innocence, Everett is also facing a clock that is ticking down to the midnight execution. Will he be able to find the crucial piece of evidence that will set Beechum free?
TRUE CRIME appears to be somewhat of a forgotten Clint Eastwood film. I saw it at the theater when it came out in 1999, but it was not financially successful, only bringing in $16 Million at the box office. Regardless of that, I still love the film. It’s certainly not perfect. It’s probably too long, Beechum is probably too angelic after being “born again,” and the resolution may be a little unrealistic, but I still enjoyed every second of it. One of the coolest things about Clint Eastwood is his willingness to play such flawed men on screen, yet we still love him. He’s great in this film! Anyone who’s read much of my work knows that my love of actor James Woods goes back to being in junior high and renting his movies BEST SELLER and COP. It’s such a treat seeing the legendary pair on screen together even if Woods’ role is sort of a glorified cameo. Woods is hilarious in his limited screen time. My last shout out is to Isaiah Washington as the innocent man who’s about to be put to death. After all these years and appeals, he’s accepted his fate, but the scene where he tells Everett his story and Everett tells him that he believes he’s innocent is so powerful. Add to that Washington’s scenes with his wife and daughter, and I was very much emotionally invested in this film. Washington’s performance was key to the film working, and he’s great!
Overall, TRUE CRIME is a film that takes its sweet time, but it ultimately tells a tense, engrossing story that ratchets up the tension to 10 prior to its last second resolution. I consider it very underrated and highly recommend it. I’ve included the trailer below:
Today, we wish a happy birthday to Cillian Murphy!
A year ago, Murphy won the Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer. However, before playing the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s epic, Cillian Murphy been an intriguing cinematic presence for over two decades. I first became aware of him after watching Danny Boyle’s 2002 classic, 28DaysLater. Here he is, showing what he can do without even uttering a word of dialogue, in a haunting scene from that film.
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to screenwriter Bob Gale! It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Films Written By Bob Gale
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978, dir by Robert Zemeckis, DP: Donald M. Morgan)
1941 (directed by Steven Spielberg, DP: William A. Fraker)
Used Cars (1980, dir by Robert Zemeckis, DP: Donald M. Morgan)
Back to the Future (1986, dir by Robert Zemeckis, DP: Dean Cundey)
One of the best action scenes in the Don Siegel / Clint Eastwood collaboration COOGAN’S BLUFF (1968)… I really enjoy this scene because Coogan tried to use Libby Raven, but she surprised him by being smarter than he thought she was. Enjoy this classic scene from COOGAN’S BLUFF!
In the days leading up to World War I, spoiled rich kid Thad Walker (Tab Hunter) flees Boston after getting hit with a car theft charge and ends up in Paris. He befriends a group of American expatriates (including David Janssen, Will Hutchins, Jody McCrea, and William Wellman, Jr.) and eventually joins the French Air Force as a members of the Lafayette Escadrille. Thad also falls in love with a French prostitute named Renee (Etchika Choureau) and, after Thad strikes a French officer, he goes on the run with her.
I always wonder how many people have watched this film over the years because of the presence of a young Clint Eastwood in the cast, just to discover that he doesn’t get many lines and his character is largely interchangeable with the other young actors playing the members of the Lafayette Escadrille. This is a Tab Hunter movie, meaning that the action is dominated by Hunter’s sincere but bland screen persona. Director William Wellman wanted to cast Paul Newman in the lead role and that would have been something to see. Instead, the studio insisted on Hunter. They also insisted that Wellman change the film’s ending so that Hunter could survive instead of getting shot down on his very first mission. William Wellman was so disgusted with the studio that he retired from directing.
What had to make it all especially galling for the director was that LafayetteEscadrille was based on his own life. His son, William Wellman Jr., plays “Bill Wellman” in the film and Thad was based on actual friend of Wellman’s. The film was meant to be a tribute to his friends, many of whom did not survive World War I. Instead, the studio insisted that it be just another Tab Hunter service comedy. The best scenes are the ones where it’s just Thad and his friends trying to make it through basic training. Unfortunately, those scenes are overshadowed by Thad on the run.
The film is still there for those of us who enjoy catching future stars. Clint Eastwood, David Janssen, Tom Laughlin, Will Hutchins, Brett Halsey, and Jody McCrea are all present and accounted for. Rumor has it that James Garner can spotted in the background but I couldn’t find him and Garner had already co-starred with Brando in Sayonara when this move was made so I doubt he was doing background work. Tab Hunter’s blandness sinks the production but the rest of the cast would go on to better things.
Here at The Shattered Lens, we’re looking forward to celebrating the birthday of Clint Eastwood on May 31st. In anticipation, I decided to revisit COOGAN’S BLUFF (1968).
Clint Eastwood is Coogan, a tough as nails deputy sheriff from Arizona, who’s ordered by his boss, Sheriff McCrea (Tom Tully) to go to New York City and bring back the escaped killer James Ringerman (Don Stroud). When he gets to New York, he’s informed by Lieutenant McElroy (Lee J. Cobb) that Ringerman has overdosed on LSD while in the state’s custody, he’s now in the Bellevue Hospital, and he will not be released to Coogan until the state Supreme Court says so. Stuck in the Big Apple with nothing to do but flirt with probation officer Julie Roth (Susan Clark), Coogan decides to take matters into his own hands and get Ringerman out of the hospital early. He bluffs the attendants at the hospital into turning Ringerman over to him so he can catch the first plane back to Arizona. It seems like a good plan until he’s ambushed by Ringerman’s girlfriend Linny (Tisha Sterling) and his friend Pushie (David Doyle), he gets conked on the head, and he loses both his gun and his prisoner. Now, in trouble with Lieutenant McElroy and Sheriff McCrea, Coogan is ordered back home to Arizona. Determined to get Ringerman at any cost, Coogan stays in the city and leaves a trail of broken hearts and bruised bodies on his way to capturing his man!
Made in 1968 after Eastwood’s string of excellent spaghetti westerns with Sergio Leone, COOGAN’S BLUFF may be set in contemporary times, but Coogan still seems to be a product of the old west. A big part of the fun is watching him interact with the people of New York City, where everyone is trying to take advantage of him, whether it be the cab driver, the hotel clerk, or the hooker down the hall. When he finally gets to the police station, he sees a building that’s completely overrun with criminals and crazies. He soon finds that Lieutenant McElroy follows the law down to the letter, while he treats the law as more of a set of suggestions on his way to getting the bad guys. This leads to endless frustration and almost gets Coogan arrested multiple times throughout the film as he doesn’t want to deal with all the red tape. One thing that doesn’t change whether Coogan is in Arizona or New York is his success with the ladies. They all swoon and he more than willingly obliges. The only problem for his prospect of true love is the fact that getting his guy always comes first, and he’ll use that sex appeal to get whatever information he needs. One of the main action scenes in this film, the bar fight, is set up ironically when the woman he’s “using” turns the tables and instead sets him up to be pummeled.
COOGAN’S BLUFF is Eastwood’s first film with director Don Siegel, with whom he’d make DIRTY HARRY a few years later. You can definitely see the genesis of Harry Callahan in Walt Coogan, a man who does whatever it takes to stop criminals, is quick with a whip, and usually pisses off his superiors along the way. In some ways, you could say that Walt Coogan set the mold for the hero of cop films for the next couple of decades! It also has that sense of humor that would be a mark of Eastwood’s cop films. This one includes a funny thread that runs throughout where every person he meets assumes he’s from Texas because he wears a cowboy hat, and he always corrects them that he’s from Arizona. I get this as I always make sure people know that I’m from Arkansas!
Overall, I really enjoy COOGAN’S BLUFF due mainly to Clint Eastwood’s excellent performance in the lead role. It was a great start to his “post Leone” career and would influence action movie heroes from that point forward.
Here’s what won at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. As the Academy’s membership has become more international, Cannes has been transformed into an Oscar precursor over the past few years. Time will tell if that’s the case this year. (Of the film’s that did win this year, The Secret Agent sounds like the most Oscar-friendly)
Palme d’Or
Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident
Grand Prix
Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value
Jury Prize
Mascha Schilinski for Sound of Falling and Oliver Laxe for Sirat (tie)
Best Director
Kleber Mendonça Filho for The Secret Agent
Best Screenplay
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Young Mothers
Best Actress
Nadia Melliti for The Little Sister
Best Actor
Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent
Special Prize
Resurrection, dir. Bi Gan
Camera d’Or for Best First Film
The President’s Cake, dir: Hassan Hadi
Palme d’Or for Best Short Film
I’m Glad You’re Dead Now, dir: Tawfeek Barhom
Through the Shattered Lens 