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.
Yesterday, it was announced that the veteran cinematographer Roger Pratt passed away in December. Known for his work with Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton, Pratt left behind a legacy of visually stunning films. It’s time for…
4 Shots From 4 Roger Pratt Films
Brazil (1985, dir by Terry Gilliam, DP: Roger Pratt)
Batman (1989, dir by Tim Burton, DP: Roger Pratt)
The Fisher King (1991, dir by Terry Gilliam, DP: Roger Pratt)
12 Monkeys (1995, dir by Terry Gilliam, DP: Roger Pratt)
First released in 1977, The Great Smokey Roadblock tells the story of Elegant John Howard (Henry Fonda).
Elegant is not really his first name. It’s a nickname, one to let us know that, in the world of independent truckers, John Howard was one of the good guys. He never crashed his rig. He never overcharged for a job. He always arrived on time and in good shape. John Howard was a good man but then he turned 60 and he got sick. He spent months in the hospital, unable to work. His truck was repossessed. The movie starts with John sneaking out of his hospital room, stealing back his truck, and hitting the road in search of one final job. Though John says he just wants to make enough money to get his truck back, the truth is that John is terminally ill. If he’s going to die, he wants to die doing what he loves. Of course, dying while driving could lead to some trouble for anyone else who happens to be on the road at the time but still, you have to respect John’s determination. He’s a true American, independent to his core.
(My Dad occasionally made a living driving a truck so perhaps that’s why I’m partial to films like this one.)
John picks up a hitchhiker, a religious young man named Beebo Crozier (Robert Englund). John picks Beebo up because Beebo was walking through the desert in a suit. Beebo claims that he’s walking to Florida but John tells him that he can’t do that. John will drive Beebo to Florida. Of course, John also expects Beebo to pay for the gas that his truck uses because it’s not like John has any money. At first, Beebo accuses John of cheating him. (Henry Fonda cheating someone!? Perish the thought!) Soon, however, John has become Beebo’s mentor.
Everyone respects John but no one wants to hire him. The only offer that John gets is from sleazy Charlie Le Pere (Gary Sandy), who has an agenda of his own. Finally, John visits his old friend, Penelope (Eileen Brennan). Penelope is a madam whose brothel has just been closed down. John agrees to transport Penelope and her girls (including Susan Sarandon) to a new location on the East Coast. Penelope offers to help John pay the bills. Elegant John’s a pimp now! (I was about to say that this seemed like an odd turn-of-events for Henry Fonda but then I remembered that he starred in The Cheyenne Social Club with Jimmy Stewart.)
There’s not really much of a plot to The Great Smokey Roadblock. John, Beebo, Penelope, and the girls travel from one location to another. They get thrown in jail by a notoriously corrupt deputy named Harley Davidson (Dub Taylor). After they escape, they become minor celebrities. Two counterculture journalists (played by Austin Pendleton and John Byner) show up and help them broadcast their story and the film comes to a halt while Pendleton and Byner exchange what sounds like improvised dialogue. The police attempt to set up a roadblock to stop Elegant John and his Six Mystery Women. I guess that’s the Great Smokey Roadblock of the title.
It’s a weird movie, in that the humor is extremely broad and often crude but Henry Fonda is playing a man who is not only terminally ill but who actually looks like he’s terminally ill. (Henry Fonda himself was reportedly very ill during the filming of The Great Smokey Roadblock.) As such, it’s a rather melancholy comedy, one in which every joke seems like it might be the last one that Elegant John will ever hear. In the 70s, not even a trucker comedy could have a happy ending and, as such, The Great Smokey Roadblock feels like a drive-in film for the existential set. The film’s plot doesn’t really add up to much and is full of plot holes that serve as evidence of a troubled production. That said, there’s something rather charming about seeing a pre-Nightmare On Elm Street Robert Englund playing a gentle guy who ends up as Henry Fonda’s protegee. Fonda and Englund play off each other well and their scenes together are the best thing about The Great Smokey Roadblock.
“The boldest book of our time,” shouts the poster art for 1953’s From Here To Eternity, “honestly, fearlessly brought to the screen!”
And indeed, James Jones’s novel was brought to the screen about as boldly as a studio film could be brought in 1953. The book told the story of several soldiers in the days immediately before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Production Code was still in effect and, as a result, a few changes were made to the film’s plot. Donna Reed played Lorene, a character who is described as being a “hostess” at social club but who, in the book, worked at a brothel that was popular with the soldiers from a nearby army base. In the book, an unfaithful husband gives his wife a venereal disease that leads to her getting a hysterectomy. In the movie, Karen’s (Deborah Kerr) hysterectomy was the result of a miscarriage that occurred after she discovered her husband was being unfaithful. The book was critical of the Army and featured officers who faced no consequences for their actions. The movie definitely presents the enlisted men as being at the mercy of officers but the worst of the officers is ultimately disciplined. The movie was made with the cooperation of the U.S. Army and, as a result, the film’s villains — like Captain Holmes (Philip Ober) and the monstrous Fatso Judson (Ernest Borgnine) — were portrayed as being aberrations who did not represent the Army as a whole. That said, the film version of From Here To Eternity is still a powerful, moving, and daring film. What couldn’t be shown on screen is still suggested. One might not see the specifics of what Fatso Judson does to Maggio (Frank Sinatra) in the stockade but it’s not difficult to figure out.
The film follows one company of soldiers as they laugh, fight, and fall in love while stationed in Hawaii. They spend time training for a war that most of them think will never come. Captain Holmes is more concerned with his regimental boxing team than the prospect of going to war and is confused when Private Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) refuses to stop back into the ring. Prewitt, who takes pride in his ability as a bugler, quit boxing after he blinded an opponent in the ring but Holmes doesn’t care. Holmes wants another trophy for his office. He orders Sgt. Warden (Burt Lancaster) to make life Hell for Prewitt until Prewitt agrees to box. Warden, who has seen a lot of officers come and go and who has been tempted to become an non-commissioned officer himself, is having an affair with Holmes’s wife, Karen. Meanwhile, Prewitt and his friend Maggio spend their time looking forward to the weekends they’re allowed to spend off the base. Prewitt has fallen in love with Lenore but, as with all the men in From Here To Eternity, Prewitt’s true love is for the army. Even with Holmes pressuring him to box, Prewitt’s loyalty is to the men with whom he serves. There’s a lot of drama, a lot of death, and a lot of romance. This is the film in which Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr make out on the beach while the tide rolls in. But, when Pearl Harbor is attacked, all of the drama and all of the romance is forgotten as America goes to war.
From Here To Eternity is one of the best films of the 1950s and certainly one of the more worthy winners for Best Picture. Intelligently directed, wonderfully acted, deliriously romantic, and finally rather sad, it’s a film that embraces the melodrama without ever hitting a false note. Burt Lancaster’s rugged weariness, Montgomery Clift’s method sensitivity, Frank Sinatra’s naturalism, Ernest Borgnine’s crudeness, Deborah Kerr’s classiness, and Donna Reed’s earnestness all come together to create a film in which the characters feel real and alive. Warden, Prewitt, Lenore, Karen, and Maggio are all interesting, multi-faceted people, trying to find some sort of happiness in the shadow of an inevitable war. The viewer may sometimes have mixed feelings about their actions (and Borgnine’s Judson is one of the most loathsome roles that the normally likable Borgnine ever played) but you never cease to care about them and their stories. With all of the characters and the affairs and the secrets, From Here To Eternity can feel like a soap opera but it’s also a portrait of a world that is on the verge of changing forever.
A few years ago, I attended a screening of From Here To Eternity at the Dallas Angelika. This is a film that definitely deserves to be seen on the big screen. From the famous scene on the beach to the attack on Pearl Harbor to the tragic final moments, this is a big movie that deals with big emotions and big moments. It’s one of the best.
Since we’re in a Back to the Future sort of mood at the site today, today’s song of the day is an obvious one. Here is The Power of Love, by Huey Lewis and the News!
The power of love is a curious thing Make a one man weep, make another man sing Change a hawk to a little white dove More than a feeling, that’s the power of love
Tougher than diamonds, rich like cream Stronger and harder than a bad girl’s dream Make a bad one good, mm, make a wrong one right Power of love that keep you home at night
You don’t need money, don’t take fame Don’t need no credit card to ride this train It’s strong and it’s sudden, and it’s cruel sometimes But it might just save your life That’s the power of love That’s the power of love
First time you feel it, it might make you sad Next time you feel it, it might make you mad But you’ll be glad, baby, when you’ve found That’s the power makes the world go ’round
And it don’t take money, don’t take fame Don’t need no credit card to ride this train It’s strong and it’s sudden, it can be cruel sometimes But it might just save your life
They say that all in love is fair Yeah, but you don’t care (ooh) But you know what to do (what to do) When it gets hold of you And with a little help from above You feel the power of love You feel the power of love Can you feel it? Hm-hm
It don’t take money, and it don’t take fame Don’t need no credit card to ride this train Tougher than diamonds and stronger than steel But you won’t feel nothin’ ’til you feel
You feel the power, just feel the power of love That’s the power, mm, that’s the power of love You feel the power of love You feel the power of love Feel the power of love
Songwriters: Huey Lewis / John Victor Colla / Christopher John Hayes
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 The Wraith, starring Charlie Sheen, Sherilyn Fenn, Randy Quaid, Clint Howard, and Nick Cassavetes!
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 The Wraith on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!
Today would have been the 100th birthday of inventor and would-be automotive tycoon, John DeLorean. Today’s scene that I love comes from 1985’s Back To The Future and it features DeLorean’s most famous contribution to world of driving (not to mention Doc Brown’s most famous invention, as well!).
Thank you, John DeLorean, for giving us a car so cool that it could travel through time.
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.
As I mentioned earlier, today would have been the 57th birthday of John Singleton, the first black filmmaker to ever receive an Oscar nomination for Best Director. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 John Singleton Films
Boyz N The Hood (1991, dir by John Singleton, DP: Chuck Mills)
Poetic Justice (1993, dir by John Singleton, DP: Peter Lyons Collister)
Higher Learning (1995, dir by John Singleon, DP: Peter Lyons Collister)
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003, dir by John Singleton, DP: Matthew Leonetti)
Directed by Martin Scorsese, 1985’s After Hours opens in an office. This isn’t the type of office that one might expect a Scorsese movie to open with. It’s not a wild, hedonistic playground like the office in The Wolf of Wall Street. Nor is it a place where an aging man with connections keeps his eye on the business for his friends back home, like Ace Rothstein’s office in Casino. Instead, it’s a boring and anonymous office, one that is full of boring and anonymous people. Scorsese’s camera moves around the office almost frantically, as if it’s as trapped as the people who work there.
Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) works in the office, at a job that bores him but presumably pays him enough to live in New York. Paul is not a typical Scorsese protagonist. He’s not a fast-talker or a fearsome fighter. He’s not an artist consumed by his own passion or an amoral figure eager to tell his own story. Instead, he’s just a guy who wears a tie to work and who spends his day doing data entry. He’s a New Yorker but he doesn’t seem to really know the city. (He certainly doesn’t know how much it costs to ride the subway.) He stays in his protected world, even though it doesn’t seem satisfy him. Paul Hackett is not Travis Bickle. Instead, Paul is one of the guys who would get into Travis’s cab and, after spending the drive listening to Travis talk about how a storm needs to wash away all of New York’s sin, swear that he will never again take another taxi in New York.
One day, after work, Paul has a chance meeting with a seemingly shy woman named Marcy (Rosanna Arquette). Marcy lives in SoHo, with an artist named Kiki (Linda Fiorentino) who sells plaster-of-Paris paperweights that are made to look like bagels. Marcy gives Paul her number and eventually, Paul ends up traveling to SoHo. He takes a taxi and, while the driver is not Travis Bickle, he’s still not amused when Paul’s last twenty dollar bill blows out the window of the cab.
Paul’s trip to SoHo doesn’t goes as he planned. Kiki is not impressed with him. Marcy tells him disturbing stories that may or may not be true while a search through the apartment (not cool, Paul!) leads Paul to suspect that Marcy might have disfiguring burn scars. Paul decides to end the date but he then discovers that he doesn’t have enough change on him to take the subway home. As Paul attempts to escape SoHo, he meets a collection of strange people and finds himself being hunted by a mob that is convinced that he’s a burglar. Teri Garr plays a sinister waitress with a beehive hairdo and an apartment that is full of mousetraps. Catherine O’Hara chases Paul in an ice cream truck. Cheech and Chong play two burglars who randomly show up through the film. John Heard plays a bartender who appears to be helpful but who also has his own connection to Marcy. Even Martin Scorsese appears, holding a spotlight while a bunch of punks attempt to forcibly give Paul a mohawk. The more that Paul attempts to escape SoHo, the more trapped he becomes.
Martin Scorsese directed After Hours at a time when he was still struggling to get his adaptation of The Last Temptation of Christ into production. If Paul feels trapped by SoHo, Scorsese felt trapped by Hollywood. After Hours is one of the most nightmarish comedies ever made. It’s easy to laugh at Paul desperately hiding in the shadows from Catherine O’Hara driving an ice cream truck but, at the same time, it’s impossible not to relate to Paul’s horror as he continually finds himself returning again and again to the same ominous locations. In many scenes, he resembles a man being hunted by torch-wielding villagers in an old Universal horror film, running through the shadows while villager after villager takes to the streets. Paul’s a stranger in a strange part of the city and he has absolutely no way to get home. I think everyone’s had that dream at least once.
Paul is not written to be a particularly deep character. He’s just a somewhat shallow office drone who wanted to get laid and now just wants to go home. Fortunately, he’s played by Griffin Dunne, who is likable enough that the viewer is willing to stick with Paul even after Paul makes some very questionable decisions and does a few things that make him a bit less than sympathetic. Dunne and John Heard keep the film grounded in reality, which allows Rosanne Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, Catherine O’Hara, and especially Teri Garr to totally play up the bizarre quirks of their character. Teri Garr especially does a good job in this film, revealing a rather frightening side of the type of quirky eccentric that she usually played.
Scorsese’s sense of humor has been evident in almost all of his films but he still doesn’t get enough credit for his ability to direct comedy. (One need only compare After Hours to one of Brian De Palma’s “comedies” to see just how adroitly Scorsese mixes laughs and horror.) After Hours is one of Scorsese’s more underrated films and it’s one that everyone should see. After Hours is a comedy of anxiety. I laughed while I watched it, even while my heart was racing.
Every Monday night at 9:00 Central Time, my wife Sierra and I host a “Live Movie Tweet” event on X using the hashtag #MondayMuggers. We rotate movie picks each week, and our tastes are quite different. Tonight, Monday January 6th, we’re watching NIGHT OF THE RUNNING MAN, starring Scott Glenn, Andrew McCarthy, and John Glover.
In a nutshell, this movie is about a Las Vegas cab driver (McCarthy) who discovers a million dollars of stolen money in his cab. He is then tracked by a relentless and cold-blooded assassin (Glenn) sent to retrieve the money.
So why did Sierra pick NIGHT OF THE RUNNING MAN, you might ask? Well I asked her and she said, “I like that guy, Andrew McCarthy.” And that was it! I do remember watching the first hour or so of this movie on cable TV late one night about 25 years ago or so. I remember thinking it was pretty good prior to falling asleep. I’ve always liked Scott Glenn, even though he was a jerk in URBAN COWBOY. He’s a pretty vicious killer here so that should be fun. And John Glover is one of those guys I just enjoy seeing pop up in any movie. His bad guy in 52 PICK-UP is one of my all time favorite villains. Plus, this was directed by Mark L. Lester, the director of TRUCK STOP WOMEN, ROLLER BOOGIE, CLASS OF 1984, and COMMANDO. That’s quite a variety of flicks! And hell, it will be nice for me to see how the movie ends after all these years.
So join us tonight to for #MondayMuggers and watch NIGHT OF THE RUNNING MAN. It’s on Amazon Prime, as well as Tubi and Freevee.
