The '70s were a strange time for westerns. After late '60s classics like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch, and the works of Sergio Leone, there must have been some pressure to try things a little differently. We got the kooky, offbeat Little Big Man and the contrary, brothel-focused McCabe & Mrs. Miller, both rather popular but neither up my alley. And sometimes quirks came together with R ratings, as in this, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's only effort at the genre.
Paris Pitman, Jr. (Kirk Douglas -- don't worry; I'll take a long break from him after this review) goes to a prison from which, according to an elderly cellmate known as the Missouri Kid (Burgess Meredith), no one has ever escaped with his life. But Paris has a lot of loot well hidden and would hate to let it go to waste. The first warden (Martin Gabel) offers to free Paris for 50% of it, but a more conscientious replacement (Henry Fonda) isn't on board. Paris uses the promise of riches to enlist the help of all his cellmates to escape, including a pathetic youth on death row (Michael Blodgett); a lazy swindler (John Randolph) and his effete, resentful, but loyal and talented assistant (Hume Cronyn); a strong, silent, seeming simpleton (C.K. Yang); and a violent drunkard (Warren Oates).
Showing posts with label hume cronyn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hume cronyn. Show all posts
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Friday, January 8, 2016
Brute Force (1947)
I sat on this disc for a while, taking a break from movies in general. The title suggested that I would have to prepare myself for more grit. On the other hand, the year of release guaranteed that it wouldn't show anything too severe on screen. The golden age of film noir was bleak but hardly ripe for R ratings, especially in Hollywood.
This one belongs to the semi-genre of prison films, which must have felt pretty well-worn after the '30s. But compared to the bulk of those, BF could be seen as more of a precursor to The Shawshank Redemption. While the prisoners are all decidedly criminal -- even collectively murdering snitches -- they get far more of our sympathy than harsh, deceptively soft-spoken chief of security Munsey (Hume Cronyn). Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster) leads a group effort to escape, not only because the prison is intolerable but because his wife refuses vital medical attention unless he's with her.
This one belongs to the semi-genre of prison films, which must have felt pretty well-worn after the '30s. But compared to the bulk of those, BF could be seen as more of a precursor to The Shawshank Redemption. While the prisoners are all decidedly criminal -- even collectively murdering snitches -- they get far more of our sympathy than harsh, deceptively soft-spoken chief of security Munsey (Hume Cronyn). Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster) leads a group effort to escape, not only because the prison is intolerable but because his wife refuses vital medical attention unless he's with her.
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