Bank Shot

I discovered author Donald Westlake the way I do a lot of authors, via movie credits, finding out the movie I was watching was based on a novel/book/story from an author. I first heard his name watching 1972's The Hot Rock, based on his novel of the same name. I gave his books a try and liked them, including his 1972 novel Bank Shot. I wish I could say the same for the 1974 film adaptation, Bank Shot.

Wasting away a prison/rehab center run by Bulldog Streiger (Clifton James), accomplished crook and master planner Walter Ballentine (George C. Scott) is slowly losing his mind. He's allowed a visitor one day, his "lawyer" who's really his former partner in crime, Al G. Karp (Sorrell Brooke), and he's got a new plan for a very lucrative caper. Streiger is on the lookout, but even he can't keep Ballentine from escaping, his prisoner getting away in ridiculous fashion. What job awaits him with Karp? Not one he would have thought of. A new bank in Los Angeles is being built, a temporary bank in a trailer being used until the new one opens. Ballentine laughs at the plan given him and comes up with his own instead. Instead of robbing the bank in convoluted fashion, why not just steal the entire bank? With Karp's oddball crew of crooks, Ballentine goes about putting his own plan into operation.

Wow, this movie was just not good. Like at all. We're talking really bad. Eastlake's novel is pretty goofy, a little silly, but there's an underplayed sense of humor that works well. I could be wrong too, maybe that's just my interpretation. This comedy from director Gower Champion has no subtlety, no sense of underplaying anything, no real laughs at all. It is the broadest definition of broad humor. Oh, no! Ballentine is driving a huge Caterpillar into a barn! Oh, no! A trailer is driving out of control down a vacant road! Physical comedy is one thing, but this is so bad it never amounts to anything. John Morris' musical score is painfully obvious, almost begging, willing the audience to laugh. The opening prison break, Ballentine getting away on an excavator, Streiger on a souped-up golf cart, sets the tone for the painfully unfunny attempts at laughs to come.

What the hell is George C. Scott doing here? Scott had some odd acting choices in the 1970s, but this one is pretty bad. I say that having watched a movie with Scott where had to stop an assassination attempt on the President by....dolphins. Yeah, The Day of the Dolphin, check it out. It really exists. From the get-go here, Scott seems bored and uninterested in actually being a part of the ever-stupid story. As for the character that Eastlake wrote -- John Dortmunder in the books -- Scott isn't the best casting choice either, whether it be his physical appearance (rocking some amazingly LARGE eyebrows, we're talking REAL big) or his demeanor at basically all times. Was he blackmailed? Was he doing a favor for a friend? I don't know what was going on, what prompted him into doing this flick? I'm listening if there's a good theory out there.

So heist flick with a lousy premise that falls short on basically every level, surely the oddball crew of crooks can save this poop-fest, right?!? Yeah, that's what I was counting on, only to be disappointed there too. Beyond Brooke as Al G. Karp as Ballentine's goofy partner, there's also Eleonora (Joanna Cassidy), the sexy backer of the plan with all her cash (and an unexplained attraction to Ballentine, helping him "ease back" into society after so long away from women), Victor Karp (Bob Balaban), Al's nephew, the other planner and a former FBI agent, Muns Gornik (Bibi Osterwald) and her son, Stosh (Don Calfa), and Hermann X (Frank McRae), a pistol-wielding, demolition expert hoping to become a politician. There isn't an interesting character in the bunch, making it a tad difficult to actually support the crew. We learn little to nothing about them, just an introduction and right into the heist. The rest of the story in an 83-minute story is spent on hamming it up James and his L.A. cop partner (G. Wood) trying to track Ballentine down.

The premise of the heist is actually pretty original, and some of their plans are actually unique. But at any point is it interesting to watch? No. Everything just seems obvious from beginning to end. The heist and its fallout could have been decent if it wasn't handled in such spoof-like fashion, but the efforts to make it all hysterically, gut-busting funny fall short. Steer clear of this one, go read the Westlake novel instead.

Bank Shot (1974): */****   

The Untouchables

So Prohibition, huh? That must have sucked. People wanted to drink, but the government said it was illegal to do so. The government agencies and police forces were tasked with limiting the bootleggers, but that was easier said than done. The most famous? Eliot Ness, a Treasury agent who became famous for helping take down Chicago gangster Al Capone. His story was turned into a successful TV show in the late 1950s and early 1960s and maybe most famously in a feature film, 1987's The Untouchables.

It's 1930 and Prohibition has turned Chicago into a warring city of dead bodies and rival gangsters fighting for control. The most powerful though is Al Capone (Robert De Niro), ruling the city and the influx of alcohol with an iron fist. Where there's demand, he's got the supply. A U.S. Treasury agent, Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner), has been called in to bring Capone to justice, hopefully bringing his crime empire down with him. Ness, idealistic and a little naive, struggles with where to start, meeting dead end after dead end as he discovers how deep Capone's empire goes. Obsessed with doing his job and doing it well, Ness keeps on, recruiting a small group of agents and police officers, including a tough Chicago beat cop, James Malone (Sean Connery), who knows the streets better than anyone. As he quickly finds out, Ness doesn't know how deep he'll have to go to accomplish his mission, especially when the bodies start to pile up.

From director Brian De Palma, this is one of those perfect guy's guy movies. It is based on Ness' real-life exploits as his crew of Untouchables took the battle to Capone in Chicago between 1929 and 1931. Yes, time is compressed, some names are changed here and there, but the point is the same. It has just about everything going for it. 'Untouchables' was filmed on location in Chicago (looks gorgeous), and it feels like Depression Era Chicago, picking up two Oscar nominations for Costume Design and Art Direction/Set Decoration. Everything from the background on the streets to the cars to the time-appropriate costumes (Armani suits never looked so good), it all adds layer after layer to the film. Also picking up an Oscar nomination is the score from composer Ennio Morricone.Listen to his full soundtrack HERE. I love the sweep of it, quiet, moving Morricone balanced with bigger, epic Morricone.

At the forefront of 'Untcouhables' is a great pairing of stars. Costner is one of the biggest stars of the 1980s with everything from Bull Durham to Field of Dreams, Silverado to No Way Out. Connery was a Hollywood legend, the firmly established star. Their on-screen dynamic is an underrated part of the success here that can get lost in the shuffle. Costner's Eliot is a hard-driving, hard-working idealist. He wants to accomplish his mission, but do it the right way, not knowing how filthy the world is he finds himself in. Connery's Malone is the flat-footed beat cop with a long career behind him. He knows everyone, knows all the secrets and inner-workings. Eliot Ness is looking for help while Malone is looking for a reason to become re-energized again after years of watching greed and corruption poison Chicago. Their scenes together crackle, dialogue just brimming with energy and plenty of great one-liners.

Joining Costner and Connery as the Untouchables are a very young Andy Garcia and a scene-stealing Charles Martin Smith. Garcia plays George Stone, a cop fresh out of the Police Academy and a dead-shot with a pistol, his Italian background hinted at but never fully explained. Garcia's Stone is inherently cool, a man of few words who lets his smirk and his pistol do his talking. Martin Smith plays Oscar Wallace, a Treasury accountant/bookkeeper who jumps at the chance to do some actual field work with the Untouchables. It's four cool characters, a great dynamic among the quartet, an odd couple men on a mission grouping that works perfectly.

Committing to gaining weight to really look the part, De Niro is a fine choice to play infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone. It is a part that would have been easy to be exaggerated, but De Niro knows how far to push it. Capone is hot-tempered, fiery and barely keeps his emotions in check. The part is mostly long scenes, monologues really, where De Niro gets to flex a bit. Richard Bradford plays the police commissioner caught in the middle of it all and maybe playing all sides, Patricia Clarkson plays Ness' pregnant wife, an uncredited Clifton James as the prosecuting district attorney, and Billy Drago as Frank Nitti, Capone's chief enforcer and accomplished killer.

With the actual history here condensed from a few years to seemingly a few months, we get an episodic story that covers a ton of ground in the 119-minute movie. More than the performances, the music, the period appropriate....well, everything, 'Untouchables' always stands out for me because of the well-staged set pieces. An ambush near the Canadian border is a gem, the machine guns rattling like crazy to Morricone's swooping score. The highlight though has Ness and Co. looking for Capone's bookkeeper, desperately trying to get out of town, at Union Station. The action, the drama, the nods to classic films (Battleship Potempkin), and the slow motion all build to this almost unbearable tension. Maybe it isn't the most unified script/story, but the set pieces help keep things together beginning to end. A gem, a must-see for fans of Costner, Connery, gangster movie fans and any Chicagoans.

The Untouchables (1987): ****/****

The New Centurions

Police movies seem to be about a dime a dozen these days. I just reviewed a few recently, from End of Watch to Bullitt, Crime Wave to The Offence and many more. I'd wager a majority of those films are about the detectives, the supervisors, the special investigators. On the other hand, it is the beat cops who usually play supporting roles. Well, not always (End of Watch is another exception). They get their shot at the spotlight in 1972's The New Centurions.

Fresh out of the police academy, Roy Fehler (Stacy Keach) and a new batch or rookies are assigned to precincts and departments across Los Angeles. A hopeful law student with a wife and daughter, Roy has become a cop in hopes of making some money and learning the business while studying for his law degree. He is paired with veteran beat cop Andy Silvinski (George C. Scott), a police officer who's seen everything good and bad the streets have to offer. They bond immediately and become fast friends, the veteran introducing the rookie to the ins and outs of the job, teaching how to handle anything that might present itself. As he gets used to the job though, Roy starts to realize he likes doing it, and that it's not just a job. His wife, Dorothy (Jane Alexander), wants him to leave the force, but he may be in too deep at this point. What to decide on? Your career or your family?

My above comment about police movies being a dime a dozen is not intended as a dig or insult. I very much like all those movies. Naturally, I was more than a little surprised then when I found this film from director Richard Fleischer at Netflix having heard absolutely nothing about it....ever. In an era when everyone and their mother was making police movies -- Bullitt, Dirty Harry, Branningan among many others -- it's refreshing to see one that isn't interested in the high profile cases, the so-called 'glamour' of the position. 'Centurions' focuses almost solely on the beat cops, their day-to-day jobs around the department, on patrol and in the streets, and most importantly in Roy's case, how the job affects all the other aspects of life. It's better because it is a more personal story, nothing big picture about the scandal/corruption in the force or a major case that leads the news every night.

On that personal level, the story leans toward the episodic and for the better. A movie that runs about 103 minutes covers a lot of ground, following Roy from his rookie days to his reassignment on the force to his return to the department where he started. It never feels rushed, but the story does keep moving and jumping from incident to incident. These scenes know when to cut things off, laying things out, showing us what's happening and then moves on, never overstaying their welcome. The best moments are Roy, Andy and the other departmental officers on night patrol, dealing with thieves and hookers to domestic disturbances and drunks. At times, things get a little too sunshine happy (an incident with six or seven hookers comes to mind), and composer Quincy Jones' score is a tad too 1970s funky at times, but for the most part, the positives are there. 

In the late 1970s and into the 1980s, buddy cop movies were everywhere, usually pairing a goofball newbie with a chiseled, no-nonsense veteran. Obviously, that's not the case here. I love the easy-going dynamic between Keach and Scott in every one of their scenes. Their dialogue never feels forced, their friendship anything but fake. It's natural throughout. On the force, we also meet veteran officers Clifton James and Ed Lauter to pair with a couple of newbies, Scott Wilson and a pre-CHIPs Erik Estrada.  James Sikking plays a glory-hunting Vice squad officer as well.

I had an inkling where the story was going here, but I wasn't quite sure. As good as Scott is as the veteran cop, the focus is on Keach, and he doesn't disappoint. We see his struggles at home with his wife and later how he meets another woman, Lorrie (Rosalind Cash), a nurse who once patched him up following a shooting. Realistic throughout, the story takes a dark turn -- not surprisingly -- in the final act. The ending is quick, brutal and highly effective. It's a hidden gem among the cop genre, one that has that early 70s charm with a good cast and a not so typical story in a familiar genre. Well worth seeking out.

The New Centurions (1972): ***/****

Silver Streak

This spring I reviewed Stir Crazy starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor and liked it a lot, the complete random nature of the comedy appealing to me. I didn't want to rush into other Wilder-Pryor pairings though, letting it breathe a bet, so recently after a several month wait, I dove back in, watching 1976's Silver Streak, the duo's first film pairing.

Traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago via the Silver Streak train, editor George Caldwell (Wilder) is looking forward to a couple days of quiet travel. Aboard the Streak, he meets Hilly (Jill Clayburgh), an assistant to an author traveling on-board, and they quickly hit it off. Back in George's sleeper bunk (uh-oh, adult situations!), George swears he sees a dead body, Hilly's boss, hanging outside his window but shakes it off as his head playing tricks on him. The next morning he goes to the boss' sleeper only to find a mysterious character (Ray Walston) rummaging through his bags. What the heck is going on in this train?

I don't know exactly what I was expecting out of this movie, but with Wilder and Pryor involved, I feel safe saying I expected a pretty funny flick. And you know what? It was. It's not a mile a minute laugh fest, but when I laughed, it was genuine. But overall, what a weird movie. The first 30 minutes are basically a slow burn as George and Hilly seduce each other. Then there's a murder, more murders, some investigating, new characters, shootouts, and a twist with a vicious, murdering art appraiser. I assure you that's the first time I've ever wrote that in a review. Director Arthur Hiller has an entertaining mess of a movie here, but it's a mess in a good way. A romantic, action-packed comedy. How often can you see those, and good ones at that?

What surprised me most was that Pryor doesn't appear until an hour-plus into the movie. What isn't surprising? The movie is at its best when Wilder and Pryor are on-screen together. There is a natural, easy-going and very funny chemistry between them that most actors and duos can only aspire to. Pryor plays Grover T. Muldoon, a small-time crook who ends up helping Wilder's George in his efforts to save Hilly. How do you ask? George is thrown off or falls off the Silver Streak three or four times, meeting Grover in the process. For no other reason than the story requires it, Grover helps the efforts, teaching this very un-criminal-like George how to be a crook. Things get crazier and crazier, but through it all the hijinks and shenanigans from Wilder and Pryor keep this one going at its frenetic pace.

The bits do come fast and furious after the dramatic, mystery scenes. A running bit with George being suspected as a rapist is hilarious in its bizarre oddness and inherent darkness. The highlight though is obvious; George -- being looked for by the police for murder....it's a long story -- is forced to pretend to be a black man. Courtesy of some shoe polish, a Rastafarian hat, a shiny jacket, and some "cool" lessons from Grover, George tries to embrace his inner cool black guy with some obviously politically incorrect but truly funny scenes. That's probably the biggest laugh, but most of the humor comes from a simple line delivery or a perfectly expressed facial reaction. It doesn't always have to be a big laugh to be effective, it just has to work for what it is.

I loved the Wilder-Pryor duo, but the cast here is nothing to shake your head at. Clayburgh does her best as the damsel in distress, having some surprising chemistry with Wilder. Because he always played a bad guy, Patrick McGoohan plays the Bad Guy, the conniving, murdering art appraiser with Walston, Bond villain Richard Kiel and Stefan Gierasch as his henchmen. Ned Beatty has a very funny supporting part as Bob Sweet, a vitamin salesman who strikes it up with George aboard the train, waiting to deliver a twist. Also look for Clifton James, Lucille Benson, Scatman Crothers and a young Fred Willard in supporting parts. 

Another winner for Wilder and Pryor, a definitively different, unique comedy that wasn't quite what I was expecting. Off-the-point expectations aside, this was a winner with a good cast, a lot of laughs, and just a good old-fashioned goofy comedy.

Silver Streak <---trailer (1976): ***/****

Tick...Tick...Tick

At the height of his NFL career, star running back Jim Brown decided to walk away from the sport he loved so he could get into movies.  There are few athletes who have the guts to do that, and to make it more impressive, Brown is still remembered as one of -- if not THE -- the best NFL players of all-time.  Being born some 20 years after he played his last game, I can't speak to that, but I can say I've always liked Brown as an actor.  I've seen most of his more well-known roles but came across one on TCM I'd never heard of before, 1970's tick...tick...tick  Unique title, huh?

Released in 1970 while the civil rights movement was still raging, this Ralph Nelson-directed flick reminded me in a lot of ways of 1967's In the Heat of the Night.  Of course some three years later, a somewhat similar storyline isn't going to have the same impact, and it would be nearly impossible to match the acting talents of Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger.  You've got to try though, right?  And Nelson has a go at it, handing us a story that is at times predictable in its direction but never in a bad way.  It's not as aggressive or as in your face as 'Night,' but in its own way 'tick' serves as a nice companion piece to its classic predecessor.

In Colusa county in the deep south, Sheriff John Little (George Kennedy) heads in for his last day of work after losing a recent election.  The opponent who beat him has created quite a stir as a black man, Jim Price (Brown), is prepared to take office in a county severely divided by racial ties. Little holds no grudge against his replacement, only being upsetting that he's lost a job he's held for so many years.  New on the job, Price has his work cut out for him as rumors persist that the Klan might try something.  He knows he's in a corner though and can't do much to provoke an incident as told to him by the elderly town mayor (Fredric March).  Looking for help though with a crime that could tear the town and county apart, Price turns to an unlikely ally in Little.

It feels funny writing this, but the pairing of a white and black actor seems laughable in 2010...even if racism continues to exist in some extremely odd, almost always out of place situations.  In the Heat of the Night certainly kicked the door down on the premise, and 'tick' plows right through the open door frame.  Nelson doesn't hit you over the head with anything, but it is quickly apparent that if you throw out skin color, Brown's Price and Kennedy's Little are basically the same person.  They're family men who would do anything for their wife and children.  They do what's right no matter how difficult the choice is or the repercussions that will follow.  When someone or something is in trouble, they come to help because they know it is the right thing to do.

After working together briefly in their few scenes in 1967's The Dirty Dozen, Brown and Kennedy reunite here with some very positive results.  I've read criticisms of Brown that he was a stiff actor without much range, and I'll agree to a point.  He could be stiff at times, but he always rose to the occasion.  The former NFL star was an incredible physical presence, looming over all his co-stars whether he intended it or not.  He was at his best in roles like this, and his somewhat stiff style works for the character, a stubborn but fair man who knows he's in the right.  Kennedy is just as strong as the scorned sheriff who doesn't dwell too much on this change in his life.  Both actors have a very easy-going way about them, and they play well off each other.  And besides, just as a movie fan, it's fun to see two actors like Brown and Kennedy work together.

As I mentioned earlier, the story can be at times a tad predictable.  Nelson never shoves anything down your throat, but some of the so-called twists shouldn't really surprise anyone.  As a viewer, you know where the story is going before the characters even do.  Was there ever any doubt that Brown and Kennedy would end up side by side to combat racism and prejudice?  The same goes for the supporting characters, none of whom are developed much.  March gets some laughs as the old, crotchety mayor while Lynn Carlin is very good as Julia, John's wife trying to help her husband figure out what to do with himself. Some other notable names include Don Stroud as a gun-toting, pissed off former deputy, Clifton James, Bernie Casey, Dub Taylor, Karl Swenson, and Richard Elkins as Brad Wilkes, Price's only deputy.

The one thing that worried me going in was something in the credits, a credit to the singers and writers of a handful of songs that I was disappointed to hear would be the movie's soundtrack.  I won't go through all the songs -- read the list HERE -- but I can say they are all cookie-cutter folk songs from the late 1960s that sound alike.  I'm not a fan to begin with, but the soundtrack is misused with a story dealing with racism and prejudice in the deep south.  Annoying and out of place? You bet, but I liked the movie nonetheless.

...tick...tick...tick... <---TCM trailer (1970): ***/****