NAKED BURT Part Three

STARTING OVER (1979: Dir. Alan J. Pakula)

Now that he had become the number one box office star in the world Burt Reynolds longed to put his acting chops to the test in a role that revealed the truth behind his ladies man image. He found it in television sitcom creator James L. Brooks' (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) first theatrical screenplay Starting Over. But despite his popular status he still had to audition for director Alan J. Pakula in order to secure the role of Phil Potter, a divorced part-time teacher pining for his narcissistic ex-wife (Candice Bergen). Burt has admitted that Potter is the closest he has ever come to revealing himself on-screen and it is certainly one of his bravest characterizations, one that walks the knife's edge between self-involvement and pity. By turns vulnerable, neurotic, charming, and pathetic, Burt, in a mustache-free performance, creates a totally believable portrait of an average man in mid-life crisis. He is evenly matched opposite his former Semi-Tough co-star Jill Clayburgh as the new woman in his life, a nursery school teacher recovering from her own failed relationship. Hers is a portrayal of such compelling strength of character and emotional sensitivity that she even threatens to win over the viewer's allegiance, in a battle of wills constantly challenged by the Burt's maladroit handling of their affair. For her memorable work, Clayburgh was awarded her second Best Actress Oscar nomination in a row. As an hilarious blithely off-key songstress, Bergen was also nominated, in the Best Supporting Actress category. Not surprisingly, Burt's sensitive portrayal was taken for granted by the Academy as well as by most critics, although the film did signal his future preferences for romantic comedies over the stunt-filled popcorn pictures that had brought him to the pinnacle of world stardom. He would remain at the top for three more years but he would never enjoy a leading role of such depth for rest of his career. DVD REGION 1 & 2

NAKED BURT Part Two

NICKELODEON (1976: Dir. Peter Bogdanovich)

Burt Reynolds tempted fate and friendship once again by re-teaming with Peter Bogdanovich, director of the disastrous musical At Long Last Love, to make this daring love letter to the earliest days of silent cinema. As the clean-shaven yokel trying to break into pictures, Burt gets to show off both his natural comic timing and physical dexterity in a unique role that veers from slapstick buffoon to matinee idol hero. The transition is of course signaled when he grows a mustache, this time of the pencil thin Clark Gable variety. Inspired by the nostalgic anecdotes of silent film pioneers Raoul Walsh, Leo McCarey, and Alan Dwan, this episodic odyssey follows the adventures of fledgling director Leo Harrigan (Bogdanovich avatar Ryan O'Neal), and his star Buck Greenway (Burt) as they brave life and limb amid the picaresque business of silent film-making. Conceived and constructed by Bogdanovich with the verve and humour of this burgeoning industry, Nickelodeon nonetheless suffers from a nagging artificiality due to its colour cinematography, and the studio imposed casting of older stars as opposed to younger unknowns. This is no reflection on the talents of Burt or Ryan, who are give it their all in demanding roles. Three decades after its fittingly successful release, Bogdanovich was able to revise the film for the better, converting the images to his preferred black and white format, and adding some scenes that were unfortunately dropped in response to preview audience's reactions. The film can now be enjoyed in the spirit in which it was made, as a warm-hearted salute to the men and women who forged film into the most important art form of the last century. DVD REGION 1 & 2

NAKED BURT Part One

HUSTLE (1975: Dir. Robert Aldrich)

It is common wisdom among the cognosenti that Burt Reynolds only gives a real performance when he isn't hiding behind his mustache. Sometimes this payed off for him with a genuine hit (Deliverance, White Lightning, The Longest Yard) but more often it resulted in critical and cult success rather than big box office. 1975 was a big deal for Reynolds with four films in release, the most theatrical exposure he would ever have in a single calendar year. Unfortunately, of these films, At Long Last Love and Lucky Lady would be the two most high profile flops of his career. The third, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, was a cult hit that would inaugurate his good ol'boy cycle of rascally roles. The remaining project would be the most personal, a re-uniting with his Longest Yard director and mentor Robert Aldrich. Co-produced by the two of them under their RoBurt banner, Hustle featured Reynold's most mature characterization to date, a cynical whiskey-drinking police lieutenant trying to keep his head above the criminal sleaze of Los Angeles. It doesn't help that he is shacked up with a French prostitute (Catherine Deneuve) who still plies her trade from the phone in their apartment. European in its sensibilities and tone, Aldrich uses French touchstones, (Deneuve, Charles Aznavour songs, Claude Lelouch movies) to convey a palpable sense of longing by the the two lovers for something slightly out of their reach, while at the same time paying homage to the undying support that Aldrich had always enjoyed from French critics. The film can also be seen as a bookend with Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly (1955), a comparably seedy noir that prefigures the demoralized corruption of the Seventies. With nary a mustache-wearing smirk in sight, Hustle, despite precipitously low grosses during its original run, is a legitimate contender for Burt's most underrated film, a challenging, tragic, moving and melancholy masterwork. DVD REGION 1 & 2

MULTIPLE TRAINS OF THOUGHT Part Three

RUNAWAY TRAIN (1985: Dir. Andrei Konchalovsky)

Based on a screenplay by Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa, Runaway Train, was the second American film by expatriate Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky and given the time when it was made, must be seen to represent this filmmaker's metaphorical statement about the inevitable end of the U.S.S.R.. In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev had ascended to the chairmanship of the Communist Party and he brought with him new concepts of governance designated Perestroika (restructuring), and Glasnost (openess). Gorbachev's vision would emancipate the lives of average Soviets, gradually throwing off the shackles of a moribund political system. Konchalovsky, who had enjoyed a successful career making films in The Soviet Union, emigrated to the U.S. in 1980, and soon after was hired by Israeli producers Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus of Cannon Films, to make Maria's Lovers (1984), a critically acclaimed Yugoslavian-American immigrant love story. Their follow-up project was Runaway Train, and with its gulag-type setting in an Alaskan Prison, its dictatorial authority figues, and the lead role of an escaped convict played with a Russian bear-like intensity by Jon Voight, the obvious parallels with Konchalovsky's homeland are more than evident. Brilliantly structured to emphasize its thrilling genre pleasures, Konchalovsky carefully rolls out his existential themes, gearing up to an emotionally stirring climax when the liberated prisoners find themselves on an out of control speeding train. The final image of Voight's tragically bestial convict is depicted by the director with an exhilarating ferocity, an indelible image of a human being yearning for freedom. Riding a wave of enthusiastic reviews, the film enjoyed moderate box office success and garnered three Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor for Jon Voight, whose career was rejuvenated by this unforgettably visceral performance. Like the films' protagonists, the people of the Soviet Union would soon escape their oppressive Communist society, but their innate need for authoritarian leadership would lead them to another kind of despotic system under Vladimir Putin. The train may have left the station but it has yet to arrive at an unrestricted destination.  DVD & BLU-RAY

                                        NARROW MARGIN (1990: Dir. Peter Hyams)
                                                               

Finally, we come to a very personal favourite of the train films on this list, Peter Hyams' remake of Richard Fleischer's 1952 film noir The Narrow Margin. By no means the most exciting, best written or the best directed of the films I have chosen, it is simply the most Canadian. Set mostly on a VIA train travelling through British Columbia, the film tells the story of a mob murder witness (Anne Archer), being brought back to the U.S. to testify, under the protection of an ordinary Los Angeles D.A. (Gene Hackman). Having enjoyed countless trips on VIA trains throughout Canada, I am very familiar with the interiors and fixtures of the various carriages, so I was most excited and gratified to see a Canadian train authentically portrayed on the big screen. As the on board action unfolds, all of my fond memories were represented, from the crisp white uniforms of cabin attendants, to the practical coziness of the sleeping compartments, and the art deco formality of the dining car. Essentially an exciting potboiler, Narrow Margin, succeeds on the caliber of its very strong supporting cast, including Canadian actors Susan Hogan and Nigel Bennett, as well as charismatic character faces like J.T. Walsh, Harris Yulin and James B. Sikking. The film also features spectacular scenery of the Canadian Rockies breathtakingly captured in Panavision by director-cinematographer Peter Hyams. Pure nostalgia for VIA train lovers like myself and solid entertainment for anyone else. DVD REGION 1 & 2

MULTIPLE TRAINS OF THOUGHT Part Two

Alistair MacLean's BREAKHEART PASS (1975: Dir. Tom Gries)

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (1974) had been a big boost to the train movie genre, so producer Elliott Kastner, decided to cash in by reuniting with best-selling author Alistair MacLean (Where Eagles Dare), to adapt his mystery-western novel Breakheart Pass for the big screen. Starring a typically taciturn Charles Bronson at the height of his box office clout, this intriguing shell-game might be schematically similar to Christie with its conspiracies and red herrings, but being set on a troop train in 1870s America goes a long way towards providing variety for any jaded whodunit fan. Director Tom Gries, who was just coming off a big hit with Bronson in Breakout (1975), knew how to employ his star for maximum value, keeping him shrouded in secrecy as the rogue's gallery of passengers act out in all manner of amusing Western stereotypes. The guessing game is also enhanced by a plethora of cliffhanger-type thrills excitingly devised by veteran stunt co-ordinator Yakima Canutt (Ben-Hur). Add in an evocative and propulsive score by Jerry Goldsmith and you have a very pleasing Saturday afternoon's entertainment. DVD & BLU-RAY

                                           SILVER STREAK (1976: Dir. Arthur Hiller)
                                                                           

One of my favourite train movies and the first of two films on my list that utilize Canadian railway locations to rip-roaring effect. Set in the U.S. Midwest but shot mainly in Alberta, the home province of director Arthur (The In-Laws) Hiller, Silver Streak is a delightful comedy thriller with a screenplay by Colin Higgins (Foul Play) that mixes chuckles with jeopardy in near perfect proportions. The inspired pairing of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor was a seminal pop-culture event, demonstrating how two apparently incompatible comic actors can create a unique alchemy when their mutual affinity for each other shines through. They are joined by Jill Clayburgh, whose subtle daffiness and sparkling beauty help to ground the actions of the other characters whenever the plot threatens to descend into outright silliness. For proud Ontarians, the climax is an absolutely unforgettable set-piece that sees a train engine burst through the The Great Hall of Toronto's Union Station. Witnessing this shocking smash-up left an indelible impression on my train-loving childhood self, and re-visiting the film recently has done nothing to dim this fond memory. DVD & BLU-RAY
                     
                        THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1978: Dir. Michael Crichton)

There have been many train heist films but only a select few involve a locomotive on the move. The Great Train Robbery is a slightly fictionalized recounting of the first train robbery ever attempted in transit, the 1855 Folkstone Great Gold Robbery. Immeasurably aided by writer-director Michael Crichton's unerring eye for accuracy and period detail, it was was however, a surprising change of pace for this auteur of speculative science fiction and medical thrillers. Surpassing expectations, Crichton delivers a jaunty and amusing caper film made with sophistication and wit, containing many visual delights including the luscious Lesley Anne-Downe in a super sexy corset, sumptuous Victorian production design by Maurice Carter (Becket), and the astonishing sight of star Sean Connery running and jumping across the roof of an actual train in full steam. Sadly the film contains the final completed work of famed cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth ( Murder on the Orient Express, Superman), whose signature diffused lighting style brings to life a bygone era of gaslight and stove pipe hats. Fittingly, these larcenous shenanigans are set to the infectious melodies of maestro Jerry Goldsmith, the third in a trilogy of train dominated scores (Breakheart Pass, The Cassandra Crossing) that he wrote in the Seventies. Despite enthusiastic notices, The Great Train Robbery, met with only middling box office success, denying Connery the full-blown hit he had enjoyed as James Bond. DVD & BLU-RAY

MULTIPLE TRAINS OF THOUGHT Part One

LA BETE HUMAINE (1938: Dir. Jean Renoir)

As far as I'm concerned, if there is a film that takes place on a train I am hooked. The movies, of course began with trains. The Lumiere Brothers shot one of the earliest documentary short subjects Arrival of a Train (1895), and later Edwin S. Porter made the groundbreaking narrative drama The Great Train Robbery (1903). These films glorified the dynamism of trains, forever linking the motion of their linked cars with the 24 frames of celluloid that sped through the projector each second to form a moving image. My love of trains comes from long trips across all the regions of Canada where I grew to love the rocking motion of my cabin, the civilized formality of the dining car, and the spectacular views from the observation car. My ten favourite train films are not definitive but they are all compelling for their own reasons.

 I start not with Buster Keaton's The General or Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, but Jean Renoir who brilliantly visualized the hulking steel metaphor of a train to represent the lurking violence within train engineer Jean Gabin. The source of his turmoil is an unhealthy obsession for the wife of his co-worker, alluringly embodied by Simone Simon. Staged and shot by Renoir with a you-are-there type vigor, the scenes with Gabin performing actual duties on the rails are a thrilling example of the screen presence of locomotives and the men who work on them. DVD REGION 1 & 2

THE TALL TARGET (1951: Dir. Anthony Mann)

     A snappy low-budget B-film from noir auteur Anthony Mann, The Tall Target, chronicles a political assassination attempt aboard a pre-Civil War train and the lone police sergeant who foils it. The shock for contemporary audiences is when the names of the characters are revealed. The target is Abraham Lincoln, on the way to his inauguration, and the policeman protecting him, is named John Kennedy!! As the tense journey progresses, the lamp lit darkness of the train comes to represent the potential dangers in a country soon to tear itself apart. A stalwart Dick Powell anchors the action as Kennedy, valiantly negotiating his way through shadowy train compartments infested with deadly conspirators as Mann amps up the jittery paranoia. DVD REGION 1


       NORTHWEST FRONTIER a.k.a. FLAME OVER INDIA (1959: Dir. J. Lee Thompson)

India is one place where train travel is an entirely different experience for those used to rolling luxury. Often the roofs of the cars are crowded with people and this British production doesn't shy away from presenting these stifling primitive conditions as it details the dangerous escape by rail, of a young Hindu prince from India's volatile northern frontier. A sweeping epic, where a single train compartment manifests all the aspects of an imperialist power including its courage, politics, war, and racism. This microcosm includes memorable star turns from intrepid soldier Kenneth More, smoldering American governess Lauren Bacall, genial bureaucrat Wilfred Hyde White and glowering Dutch reporter Herbert Lom. Director J. Lee Thompson demonstrates a superb eye for orchestrating large scale action and it was this film that became his calling card to Hollywood, resulting in the last minute assignment to take over direction of The Guns of Navarone from Alexander Mackendrick. DVD & BLU-RAY

                                     THE TRAIN (1964: Dir. John Frankenheimer) 
                                                                                                       

During WWII , the most crucial form of transport was the railway. It provided vital weapons, food, and medical supplies to both sides. The Germans also used trains for the more nefarious purposes of forcibly transporting people and treasure. John Frankenheimer's The Train is the story of a train filled with stolen French art being evacuated by the Nazis in advance of the fall of Paris. Always striving for period realism, Frankenheimer shot the film in black and white, making it the last big scale war/action film of its type to be made in that format. It also would be Frankenheimer's first film shot on location in France, a country where he would make six more films and also call home. His affinity for the French culture is already in evidence, especially in his authentic use of character faces rather than matinee idol-types. The exceptions are star Burt Lancaster, whose emotional intensity and physical grace command the screen, and Jeanne Moreau as the personification of the resolute women who gallantly toiled for the French resistance. Loaded with memorable scenes of destruction, including the astounding crash of two full size train engines and the eye-popping detonation of an actual railway yard, requiring over 5000 pounds of explosives. All aboard for excitement!! DVD & BLU-RAY



                        EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE (1973: Dir. Robert Aldrich)

The Vietnam era had seen great social upheaval in America. Nixon's silent majority fought against the hippie call for peace and free love. Iconoclastic Liberal filmmaker Robert Aldrich wanted to make a statement about this volatile political generation. He chose a film set during the Depression when disenfranchised drifters rode the rails living their own individualistic existence. Stealing free rides could be dangerous, and Aldrich in his typical anti-authoritarian style makes the train conductor the fanatical villain. Lee Marvin, who excelled at representing the renegade on film, stars as A No. 1, a defiant tramp who is determined to ride the train overseen by Shack (Ernest Borgnine), a sadistic and lethal conductor with a pathological hatred of hobos. The third spoke of the wheel is the character Cigaret, a wide-eyed, seemingly harmless vagrant played by a 23 year old Keith Carradine. These three men are the world according to Aldrich and when Marvin finally confronts Borgnine, in one of the most visceral and violent man to man fights ever put on screen, the audience immediately senses that there is more at stake here than a simple train ride. For Aldrich these two opposing ideals will always be at odds no matter who wins, the tragedy comes from the spirit of youthful opportunism that takes advantage of such ideological intransigence. The film's notorious failure at the box-office provided further evidence of a blinkered society with no interest in an angry lament for its future. DVD & BLU-RAY

MOVIES WRITTEN STONE Part Three

SILVER BEARS (1978: Dir. Ivan Passer)

If screenwriter Peter Stone ever wanted to re-visit the past glories of Charade he certainly had the raw material with Canadian banker Paul Erdman's novel Silver Bears. Some people confuse the heist genre with the con game genre. Both after all involve larceny and deception, however there are distinct differences. The nerve-wracking detail-obsessed suspense of a heist is a totally different flavour than the sleight-of-hand finesse of a confidence game. Silver Bears like Charade is a con game film, and a definite move away from the gritty milieu of The Taking of Pelham One Three. It is also Stone at his breezy best, returning to picturesque European and African locales, and populating his screenplay with cheerfully assured characters who are trapped in the quicksand of their own greedy natures. The late Seventies had seen the end of the Hollywood star-system, so if you couldn't cast a retired Cary Grant, then Michael Caine would suffice, and with Audrey Hepburn taking time off, perhaps Cybill Shepherd could fill in. Add a supporting group of dependable utility players: Louis Jourdan (faded Italian aristocrat), Stephane Audran (Persian exotique), Charles Gray (effete executive), Tom Smothers (uptight American), then place them in the fantasy-like world of high finance where the comedy can pleasingly percolate. The result is a tasty brew that never offends the palate. Erdman was convicted in absentia for his silver market swindle, our engaging heroes just steal the film. DVD REGION 2

MOVIES WRITTEN IN STONE Part Two

THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974: Dir. Joseph Sargent)

Stone with a harder edge. That would describe screenwriter Peter Stone's adaptation of John Godey's bestselling thriller about a New York Subway hijacking. As far away from his cloak and dagger jet setting style of Charade and its followup Arabesque (1966), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a loud nervy heist film, with overtones of urban terrorism. The mid-Seventies was an era of seeming lawlessness in New York City, with an impotent mayor Ed Koch unable to curb the rising crime rate. Despite being born in Los Angeles, Stone perfectly captures this New York state of mind, liberally applying salty vulgarities to escalate the squabbling tensions between the impatient politically-minded bureaucrats and their brash working stiff subordinates. A deadpan Walter Matthau stars, in his third Stone-authored script, as the wily Transit Authority cop, whose bloodhound-like mug is an immediate indication of  his crime-solving tenacity. Matthau's nemesis is a ruthless thief played by Robert Shaw with a cold remorselessness that is pleasingly contrasted with the cuddly warmth of his reluctant partner-in-crime Martin Balsam. As its action careens from one New York location to another, Stone thoughtfully provides the viewer with an omniscient vantage point, while never compromising the inherent suspense of each twist of the story as it relentlessly speeds towards its realistically small scale, but satisfyingly clever fade-out. DVD & BLU-RAY

MOVIES WRITTEN IN STONE Part One

CHARADE (1963: Dir. Stanley Donen)

"Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even me." These were the immortal words of Cary Grant, born Archie Leach, a former circus acrobat and vaudeville performer who remade himself as the most debonair movie star of all-time. Always a clothes horse, Grant knew how to look the part of a romantic figure but in order to get the girl, he also had to know what to say. Throughout his career he had been blessed with scripts by some of Hollywood's greatest screenwriters including Ben Hecht, Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman. However, it wasn't until he had almost retired that he would work with his most simpatico wordsmith, Peter Stone.  It is a truism that all classic films start with a solid script and Peter Stone was a great screenwriter. His list of credits in film, television and theatre were enviable, having Oscar, Emmy and Tony awards to prove it. Taking Hitchcock as his model he helped perfect the comedy-mystery genre, starting with this, his first film Charade. With its picture postcard Paris setting, Charade combines all of the most successful elements of Grant's previous screen personas while simultaneously poking fun at them. Starring opposite a youthful Audrey Hepburn, Stone puts 59 year-old Grant through his comedic paces in a self-deprecating, and sometimes even goofy role that exploits his middle-age for appropriate comic effect. In the past Grant had sometimes strained for credibility with his much younger leading ladies but this time Audrey did all the chasing with Cary able to sit back and look bemused by his good luck. To accentuate his aging good looks and gentlemanly charm, Stone and director Stanley Donen, surround him with a rogue's gallery of character faces and types, including the vulgar brutality of George Kennedy, the knife-like precision of James Coburn and the hang dog charm of Walter Matthau. This near flawless cast has much to savour in the delicious wit of Stone's whip-smart dialogue, with Grant in particular playing his urbane banter to the hilt. Stone would soon win his Academy Award for co-scripting Father Goose (1964), Grant's penultimate film, thus confirming the promise of Charade's Edgar Award-winning success. DVD & BLU-RAY