1970s

Films from the 1970s

The Long Goodbye (1973)

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Despite being based on Raymond Chandler’s last book, The Long Goodbye is not a film noir or hard-boiled detective movie. It’s a Robert Altman film, which means it’s anything but straightforward.

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The Long Goodbye

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Altman was known for his satirical approach, and The Long Goodbye is no exception.

Instead of relying on voice-over narration, Altman’s version of Philip Marlowe (played by Elliott Gould) frequently mutters to himself and offers commentary on the situations he and others find themselves in. Marlowe is more concerned with finding his missing cat (Morris the Cat) than with solving the case or dealing with the topless yoga vixens next door, or even the $5,000 banknote he’s received from the missing man. He’s a private eye who drifts through his cases.

Set in 1970s Los Angeles, The Long Goodbye is a far cry from the film noir-ish LA of the 1940s. However, this Marlowe is a man out of time, always wearing a suit and tie (even on the beach) and driving a 1940s Cadillac, all the while chain-smoking.

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Blue Collar

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Sorry not to have posted the past couple of weeks. Things have been crazy. I missed the movie (Mississippi Masala) and film club two weeks ago. I watched last week’s pick (Hedwig and the Angry Inch — which was terrific, btw), but just didn’t have time to do much thinking about it or posting on it.

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Blue Collar

Where to watch: Just Watch

Things haven’t slowed down this week (maybe just the opposite). So I thought I would be brief about this week’s movie, Blue Collar.

I thought that I saw it when it came out in 1978. While elements were familiar, I can’t say that was the case.

Blue Collar stars Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto. If you expect this to be a comedy because of Pryor, think again. The casting signals the film’s mix of humor, drama, and violence.

Director Paul Schrader‘s film — three autoworker buddies, put upon by their bosses and taken advantage of by their union officials, break into the union’s safe where they find just a handful of cash, but a ledger detailing union corruption — is humorous at times, rough at times, and ultimately bleak. The trio tries to stick it to the man but ends up stuck by the system instead.

Thematically, Blue Collar has many similarities to film noir: It’s gritty, its characters are marginalized, and it ends in hopelessness.

Blue Collar is a bit uneven and unpolished, but still makes its point.

Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast From Hell

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My pick for this week’s Criterion Channel movie club was a no-budget short, Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast From Hell, from 1972.

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Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast From Hell

Where to watch: Just Watch

Why a short? After everyone has had a movie pick, our Friday night film club has a short-film festival, as it were. Before starting a new cycle of picks, we have an interstitial week where everyone suggests a short film, typically no longer than 15 minutes.

The silent Zorgon runs about 9 minutes, so it gets right to the action. Someone — or some thing — is killing people in a Southern California valley. When the police aren’t acting quickly enough, neighbors band together to find the killer. A la Scooby-Doo, the villain is a throwback humanoid with legs that awkwardly split into feet and tentacles.

According to IMDB, the movie was a class project for director Kevin Fernan, who also played one of Zorgon’s first victims. (It also appears that this was his only film production.)

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Across 110th Street

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Say “New York City in the 1970s,” and I immediately think of the gritty, blighted city that was the backdrop for movies such as The French Connection, Serpico, Report to the Commissioner, The Seven-Ups, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

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Across 110th Street

Where to watch: Just Watch

As a teenager in a mid-size city in the South at the time, that New York had a certain appeal. It was familiar, yet very different. Bustling, lively, multicultural.

I had a chance to pinch-hit and pick this week’s movie for film club. Shaft (1971) had been on my short list several weeks ago, but it left the Criterion Channel at the end of March.

Looking for something similar, I came across the trailer for Across 110th Street. It had the vibe I was looking for, plus it starred Yaphet Kotto.

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