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Tag Archives: Don Siegel
Hornet’s Nest
If you’re a regular reader of this site, you’ll know that I have a lot of work coming out in the next few months. That means a lot of shilling from yours truly about my wares, on this site and my various social media feeds. It is unavoidable.
But amidst all the sales talk and my other commitments, I don’t want to forget why I originally started this site, reviewing books and films that take my fancy. Seriously, I miss bullshitting about this stuff with you all. Then it occurred me, the answer is shorter, sharper reviews, less formal, more stream of consciousness, fun to write and (hopefully), read. Obvious, I know, don’t know why it took me so long to realise it.
So, first up in the new regime of reviewing, Phil Karlson’s terrific 1970 revisionist World War II noir film, Hornet’s Nest. I first watched Hornet’s Nest with my folks, when it showed on a Sunday night on TV way back in the late 1970s. I can’t remember what I made of it then, but I sure as hell liked it when I re-watched it recently.
A detachment of US paratroops is dropped behind German lines in Italy to blow up a major dam and, thus, disrupt German troop movements ahead of a major allied offensive.… Read more
Thoughts on Point Blank at 50
Point Blank premiered in San Francisco on August 30 1967. Critically overlooked at the time, its launched John Boorman’s Hollywood directorial career, became a cult hit and has had an enduring influence on crime cinema. It is a film I have watched on numerous occasions and each time it yields new insights. The 50th anniversary is an opportune time for a few thoughts about its importance.
Point Blank was loosely based the 1962 novel, The Hunter, the first in the series of books by the late Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark, about the master thief, Parker. It opens with Walker, as the Parker character is called, played by Lee Marvin, double-crossed and left for dead by his friend, Mal (John Vernon), and wife, Lynne (Sharon Acker), with whom Mal was having an affair, after the three of them have heisted a regular money drop on the prison island of Alcatraz by a powerful criminal network, the Organisation. Walker, somehow, survives his wounds and manages to get off the island. He reappears and proceeds to tear Organisation apart to find Mal and get his share from the heist, the amount of $94,000. He is assisted by a mysterious man, Yorst (Keenan Wynn), who at first comes across as a cop, but is eventually revealed as a senior member of the Organisation, who sees in Walker a means to eliminate his internal competitors.… Read more
Posted in 60s American crime films, Angie Dickinson, Crime film, Don Siegel, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Film Noir, Heist films, Lee Marvin, Neo Noir
Tagged Angie Dickinson, Arthur Penn, Blast of Silence (1961), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Carol O’Connor, Don Siegel, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Dwayne Epstein, Film noir, John Boorman, John Vernon, Keenan Wynn, Lee Marvin, Lee Marvin: Point Blank, Mickey One (1965), Point Blank (1967), Sharon Acker, The Hunter, The Killers (19640, Touch of Evil (1958), Underworld USA (1961)
The Big Nowhere #2: Crashout
The second of my series looking at some of the best film noir you’ve never heard of, ‘The Big Nowhere’, is live here here at the film site, 4:3.
This week I look at Lewis R. Foster’s little known 1955 jail break noir, Crashout. Crashout is a B-noir in every sense of the word. The prison break that opens the film was borrowed from scenes shot for another jail noir, Don Siegel’s Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954), and the cast is made up almost completely of solid but unspectacular character actors. But in addition to being fast paced and incredibly tense, Crashout has a remarkably sophisticated story that belies its outward appearance as a macho prison noir.
The Don Siegel Rule
I had to give it a name, so I called it the Don Siegel Rule.
I was watching Charley Varrick recently, the 1973 heist film directed by Siegel, starring Walter Matthau as an ex-crop duster and stunt pilot turned bank who, along with his long suffering girlfriend, Nadine, and unreliable partner, robs a small bank in New Mexico. Unbeknownst to Varrick, the bank in question is actually a front for the mob. In response, the mob sends a hit man (played by Joe Don Baker) after him.
It’s a terrific little heist film. Tough in all the right places, just enough action and suspense to keep you interested, without the kind of over the top action gimmicks similar films exhibit these days. Matthau is terrific as the hangdog loner, Varrick.
Anyway, it got me thinking. There may be bad Siegel films out there, but I haven’t seen them.
Siegel was the king of the intelligent B movie (a title he shares with directors such as Walter Hill). His films have enormous energy and pace, but they also have an economy. Watching Siegel’s films, time and again he’s been able to get above obvious budget and script limitations to tell a gripping story.
The journeyman director cut his teeth making Westerns and noirs in the late forties and early fifties, and then pretty much excelled at whatever genre he tried.… Read more
Posted in Angie Dickinson, Crime film, Don Siegel, Heist films, Lee Marvin, Michael Caine
Tagged Charles Bronson, Charley Varrick (1973), Dirty Harry (1971), Don Siegel, Donald Pleasence, Hell is For Heroes (1964), Invasion of the Body Snatches (1956), Janet Suzman, Joe Don Baker, John Vernon, Lalo Schifrin, Lee Remick, Michael Caine, Point Blank (1967), Robert Siodmak, Telefon (1977), The Black Windmill (1974), The Killers (1946), The Killers (1964), Walter Hill
The heist always goes wrong, part 1: ten of the best heist movies ever made
I love the genius and intricacy of their plots and the variations they come in, whether it be the all star team assembled for a job or the desperate ex-cons trying for one last score.
But most of all I love them because of the golden rule of all good heist films – for whatever reason, the heist always goes wrong.
What do you need for a good heist?
You need a plan for actual heist itself, the getaway, and moving, storing and fencing whatever it is you’ve stolen. The more complicated the plan, the more likely it is that something will go wrong.
You need a crew of people; one man or woman alone cannot do a heist. This introduces the human element and all the problems that come with it, the greed, suspicions, jealousies and uncertainties.
I’ve been thinking for a while now about what my top ten-heist films would be and the following list, in no particular order, is it.
The robbery itself is almost immaterial to how I rate a good heist film. What I like is the context and atmosphere in which the heist takes place and inevitable problems that arise after it’s been pulled off. And the darker and more broken things get, the better the film is in my book.… Read more
Posted in 60s American crime films, 70s American crime films, 80s American crime films, Angie Dickinson, Charles Durning, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Ernest Borgnine, Film Noir, Gene Hackman, Heist films, James Caan, Jim Brown, Peter Boyle, Robert Mitchum, Stanley Baker, Sterling Hayden, Sydney Lumet, Yaphet Kotto
Tagged A Cop (1972), Across 110th Street (1972), Al Pacino, Alain Delon, Angie Dickinson, Anthony Quinn, Armoured Car Robbery (1950), Basil Dearden, Catherine Deneuve, Charles Durning, Crime Wave (1954), Criss Cross (1949), Diahann Carroll, Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Don Siegel, Donald Westlake aka Richard Stark, Ernest Borgnine, Gene Hackman, Heat (1995), heist films, Jack Klugman, James Booth, James Caan, James Whitmore, Jim Brown, Joanna Pettel, John Cazale, Joseph Loosey, Money Movers (1979), Peter Boyle, Peter Yates, Richard Jordan, Richard Stark, Robbery (1967), Robert De Niro, Robert Mitchum, Robert Prosky, Ronald Reagan, Sexy Beast (2000), Stanley Baker, Sterling Hayden, Sydney Lumet, The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Bank job (2008), The Criminal (1960), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), The Killers (1964), The League of Gentlemen (1960), The Red Circle (1970), Tuesday Weld, Warren Oates, Yaphet Kotto