Cleopatra Jones.

Review #2511: Cleopatra Jones.

Cast: 

Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones), Bernie Casey (Reuben Masters), Shelley Winters (Mommy), Brenda Sykes (Tiffany), Antonio Fargas ("Doodlebug" Simpkins), Bill McKinney (Officer Purdy), Dan Frazer (Captain Crawford), Stafford Morgan (Sergeant Kert), Mike Warren (Miller Anderson), Albert Popwell (Matthew Johnson), Caro Kenyatta (Melvin Johnson), and Esther Rolle (Mrs. Johnson) Directed by Jack Starrett.

Review: 

Okay, I guess I should have heard of this movie earlier with a title like that. But maybe it is apt to get around to a movie made for Warner Bros. that wanted to cash in on the blaxploitation craze that came around with movies such as Shaft (or, if one wants to go with the one that came out a bit earlier, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song [1971]....or earlier with Cotton Comes to Harlem [1970]). Max Julien wrote the story (he originally wanted to a spy movie for Columbia Pictures) and co-wrote the screenplay with Sheldon Keller while also producing the film with William Tennent. At the helm as director was Jack Starrett, the sometimes actor/sometimes director behind such movies as Run, Angel, Run! (1969) and Slaughter (1972). Apparently, Julien envisioned his long-term girlfriend Vonetta McGee for the role, but the considerable casting call from Warner Bros. led to the eventual pick of former 6'2 model Tamara Dobson. The Baltimore native actually started out as a beautician in her studying at the Maryland Institute College of Art prior to being discovered, as, well, a 6'2 person who could model that later saw her involved in commercials. Rated PG, Cleopatra Jones was a decent hit with audiences and inspired a sequel with Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold in 1975. Sadly, those were Dobson's only starring roles, with her other film appearances (Norman... Is That You? [1976], Chained Heat [1983]) being supporting roles before she eventually became a commercial property owner; she died in 2006 at the age of 59.*

With big hat brims and big fur robes (apparently, the fashion was done by Giorgio di Sant' Angelo) and choices that might as well have come from someone wanting to do a James Bond movie (right down to having a climax in a junkyard), how could you not like this movie? Hell, the Corvette Stingray is modified so our leading lady's hair is not impeded to go along with a "CLEO" license plate and karate chopping people. Not bad for a "Special Agent to the President" that had to deal with all of this mainly because she got a poppy field to be destroyed via airstrike (in the intro to the film), I suppose. You know, it may not be a great movie, but I love stuff like this every now and then: a movie that just cuts loose and throws any damn thing to the screen with commitment of entertainment that shows the best of both worlds in terms of "the times" (namely in ass-kicking in the name of community). Admittedly, Dobson is more interesting for the stuff around her/action set pieces than her acting, which is pretty green. The community part is more important anyway when you've got some charm displayed by the support around her, mostly in the sheer ridiculous nature that comes with Winters, who not only has big hair (hey, wigs were cool) but also has an interesting gender balance of male henchmen and, uh, female servants. At least when one goes for hammy (hey, Winters had two Academy Awards already, you can do anything), you get some entertainment value (PG rating or not, you still get scenes featuring people being shot or thrown to their deaths). Casey makes a solidly sensible pairing for the small time you get to see him with Dobson. You get some adequate slice of life from folks such as Fargas or the Popwell/Kenyatta connection or the varying levels of "how funky is this white cop?*" from others for a movie that doesn't strain in hokum for its 89-minute runtime, which is more than can be said for lesser action films. It might not hit all of its marks, but it will do just fine winning converts on a late-night watch around the bend.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day

*Interestingly, Dobson believed that the character of Jones was not so much a "women's libber" but instead saw her as a "very positive, strong lady who knows what she has to do" (in this case defending the neighborhood from drug pushers)

*No joke, the movie ends right as the police captain mildly raises his fist to say "right on!" 

Sudden Impact.

Review #1757: Sudden Impact.

Cast: 

Clint Eastwood (Inspector Harry Callahan), Sondra Locke (Jennifer Spencer), Pat Hingle (Chief Lester Jannings), Bradford Dillman (Captain Briggs), Paul Drake (Mick), Michael Maurer (George Wilburn), Albert Popwell (Horace King), Audrie J. Neenan (Ray Parkins), and Jack Thibeau (Kruger) Produced and Directed by Clint Eastwood (#1252 - Space Cowboys, #1310 - Million Dollar Baby, #1476 - Pale Rider, #1501 - Unforgiven, #1550 - Gran Torino, and #1638 - Bird)

Review: 

Remember the ham-fisted nature of the Dirty Harry series? Well, at least some of the time, anyway. True, having the first feature being the undisputed best of a five film series is not exactly a new thing, but one really can't forget just how engaging the original 1971 film was when it came to police procedural dramas. Of course, it did not go without controversy, at least from folks that have quibbles with its moral positioning (real or imagined, depending on the source). Magnum Force (1973) was not a bad follow-up film, although it certainly had a diminished quality when it came to the adversarial contrast to Eastwood (who doesn't have to do much to make the lead role his own with a few key lines); the punch for its climax was fine, but it was what it was. The Enforcer (1976) harkened to pulling from the headlines for its main confrontation that saw plenty of action and folks sprayed around; the smart remarks and vigilance continued, albeit with stock adversaries and a tone that almost could have been lampooned. This would be the first and only Dirty Harry film that Eastwood would direct; incidentally, he felt the success of the series was because people felt frustrated with the criminal justice system. Earl E. Smith and Charles B. Pierce wrote the initial script that was meant to be a starring vehicle for just Locke, but it was later turned into a film fit for both Locke and Eastwood with the help of Joseph Stinson. This would happen to be the last major feature role for Locke, who had decided to venture into directing (she had starred with Eastwood in five previous films) before personal disputes with Eastwood led to what she would call being blacklisted from the film industry.

If you were wondering just where the series would go here, well, here you go. It has a weird blend of coarse procedural clichés that go hand in hand with parts that go with moments that seem destined for curious chuckles that teeter on self-parody. A hack writer who wanted to make a parody of loose cannon cops like the one Eastwood plays wouldn't have to search hard for stuff to lampoon, what with the capacity for the lead hero to have bodies turn up dead around him (criminal or not). Justice is a tough thing to enforce when folks keep turning up, it seems. Of course the parody wouldn't be as cynical about the nature of society and criminal justice as this film does, although at least one can say there is a fairly decent movie within semi-plausible standards. Technically speaking, it is a bit better than the last film, in that it manages to have a more interesting contrast to its lead character, although it certainly does have a bit more baggage within building 117 minutes of cop drama. Of course, you could see where the series may or may not have started to run a bit on its own self-righteous steam; the fifth and final film would be released in 1988. Eastwood always seems unflappable with making movies his way with a particular view involving crime and the near-mythic hero that doesn't have to say much to get his shot clear, so one can take it or leave the actor at who he is (I say that word rather than just "the man", interpret that how you like); even an average Eastwood movie is still a useful time to be had for those who seek it, at least. Locke seems to represent the other side of the coin of driven determination in the idea of justice, and one might be amused that they don't interact with each other until nearly an hour in; they don't exactly share broad chemistry with each other, but they seem to connect the quiet wires to where they need to (it should be pointed out that in the "parody", you wouldn't even have to change the fact that she is the most effective "adversarial counterpart" to the hero) - if you believe the climax, you might just believe almost anything with Eastwood, I guess. Hingle is the straight-laced counterpart to situations that could almost require more bluster to blush oneself (what with the whole big city vs town thing), but he makes the most of it with useful candor. Drake makes an okay goon, although it is strange to note that this was his most noted role as an actor. Popwell plays the partner-surrogate to fit the detached chemistry one sees coming from interactions with Eastwood in these films (insert phrase here). As a whole, one can reasonably be engaged with the film with its casual handling of action and stance on justice (namely have more of it?) while recognizing that it likely only works as much as one wants to put into it with the usual suspects; folks that are not too big on Eastwood or his rigidity won't be swayed too much, but others will roll with the punches fine (one wonders just how the last film will go with an actor pushing near 60 though). If it is thought of as one of Eastwood's more mediocre works, one can at least state that it manages to be a fair mediocre work one would still want to think about. It may be a bit off-kilter with its overall execution, but it still manages to provide a fine time for those who seek the waning days of the Dirty Harry series with curiosity.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

The Enforcer.

Review #1666: The Enforcer.

Cast: 

Clint Eastwood (Inspector Harry Callahan), Tyne Daly (Inspector Kate Moore), Harry Guardino (Lt. Al J. Bressler), Bradford Dillman (Captain Jerome McKay), John Mitchum (Inspector Frank DiGiorgio), Bill Ackridge (Andy), DeVeren Bookwalter (Bobby Maxwell), Albert Popwell (Big Ed Mustapha), John Crawford (The Mayor), and Robert Hoy (Buchinski) Directed by James Fargo.

Review: 

Did you know that this was supposed to be the last Dirty Harry film? I thought the most surprising thing about the series of Dirty Harry films would be the fact that Clint Eastwood ended up directing only one of them, although he certainly had his level of control (at least in terms of re-takes) with how they ended up with his production company in Malpaso. Why don't we just recap how we got to a third film, shall we: Harry Julian Fink and Rita Fink were the folks that came up with the original script for what would become Dirty Harry (1971), one that showed the blurred lines between criminal and cop with the hunt for a serial killer (in this case inspired by the Zodiac killer) that showed a lesson on the ends justifying the means. Further contributions came through Dean Riesner (a writer who had contributed scripts to a number of Eastwood films starting with Coogan's Bluff in 1968) alongside un-credited writers such as John Milius and Terence Malick. Don Siegel's efforts in wrangling the script to something Eastwood liked made for one of the most memorable cop films of the era, albeit one that certainly proved a shock to certain audiences. Magnum Force (1973) was done as a reaction against complete vigilantism, complete with Milius as story writer and Michael Cimino as co-writer. It was an okay film, one that might have run a bit too long to wander in all the directions it wanted. Originally, Eastwood was slated to direct this film (after having disputes with Ted Post with the last one), but troubles with The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) meant that he had to focus his attention elsewhere (he took over directing for that film and had to supervise the editing). James Fargo was a familiar presence for Eastwood, since he served as his assistant director on numerous movies, and the Washington native would be brought in by Eastwood to direct his first feature film. The script came out of a hodgepodge of four writers in Stirling Silliphant and Dean Riesner (screenplay) to go with Gail Morgan Hickman and S.W. Schurr (story). Hickman and Schurr made a script that had Eastwood's character going up against a violent group that harkened to real-lie events of the day (such as the Symbionese Liberation Army and the Black Panther Party - the former was a domestic terrorist group comprised of left-wing thugs that committed two murders alongside robbery and kidnapping (most notably Patty Hearst), and as for the latter group...search and interpret for yourself). Meanwhile, Silliphant had come up with a script that paired the lead character with a female partner, but Eastwood wanted more action from it (rather than the emphasis on character); at any rate, Riesner would be brought in to re-write the script after Silliphant had done re-writes to both his original script and Hickman/Schurr's script. 

So how is the overall movie? For something that proved such a popular hit with audiences (at least in terms of being the biggest hit of the series until the next film seven years later), it certainly is a weird one to think about. On the one hand, having a shorter run-time (96 minutes) helps, but really one can't help but wonder what exactly has changed from the previous features. It almost delves into ham-fisted amusement with its attempts at balancing action with light moments that can range from crashing a car to foil a robbery/hostage situation after giving a remark about giving a car to a quite long foot-chase that is equivalent to a jog around your house to a final encounter at Alcatraz Island that I suppose made sense somewhere on the line. On a cheesy level, it is firmly in the middle of what you would consider in that department, wracked with a bleak tone that may or may not be overkill in action (one count in the body-count suggests one of nineteen, for example) that contrasts with moments of disjointed narrative movement. In other words: it is a decent movie in terms of not wasting my time, but it sure is an average way to do so with a cast that could have done better. I feel like if someone really wanted to make fun of the ham-fisted nature of these films, all one would need to do is to just trim a little bit from here and just add in a few more points of furor over hippie-I mean criminals doing actions against Callahan; he already loses more partners than pairs of keys, to begin with. Eastwood grits through a role that he certainly supervised to not speak as much as he didn't want to, complete with meeting the need for action to keep up with the fans. It isn't a bad performance, but it is exactly the kind of thing you have seen before that makes one see the logic in this being thought of as the last intended one - where else could he go with this character of smart remarks and vigilance? Daly had rejected the role a few times before being convinced to do it on one key change: omitting a relationship beyond professional between her and Eastwood's character. The interesting thing about Daly is that she would wind up playing a police officer again a few years later with the noted hit Cagney & Lacey in 1982. She does pretty well here in terms of wedging in clear-cut professional chemistry with Eastwood that never feels phoned in - she stands her ground in respect that seems a bit more memorable than the usual partner with Eastwood. Guardino is here and there when it comes to having the shoulder presence of authority, serving more for exposition more than anything; Dillman however is used as a foil to the usual beat against the main character that feels quite hollow. I had forgotten that Mitchum was making his third and last appearance in the series, but I'm sure he had a decent time with what is there for shock in setting up the obvious. Bookwalter makes for a fair stock performance in deranged nature that honestly needed more from the script (again, it's hard to top the first film and its choirboy faced killer). If the sequels to Dirty Harry are this distinctive in oddness, one almost wonders how sequels to other movies involving vigilance or cop action end up being, particularly for a feature like The Enforcer that is diverting if not just an excuse to rack up a few thrills with a somewhat game script and cast that result in a cheesy but likely serviceable effort. It kept the attention for what was needed as a continued reflection of 1970s action that has its moments for an overall mixed bag of curiosity.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.