The Killers (1964) and Tenebrae

Clu Gulager and Lee Marvin.

The Killers (1964). Don Siegel's adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's 1946 short story "The Killers" is sadly overshadowed by the 1946 film version that made stars of Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. Siegel's The Killers is a lean, fast-paced drama that borrows elements from the 1946 movie, but alters the narrative path. Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager play contract killers Charlie and Lee, who are hired to murder former race car driver Johnny North. The job goes off without a hitch, but Charlie (Marvin), the more experienced hit man, is bothered by the fact that Johnny knew they were coming to kill him--but chose not to flee. Charlie becomes obsessed with finding out why and, as the killers interview people who knew their victim, Johnny's story unfolds in flashbacks. John Cassavetes turns in one of his most likable performances as Johnny, whose once-promising career goes off the rails when he falls for a mobster's mistress (Angie Dickinson). The flashbacks are well done, but The Killers works best when it focuses on the contrasting title characters: the quiet, perceptive Charlie and his younger, more action-minded partner Lee. Marvin's performance foreshadows his ruthless role in the better-known Point Blank (1967), while Gulager is a revelation. It's a shame that his career was mostly limited to TV series such as The Tall Man and The Virginian. The Killers was originally intended as one of the first made-for-TV movies, but its content was deemed too violent and it received a theatrical release. A scene in which Ronald Reagan, as a ruthless criminal, slaps Angie Dickinson is often cited for its violence. However, it pales in comparison to a later scene in which Marvin's hit man brutally slugs her. You can currently stream The Killers on Rumble for free by clicking here.

Tenebrae (1982). After a detour into supernatural horror with Suspiria (1977) and Inferno (1980), filmmaker Dario Argent returned to the giallo genre where he experienced great success in the 1970s (e.g., Deep Red, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage). Tony Franciosa stars as American writer Peter Neal, who travels to Rome to promote his latest mystery, a grisly thriller titled Tenebrae. Following the death of a young woman, Peter receives a letter from the killer who claims to have been inspired by Peter's violent novels. As more murders occur, the author closes in on the identity of the murderer--but all is not what it seems. Stylish and thematically complex, Tenebrae suffers from Argento's desire to pull out all the stops--no matter the costs. There's an incredible tracking shot in which the camera crawls along the side of a building, then up and over it and down the other side. It's an amazing technical feat, but adds little to the scene's suspense. There are also anonymous flashbacks, blood-splattered killings (you've been warned!), and a doozy of a climatic twist. I'm still not sure if the latter plays fair with the audience, but it will grab your attention. Tenebrae is a a moderately-successful return to Argento's roots, but it could have been so much more. Despite starring a well-known American actor, Tenebrae received a limited release in the U.S. two years after its European premiere; it was heavily edited and retitled Unsane. 

Seven Things to Know About Angie Dickinson

1. Angie Dickinson's favorite film role was as the sexy housewife who is brutally murdered after an adulterous encounter in Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill (1980). She told Vanity Fair in a 2008 interview: "I’m good in it, and it’s a great part. I’m sorry I didn’t try to go for an Academy Award for that role. I think I could have won it. But the studio didn’t want to put up the campaign, and I felt that I didn’t want to go for a supporting-actor award, because I’d always thought of myself as the lead, even though by then I wasn’t getting starring roles. I regret it now. Of course, De Palma is to blame for the great performance."

2. She played Sergeant Pepper Martin for four years on Police Woman (1974-78). She received three Emmy nominations for Best Actress (Drama) and four Golden Globe nominations, winning the award in 1975. According to People Magazine, Police Woman was President Gerald Ford's favorite TV series--he once rescheduled a White House press conference because of it. Angie's then-husband Burt Bacharach turned down the opportunity to compose the theme for Police Woman...because he didn't think the show would last long.

3. Angie Dickinson and Frank Sinatra had a ten-year affair. She told Vanity Fair: "Frank and I stayed friends for all those years, and it was just one of those great, comfortable things, where you always desire somebody, but you can live without them."

4. Her 1965 marriage to Burt Bacharach was the second for each of them. Their daughter, Lea Nikki, was born prematurely and later diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. She committed suicide at age 40. Dickinson and Bacharach divorced in 1981. In a 2019 interview that aired on CBS, she said of Bacharach: "He never loved me, I can tell you that right now, the way one loves. He loved in his own way, which is not too good. And so, he had no respect for me."

5. Howard Hawks cast her in Rio Bravo (1959) after watching her in an episode of Perry Mason ("The Case of the One-Eyed Witness").

Angie as "Feathers" in Rio Bravo.

6. Angie Dickinson returned a $75,000 advance on her planned autobiography in 1989. She said the publisher wanted her to address a rumored affair with President John F. Kennedy. She refused to do it and shelved the book after completing 100 pages. In recent years, she has expressed a renewed interest in writing her life story.

7. During one of her many guest appearances on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson noted her outfit and asked Angie Dickinson if she dressed for women or for men. She famously quipped: "I dress for women. I undress for men."

A Fever in the Blood

Angie Dickinson and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

As a fan of courtroom dramas and films about political intrigue, I was particularly pleased to discover A Fever in the Blood on Warner Archive's streaming service. Co-written by Roy Huggins (Maverick, The Fugitive), this 1961 feature examines the impact of a sensationalistic murder trial on a gubernatorial race. Thus, we get all the usual courtroom theatrics, plus behind-the-scenes political machinations.

The films open with Judge Leland Hoffman asking his friend, District Attorney Dan Callahan, to be his running mate as he seeks his party's nomination for state governor. Callahan declines and we later learn the reason is because he plans to run for the same nomination. Callahan goes to see Senator Alex Simon, a powerful state politician, to gain his endorsement. It turns out that Senator Simon plans to vacate his Senate seat and seek the governor's office, too!

Jack Kelly as Callahan.

Meanwhile, Judge Hoffman and D.A. Callahan become involved in a murder trial, in which a former governor's nephew is accused of suffocating his unfaithful wife. Callahan is convinced that a conviction will seal his bid for the nomination. It's a point that's not lost on Hoffman and Simon, inspiring the senator to suggest that the judge squash Callahan's free publicity by declaring a mistrial.

For most of its running time, A Fever in the Blood is an effective political drama that examines the ethics of its three protagonists. As the plot unfolds, motivations become murky and even the most moral of the trio begins to question his actions. Many of its themes are still timely, such as the effect of press coverage on the trial and, indirectly, the gubernatorial race. In one of my favorite lines, a political strategist notes of D.A. Callahan: "Celebrities write their own tickets."

Still, A Fever in the Blood almost collapses under the weight of its extraneous subplots. The final half-hour includes a hit-and-run accident in which a child is killed, the death of a major character, the capture of the real murderer, and an unbelievable ending at the state convention.

Jesse White as a police detective.

The cast consists of Warner Bros. contract players, including TV stars Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (77 Sunset Strip) as Judge Hoffman and Jack Kelly (Maverick) as Callahan. They turn in acceptable performances, though they're overshadowed by seasoned pros like Don Ameche (as Senator Simon) and Angie Dickinson (his wife). Jesse White also shines as a police detective that works closely with the district attorney. White later gained fame in TV commercials as the Maytag repairman.

Incidentally, the title is a reference to the passion felt by those who seek the power and influence of a major political office.

Here's a clip from A Fever in the Blood. You can view it full-screen on the Classic Film & TV Cafe's YouTube Channel. You can also stream the entire movie at warnerarchive.com.

Move Over Kolchak for "The Norliss Tapes"

A more serious version of The Night Stalker (1972), The Norliss Tapes (1973) featured Roy Thinnes as an author who becomes an investigator of supernatural phenomena. In the film's opening scenes, David Norliss (Thinnes) confides to his publisher that his book debunking fake spiritualists has taken a different turn. When Norliss suddenly disappears, his publisher discovers a set of tapes in the writer's home. The plot unfolds as Norliss' publisher listens to his tapes.

On advice from her sister, Ellen Cort (Angie Dickinson) seeks out Norliss when her recently-deceased husband shows up in his art studio, takes a blast from a shotgun, and vanishes. Ellen reveals that her husband, sculptor James Raymond Cort, died from Pick's Disease (a brain disorder). Shortly before his death, he became obsessed with the occult and befriended an antiques shop owner who gave him a scarab ring symbolizing the Egyptian god Osiris. With ashen skin and glowing eyes, Cort is definitely dead--but that hasn't stopped him from working on an unusual statue molded from red clay.

The creepy dead husband.

Producer-director Dan Curtis follows the same general premise as his earlier made-for-TV films The Night Stalker (1972) and its sequel The Night Strangler (1973). The difference is that Darren McGavin played Kolchak, the investigate journalist in those films, with a dash of humor--thus balancing the chills with levity. With The Norliss Tapes, Curtis clearly intended to make a straightforward fright film--and he largely succeeds. His film evokes an eerie atmosphere, enhanced by the scenic Carmel coastline with its winding roads. There are some genuine shocks, too, such as when Cort's creepy face pops up at a window when the curtain is brushed aside.

Roy Thinnes, less frantic here than in The Invaders, makes a believable hero. Angie Dickinson lends some class to the proceedings and Vonetta McGee proves once again that she deserved a better career.

The Norliss Tapes also served as a pilot for a TV series, though NBC passed on it. Interestingly, Dan Curtis filmed an earlier pilot, back in 1969, about another investigator who specialized in cases involving the supernatural. Kerwin Matthews starred in In the Dead of the Night, which ABC broadcast as a 60-minute TV movie called Dead of Night: A Darkness in Blaisedon.

Contrary to popular opinion, Dan Curtis was not involved in the original Kolchak TV series. He did serve as an executive producer for the 2005 revival, Night Stalker, starring Stuart Townsend as Kolchak.

Rio Bravo: Howard Hawk's "Response" to High Noon

The classic status attributed to Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (1959) has always puzzled me. While it's a solid, well-done Western, it doesn't rank with the best Westerns of the 1950s (e.g., Shane, The Hanging Tree, 3:10 to Yuma, the Anthony Mann-James Stewart collaborations, etc.). It's also not as good as the movie that allegedly inspired it: High Noon.

Hawks, who disliked High Noon, famously said: "I didn't think a good sheriff was going to go running around town like a chicken with his head off asking for help, and finally his Quaker wife had to save him." Thus, Rio Bravo is often considered to be Hawks' and John Wayne's cinematic response to High Noon.

Dean Martin as Dude.

The plot is simple: Sheriff John T. Chance (Wayne) arrests Joe Burdette when the latter guns down a man in cold blood. Joe's brother, Nathan (John Russell from TV's Lawman) "bottles up" the town and hires a bunch of professional gunfighters to spring Joe from jail. That leaves Chance, his elderly deputy Stumpy (Walter Brennan), and his alcoholic former deputy Dude (Dean Martin) to guard Joe until a marshal arrives in six weeks. One of Chance's friends states it eloquently: "A game-legged old man and a drunk? That's all you got?"

In Hawks' world, though, that's all that Chance wants. Unlike Will Kane (Gary Cooper) in High Noon, Chance doesn't solicit help. It's not the job of married men with families to face hired guns. That's what Chance was hired to do (although he does eventually accept help from a young fast gun played by Ricky Nelson). This exaggerated view of public service lends a little thematic density to an otherwise lightweight plot.

A brown-haired Angie Dickinson.

Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman, who co-wrote Hawks' The Big Sleep (with William Faulkner), certainly provide a quotable screenplay. After Chance and con woman Feathers (Angie Dickinson) follow up their first kiss with a sequel, she quips: "I'm glad we tried it a second time. It's better when two people do it." Granted, it's a line that seems more appropriate for The Big Sleep than a Western--but it's still entertaining. Indeed, Feathers seems to be a character lifted from a late 1940s film noir, as evidenced by the following exchange in which Chance confronts her with a "wanted" poster:

Feathers: This isn't the first time that handbill has come up. I'd like to know what to do about it.

Chance: Well, you could quit playing cards...wearing feathers.

Feathers: No, sheriff. No, I'm not going to do that. You see...that's what I'd do if I were the kind of girl that you think I am.

Dickinson and Dean Martin stand out in the cast. She hits all the right notes as the sassy Feathers, who keeps missing the stagecoach out of town because she has finally found a man that interests her. Martin has a more difficult role, playing a drunk trying to sober up in the middle of a life-threatening situation. He's quite effective in the film's first half before getting cleaned up a little too quickly for the big climax. As for Wayne and Brennan, they plays roles that each has done at least a half-dozen times.

Ricky Nelson as Colorado.

That brings us to Ricky Nelson, who seems miscast as Colorado, the young gunfighter. Still, he tries hard and it helps that he doesn't have a lot of lines. He does fine in the singing department when he and Dino duet on the memorably-titled "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me" (which Dimitri Tiomkin adapted from his own theme for Red River). Allegedly, Elvis Presley was interested in playing Colorado, but his business manager Colonel Tom Parker nixed the idea.

Director Howard Hawks, who was a master at crafting lean movies, surprisingly lets Rio Bravo drift along at a leisurely 141 minutes. He still musters some exciting action scenes, although his best set piece contains little action and comes at the beginning of the film. Rio Bravo opens with a four-minute scene with no dialogue, but contains plenty of information. We learn that Dean's character is a drunk that will stoop to anything for a drink. We see the murder committed by Joe Burdette that sets the film's plot in motion. And we see that the townsfolk, after witnessing a senseless murder, are too intimidated to do anything about it.

Interestingly, Hawks, Wayne, and screenwriter Brackett teamed up again seven years later for the semi-remake El Dorado. This time around, Wayne is a gunfighter, Robert Mitchum is an alcoholic sheriff, and James Caan is a young gun named Mississippi. It's not as good as Rio Bravo, but, like its predecessor, is a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.

Cafe du Cinema Society Discusses: John Boorman's Point Blank (1967)

Welcome to our first Cafe du Cinema discussion group! We'll select a film each month that's showing on TCM, give everyone about a week to watch it, and then share our views on the movie in this forum. This month, we picked John Boorman's Point Blank, starring Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson, which TCM broadcast last Saturday, 12 September 09. I'm going to omit a plot synopsis because I assume all discussion participants have seen the movie. My goal is just to get the discussion started.

The first time I saw this film (several years ago), I felt it was a stylish, violent revenge film--but nothing more. It's only on subsequent viewings that I began to realize there was more than meets the eye. So, let me start our discussion with this question: Are the events of the film actually taking place or are they the fragmented thoughts of a dying Walker (Marvin)?

During the credits, we see an apparently dying Walker (who was shot at point blank range) muttering on the cell floor: "A dream...a dream."  After a montage of scattered flashbacks, he staggers into the ocean and then appears years later, displaying no evidence of a near-fatal wound. How did Walker recover? How did he get off Alcatraz? Near the end of the film, when Walker and Chris (Dickinson) are waiting for Brewster, Chris is wearing an orange dress. The next morning, she is wearing the same dress, only now it's white. A bizarre continuity goof or the shifting "realism" of a dream?

At one point in the film, Chris asks Walker: "Why don't you lie down and die?" Could it be that's what Walking is doing in the cell at Alcatraz?

OK, it's time for your views and your insight. If you have a different interpretation, let's hear it. And if you want to delve into another part of the film, that's cool, too. The goal is to have an active discussion...and fun.