John Frankenheimer's Black Sunday

Having recently watched John Frankenheimer's superb Seven Days in May again, I became interested in revisiting his 1977 thriller Black Sunday. I saw it during its original theatrical run--and that may have been the one and only time. To my surprise, my assessment of the film has not deviated over the last 48 years.

Based on Thomas Harris' bestseller, Black Sunday centers on Michael Lander (Bruce Dern), a mentally-unstable U.S. Navy veteran who is exploited by a member of a middle eastern terrorist organization (Marthe Keller as Dahlia). Their goal is to capture attention for their cause by killing thousands of people at a large-scale event in Miami. The movie unfolds as if the audience doesn't known the precise nature of their massacre. However, the movie's poster gives away the plot so there is no element of mystery in regard to the terrorist plans.

Robert Shaw.

What remains is a cat-and-mouse game between the good guys, led by an Israeli commando (Robert Shaw), and the villains. It's a structure similar to the earlier The Day of the Jackal (1973), in which an assassin meticulously plans to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle. The difference is that Jackal director Fred Zinnemann and star Edward Fox manipulate the audience into rooting for the assassin for most of that film's running time. 

Bruce Dern as Lander.

In contrast, the screenwriters and cast in Black Sunday let down Frankenheimer by failing to create involving characters. We should feel sympathy for Lander and, to a lesser degree, Dahlia. However, Dern’s acting is so wildly over the top that he loses the humanity in his character. Keller doesn't even get the chance to express or explain Dahlia's motives; they're provided by a Russian spy during a quick conversation with Shaw. Her character remains an enigma, killing with efficiency in one scene and crying for no apparent reason in another. Robert Shaw fares better as the film’s hero, but it’s almost by sheer will. His role is underwritten as well, especially when reacting to the murder of a long-time friend. 

Marthe Keller as Dahlia.

To Frankenheimer's credit, the final 45 minutes ratchet up the thrills effectively as the terrorist plot reaches its crescendo. Producer Robert Townsend worked with the National Football League to film an actual football game. Frankenheimer incorporates that footage seamlessly, adding an authenticity to the climatic disaster. His purposefully chaotic direction--especially as crowds pour out of the stands--creates an almost cinema vérité effect. It's a shame that an exciting sequence involving a blimp includes some unconvincing rear screen shots.

It's too bad that Black Sunday never reaches its potential as a nail-biting suspense film. The climax delivers the goods, but a weak script, uneven acting, and a bloated running time (over two hours) keep it from providing a growing feeling of tension. It's a far cry from Seven Days in May and just goes to show that a fine director can only do so much with the material and cast that he's given.

Walter Matthau Negotiates Over "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three"

It's a testament to The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) that it has been remade twice in the last 29 years--as a made-for-TV movie and a big-budget action picture. However, the decision to produce those remakes remains questionable, because how do you improve on a practically perfect urban suspense film?

The premise is a simple one: Four men hijack a New York subway and hold the passengers for ransom, demanding that $1 million be delivered within an hour. One passenger will be executed for every minute that the money is late.

Garber (Matthau) stalls for time.

Of course, Pelham's success has nothing to do with its familiar "hostage situation" plot and everything to do with its cast, screenplay, and setting. At a time when movie audiences were used to young, intense cops like Al Pacino's Serpico, Walter Matthau's Pelham hero must have been quite a shock. As Lieutenant Garber of the New York Transit Authority Police, Matthau wears a light brown jacket to cover his red-yellow-green plaid shirt and yellow tie. He spends most of the film in the transit's office (I love the little touches like the Bayer aspirin on his desk). And no one would ever call Garber intense. In fact, his coolness and ability to make quick decisions is his greatest attribute.

Mr. Blue (Shaw) prepares to follow
through on his threats.

In contrast, Robert Shaw displays a muted, ruthless intensity as the leader of the hijackers. When he flatly states he will kill the passengers if required, his tone leaves no doubt. One of my favorite parts of the film is how it subtly compares Shaw's Mr. Blue with Lt. Garber. While Garber struggles to get decisions on his end, Mr. Blue has to cope with a gang of misfits, including the reluctant Mr. Green (Martin Balsam) and the psychotic Mr. Grey (Hector Elizondo). Garber and Blue may have nothing in common--except they are the decision-makers trying control the situation, each from his own end.

Peter Stone earned an Oscar nomination for his screenplay, which was adapted from John Godey's 1973 novel. To offset the film's violence, Stone brilliantly incorporates humor, derived from the most unlikely sources (e.g., the city's indecisive mayor, a tour of the Transit Authority by Japanese businessmen). The mayor, played as a whiny politician by Lee Wallace, tries to use a case of flu as an excuse for not handling the situation. As the deputy mayor pressures the mayor to make any decision about the eighteen hostages, the mayor turns to his wife (nicely played by Doris Roberts) for advice:

Mayor's Wife: I know a million dollars sounds like a lot of money. But just think what you'll get in return.

Mayor: What?

Mayor's wife: Eighteen sure votes.

Still, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a suspense film and it certainly delivers in that department. Its most stunning sequences are a runaway subway and a race against time through the crowded streets of New York to deliver the ransom money. Director Joseph Sargent takes advantage of the on-location filming, which gives the film an appropriately gritty look. In 2005, National Public Radio's "resident film music buff" Andy Trudeau listed David Shire's pulsating, jazzy score as one of his all-time top ten.

And, as you might have suspected, writer-director Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of the original Taking of Pelham One Two Three. In fact, he paid homage to it in Reservoir Dogs by having the gang members refers to themselves as colors--just as Shaw's gang does in Pelham.