Post by Eddie Love on Oct 23, 2010 9:36:54 GMT -5
Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood were regarded as the reining kings of Hollywood towards the end of the 70s. Together they graced the cover of Time magazine and were often thought of as stars of a similar vein and throwback’s to the movies' past luminaries. In 1984 they finally appeared together, co-starring on the big screen. And these days, when you look up the phrase “non-event” there’s the trailer for CITY HEAT.
The film had a troubled production history. The original director was Blake Edwards. He was replaced by Richard Benjamin, reportedly because Reynolds didn’t want to work again with Edwards’ wife Julie Andrews, who Burt had just appeared with in Edwards’ American remake of THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN. Clint backed Burt on the issue and so Benjamin, the actor turned director who’d recently had the critical hits MY FAVORITE YEAR and RACING WITH THE MOON, seemed a good fit for the period setting of HEAT. (Edwards would retain a writing credit under the name Sam O. Brown – the initials meant to suggest his take on events.)
The period in question is the early 30s. I’m not sure what the city of the title is, and it doesn’t really matter, as the setting for each scene looks exactly like a Hollywood soundstage. The plot concerns a down-on-his-luck private detective (Burt) whose partner (Richard Roundtree) is starting a bidding war between two mob bosses for the accounting ledgers that would put one of them behind bars and give the other a leg up on the rackets. When Roundtree is killed, Burt and a hard-nosed police Lieutenant (Clint) grudgingly join forces to retrieve the ledgers and aide whichever damsel is in distress at any given moment.
Clint looks good in his role as a tough cop. His only other film set in this period – I think -- is HONKY TONK MAN, and he wasn’t nattily attired in that. For what its worth, he seems to be having a relaxed, good time. Burt has a couple okay scenes, but unfortunately for him he’s saddled with keeping both the private detective plate up in the air as well as executing on all the comic beats. He works very hard and it’s not really fair to him. Despite his efforts, things get out of his hands almost immediately.
The role intended for Julie Andrews fell to Madeline Kahn, but only after a flavor-of-the-month European starlet was let go. (Burt has a hilarious anecdote about this in his autobiography. He and Clint arrived together at the studio one morning and the actress in question was – according to Reynolds – passed out in the street. Burt looked at Clint and said; “Two words. Madeline Kahn.”) Kahn is her usual game self, but from the moment she opens her mouth, any sense that this is a realistic, if fanciful, crime tale is forgotten.
The production is elaborate, I guess, but flavorless. For all the period detail, there is no atmosphere. The – always wet – city streets are empty. The tone tries to affect some kind old, gritty throwback to the Warners’ era of cops and gangster pictures, but the action descends into the farcical by the ridiculous climax. You really wonder what movie they were paying tribute to here, as nothing good springs to mind that they might be aping.
CITY HEAT is a joyless bummer, even at ninety minutes, the longer it wears on, the more it basically sucks. The last half-hour devolves into two long, boring gunfights, and Benjamin doesn’t seem to have much interest in keeping these action scenes intelligible.
This is a buddy picture if your definition of the word “buddy” extends to someone who would sucker punch you in the face. Was this really what people pining for a Burt-Clint team-up had in mind? And did the powers-that-be think, “Hey, lets put Burt and Clint together and have them kvetch at each other for 90 minutes.” Furthermore, the animus of these characters is never explained. To top things off, the film ends with them out in the street brawling and standing nose-to-nose hurling insults at each other. Newman and Redford this ain’t. And it’s simply not fun to watch.
Is there anything good here? Three things, precisely. I liked the great actress Jane Alexander as Burt’s secretary who moons after Clint. She’s a real woman and a talent that can rise above even this. Also, the scenes with Richard Roundtree as a hustling, shady PI have a tang that is immediately missed once he’s gone. There is one improbable, but kind of cool, shoot-out in an apartment building hallway with Clint and a gunsel. And that’s it. I recall the disappointment of seeing this when it came out, and my initial assessment has only gotten worse.
The two stars may have had comparable status at the time, but that wasn’t to be the case for long. Put another way – both stars had other pictures out the summer prior to CITY HEAT’s Christmas opening. Eastwood’s was the daring thriller TIGHTROPE. Burt’s was CANNONBALL RUN II. Reynolds would see his star fade over the next few years and would return to TV by the decade’s end. (This film would have a further reaching impact, as injuries suffered by Reynolds on the set would plague him for years.) Eastwood would go on to craft perhaps the single most extraordinary career of any Hollywood star.
Blake Edwards wasn’t done with the idea of the period, buddy mystery, and four years later he made SUNSET. James Garner reprised the role of Wyatt Earp he’d played in HOUR OF THE GUN in a mystery set in 20s Hollywood where Earp – on set as a technical advisor on a Western – teams up with that film’s star, Tom Mix, Earp having been approached by a woman from his past to help her troubled son.
This picture was Bruce Willis’ second star vehicle, and second picture for Edwards, and he plays Mix. He was still starring as David Addison on Moonlighting at the time, and that persona of the smirking wiseass casts a shadow over his work here. He wears a smile of smug, self-satisfaction throughout. He also – occasionally – employs a drawling cowboy, accent. There’s a long scene where he performs a sleek, tango and tries to project a sexiness that just doesn’t work. Of course, he’s a good actor and he livens up occasionally, but mostly he’s a little lost. When he sits down for a scene with Malcolm McDowall at one point, rings are acted around him.
Seen in the context of his larger career, it’s lucky for all of us that he lost these tics and found his footing as the intense everyman. Indeed, this film’s failure at the box office stalled his big-screen career, and if not for Richard Gere bailing on the role of John McLane and Cybil Shepherd’s pregnancy halting production on Moonlighting, Willis may never have blown-up into the character film star we have today. (Indeed, if you look back at the original ads for DIE HARD, Willis is not at all their focal point.)
Garner is more in his element and, I think, also better served by the writing and directing. He’s an old-pro and he delivers on what he’s asked to do, even if he could be taking this to a higher lever. Edwards has one ambitious bit in he film, where Earp is watching Mix and the film-crew shoot a recreation of the O.K Corral gunfight, and we cut to his memories and see WILD BUNCH-lite scenes of violent mayhem. That’s it though, there’s nothing else on this theme of reality-versus illusion or satirical jabs at Hollywood and its early industry of myth-making. Rather, it’s all buddy-buddy goings-on with Earp and Mix from here on in, and there are occasional bits of nearly amusing banter. (Although I read an interview with Garner once where he complained about Willis who, I think, had a “difficult” reputation in his early career. Or it may just have been—as Garner alluded to – that the old-school Hollywood Democrat, didn’t care for the young Republican in the waning days of the Reagan era, or why else would Garner mention this fact at all?)
Earp enters into a hugely improbable romance with Mariel Hemingway as an androgynous brothel-keeper. (Her stable of girls all resemble film stars ala L.A. CONFIDENTIAL) And, by the (Heming-)way, she’s really bad in this.
The highlight of the film is Malcolm McDowall as a Chaplin-like former silent clown who is now a studio head in addition to being a ruthless sadist. McDowall is having a grand time and while most of the acrobatic comedy we see his character perform is clearly cut with footage of someone else doing the shtick, he does have some smooth moves and the gleam in his eye to suggest he could be a classic clown. The crux of this plot is suggested by the mysterious death of William Ince back in the 20s, which was also the subject of the film THE CAT’S MEOW. But still, it’s a little creepy to see that a character so clearly based on Chaplin is shown as a violent killer.
The supporting cast includes stalwarts like E. Emmett Walsh (who supplied my one out-loud laugh watching this) and the great Richard Bradford. Kathleen Quinlin is the unlikely scatter-brained blonde this time around.
SUNSET isn’t bad, but isn’t very good either. It’s reasonably enjoyable. It has an admirably lavish production, but throughout, it lacks something cinematic. At times, it feels like it could be a TV movie, though the DVD of this is a really good transfer. There are some nice touches of atmosphere, and you do get the titular, dappled glow of early L.A. But maybe, its main interest is to see an old pro and a young gun, even if the gun in question was headed for a misfire at this rate.
And when watched as part of double-bill with the charmless CITY HEAT, it comes out the clear winner.
The film had a troubled production history. The original director was Blake Edwards. He was replaced by Richard Benjamin, reportedly because Reynolds didn’t want to work again with Edwards’ wife Julie Andrews, who Burt had just appeared with in Edwards’ American remake of THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN. Clint backed Burt on the issue and so Benjamin, the actor turned director who’d recently had the critical hits MY FAVORITE YEAR and RACING WITH THE MOON, seemed a good fit for the period setting of HEAT. (Edwards would retain a writing credit under the name Sam O. Brown – the initials meant to suggest his take on events.)
The period in question is the early 30s. I’m not sure what the city of the title is, and it doesn’t really matter, as the setting for each scene looks exactly like a Hollywood soundstage. The plot concerns a down-on-his-luck private detective (Burt) whose partner (Richard Roundtree) is starting a bidding war between two mob bosses for the accounting ledgers that would put one of them behind bars and give the other a leg up on the rackets. When Roundtree is killed, Burt and a hard-nosed police Lieutenant (Clint) grudgingly join forces to retrieve the ledgers and aide whichever damsel is in distress at any given moment.
Clint looks good in his role as a tough cop. His only other film set in this period – I think -- is HONKY TONK MAN, and he wasn’t nattily attired in that. For what its worth, he seems to be having a relaxed, good time. Burt has a couple okay scenes, but unfortunately for him he’s saddled with keeping both the private detective plate up in the air as well as executing on all the comic beats. He works very hard and it’s not really fair to him. Despite his efforts, things get out of his hands almost immediately.
The role intended for Julie Andrews fell to Madeline Kahn, but only after a flavor-of-the-month European starlet was let go. (Burt has a hilarious anecdote about this in his autobiography. He and Clint arrived together at the studio one morning and the actress in question was – according to Reynolds – passed out in the street. Burt looked at Clint and said; “Two words. Madeline Kahn.”) Kahn is her usual game self, but from the moment she opens her mouth, any sense that this is a realistic, if fanciful, crime tale is forgotten.
The production is elaborate, I guess, but flavorless. For all the period detail, there is no atmosphere. The – always wet – city streets are empty. The tone tries to affect some kind old, gritty throwback to the Warners’ era of cops and gangster pictures, but the action descends into the farcical by the ridiculous climax. You really wonder what movie they were paying tribute to here, as nothing good springs to mind that they might be aping.
CITY HEAT is a joyless bummer, even at ninety minutes, the longer it wears on, the more it basically sucks. The last half-hour devolves into two long, boring gunfights, and Benjamin doesn’t seem to have much interest in keeping these action scenes intelligible.
This is a buddy picture if your definition of the word “buddy” extends to someone who would sucker punch you in the face. Was this really what people pining for a Burt-Clint team-up had in mind? And did the powers-that-be think, “Hey, lets put Burt and Clint together and have them kvetch at each other for 90 minutes.” Furthermore, the animus of these characters is never explained. To top things off, the film ends with them out in the street brawling and standing nose-to-nose hurling insults at each other. Newman and Redford this ain’t. And it’s simply not fun to watch.
Is there anything good here? Three things, precisely. I liked the great actress Jane Alexander as Burt’s secretary who moons after Clint. She’s a real woman and a talent that can rise above even this. Also, the scenes with Richard Roundtree as a hustling, shady PI have a tang that is immediately missed once he’s gone. There is one improbable, but kind of cool, shoot-out in an apartment building hallway with Clint and a gunsel. And that’s it. I recall the disappointment of seeing this when it came out, and my initial assessment has only gotten worse.
The two stars may have had comparable status at the time, but that wasn’t to be the case for long. Put another way – both stars had other pictures out the summer prior to CITY HEAT’s Christmas opening. Eastwood’s was the daring thriller TIGHTROPE. Burt’s was CANNONBALL RUN II. Reynolds would see his star fade over the next few years and would return to TV by the decade’s end. (This film would have a further reaching impact, as injuries suffered by Reynolds on the set would plague him for years.) Eastwood would go on to craft perhaps the single most extraordinary career of any Hollywood star.
Blake Edwards wasn’t done with the idea of the period, buddy mystery, and four years later he made SUNSET. James Garner reprised the role of Wyatt Earp he’d played in HOUR OF THE GUN in a mystery set in 20s Hollywood where Earp – on set as a technical advisor on a Western – teams up with that film’s star, Tom Mix, Earp having been approached by a woman from his past to help her troubled son.
This picture was Bruce Willis’ second star vehicle, and second picture for Edwards, and he plays Mix. He was still starring as David Addison on Moonlighting at the time, and that persona of the smirking wiseass casts a shadow over his work here. He wears a smile of smug, self-satisfaction throughout. He also – occasionally – employs a drawling cowboy, accent. There’s a long scene where he performs a sleek, tango and tries to project a sexiness that just doesn’t work. Of course, he’s a good actor and he livens up occasionally, but mostly he’s a little lost. When he sits down for a scene with Malcolm McDowall at one point, rings are acted around him.
Seen in the context of his larger career, it’s lucky for all of us that he lost these tics and found his footing as the intense everyman. Indeed, this film’s failure at the box office stalled his big-screen career, and if not for Richard Gere bailing on the role of John McLane and Cybil Shepherd’s pregnancy halting production on Moonlighting, Willis may never have blown-up into the character film star we have today. (Indeed, if you look back at the original ads for DIE HARD, Willis is not at all their focal point.)
Garner is more in his element and, I think, also better served by the writing and directing. He’s an old-pro and he delivers on what he’s asked to do, even if he could be taking this to a higher lever. Edwards has one ambitious bit in he film, where Earp is watching Mix and the film-crew shoot a recreation of the O.K Corral gunfight, and we cut to his memories and see WILD BUNCH-lite scenes of violent mayhem. That’s it though, there’s nothing else on this theme of reality-versus illusion or satirical jabs at Hollywood and its early industry of myth-making. Rather, it’s all buddy-buddy goings-on with Earp and Mix from here on in, and there are occasional bits of nearly amusing banter. (Although I read an interview with Garner once where he complained about Willis who, I think, had a “difficult” reputation in his early career. Or it may just have been—as Garner alluded to – that the old-school Hollywood Democrat, didn’t care for the young Republican in the waning days of the Reagan era, or why else would Garner mention this fact at all?)
Earp enters into a hugely improbable romance with Mariel Hemingway as an androgynous brothel-keeper. (Her stable of girls all resemble film stars ala L.A. CONFIDENTIAL) And, by the (Heming-)way, she’s really bad in this.
The highlight of the film is Malcolm McDowall as a Chaplin-like former silent clown who is now a studio head in addition to being a ruthless sadist. McDowall is having a grand time and while most of the acrobatic comedy we see his character perform is clearly cut with footage of someone else doing the shtick, he does have some smooth moves and the gleam in his eye to suggest he could be a classic clown. The crux of this plot is suggested by the mysterious death of William Ince back in the 20s, which was also the subject of the film THE CAT’S MEOW. But still, it’s a little creepy to see that a character so clearly based on Chaplin is shown as a violent killer.
The supporting cast includes stalwarts like E. Emmett Walsh (who supplied my one out-loud laugh watching this) and the great Richard Bradford. Kathleen Quinlin is the unlikely scatter-brained blonde this time around.
SUNSET isn’t bad, but isn’t very good either. It’s reasonably enjoyable. It has an admirably lavish production, but throughout, it lacks something cinematic. At times, it feels like it could be a TV movie, though the DVD of this is a really good transfer. There are some nice touches of atmosphere, and you do get the titular, dappled glow of early L.A. But maybe, its main interest is to see an old pro and a young gun, even if the gun in question was headed for a misfire at this rate.
And when watched as part of double-bill with the charmless CITY HEAT, it comes out the clear winner.