THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967)

Lee Marvin Week Day 8

(The Dirty Dozen, 1967)
(Surprisingly not a 1001 film entry)
Robert Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen is the now famous story of a an American colonel during the Second World War who has the impossible task of taking a group of twelve criminals on a suicide (or close to it) mission behind German lines right before D-Day.

The dozen include:
Charles Bronson: One of the ultimate tough guys. Bronson also was the only actor who had the triple crown of being one of The Dirty Dozen, one of The Magnificent Seven and one of the POW’s of The Great Escape.

Jim Brown: Maybe the greatest running back of all-time. Tough guy? You bet! I think he does pretty well for his first screen role. When he’s tossing grenades on innocent German women-I believe his glee!

Donald Sutherland: The comedy relief. His scene posing as a general is the funniest in the movie. And he does represent anti-establishment rebel roles in later films such as MASH.

John Cassavetes: Loud-mouth, independent oriented, free-spirited filmmaker brings a loud-mouth, independent oriented, free-spirited edge to his role. He was the only one of the cast nominated for an academy award.

Clint Walker: The western star plays the most gentle natured of the dozen. Of course, he’s the size of a house. And don’t shove him or he’ll get really angry!

Telly Savalas: Tough guy-sure. It’s Kojack, after all. I wasn’t that found of his holier than thou, bible thumping, redneck character, however. But like I said-a tough guy.

Trini Lopez: Trini Lopez? The guy who strummed a guitar and sang “The Lovely Lemon Tree” with these tough guys? Takes all types I guess.

If you have a chance to get the DVD, I highly recommend listening to the commentary by film advisor Captain Dale Dye, who says he is a fan of The Dirty Dozen as entertainment. He then proceeds to rip the film a new one as he calls into question the accuracy of just about everything. “The American army would never hang anyone in that situation.” “What is that vehicle? Looks more like the Popemobile. “Nothing like that existed in Germany at that time.” “A ticking time bomb like the Savalas character would never be sent on a mission like this for fear of compromising the whole thing.” “They would never have wasted their limited time building barracks from scratch.” “There is no record on the American every sending convicted criminals into combat like this,” etc. etc.

But on today’s blog it’s is all about appreciating Lee Marvin. Only Lee, as Colonel Reisman, (John Wayne turned the part down so he could do The Green Berets!) could give credibility to the role of the man who has to put these misfits together, train them and lead them on their mission behind German lines. Only Lee could turn his back on John Cassavetes and flip him to the ground when he is attacked. Only Lee could give the gargantuan Clint Walker a knife and push him and dare him to cut him. Only Lee could tell Trini Lopez to knock off the guitar playing…Wait, I’ll take that one back-anybody could do that.

Quotable Lee

“I’m not very interested in embroidery, only results.”

“I don’t want to appear unduly cautious, but if my survival is going to be based on the performance of twelve deadheads, it might be helpful to know exactly what I’m training them for.”

(whispering) “Look you little bastard, either you march or I’ll beat your brains out.”

“Killing generals could get to be a habit with me.”*

*Actually said by Charles Bronson, but still a damn good quote.

Tomorrow: Day Nine of Lee Marvin week!

Why Nine Days when you are calling it Lee Marvin week?

Because I got one more to go! That’s why!

POINT BLANK (1967)

Lee Marvin Week Day 7

(Point Blank, 1967) A 1001 Movie entry

Did it happen? A dream?

The plot: A thief named Walker is betrayed by his partner Reese on a heist of a weekly money shipment out of Alcatraz. Reese shoots Walker, leaves him for dead and takes his wife. Walker survives (unless the whole thing is imagined, which is a distinct possibility) and takes his revenge on Reese and the mysterious corporation that Reese buys his way into with Walker’s share of the loot.

I must have liked this one because I watched it three times! (Or maybe I just didn’t understand all of it.) I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to the questions Point Blank raises. I’ll say this; it improved with each viewing and is a worthwhile edition to the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List.

But on today’s blog it’s is all about Lee Marvin and here are some Point Blank Leeisms..

1) He shoots the hell out of a mattress with such ferocity that I actually feel sorry for the mattress.

2) He gets information from a sleazy used-car salesman by going on a test drive with him and smashing up the car until he’ll talk! (Isn’t saying sleazy used-car salesman a little like saying fat sumo wrestler?)

3) He beats the crap out of two guys backstage at a nightclub while go-go dancing and a screaming soul singer perform in the foreground. (God, I love the 60’s!)

4) He tosses a naked man out off the top floor of an office building. (Dean Wormer did have it coming!)

5) He is set up by a corporation bigwig to be shot by a sniper only to force the corporation bigwig to take his place at the last second and get shot instead. (Did I phrase that right? Anyway, it’s pretty cool.)

6) He shoots the hell out of a phone with such ferocity that I actually feel sorry for the phone.

7) He stands like a statue while Angie Dickinson beats the crap out of him. (Revenge for Lee hanging Angie out of a window by her ankles in The Killers.

Angie later hits Lee squarely over the head with a pool cue. (This is apparently a form of foreplay if I’m following the movie plot correctly.)

Lee also gets the best of Dean Wormer from Animal House, Archie Bunker from All in the Family, the guy from the To Serve Man episode of The Twilight Zone and Bat Guano (If that is his real name) from Dr. Strangelove. The only guy who seems to understand him is the sniper, that gung-ho cop from Hill Street Blues.

Quotable Lee:

“We Blew It.” (He blew it two years before Peter Fonda did.)

“I want my 93 Grand, Mal!”

There didn’t seem to be a lot of great quotes from Lee in this one if you just put it onto paper. Some of the memorable lines are said by others and we see Lee react to them. For example: His wife expresses her regrets in detail to her husband while he sits in an almost catatonic state with no reaction and no dialogue and mostly just stares blankly into space.

Keenan Wynn has my favorite line in the movie, “Take It Easy, You’ll Last Longer.” However, Lee can makes simple lines like, “Reese. I want Reese!” and “Don’t Get Lost,” more memorable than you might think.

A word about the remake of this movie- Payback with Mel Gibson. All I can say is, you put 1999 Mel Gibson against 1967 Lee Marvin…my money’s on Marvin.

Tomorrow: Day Eight of Lee Marvin week!

Why Eight days?

Because you can’t have Lee Marvin week without The Dirty Dozen!

THE PROFESSIONALS (1966)

Lee Marvin Week Day 6

(The Professionals, 1966) Not a 1001 entry, but would be on my list.

The plot: A rich railroad man hires four gun for hires to go into post-revolution Mexico to retrieve his kidnapped wife.

The rich guy, named J. W. Grant, is played by movie veteran Ralph Bellamy. Bellamy’s career spanned from Astaire/Rogers pictures in the thirties to his memorable role as one of the rich assholes in Trading Places.

His wife is played by Claudia Cardinale. 1001 entries for Ms. Cardinale include 8 ½, The Leopard, Once Upon a Time in the West and Fitzcarraldo. She may also be the sexiest woman in the history of film, so we can understand all the shootings, explosions, kidnappings and revolutions fought in her behalf. Or maybe you have to be a man to understand.

And Jack Palance as Mexican rebel Jesus Raza. I must say that Palance (who I know best from Shane and City Slickers) is playing essentially the Anthony Quinn bandit chief role. I think he does a pretty good job with the accent.

The hired guns:
Lee Marvin, the weapons expert-more on him in a minute.

Burt Lancaster, the explosives expert and top line star of the film. Burt seems very at home with action in the film, is given some good dialogue and one-liners, and even seems perfectly at home when he is hung upside by some banditos.

Robert Ryan, older, but still tough, though not as tough as the other guys. But I’m not going to criticize someone who loves horses that much.

Woody Strode, may have gotten more quality parts in the 60’s than any African-American actor not named Sidney Poitier. Formerly teamed with Lee Marvin in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and later with Cardinale in Once Upon a Time in the West. He plays the bow and arrow expert here.

No l001 love for director Richard Brooks: Despite directing The Blackboard Jungle, Birdman of Alcatraz, In Cold Blood, Lord Jim, The Professionals and other films of note, Brooks has zero entries in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Book. Wow! And I thought Stanley Kramer got screwed!

But today’s blog is supposed to be about Lee Marvin:
Marvin’s character, Henry “Rico” Fardan, rode with Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, and was former weapons expert and tactician for Pancho Villa. He also speaks Spanish, so is an ideal man to send into Mexico. Rico is really the leader of the group. Even though Lancaster is the biggest star in the movie, it is really Marvin who calls the shots. And he does it in such a low-key way. I don’t think he raises his voice throughout the entire movie! Who can command respect doing that? I guess the answer would be Lee Marvin. Compare his performance here with his loud psychopath in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. It’s a totally different performance and just as good. And Lancaster and Marvin make at least as good a team as Newman and Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Lee Marvin Quotes
J. W. Grant: Your hair was darker then.
Fardan: My heart was lighter then.

Fardan: Certain woman have a way of changing some boys into men and some men back into boys.

Fardan: What else is on your mind besides 100 proof women, 90 proof whiskey and 14 karat gold?

Fardan: We made a contract to save a lady from a nasty old kidnapper…who turns out to be you.

J. W. Grant:You bastard!
Fardan: Yes, sir. In my case an accident of birth. But you sir, you’re a self-made man.

Tomorrow: Day Seven of Lee Marvin week!

THE KILLERS (1964)

Lee Marvin Week Day 5

(The Killers ,1964) Not a 1001 film entry, though the 1946 version is.

The hitmen in the 1946 version of The Killers have only bit parts. They knock off the main character at the beginning of the film and come back for a gun battle towards the end. In the updated and drastically altered 1964 version, the film is from the point of view of the killers, who eventually come after the man who put out the original hit. The cast includes John Cassavetes as the initial victim of the hitmen, Angie Dickinson and her beehive hairdo as the less than trustworthy romantic interest, future President Ronald Reagan in a rare role as a heavy, future Sheriff Lobo Claude Akins as Cassavetes’s loyal mechanic, and underrated tough guy hitman Clu Gulager, who I can’t help but refer to as Clugaler.

But on today’s blog it’s is all about Lee Marvin. Lee (with Clugaler) performs the hit on Cassavetes in the opening scene but can’t get over the fact that the victim seemed to not care that he was about to be knocked off. The killers eventually try to track down the one who put out the hit and extort money from him. Along the way, Lee lets Clugaler do much of his dirty work, like punching Akins in the stomach or turning up the steam of a sweatbox to unbearable levels on crook Norman Fell. While this is going on, Lee talks calmly to them, reasoning with them as if they really have any choice in the matter (Which they don’t!). Lee’s torturing highlight involves dangling Angie Dickinson out of an upper story window by her ankles.

THE FINALE SPOILER It turns out Angie and Ronnie are in cahoots the whole time. After Lee and Clugaler try to get some money out of him, Reagan shoots them both with a high-powered rifle (Damn NRA!). Reagan and Dickinson go to their house and pull some money out of their wall safe and plan to leave town. But do you really think Lee Marvin will go down so easily? Clugaler, maybe. But, Lee?

I don’t think so, Dutch!

Lee (bleeding severely from the future president’s bullet) follows the couple to their house where he catches them in their living room and SHOOTS Ronnie, then looks into the beautiful, sleepy eyes of Angie Dickinson and SHOOTS her too!
Then (the best part) Lee grabs the suitcase of money and stumbles to the front lawn. He sees a police car coming and shoots at it…with his finger. Then he collapses onto the lawn, money scattering everywhere and presumably dies as we see a great overhead shot of the scene before the end credits.

Lee Marvin, method actor: Some have attributed Lee’s realistic death scene to the fact that he was extremely intoxicated during the shooting of the scene and felt no pain on his final hard fall to the ground.

Quotable Lee Marvin

You see, the only man that's not afraid to die is the man that's dead already.

(To Angie Dickinson before he shoots her)Lady, I haven't got the time.

[In hushed tones] Sylvester, unless you want to renew your partnership with the late Johnny North, I suggest you tell us everything and anything we want to know.

Tomorrow: Day Six of Lee Marvin week!