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Day 4 -- SPY NIGHT
It’s a Monday.... I’m beginning to have an energy flow
problem. Here’s an update on the AICN crew in
attendance. The stunningly magnificent Annette Kellerman
and Cora Smith had to return to the terror that is
Oklahoma. When last I saw them, they were in a
misty-eyed departure mode... Annette hasn’t got it too bad,
but Cora... She’s got another year of this torture, though...
ya know... She’s got the summer off. Then there’s
Moriarty and his group of mechanized henchmen (Salma
Stalker, Free-Rider and The 2nd Brain). Well they had to
pick up and return to terrorize Joe Farrell and the NRG. As
much fun as QT3 is... Giving Farrell sleepless nights is
what really drives Moriarty.
So basically, this meant that the crew was down by 6. Still
we had myself, Father Geek, Tom Joad, Copernicus, Quint,
Johnny Wad, Hooper and Maid Marion. But our numbers
were in half, so I recruited Barbarella to join the group.
And with Mia the psychic schoolgirl arriving this Saturday
for the all night Horror marathon, and Robogeek and the
Waif One attending Friday night... Well... We’re still doing
pretty good.
I’ve been dying to see the spy films tonight since Quentin
has been so charged about them. In particular, my interest
was peaked about THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM.
Quentin strutted on out for his introduction and took the
stage wearing a Late Show With David Letterman t-shirt
and some funky cool shoes.
“I saw this film about a year and a half ago and it just
BLEW me AWAY,” was pretty much how Quentin started
off his talk. Then he launched into a bit... I just loved.
“Ok you know those video guides you can buy that claim to
have seen EEEEEVERY film that’s ever been made? Well,
I can’t believe that. I believe they go through and look at
the titles, if they’ve never heard of it, based on the title they
give it 2 to 2 and a half stars. The guides claim they’ve
seen them, but that’s bullshit”
Ok, that’s pretty darn close to what he said, but... well
when Quentin is in a groove he speaks very very fast and
expressive and given this is all based on my brain and
notebook... I don’t believe in tape recorders... they stifle the
brain and create laziness.
Anyway, he then went on to explain that “the spy films
were to the sixties, what the Joel Silver films were to the
eighties,” the audience began snickering, “well... I’m
talking in quantity not quality,” audience laughter, “but ya
know, I really like some of them Joel Silver films.”
Quentin then went into a history about Quiller, how there
were 20 some odd books written by Adam Hall, which
Quentin considers, “some of the most interesting,” spy
adventure action writing around. He felt that it was very
authentic.
“Alright, how would I know that it’s authentic? Am I a
Spy? No. I don’t know what spies really do, but I believe
you know the truth when you see it.”
Then he started heaping praise on Harold Pinter’s script,
which he felt intensified and added to Adam Hall’s story.
When he got this print, he couldn’t wait to bring it here to
Austin.
Then he started in on George Segal, and how if all we
know of him is from the last ten or fifteen years... well...
“He’s Mr Swinging Dick in this!” The film also has Alec
Guinness and Max Von Sydow. Quentin also felt that the
relationship between Quiller and his ladyfriend was quite
reminiscent of THE THIRD MAN’s similar bits. And the
score is by John Barry, and Quentin felt that it is absolutely
one of his best. Then he mentioned how Barry integrated
the song WEDNESDAY’S CHILD into the score
throughout the film. Then... he was off...
And Trailers began...
THE BLACK WINDMILL... I don’t know but this seems
like a possible followup to THE IPCRESS FILE (though it
isn’t). Quentin said if he could ever find a great print of
this film, he’d bring it to Austin to screen. (If you have a
great print... let me know)
TELEFON... I love this film, and the trailer is really really
really good. Don’t pick up the phone. My dad being the
paranoid hippie that he was, made me see this film a billion
times.... It stopped me from asking why we didn’t have a
telephone. Later I learned about evil mother-in-laws....
THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM
Wow.... This is one of the most audience unfriendly smart
pieces of spy film work I’ve ever seen. You see... in a lot
of ways it’s completely non-traditional (read... GOOD) in
that there is a whole bunch of stuff going on that we don’t
see. And the reason we don’t see it is because Quiller
doesn’t see it.
“They don’t wear the brown shirts anymore.... they look
like everybody else you know...” says Alec Guinness while
eating his sandwich in the Olympic stadium in Berlin. You
see the film is about the Nazi underground movement in
the post WWII era Berlin.
I love George Segal in this movie. But then I’ve had a soft
spot for the guy ever since WHO’S KILLING THE
GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE, a film I’ve seen 15 or so
times. He’s not a great actor... but one that brings a smile
to my face when I see him. And in this film... he’s doing
everything he does, better than I’ve seen him do it before.
When Slugsworth from WILLY WONKA shows up as a
German Swim Instructor.... I started to really get into the
film.
But the film goes into SUPER-Mode when Max Von
Sydow has got George tied in a chair and is interrogating
him while he’s a bit drugged. Anyway the whole scene just
made me 100% love the movie. But when Sydow said
something sinister about how Quiller should be careful who
he talks to.... Quiller retorts with, “But I like meeting new
people.” in the most innocent, “may I have your daughter’s
hand in marriage” tone. Quickly thereafter he’s drugged
again....
This time he comes out of his slumber to Max Von Sydow
looking like the greasiest Nazi you ever did see popping his
knuckles. Ya remember how yesterday how I said that the
shot of Angie Dickenson on that bed naked in PRETTY
MAIDS ALL IN A ROW was a ‘sigh moment’.... well this
was one of them, “I wish that I never open my eyes to
behold this” moments.
Then later there is one of the best scenes I’ve ever seen
Alec Guinness in. It has him and Quiller talking about the
balance of things in Berlin.
Alec takes two muffins and spaces them a good distance
apart. “This is our position and their position. Right now
there is a great fog between us.” He then picks a small
almond or nut from the ‘our’ muffin and places it in the
middle, “You... you are in the gap. Your job is to get close
enough to their position that you can signal us with the
location to their position, but in so doing you have to be
careful that in how you signal us you do not give away our
position there by giving them the advantage.” He then
proceeds to eat the ‘you’ almond/nut.
A fantastic scene. And a fantastic movie. I loved it. You
see, not everyone did though.... Afterwards I began talking
with Father Geek about all the stuff that went on in the
‘black’ moments. When Quiller’s eyes were shut... when
his conciousness was not our own. How his sudden shifts
in character were not the work of a bad script, but rather an
impossibly smart script the presupposed that we would
understand where a scene was headed... then though we did
not see it all, when we saw the aftermath we would
understand what it was that we were seeing.
The problem with this, for a mass audience, is that not
everyone will be paying attention like they should. This
isn’t like a James Bond film where lines are drawn evenly.
Where a fight scene resolves it all... No, I believe in the
shadowy worlds of spies (and I do know a thing are two
about spies) this film is absolutely exceptional. I can not
possibly praise it high enough.
I loved the film, and when Quentin came back out... You
could tell he was a bit off by how the audience had reacted
to a couple of key scenes so he asked the audience if they
wanted to hear his take on the film. He then went into an
instant, scene for scene magnification of what we just saw.
Dad and I were smiling because this was what we had just
been discussing.
Then he began to introduce SOL MADRID
You see SOL MADRID stars David McCallum, Ilya
Kuryakin from THE MAN FROM UNCLE. And Quentin
says that while this movie isn’t exactly a “spy” film.... It is
a spy film. It deals with the DEA, and basically the
filmmakers wanted to make a big MAN FROM UNCLE
style movie, but “didn’t wanna bring all that Man From
Uncle shit with him.”
Then he went on a whole, “this movie is always a little bit
better than it has any right to be. The script is always a
little bit trickier than it should be, the dialogue is way
better than it should be...”
Then we went into the Tarantino ‘I love Telly Savalas’
mode. He began to tell us how Telly is a big ‘faye’ in the
film, but noone is as male as Telly when they’re ‘faye’.
“He’s a fucking MALE, Man!” And then launches into
describing a scene in the movie where McCallum is in such
utter awe of how good Savalas is in their scene that he
can’t help but smile, “He’s broken character because Telly
is so fucking good!”
Trailers....
NAVAJO JOE -- already covered this trailer... Dying to
see the movie though.. Burt looks fit as hell in this one.
JUNIOR BONNER -- Seen this trailer about a bazillion
times... Can’t wait to see the movie though.
SOL MADRID....
During the credits I see Michael Ansara’s name....
Yippee.... It’s Mr Freeze and Kane from Buck Rogers....
Coooooool. I love Michael Ansara. Oh shit... Pat
Hingle... cooool Commisioner Gordon and... DAMN....
It’s Khan... fucking Ricardo Montalban and Lt Russell
from PORK CHOP HILL, a fantastic war film that actually
had a cameo by James Dean... But maaaaaaaaan, this thing
is loaded with cool people.
Too bad Stella Stevens is in it, I’ve been a Stella Stevens
hater from waaaaaaaaaay back. She literally screams
almost every line of hers till she meets the big H and falls
in lust with H.
This is all based on a book called FRUIT OF THE POPPY,
and the film has that texture of a seventies tv show. Same
colors and feel. But harder. I mean... It’s a pretty good
movie, but really it all boils down to Ricardo and Telly....
They are both gods of maleness. Seeing the two of them
together in this film (though never in the same scene) it
amplified the testosterone about 500 levels than this film
would have had otherwise.
The one thing I hate about the film though is David
McCallum. He is so fucking smug... doesn’t he know he’s
screwing with Telly Savalas. And the way this movie
wraps up... It’s kinda like THE CORRUPTOR (coming
soon to a theater near you).... The wrong people die, and
the wrong people live.
Here’s my favorite line of Telly’s. McCallum has just
explained how... though he’s putting in only 40% of the
risk... How he should be paid 50% of the final take... To
which Telly says, “Oh..... I see.... Your arithmatic seems to
be based on a separate plane.” I friggin loved that line.
Anyways.... that’s it for this time out... Next up is GOOD
OL BOYS NIGHT.... Enjoy...
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