A Movie A Day: THE HIGH COMMISSIONER (1968) Tell him it's about Tumbarumba.
Published at: Dec. 27, 2008, 7:52 a.m. CST by quint
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s installment of A Movie A Day.
[For those now joining us, A Movie A Day is my attempt at filling in gaps in my film knowledge. My DVD collection is thousands strong, many of them films I haven’t seen yet, but picked up as I scoured used DVD stores. Each day I’ll pull a previously unseen film from my collection or from my DVR and discuss it here. Each movie will have some sort of connection to the one before it, be it cast or crew member.]
Today is the first of a Christopher Plummer one-two punch we have in the AMAD line-up. We begin with THE HIGH COMMISSIONER, a late ‘60s thriller about a rough and ready Australian detective, used to breaking up drunken barroom fights, who is assigned to head to London and discretely locate and return a political figure who is suspected of murdering his wife a decade before.
Rod Taylor (THE TIME MACHINE) plays the Aussie detective, Scobie Malone and I was shocked at how great his Australian accent was until I looked him up after the movie and saw he was a native Aussie. I guess I never knew that about him.
Christopher Plummer is the political figure, in the middle of peace talks that stands more than a fighting chance at stabilizing Europe as well as opening trade to Australia. I’m so used to seeing Plummer play the bad guy in the last 30 or so years that I expected a rather different kind of movie with the set-up, but I can say it was a pleasant surprise that Plummer’s character is actually not a villain.
His Sir James Quentin is humble and kind, but strong when it comes to his convictions. Taylor finds him straight away and is upfront with him about his task. Malone is a no bullshit kind of guy, a typical laid back Aussie and Quentin is his British match. Plummer concedes to returning with Taylor, but will not leave until he has a chance to moderate the peace talks. He is the glue keeping fighting factions from breaking down these talks.
Because of the baggage Plummer has from his more recent roles I found myself anticipating all the goodness of the character to be a carefully crafted front, hiding his true face from his current wife and those closest to him. I was anticipating him using this façade to enable his escape, but that never comes.
Plummer is the good guy and the suspense of the movie isn’t if he’s going to escape Taylor’s custody at all. Instead it’s Taylor shifting from arresting officer to bodyguard as several attempts are made on Plummer’s life. As usual, peace is bad business and there are certain powers that want to put a stop to it.
It is the dynamic between Taylor and Plummer, the close friendship that develops between the two, that really drives the movie and what made it an extremely enjoyable watch for me.
Add on to that dynamic a great supporting cast featuring PINK PANTHER vet Burt Kwouk as well as the Palestinian beauty Daliah Lavi, Leo McKern and, my favorite, Calvin Lockhart playing an American named Jamaica. Constant AMAD readers will remember how much I loved Lockhart as the werewolf-obsessed lead in the Amicus picture THE BEAST MUST DIE, co-starring the great Peter Cushing.
He’s so damn suave and funny in this movie that he instantly elevated it even further. I took one of his off-the-cuff remarks to Taylor (referencing his seduction by Lavi) for the subhead.
And Lavi is gorgeous here, playing the mysterious fatale whose alliances can’t really be pinned down. Also of note is Lilli Palmer, who has the most emotional role of Plummer’s current wife. Palmer’s also an AMAD vet… in fact, she followed up this picture with one we covered during the Horror Movie A Day October called THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED. She really steals the last 20 minutes of the film, coming out from the background and holding her own in a cast chock full of charismatic actors.
The direction by Ralph Thomas isn’t flashy, but more than competent. He doesn’t really draw attention to his camera placement or movements, instead letting the actors dictate how the story unfolds. That’s not to say the movie is locked off, static and dull, it’s just not full of Welles-like or Hitchcock-like camera movements.
Final Thoughts: I greatly enjoyed this film. A lot of that came through have zero expectation, I’m sure, but without any question it’s a great showcase for some huge personalities. And keep an eye out for a great, great fist fight where Rod Taylor kicks some ass with trashcan lids! Trashcan lids!!!
Here’s what we have lined up for the next week:
Friday, December 26th: THE SILENT PARTNER (1979)
Saturday, December 27th: PAYDAY (1972)
Sunday, December 28th: A STRANGER IS WATCHING (1982)
Monday, December 29th: THE NEW KIDS (1985)
Tuesday, December 30th: SERIAL (1980)
Wednesday, December 31st: THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1970)
Thursday, January 1st: IRMA LA DOUCE (1963)
I'm still a movie behind on the reports, but I'm current on the movie watching. I just need to get my butt in gear over the weekend and catch up on the reports.
Next up is another Christopher Plummer flick THE SILENT PARTNER, co-starring Elliot Gould and featuring an early appearance by one Mr. Jonathan Candy Esq. Be back with that one soon!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com