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The Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day isn’t fit to guard the fish at the aquarium!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s Behind the Scenes Pic!
Well, yesterday’s behind the scenes pic, technically. I guess today is still valid for our Hawaiian readers, so that’s something, right? Apologies for being tardy with this, but I hit the ground running today and was away from my computer from very early on.
Now I’m back and I bring you one of the more obscure entries of this column. There’s a fantastic buddy cop movie from the mid-‘70s called FREEBIE AND THE BEAN starring James Caan and Alan Arkin.
Tarantino showed this film early on in his regular QT Film Fest here in Austin and ever since seeing it there in my young teen years I’ve been in love with it. Recently, the great Warner Archive series released a great transfer on DVD (click here to check it out) so now you don’t have any excuse not to see this insane slice of ‘70s fried gold.
Chemistry between actors doesn’t get much better than Caan and Arkin in this movie. They play partners tasked with protecting a key witness… the problem is they’re not very good at their jobs. I wouldn’t say they’re bumbling fools, but they certainly fuck up a lot. As with most stuff made in the ‘70s there’s a realism to the flick that makes it hard to pigeonhole into one particular genre. It’s a cop movie, a comedy and even a little bit of a thriller. No matter what section of a video store (remember those?) you’d find this title, the final product is just plain awesome.
Thanks to reader Pat Barnett for sending this (and many other great shots) along! Click to make bigger!
The prophecy didn’t say anything about tomorrow’s Behind the Scenes Pic!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Readers Talkback
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oh yeah, and FIRST!
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Going to San Francisco makes my Vertigo act up!
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Oh, hell yeah...
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Is one of the very few people I would love to sit and listen to for about a month. The man is a legend and worked with legends.
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can't really comment on awareness of this film in the States, but here in the UK it is practically unknown. I recorded this on VHS from a BBC broadcast waaaaay back. must have watched in hundreds of times. This for me is the definitive buddy cop movie. brilliantly written, outstanding performances and a marvellous cast. "NOT THE PLIERS FREEBIE!!!!" Lol. Love this film.
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One of those movies I heard about as a kid but grew up having no idea what it was about. Think the odd name put me off. Sounds interesting though, may check it out. Ta for the pic!
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That's where the "Bean" part comes in.
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April 5, 2011, 7:42 a.m. CST
Perhaps the worst film title ever... But what's up with that cable?
by Chewtoy
That giant spool of cable visually confuses me. Where is that cable going? It has some pretty drastic foreshortening from perspective, and at the point it disappears it's already thicker than the bars making up that walkway that they're on. You'd expect it to need a pretty hefty connecting point, but I can't make out any hit of where it is going behind that whisp of coat. For that matter, the whole perspective of the railing behind the camera seems to not line up at all with the walkway the actors are on (which makes me assume the actors are actually on stairs walking towards the camera lens. Where they came from, if anywhere, remains a mystery.) It's a very cool shot, but trying to work out the actual physical space they're occupying scares me more than the height.
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A wonderful slice of early '70's comedy. I had nearly forgotten about this gem. Hope I can pull it out on Netflix.
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with Cops and Robbers
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I love behind the scenes pics from Star Wars and all that regular jazz but give me something like this every once in a while. Gimme some Five Easy Pieces or Otley or BS I love You or Last of the Red Hot Lovers or some other popular or very obscure movie.
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April 5, 2011, 10:27 a.m. CST
I laughed so hard I cried when I saw this in the theater
by SmokingRobot
Great movie.
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They don't make movies like that anymore.
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April 5, 2011, 10:41 a.m. CST
Will have to find this one. What a great pair of actors to put together...
by WriteForTheEdit
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Who would have thought a cop giving an accident site address over the phone could be one of the single funniest moments in the history of cinema? Ranks right up there with the elevator scene in DARK STAR in the 'painfully funny' department.
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speaking of forgotten '70's movies..
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..but i dont recall Kurt Russel being in it..(in the pic w/ the construction hat)..;-)
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April 5, 2011, 12:18 p.m. CST
@nolan: Actually, I thought that guy looked like what would happen if...
by WriteForTheEdit
...Kurt Russel and Gene Hackman had a son together...
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What a time capsule of 70s San Francisco. Extensive geographically plotted car chases throughout some of the most vivid hd views of the 70s bay area. This is the precursor to blues brothers I think.
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Anyone see Arkin's masterful comedic performance in Simon?
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haha..Popeye Plisken!..
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Good to see Quint taking that bold leap forward and capitalizing movie titles though.
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April 5, 2011, 12:29 p.m. CST
They're showing this on a double bill with Bullitt in SF later this month
by Squinty CGI Flynn
I'll have to check this out
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You've never seen such an insecure yet warm hearted bigot in your life.
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April 5, 2011, 12:50 p.m. CST
"Popeye Plisken!" That is awesome. Looking forward to the Hoosiers sequel, "Escape From Indiana."
by WriteForTheEdit
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I love goofy buddy titles. Actual this flick would make a good double bill with Midnight Run. Maybe throw in Running Scared (the Crystal/hines one, not the Paul Walker one) for a fun triple-header.
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weird pic
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April 5, 2011, 1:12 p.m. CST
Yeah, now that I'm really looking at it, this is a retouched photo.
by WriteForTheEdit
Caan is way too out of focus, and the edges of his shape are weird. And what the hell are those three guys standing on? Anyone who's seen and remembers this movie have any insight? Does this look like something from the movie?
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April 5, 2011, 1:18 p.m. CST
Actually, Arkin is too out of focus, too. The camera and operator...
by WriteForTheEdit
...are clearly behind Arkin, as they've been positioned, but they are in focus, Arkin's fuzzy, and Caan is crazy-blurry. Dis photo's bullshit.
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-- there is no way in hell this photo could have existed before 1990!
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When people actually made great movies like Freebie and the Bean, safe in the knowledge that Tarantino would've plaguarize them, whilst holding a pillow over their heads.
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WOULDN'T plaguarize them, whilst holding a pillow over their heads!!
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Another great early 1970s flick with James Caan. (And also now available thru Warner Archives -- buy 'em both now!!!). Speaking of everyone's love for Caan, the man's ultimate masterpiece, "Thief," is screening at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, CA friday night, and Sir James will be there to talk about it! I am so there!!!
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That's a week from Friday, on April 15th
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...was a great director. Unfortunately, he only directed two films after this: the awsome The Stuntman and the Bruce Willis sex thriller Color of Night. I think he was working on Air america but lost that project(would've loved to have seen what he would do with that). Another film this would be good paired with is The Super Cops. Been waiting for that to come out forever. Read the book several times and the film seems a little rushed, Would be great to see an exteded version of that. SPOILER: the ending of Freebie had a really cool fight scene with a transvestite. Doubt you'd see anything like that now.
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April 5, 2011, 3:48 p.m. CST
"Slither!" I LOVED that movie as a kid! Those fucking awesome creepy black supervans!
by WriteForTheEdit
I need to see that again...
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...not too sure about this photo though. And did anyone else think Valerie Harper was rather hot in this?
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Because it'll hurt if you fall from there.
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April 6, 2011, 12:18 a.m. CST
Behind the Scenes of the Behind the Scenes pic of the day
by BenBraddock
http://tinyurl.com/3n5a5jy
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keep meaning to, and forgetting, and learning about another gem before your time, then remembering, and forgetting, and so on.. thanks for reminding me!
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In what other era you could name a movie "Freebie & the Bean" and get away with it?
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