5 On the Run

5 On the Run

What a joy it must be for a billionaire like Ted Turner, who happens to own the MGM library of classic films, and now through his movie channel, TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES, or TCM to we of the digital addiction, has access to every film ever made, to plan mini-film festivals, to just sift through the thousands of choices, the dozens of genres, and come up with personal lexicons. I get a small taste of this being the director of the Tacoma Film Club, planning and screening films that have a similar theme.

Yesterday, October 2, 2010, Robert Osborne, one of TCM's hosts, helped to present five films about outlaw couples on the run, rushing to tragedy like a rogue blunt nose; some true stories, and several fictitious ones. I happened to be in my office scrapbooking movie memorabilia and had TCM on the background for most of the afternoon and evening, and I felt like I had returned to a college film course,
boosted my movie education.

First up was BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967), directed by Arthur Penn, who passed away last week, and probably set into motion this outlaw couple quintuplets.

Warren Beatty Clyde Barrow
Faye Dunaway Bonnie Parker
Michael J. Pollard C.W. Moss
Gene Hackman Buck Barrow
Estelle Parsons Blanche
Denver Pyle Frank Hamer
Dub Taylor Ivan Moss
Gene Wilder Eugene Grizzard

A bored small-town girl and a small-time bank robber leave in their wake a string of violent robberies and newspaper headlines that catch the imagination of the Depression-struck Mid-West in this take on the legendary crime spree of these archetypal lovers on the run.

Number Two was BADLANDS (1973), the debut film of writer/director Terrence
Malick, who thirty-seven years later has only directed four other films. This film catapulted Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek into stardom.

Martin Sheen Kit
Sissy Spacek Holly
Warren Oates Father
Ramon Bieri Cato
Alan Vint Deputy
Gary Littlejohn Sheriff

Kit Carruthers, a young garbage collector and his girlfriend Holly Sargis from Fort Dupree, South Dakota, are on the run after killing Holly's father who disagreed with their relationship. On their way towards the Badlands of Montana they leave a trail of dispassionate and seemingly random murders. A very intriguing narrative without judgements, and lacking the usually sensational approach of this genre. Very good acting and directing, and beautiful photography. The script was based upon the true story of the Charles Starkweather and Caril-Ann Fugate murders in 1958.

The third offering was GUN CRAZY (1950), aka DEADLY IS THE FEMALE, directed by genius noir creator Joseph H. Lewis, and written by Dalton Trumbo, this one reminded me what a good actor John Dall was, how cook those late 40's convertibles and cop cars were, and how sexy a femme fatale could be even in 1950.

Peggy Cummins Annie Laurie Starr
John Dall Barton Tare
Berry Kroeger Packett
Morris Carnovsky Judge Willoughby
Anabel Shaw Ruby Tare Flagler
Harry Lewis Deputy Clyde Boston
Mickey Little Bart Tare (age 7)
Russ Tamblyn Bart Tare (age 14)

Since he was a child, Bart Tare has always loved guns. After leaving the army, his friends take him to a carnival, where he meets the perfect girl, Annie, a sharp-shooting sideshow performer who loves guns as much as he. The two run off and marry, but Annie isn't happy with their financial situation, so at her behest the couple begins a crosscountry string of daring robberies. Never one to use guns for killing, Bart is dragged down into oblivion by the greedy and violent nature of the woman he loves.

Fourth on the bill was THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (1949), the debut of writer turned director Nicholas Ray, which was one of the best of the film noir series; had the tagline, "Cops or not cops, I'm going through." Farley Granger was so youthful and so vulnerable that he was launched into a stronger career, and the brilliant Cathy O'Donnell was so love struck, lonely, and beautiful, giving an incredible performance, that it reminded me of how wonderful she was in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946). This film really holds up well, with snappy tough dialogue, and believable plot structure.

Cathy O'Donnell Keechie
Farley Granger Bowie
Howard Da Silva Chickamaw
Jay C. Flippen T-Dub
Helen Craig Mattie
Will Wright Mobley

In the '30s, three prisoners flee from a state prison farm in Mississippi. Among them is 23-years-young Bowie, who spent the last seven years in prison and now hopes to be able to prove his innocence or retire to a home in the mountains and live in peace together with his new love, Kitty. But his criminal companions persuade him to participate in several heists, and soon the police believe him to be their leader and go after "Bowie the Kid" harder than ever.

The fifth entry, the stumpy tail that wagged the dog, was BOXCAR BERTHA (1972), directed by a feisty new kid in town, Martin Scorsese; this was his seventh film, but the first six were shorts and documentaries. David Carradine and Barbara Hershey were an item when this film was released, coming out hot on the heels of the great films of the 60's, and their nude scenes were legendary. I have seen this film several times over the decades, and I still have to try too hard to really respect it, or even like it. Everybody got better as the years rolled on, thank God.

Barbara Hershey 'Boxcar' Bertha Thompson
David Carradine 'Big' Bill Shelly
Barry Primus Rake Brown
Bernie Casey Von Morton
John Carradine H. Buckram Sartoris

Based on "Sister of the Road," the fictionalized autobiography of radical and transient Bertha Thompson as written by physician Dr. Ben L. Reitman, 'Boxcar' Bertha Thompson, a woman labor organizer in Arkansas during the violence-filled Depression of the early '30's meets up with rabble-rousing union man 'Big' Bill Shelly and they team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment and she is eventually sucked into a life of crime with him.

So, anyway, watching these five films all in a row on a Saturday afternoon into evening was great fun. Hope some of you joined me.