Marathon Man – Starring Dustin Hoffman & Laurence Olivier

Marathon Man (1976)    Directed by John Schlesinger ( Far From the Madding Crowd (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), The Day of the Locust (1975)), starring Dustin Hoffman (Midnight Cowboy (1969), Straw Dogs (1971), Straight Time (1978), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Rain Man (1988), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)), Roy Scheider (The French Connection (1971), All That Jazz (1979)) and Laurence Olivier (Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), Sleuth (1972), The Boys from Brazil (1978), and many, many others, of course).   This classic thriller is distinguished by some very good acting on the part of Hoffman, as Babe Levy, an emotionally confused, guilt-ridden and rather annoying history graduate student, and, of course, Laurence Olivier as Dr. Szell, a politely, coldly demonic ex-Nazi, gem-smuggling sadistic dentist.  Roy Scheider, as  Hoffman’s brother Doc, secretly an agent for a clandestine government agency, is really quite good, as well.  Marathon Man is also characterised by an effective use of place: New York, Paris, and very briefly South America, and a sensitivity to lighting, all of which contribute to an overall atmosphere essential to its success.  The plot is, shall we say, a bit confused, replete with double-crossing, triple-crossing and perhaps even more, and, in the end, Marathon Man may be a bit weak on logic.  But perhaps that’s not really the point, as the tension of scene after scene is more than palpable and the acting so very good. (PR)

See our previous posts on the films Sunday Bloody Sunday directed by John Schlesinger, Straw Dogs and Straight Time starring Dustin Hoffman, and The French Connection with Roy Scheider.

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The French Connection – Starring Gene Hackman (Oscars for Best Film, Best Actor, and more)

The French Connection (1971)(DVD)  Directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist (1973), Cruising (1980), Bug (2007)), starring Gene Hackman (Downhill Racer (1969), The Conversation (1974), French Connection II (1975), Unforgiven (1992)), Fernando Rey (That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)), Roy Scheider (Klute (1971), Marathon Man (1976), Naked Lunch (1991)) and others, with the screenplay written by Ernest Tidyman based on the non-fiction book The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy by Robin Moore which in turn recounts the story of efforts to dismantle the international heroin-smuggling operation, based in Marseille, France and known as the French Connection.  This iconic crime drama, representing an important step in American neo-realist cinema, and winning many awards (among them, the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the Academy Awards for Best Actor (Gene Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay), features a gritty and inspired Gene Hackman as an almost pathologically determined New York City anti-narcotics detective attempting to break the ominous French Connection heroin smuggling organisation.  The film also features a dirty, cold and brutal New York City, a strikingly ominous, fatalistic presence through which the action takes place, including what has come to be thought of as one of the best car chases in cinema, dangerous, even possessed, through the streets of New York.  The tension built, though, through the fragmenting of pursuit scenes, be they on foot, or otherwise, is the real star of The French Connection, along with the icy, decrepit fatalism of the city itself.  A must-see film. (PR)

See our post on the sequel French Connection II, also starring Gene Hackman.  And see our previous posts on the film American Gangster, also about New York City and the heroin trade, on the film Scarecrow, starring Gene Hackman and Al Pacino, and on the film Klute, with Roy Scheider, starring Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda.

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Sunday Bloody Sunday

Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)(DVD) Directed by John Schlesinger (Far From the Madding Crowd (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), The Day of the Locust (1975), Marathon Man (1976), and others), starring Peter Finch (Far From the Madding Crowd (1967), Network (1976)), Glenda Jackson (Women in Love (1969),  A Touch of Class (1973) Stevie (1978), She retired from acting in 1992, and has been an elected Member of Parliament, in the UK, since then), Murray Head and, in his very first film role (an uncredited cameo as a teenage vandal), Daniel Day-Lewis, age 14 (!) (He described the experience as “heaven”, for getting paid £2 to vandalize expensive cars parked outside his local church.).  Sunday Bloody Sunday is a sort of landmark drama, for its portrayal of a bisexual/homosexual/heterosexual love-triangle without complex, involving Murray Head, as a bisexual designer, Peter Finch, as a gay doctor, and Glenda Jackson, as a heterosexual human-resources consultant.  And though the relationship(s) in question have the character portrayed by Murray Head as their center, the film, itself, is more keenly focused on the characters played by Finch and Jackson, their feelings, attitudes, and hopes, and their familial and cultural contexts.  A serious, good film, Sunday Bloody Sunday, is definitely worth watching. (PR)

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