It's been far too long. Film is as subtle as its photography (Laszlo Kovacs) in that it's both an affectionate parody of slapstick silent cinema as well as record of this anarchic period of film history, based on the memoirs of Alan Dwan and Raoul Walsh. Great stunts (team led by Hal Needham) and moments such as the hot air balloon sequence, fist fight between director and star, seeing their own films re-edited; long takes perfectly choreographed. Contains some beautiful framing in the style of Hawks (characters grouped into shot, such as where Tatum O'Neal comes up with their plot) and marvellous sequences, beautifully edited (attributed to William Carruth but I would guess largely coming from the director). Written by PB and W.D. Richter.
Ryan O'Neal in good diffident form, Burt Reynolds in good simpleton form, Jane Hitchcock (a model, one of only two films), Brian Keith good as bombastic producer, Stella Stevens, John Ritter.
As to the camerawork, it's very naturalistic, but just notice that scene near the end in the car where all the figures are beautifully etched out of the blackness.
No comments:
Post a Comment