Anyone care to add to the memories?

And, even though it was made at the tail-end of the 60's, I think BULLITT has enough 70's grittiness to be given an honorary place on the list.

Seriously, if you like this kind of film I would also reccommend a newer film with Laurence Fishburne called "Always Outnumbered". A fine gritty, urban drama about a man who has gotten out of prison and is trying to make a life for himself.

My favorite foot chase would probably be Popeye Doyle's I'm-gonna-get-him-if-it-kills-me run at the end of "French Connection II." Great camerawork from Mr. Frankenheimer.

NP: WARLOCK (by ponytail boy. Produced by Arnold Kopelson, who years before thought he'd gotten Goldsmith to score the underrated NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER, 1980, one of the last of this particular "gritty" genre, and a movie that would have benefitted ENORMOUSLY from his music -- what we got instead was about five to ten minutes of prepared-piano noodling by Artie Kane. Goldsmith quit the movie because he decided he didn't like the script. I guess INCHON and THE SALAMANDER were that much better written. [yeah, right.] He almost never walked off a picture in those days, for ANY reason; I think there must've been some other factor he hasn't wanted to discuss.)

[This message has been edited by HAL 2000 (edited 26 July 2000).]

Rocco, have you--or anyone--ever seen or even heard of a film Frankenheimer did in 1987 called "Riviera"? It's listed under his name at imdb, though the film was apparently credited to Alan Smithee when it was made. As far as I know, that's the first time Frankenheimer's ever removed his name from a film he's directed.

(Not sure why this story makes me chuckle, but it does: Frankenheimer and Goldsmith are conferring about REINDEER GAMES, back when Goldsmith still thought he'd fit it in his schedule. Goldsmith says "You know John, I've been working with you longer than anybody else in Hollywood [they go back to 1950s TV days] -- more than forty years." The ever-acerbic Frankenheimer replies, "Jerry, I can count." Funny, I think Goldsmith has had more almost-happened collaborations with Frankenheimer than with anyone else -- he ALMOST did GRAND PRIX, RONIN and REINDEER GAMES. Those pesky damned scheduling things. It would be nice as hell to see them team up again. I wonder what Goldsmith would have made of REINDEER GAMES. Silvestri can write great action music, but he seemed barely there in this one.)

There's an interesting story about "Moreau," and maybe you can confirm it, Rocco, if you've heard it: A friend of mine told me that the film's original director (the guy who did "Hardware," I think) was so angry over being fired (at Kilmer's request) that he got hold of one of the monster suits and actually crept around the set during filming, looking to any onlooker like one of the many monster extras. He apparently can be seen in the film, though I have no idea which monster is him, if the story is true.

Can anybody confirm that there was at least one rejected score for MOREAU? I heard that original director Richard Stanley had signed Zbigniew Preisner, and that there was another intermediate composer before Frankenheimer went to his longtime recent favorite Gary Chang. (Ten to one he asked Goldsmith to do the film, and Goldsmith for once passed up a bad-looking movie, normally he seems to zero in on them like a cat to catnip. But some of his music appeared, sampled, in the rap track "Trout" which ultimately wasn't used in the final film. The sampled music was a few bars from PLANET OF THE APES, and I actually like the cue "Trout" a great deal, it's on the Milan album.)

By the way, in the Champlin book that I mentioned earlier, Frankenheimer describes working with Don Johnson in much the same way that he describes working with Kilmer. I agree with you that Frankenheimer got a very good performance out of Johnson, but apparently it was an uphill battle all the way. Whenever Frankenheimer and Johnson would disagree over something, Johnson would flaunt his clout with Warner Brothers by calling his personal helicopter and taking off in a huff. When Frankenheimer followed "Dead-Bang" with "The Fourth War," he described Roy Scheider as an absolute joy after working with Johnson.

There are piles upon piles of stories about this one ... as I said, I'd never say it's a great movie, but it amazes me that it's as good as it is. (At least to me.)

As for Brando...Frankenheimer made some comment about Brando being the only genius he's ever worked with. He once said something similar about Mickey Rooney as a dramatic actor, so I wonder who Frankenheimer really views as the greater talent?

Back to the topic of 70s grit: we've mostly been talking about crime films, but there are two other highly naturalistic pictures from the early seventies that bear mentioning: SCARECROW, with Gene Hackman and Al Pacino as a pair of near-homeless losers with a dream; and HUSBANDS, at least the first half of which (directed by and starring John Cassavetes), is pretty interesting (I think it falls apart once they fly to Europe, but even much of the stuff in the first half would try the patience of a lot of people. Not me apparently.) HUSBANDS was quasi-remade in 1989 or so as SONS, by Cassavetes manque Alexandre [sic] Rockwell; to my knowledge, it STILL has never been shown (even on video!) in the United States. (I saw it in Japan in 1990). Very offbeat cast includes Samuel Fuller, in a breathtaking, almost dialogue-free performance as the father his three sons (all by different women) are stealing him from his nursing-home deathbed in order to indulge his final wish to see Normandy again (he landed there on D-Day, but he has another vital reason he wants to be there.) Digressive and muddlesome, but something I still remember ten years later. I still have my notes.

70's grit? Oh, yeah...that's what started all this...

("Warrri-yerrss ... come out to PLAAAAY-YAAAY!")

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