Last night we went back to the waterfront for "New Orleans Uncensored"(1955), a film about crime on the docks. A narrator informs us that 'Nawlins has thus far avoided the kind of racketeering that's overtaken the Port of New York : "A remarkable accomplishment for the second largest harbor in America". Ex- Navy man Arthur Franz is new in town and looking to buy a cargo boat so he can start his own shipping company. In order to pay for it, he takes a job down at the wharf, working as a stevedore. On his first day, he gets into a punchout with a co-worker over a mislabeled purchase order. Franz is a straight arrow who doesn't know - yet - that the company he's working for is crooked. The owner is stealing cargo via a sophisticated "shell game" scheme.
During the fistfight, Franz's foreman observes his strong right hook. "Say there fella, you've got one hell of a thump. You oughta try out for the union boxing team". I must step in here to note that I've never heard of Union Boxing Teams. Maybe they exist, who knows, but in the movie the boxing angle serves mostly to show that Franz can take care of himself despite his Good Guy image. There is also a minor boxing subthread involving another character.
On his first night in town, Franz goes out to a club. He meets a gorgeous dame (Helene Stanton) and they dance. Later she invites him back to her pad. It's fancy, one of those wrought-iron joints on the edge of the French Quarter. He wonders how she can afford it. It turns out she's got another man on the hook : "Zero" (Michael Ansara), the owner of the company Franz works for. He keeps Helene at arms length after that (don't mess with the boss's wife), and starts hanging with "Joe Reilly" (William Henry), the foreman who noticed his boxing skills. Joe does double duty as Zero's sales manager, his top underling. He's got a nice wrought- iron pad too, worth more than his salary would indicate. Franz becomes chummy with Joe's wife "Marie" (Beverly Garland), who bemoans the changes in her husband. "He's not the man I married, the pressure's changed him". Garland is anxious but won't reveal why. All she says to Franz is "don't take a promotion, no matter what they offer. You're a good man, don't let this job change you".
One day, Joe meets with Zero and says he wants to quit. "I wanna start my own outfit. Of course, I won't work in your district, Zero. It's just that I'd like to branch out on my own".
The thing is, nobody quits on Zero, so he sends two thugs to follow Joe (one of them being Mike Mazurki/Albuquerque!). Joe gets scared and runs. The thugs shoot him dead. But that's not what Zero ordered; he just wanted them to "persuade" Joe to stay. The murder brings unwanted attention. Things now start going downhill for Zero's cargo smuggling enterprise.
I mentioned the boxing subplot. Once Joe is killed, what had been a smooth and unprovable criminal operation is now rife with enmity. "Scrappy" (Stacy Harris) is the company's union representative and former boxing champ. He was also Joe's best friend. He goes to the cops and spills the beans on what he knows. Of course, even the Feds have yet to corner Zero, so it's no surprise the local police don't have the clout to stop him. But Zero can't afford to take chances at this point. He needs Scrappy out of the picture. Another murder now would turn the heat up way too high, so he arranges for an "accident" for the Scrapmeister. His henchmen spread a rumor that Franz has ratted on Scrappy. Scrap confronts Franz and a punchout ensues. There's that strong right hook again. Franz connects hard to Scrappy's gut and he falls down dead. Zero's "accident" has worked. Franz didn't know Scrap had a heart condition.
Now that two men are dead, the Port Authority have finally had enough of Zero. He's always presented himself as an "honest businessman" in the past, one who works within city regulations. But now they're certain he's running a racket, so they recruit Arthur Franz to help trip him up. "He'll be risking his life", the narrator informs us. Well, yeah. That's pretty obvious. But Zero's lost many of his allies by this time, so it's even money (I think) that Franz will be able to expose him. Michael Ansara is great as Zero, the slick but ruthless bossman. Arthur Franz is forthright as the clean-cut newcomer, who won't go along with the program. Our friend William Castle directs in his usual compact style. He's always good visually and you get some great location shots of mid '50s Noo Awlins. Man, you can really see how low to the water it sits. Yikes.
Finally, it was nice to see Beverly Garland again. She's one of our favorites, 100% pure class in every role. Two Big Thumbs Up for "New Orleans Uncensored". The picture is widescreen and razor sharp, it's highly recommended. /////
Okay, now on to the previous night's picture. I'm gonna make you do a little guesswork. Would you believe a Brrrittish crime film? Would you believe a Britttissh crime film from 1960? Would you believe a Brrrittish crime film from 1960 about a ring of car thieves? Okay, so you would; so would I. But would you believe a Brrrittish crime film from 1960, about a ring of car thieves, starring Peter Sellers as the mastermind? And not just any mastermind, mind you, but an all-out psycho, a total maniac?
Well Holy Smokerino and Paul Shortino, if you'd believe all of that, then have I got a movie for you : "Never Let Go"(1960), the story of a man whose car is stolen, and will stop at nothing to get it back.
Michael Todd is "John Cummings", a salesman at a cosmetics firm in low-rent London. One day, right after he gets to work, a group of punks hotwire his Ford Anglia and drive off. Todd is upset, as you can imagine, but he's even more worried that the loss is gonna cost him his job. A salesman needs a car to get around. He reports the theft to the cops, who tell him to sit on it. "Don't worry, Mr. Cummings, we recover more than 80% of all stolen cars, and most are intact when we find them". Okay, fine. But what about the other 20%?
Todd feels the police are giving him the brush off, so he decides to look into the matter himself. He knows an old newspaper seller who works across the street. "Hey, Alfie.....did you see anything that night"? Alfie doesn't wanna talk about it, but Todd persists. He really needs his car back; his boss is threatening to fire him. Finally Alfie gives up the goods. "Go over to the Victory Cafe and ask for Tommy".
"Tommy" (Adam Faith) is the street punk who jimmied Todd's car. When Todd confronts him, he pulls his best Quadrophenia tough guy act : "Slag off, mate"! Tommy and his motorcycle buddies then split the scene, circling Todd in the street (ala Brando in "The Wild One"), engines revving as he cringes.
Now, Tommy has a girlfriend, who is also Sellers' moll (she's doing double duty like Helene Stanton in "New Orleans Uncensored"). She blabs about the visit from Richard Todd. Now Sellers is pissed off. He's running a chop shop, in which cars are stolen and reconfigured. He pays Tommy a visit. "How'd that lipstick salesman find you out"? When Tommy says it "must've been Alfie, he was the only one around", Sellers has his thugs visit the old codger. They trash his place and kill his goldfish. Alfie then kills himself by turning on the oven. Yeah, it's all pretty doggone grim. Todd feels guilty about Alfie's death and keeps a lookout on his shop from the windum of his cosmetics building. The next day he recognises Sellers' car out front. Sellers is inside Alfie's hovel, cleaning up evidence. Todd goes back to the police : "The man who owns 'Meadows Garage', I think he's the reason Alfie killed himself"! The police inspector listens, but instructs Todd not to interfere. "Let us do our job and keep out of it". But Todd really, really wants his car back, like the guy in The Bicycle Thief. It's the principal of the thing - criminals shouldn't get away with what they do. But in Todd's case it's also about his wife. She sees him as a wimp, a guy who never follows through on anything. He's never gotten a promotion, nor saved any money. He's non-confrontational and passive by nature, but she loves him anyway. Now he's trying to prove something to her, i.e that he's a man. She wants no part of messing with hoodlums, and threatens to leave him.
"Don't keep challenging those people"!, she says of the car thieves. "Let the police handle it". There's a bit of a Straw Dogs thing happening, although this film came out first.
So what about Peter Sellers? Once he's exposed, by Tommy and his girlfriend, and recognised by Richard Todd, he comes unglued. First he tries the aggrieved "legitimate businessman" routine, but he's not as slick as Michael Ansara (see above). The police can see through him, and Richard Todd keeps appearing at his garage (pronounced GARE-ahge). "It's that little lipstick salesman again! Get rid of him, damn you"! Now that he's revealed as his true self, a fully enraged Mobster, I'm here to tell you that he's genuinely downright scary. You've never seen Sellers like this, not even close. He makes all movie hoodlums, excepting maybe Joe Pesci, look like Casper Milquetoast. The same dramatic diligence he brings to a film as diverse as "The Party" (or "Being There"), he employs as a stone cold nutcase in this movie. Man, he's got a fly in his ointment this time!
Few maniacs on film have ever been as frightening as Peter Sellers in "Never Let Go", which according to IMBD has grown a cult following. But when asked about his performance years later, Sellers demurred, saying he was only doing his "best Rod Steiger imitation". But when you think about it, this is the guy who played Inspector Clouseau, who said "birdie num num", and "are you going to die now, Ben"? In addition he was on "The Goon Show", which influenced John Lennon.
So yeah, I think the real question is : what kind of trip was Peter Sellers on? He died at 54 and we hardly knew him. I think he was like Robin Williams, brilliant at portraying eccentric characters, but unable to portray himself. He goes all-out in this film, however. Richard Todd is equally good as the timid man who confronts him. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Never Let Go", don't miss it! So there you have it, two good ones about two different crime rackets. As always when we have such a duo, I suggest watching 'em on a double bill or two nights in a row. ////
That's all for the moment. It's time for my CSUN walk. I hope you had a nice day, and I send you Tons of Love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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