Last night's movie was "War Hunt"(1962, an extremely powerful take on the Korean War, which marked the feature film debuts of Robert Redford, Tom Skerritt and Sydney Pollack. As good as all of them are, and several others in supportting roles, the standout performance is by John Saxon, who stars as "Private Raymond Endore", a lone-wolf assassin who patrols by himself behind enemy lines at night, his face blackened with greasepaint. He's as quiet as an Indian. The Chinese never see or hear him coming. He kills with a knife to maintain stealth, then does a circle dance around his victims. There's something psychologically wrong with Endore, but his Captain lets it go because Endore is fearless and valuable. His solo missions not only have the Chinese on edge, but he's also turned up info about their ammo dumps and gunnery positions.
Robert Redford narrates, as "Private Roy Loomis." He's right out of boot camp, in country and headed for the front. When he gets there, he integrates with his squad. Skerritt plays "Sgt. Stan Showalter", a friendly Southerner, with a "look at the bright side" philosophy about combat; it's whistling-past-the-graveyard black humor. He tells Loomis what to expect, similar to Willem Dafoe mentoring Charlie Sheen in "Platoon". The Dragon Lady (Korea's version of Tokyo Rose) plays them jazz every night, over the Chinese loudspeaker system, peppering the tunes with the usual Wall Street anti-capitalist propaganda : "Hello, G.I. Are you ready to die tonight, to increase Mr. Stockholder's dividend?" Sgt. Showalter tells Loomis to ignore it. "It's when she stops talking that ya gotta worry." That's usually when the artillery barrage begins. When it's over, Endore greasepaints his face and goes out on his killing patrol.
He's got a Korean boy mascot he's taking care of (similar to John Wayne and "Hamchuck" in "The Green Berets"), but Loomis worries about the kid being in Endore's care. During daylight downtime, he tries to engage him in games of catch ("You ever heard of American baseball?"), but Endore doesn't like it. He sees the world as perpetual conflict and dog eat dog, or worse, kill or be killed. There are hints that he was an abused child perhaps brought up in an orphanage, and that's why he keeps the kid under his wing, to spare him the same fate. But - Redford being Redford (his acting style was already in place) - he keeps poking his nose into Endore's business when it comes to the kid. This isn't wise, because Endore is crazy, and we'll find out how much so later on. The squad makes their own night patrols, but the Chinese know the terrain better than they do. Private Loomis survives his first firefight, but when the next bombardment happens, he turns coward and freezes. There's great acting in this scene by all involved, you can tell they were all right out of Sanford Meisner's workshop in North Hollywood. Endore keeps looking at Loomis as he chickens out during the Chinese assault. John Saxon's portrayal reminds me of Tom Beringer in "Platoon", of which the whole movie is reminiscent.
I'm telling you, if you don't think directors steal from other movies, especially obscure ones, just check the fact that Francis Coppola has a small part as an ambulance driver, and John Saxon wears blackface, and then Martin Sheen comes up out of the swamp in "Apocalypse Now" wearing blackface. This movie is from 1962, and I guarantee you Apocalypse and Platoon both cribbed from it.
"War Hunt" is a tremendous motion picture, with outstanding black and white photography from Ted McCord. More than anything, it's once again a Total Actors Movie, and it reminds you how great Tom Skerritt was, and even Gavin McLeod of "Love Boat" fame, who here is big, burly and angry. I don't remember him as big and burly on The Love Boat, but maybe he was. Top notch in support is Charles Aidman (whose face you'd recognize) as the squad captain, keeping the men in line. Sidney Pollack, known later for directing, plays his Staff Sergeant. They have to go after Private Endore when the cease fire is announced, by the politicians in Panmunjon, at the one hour mark with 22 minutes to go. Endore has already promised the kid that they won't rejoin civilization when the war is over but will go live in the mountains by themselves. Endore is damaged goods; the kid's family was killed by the Chinese. Both are orphans from the world. but now that there's a cease fire, the captain has to get Endore out of the demilitarized zone, or risk starting the war up all over again. Private Loomis volunteers to come along, to try and talk Endore down. The final scene is worthy of War Movie Legend, as devastating as in any film from that genre. Two Huge, verging on Two Gigantic Thumbs Up for "War Hunt". I'm surprised that it's not well known. It's a must see, deserving of a Criterion restoration. The picture is very good. ////
The previous night we began a new chapter serial called "The Purple Monster Strikes"(1945). Now, you know how much we love Charles King. Well, if there's a bad guy who's every bit as great, albeit in a different way, it's Roy Barcroft, who plays The Purple Monster, a Martian who's crash-landed in Chatsworth Park, intent on taking over the Earth.
In the first episode, "Dr. Cyrus Layton" (James Craven), an astronomer at Griffith Park Observatory, is tracking what he thinks is a meteor. But, he tells a colleague, "it seems to have ejected from Mars." When it disappears from the telescope, he triangulates it's location and drives out to the crash site. Barcroft, dressed in full spandex body suit, including head cap, thanks him for the rescue, making an excuse for why he crashed (something to do with misjudging the Earth's gravity). Dr. Layton is honored to meet a real live Man from Mars, and in those days (the 1940s), they were always portrayed as human-looking, never as Little Green Men with antennae on their heads. Barcroft's space capsule is destroyed, so Dr. Layton takes him back to the lab at Griffith Park, to show him a rocket-propelled jet he is developing. "It could get you back to your home planet". He's delighted to help, and in awe of the Martian, who at first is the soul of courtesy and gratitude: "Thank you for your help," he tells Layton. It's not until Dr. Layton reveals the rocket jet that Barcroft shows his true colors. "This is a wonderful day for Mars, and also your last day on Earth!"
He then spells out his plan for the Martian race to take over and enslave all humans. "Your rocket jet and its technology will enable us to do that." Dr. Layton says, "I suppose you're going to kill me now" and Barcroft says, "Yes, but only in a manner of speaking. You will be dead, but I am going to inhabit your body, so I can operate unobserved."
Shortly after this, Layton's assistant "Craig Foster" (Dennis Moore) comes to check on him and gets in a punchout with the The Purple Monster. You've gotta love it when a Man from Mars gets in a Republic Pictures fistfight and knows exactly what he's doing. And of course, he wins. When Craig Foster regains consciousness, The Monster is hiding in Dr. Layton's body. The double-exposure special effects here are exceptional, and I'll take them any day over boring and repetitive CGI, which all looks the same, with the same whoosh/boom sound effects. Give me creativity over computer "art" any day, even if it's supposedly "dated". (Then come back in 100 years and see what folks say about CGI). Anyhow, The Purple Monster is now inhabiting Dr. Layton's body. Prior to this, an extortionist had sent Layton an anonymous letter, demanding 50 grand, "Because I know you are funded by the government. Pay me or die." But when the extortionist shows up to claim his money, he gets a big surprise, because The Purple Monster is inside Dr. Layton's body. When he emerges, using the same double-exposure technique, he offers the extortionist a choice: "I am from Mars. You can either help me or you won't live another minute." The guy chooses the former, so now Barcroft has a gunman working on his behalf. He needs to take over the lab where the rocket jet is being tested.
By now, Craig Foster has recovered and is tracking the path of the "meteor" which he believes has something to do with the body-suited man who attacked him at the observatory. He finds The Purple Monster there, in the lab trying to steal the rocket jet,, and that's where Chapter One ends. Any Republic Serial gets an automatic Two Bigs; this one verges on Two Huge. The only problem is the picture. Chapter One, released by Grapevine Video as a promotion for their DVD release, is razor sharp. But all other chapters are only available, on Youtube, in degraded versions. Oh well. Ya gotta watch 'em anyway, because you can't miss Roy Barcroft as The Purple Monster. ////
And that's all I know. I had quite a surprise on my Aliso Canyon hike this evening. For the first mile or so, I was all alone on the trail. That often happens when the day is very hot, like today when it was close to 100 degrees. Well, sometimes, on such a hot Summer day, when it is very quiet on the trail, you sometimes get a feeling that you're gonna see a critter. At Aliso, that often means a coyote (though I've also seen rattlesnakes and a bobcat). Well, this time, I was coming up a rise in the trail, by the creek, and I saw - about 75 feet away - not one but three coyotes. Yep, a trio. I've seen a single coyote many times, and have even paused to try and take its picture. One coyote by itself is usually timid, and has always run away when I've seen one. But this time, they looked at me like they owned the joint, like "what're you doing here in our park?"
This was the first time I've ever turned back because of an animal, three in this case. I didn't think coyotes would chase me (and I was a safe distance to begin with), so I turned and walked away. But I wanted to finish my hike, so I waited a few minutes until some people came along, a couple with a small child. I warned them about the coyotes, but they didn't seem worried and kept going. So, I followed them, figuring "safety in numbers", but when they got to the creek crossing, they turned around. I wanted to finish my hike, so I kept going, alone again,and when I got to the end of the trail, there they were again, the three wiley coyotes, this time on the road that leads up to the horse ranches.
There's something about the look in the eye of a non-domesticated animal (again, it's like "who're you, human?"), and the way the coyotes trot along, going anywhere they please is somewhat unnerving. These guys were out looking for a rabbit, or someone's cat or dog. I was carrying a fairly big stick by that time, and had a rock I picked up, but they kept on going, up the ranch road, like Bad Guys in a Western.
It was pretty far out to see three coyotes together. But at least they let me finish my hike. ////
My blogging music tonight was "Modern Times" by Al Stewart, my late night is "Lohengrin" by Wagner. I hope you had a nice day, and I send you Tons of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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