p e n g u i n d e v i l

Following one of the rare movie recommendations that I get, I flixed The Plot Against Harry. Which I, of course, kept calling “The Problem With Harry”. It is a sadly overlooked film. Made in 1969, seemingly it got no chance at distribution for decades and even IMDB lists it as a 1989 movie. It’s billed as a comedy, but not in the standard hollywood sense. At the Pat Travers quote says on the front of the case “Hypnotically funny, uproariously witty”. Well, it’s not exactly hypnotical or uproarious in my eyes, but it is certainly a comedy of the more quiet and witty form, but it is also feels like a low-key and non-violent version of The Long Good Friday.

At the beginning, things seem pretty good for Harry Plotnick. He gets out of the slammer after serving a nine month sentance and he leaves in style, as his driver picks him up in his Cadillac limousine (with 2 phones!) and has a wad of cash and payment book for him. But upon progressing, it seems that business went down when Harry went away.

He quickly learns that he seems to have lost a number of his employees to the competition, which troubles him, and which he sets out to rectify. Then, after he runs a car off the road as payback for them cutting him off, things get worse. The car happens to contain his ex-wife, ex-brother in law, his daughter (who he hasn’t seen in 20 years) and her husband and daughter. Sometimes, reacquainting oneself with family isn’t the best route to follow for anyone involved, especially if you happen to be a hood. Which Harry is. Being a successful bookie sent up the river and now on parole is rarely a boon to ones family.  His involvement with this family leads them to want him back inside and he gets subpoenaed by a congressional committee! As everything falls apart, he decides to go straight (though he really has no choice), towards which he goes on a radio show and joins “the Temple”…

Watching Harry (played quite well by Martin Priest) schlep his way through the collapse of his criminal career is the point here. It is mildly touching, as he doesn’t seem concerned and the lack of violence leaves a rather civilized feel to the movie.

We also watched Micki and Maude. Yes, the point to On Demand is that you can watch crap that it would never occur to you to rent. This movie, when it first came out in 1984, was my first date movie! And I hadn’t seen it since. An odd little romantic comedy (well, it feels like one, though it’s not particularly funny) from, yes, Blake Edwards featuring Dudley Moore as a married man who, in the midst of strife with is wife over he wanting to start a family and her wanting to focus on her career, he begins have an affair with, yes, Amy Irving. Of course, to make matters worse, both of these women get pregnant. His path follows a the standard “man with a mistress” concept, only he actually goes along with his promises in an odd fashion. What is interesting about this movie is that he expresses absolutely no guilt about having two pregnant women and lying to them both continually. He seems to feel that it is his right to have both children and be a dual father. But both Dudley and Amy are quite charming, as is, of course, his boss played by Richard Mulligan, who is his best friend and conscience.