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

As I keep reminding myself, the 70’s was the best era of American films, and it was ripe with good police dramas. I watched another of these great classics, again one that I probably hadn’t seen since watching it on TV as a kid, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. It’s got a lot going for it: Robert Shaw, Walter Matthau, a great title, and a theme song during the opening credits that is a superb dramatic little number!

Like a lot of these movies, Pelham is more drama than action, but such good drama. On a busy day in Manhattan, a group of machine gun wielding men hijack a 6 train between 28th and 23rd and hold the passengers hostage. They seem to be a generally ruthless bunch of fellows, with the always impeccable Robert Shaw as Mister Blue, the leader, and Hector Elizondo as the tempestuous mafia dropout, Mister Gray, who is looking for any excuse to let loose. The drama (mainly taking place in the train car and the Transit Authority office), gets high as deadlines loom, people lose their patience and some of the police are of the “shoot first” mentality. Shaw never once loses his cool as he bargains with Walter “I’m trying to keep people safe” Matthau as he tries to keep his cool against the pressure applied by Dick “I’m just trying to run a train” O’Neill at the next desk who wants nothing but to get his trains running again.

It’s just a great 70’s drama, Shaw and Matthau, while they seem an odd pairing as opponents are both very good and the clash in their acting styles works pretty well to show a sharp difference in the minds of the characters, the “real life” 1970’s production values really make this movie work and, again, bring it a feeling of genuineness that is lacking in today’s Hollywood fare and, of course, it has more of that great macho dialog! Great fun.

I finally watched 1946’s The Postman Always Rings Twice is another timeless American story… One thing that never changes is that you know that if you mix a 20-something hottie and her “putzy and well-meaning” 50-something husband in with a 30-something tough guy wanderer… Well there is going to be some trouble! And in The Postman Always Rings Twice, oh, there is trouble a plenty! A classic film noir with plotting, lying, theft, murder, lust, betrayals and back-stabbings, everyone is out for themselves and it doesn’t turn out well for any of them! When John Garfield wanders up to the roadside cafe that Lana Turner has with her husband, passions and greed quickly warp the surface of their reality. It’s great watching them do everything that they shouldn’t and keep getting themselves back in trouble, right when it seems that they’ve maybe pulled clear. Everybody pays in this one.