A week-late, but sincere and affectionate HBW happy birthday to
Raymond Chandler and au revoir
James Garner, both of whom played significant roles in the development of my sensibilities. The only overlap of their careers (that I'm aware of) was the... meh, good at moments and frankly embarrassing at others, adaptation of Chandler's novel
The Little Sister, Marlowe. It attempted to update Chandler's iconic detective Philip Marlowe to a 1960's sensibility (something I believe
Elliot Gould and
Robert Altman did surprisingly much better -in the 70's- with
The Long Goodbye, and you may argue Garner did himself with
The Rockford Files a few years later) and is probably most notable for the early role of
Bruce Lee. Still, who can't get behind Garner or Marlowe?
HBW talks Chandler a fair amount, but I don't think I've had a Garner-centric piece, so here are a couple other personally significant Garner vehicles.
36 Hours - directed by
George Seaton and adapted from the
Roald Dahl story
Beware of the Dog it effectively induced paranoia in young Jed before he ever saw
Invasion of the Body Snatchers or anything from
Alfred Hitchcock.
Support Your Local Sheriff - The heel as hero was that thing Garner did so well and
Sheriff as well as its sequel
Support Your Local Gunfighter highlighted, but
y'know what stuck with me most? The sequence where Garner breaks the unconscious gunman's trigger finger and
Jack Elam points out to him that the shooter is left handed and Garner bends over to break the other finger... it made me squirm soooooo hard. That scene was perhaps my first and foremost primer on the mixology of violence and humor.
Twilight - I've spoken a fair amount about my affection for this film which I consider the unofficial third piece of
Paul Newman's Lou Harper trilogy (the film was written by
Richard Russo and
Robert Benton who named Newman's detective character Harry Ross - a nod to
Ross MacDonald author of the books
The Moving Target and
The Drowning Pool - source material for the Lew Harper flicks). The "trilogy" ages the detective in real time and the final chapter
Twilight is just as bitter-barely-sweet as it should be, and frankly it just wouldn't work without Garner's contribution to the whole as another aging detective and good friend of Ross's. The final scene the two of them have together echoes the amazing climax of
Harper - the first film in the "trilogy" - beautifully... mournfully.
2 comments:
Support your local, was a favorite as kid. Great supporting cast there. Twilight, I own, and love too. Another 5 star cast.
TWILIGHT is one of the most underrated movies I can think of. A perfect example of what can be done with good writing and acting in lieu of high body counts and chase scenes.
Post a Comment