MIAMI BLUES, George Armitage, director/Radiance Films If you’re lucky, you might be one of the people who can claim they knew all about the crime writer Charles Willeford before he was really discovered – there are more and more people making that claim. Although familiar to the cognoscenti, ex-boxer, painter, actor and journalist Willeford remains unknown to the great mass of crime readers – and that’s undoubtedly their loss. Certainly namechecked by Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen and James Hall as a key influence, it was only with George Armitage’s top-notch 1990 film of Miami Blues (1984) that he really came to public attention – but too late. Hardened cineastes might also recognise his credit as the author behind Monte Hellman’s controversial 1974 movie Cockfighter. Always one of the most individual of stylists – and one of the first crime writers, like James Hall, to run a university creative writing course – he combines a cockeyed view of the world with an inimitable prose style and wonderfully drawn characters, such as Miami Blues’ beleaguered Hoke Moseley (excellently incarnated by Fred Ward). Willeford’s influence on later writers (and even filmmakers) will be evident to anyone who makes an acquaintance with his work, even via Armitage’s film. In some ways, it would be nice for Charles Willeford to remain a hidden pleasure for the chosen few – but that would be selfish, wouldn’t it? Radiance’s impressive limited edition special features include interviews with Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh from 2015, David Jenkins examining Jonathan Demme’s role in the film and Maxim Jakubowski talking about protagonist Hoke Moseley and Willeford’s work.
ROGUE COPS AND RACKETEERS: TWO CRIME THRILLERS FROM ENZO G. CASTELLARI – Enzo G. Castellari, director/Arrow Here’s a set to which I’m proud to have contributed a booklet essay for producer Michael Mackenzie. In 1976’s The Big Racket, Inspector Nico Palmieri (Fabio Testi) is after a gang of violent racketeers, with the aid of Interpol agent Mike Hamilton (David Hemmings), while The Heroin Busters, equally tough and kinetic, sports a new video interview with co-writer/director Castellari. Memorable for their energy, gusto and frequent crudeness of execution, the Italian crime films of the 1970s, the violent and vivid ‘poliziotteschi’, began as a series of rough-and-ready simulacra of American models (as so often in the trend-following culture of Italian popular cinema), but parlayed the elements borrowed from such US models as Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry and William Friedkin’s The French Connection into something different, but powerfully involving.
CUTTER’S WAY, Ivan Passer, director/Fun City Editions For students of cinema phenomena, it’s both instructive and entertaining to see how certain films that initially meet with a mixed response steadily establish themselves as cult favourites. A classic case of this syndrome might be Ivan Passer’s unusual Cutter’s Way, which is now appreciated as a bizarre blend of contemporary Film Noir (both beginning and ending with a murder) and an arthouse sensibility. The film is a rigorous examination of the legacy of the Vietnam war with its irritating but mesmerising casualties. John Heard steals the acting honours as – along with a reluctant Jeff Bridges – he attempts to right a wrong arising as much from societal prejudice and class distinction as from corrupt sexuality. This spruced-up new edition from Fun City is remarkable not just for the film but for its copious and generous extras which cover every possible aspect of the film — and which include contributions from several key participants.
THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, Irving Pichel & Ernst B. Schoedsack, director/Eureka Sourced from the imperishable short story by Richard Connell, The Most Dangerous Game still exerts a considerable grip nine decades after its release. Hunter Bob Rainsford (played by Joel McCrea) escapes a shipwreck and sharks to wash up on the secluded private island of Count Zaroff (played with relish by British actor Leslie Banks). But Zaroff’s quarry of choice is man…. Creatively utilising the impressive jungle sets built by the same team as King Kong (that film’s heroine Fay Wray is on hand here), The Most Dangerous Game was shot at night after the day’s Kong shooting. The film remains as tense and involving as ever, and Eureka’s Blu-ray comes from a 2K restored scan.
FORTHCOMING
THE MAN ON THE ROOF, Bo Widerberg, director/Radiance It’s particularly heartening to see this finely honed crime drama making its Blu-ray debut this year from the Radiance label. The director Bo Widerberg is, of course, best known for the period drama Elvira Madigan, but this is a very different kettle of fish, a sharp and perfectly constructed crime drama based on the novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. These two writers – a crime-writing team – might be said to have started it all in terms of the Nordic Noir genre. The critical stock of Sjöwall/Wahlöö could not be higher: they are celebrated as the very best exponents of the police procedural. Martin Beck is the ultimate Scandinavian copper, and if you prefer to ignore the subtle Marxist perspective of the books, it is easy to do so. As you can in Widerberg’s film of the duo’s The Man on the Roof.
And a reminder of some intriguing discs for early 2023….
YES, MADAM!, Corey Yuen, director/Eureka Entertainment There was a time when the genre which is popularly known as girls with guns simply did not exist – and it’s safe to say that it was inaugurated with this high-octane entry sporting two memorable women. Of the two, Michelle Yeoh has had the more durable career, as her skills clearly extend to acting as well as sporting top martial arts expertise, but that’s not to deny that Cynthia Rothrock is able to hold her own in this lively company. Yes, Madam! is a key action film of its era, now appearing on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK as part of the Eureka Classics range, brandishing a new 2K restoration. Originally released as Police Assassins in Britain, the film provided the first leading roles for both Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock, playing two police inspectors investigating the murder of a British agent and interacting with two thieves (Mang Hoi and John Shum) who require protection from a crime boss (played by James Tien). It’s lively fun.
ENTER SANTO: THE FIRST ADVENTURES OF THE MASKED MAN, various directors/Indicator It’s perhaps not surprising that the Mexican crime fighter Santo (also known as Silver Mask) is largely known only to aficionados in the UK. The films starring the spandex-wearing Mexican wrestling hero don’t have the sophistication of similar entries for Batman and Superman, with Santo remaining a relatively one-dimensional figure. But there’s no denying the fact that Santo films are a lot of fun for all their naïveté, as we are reminded by this release.
BARRY FORSHAW
