THE MOVIES OF MY LIFE PHASE ONE: Prime Cut (1972)

There was this strange period in the 60‘s and 70‘s where some of our cinematic icons seemed...decidedly against type.  These icons may not have been conventionally attractive, may not have had an artistic range on the surface, and may not have had nuance.  But they had presence and gravitas, and when you watched them you couldn’t take your eyes off of them.  One of these icons was Lee Marvin.

I do think Marvin’s cult has waned a bit, but his resume remains impressive.  He is one of three men and one woman who has played Donald Westlake’s honorable thief Parker*, and I find that he shares a lot of the same qualities as the last cinematic Parker, Jason Statham.  Both Marvin and Statham tend to...not show much on their face, and they tend to be low key...and yet there’s a sense of control in Marvin that’s undeniable--even when he’s being chased through a wheat field by a thresher, you have no doubt he knows what he’s doing.

This is the second film from director Michael Ritchie and he seems to know that Marvin is his biggest asset.  He’s in the majority of the film’s 88 minute runtime, and he simply dominates the film--not a mean feat given he’s acting opposite Gene Hackman, who is arguably one of the finest film actors of all time.  What impressed me is how he does not seem to change his expression or his vocal inflection, and yet he conveys a lot with every line.

This film seems to take place in a weird comic-book-like universe where almost everyone wears a specific uniform to easily identify them--Marvin’s Nick Devlin (real subtle symbolism there, writer Robert Dillon) rocks an ice cream suit and white loafers throughout, Gregory Walcott’s hulking henchman Weenie is always seen in overalls and a white wife beater, etc.--and there are set pieces I could easily see Frank Miller come up with for an early issue of Sin City, especially the ‘private sale’ that Hackman’s MaryAnn conducts in the film’s first act.  There’s a simplicity to the plot--a plot that is sort of forgotten once Devlin takes possession of Sissy Spacek’s Poppy--that allows the film to flow effortlessly.  The action sequences are simple, designed to take advantage of the endless fields of corn, wheat and sunflowers that dot the outskirts of Kansas City.

And yet...

There’s a surprising humanity to this hard-ass action film.  Even though Devlin does some horrible things, he obviously is a honorable and, dare I say, decent man.  Devlin’s relationship with Poppy is never anything other than fatherly, even when Poppy out and out tells one of his lieutenants that she loves him.  He insists that the man who is ground into sausage in the film's
opening sequence get a proper burial and agrees to meet one of his lieutenant’s mother before they leave on a trip.  There are times you have to remind yourself that this is a mob enforcer that we’re following even as he’s acting as an Avenging Angel.

I should also mention before concluding that Ritchie includes some LGBT content--some that’s good, some that’s bad, but all of which is handled very deftly.  There is a speech Spacek has that pretty much makes it clear that she is at the very least bisexual, if not lesbian, that’s...real respectful for a film like this--but on the other hand, an extended scene between Hackman and Walcott as they play wrestle came off so homoerotic I thought they were meant to be lovers before Walcott refers to Hackman as his brother.

I recommend this film.  It moves quickly, has a real impressive central performance from Marvin, and manages to give us a little depth with our violence.

*--I know the common wisdom is that Marvin played the best Parker in Point Blank, but my impression was always that Parker was supposed to be more or less unassuming in appearance; his anonymousness was a major tool in his trade.  Marvin--like Statham--stands out too much.  In a funny way, Mel Gibson in Payback (Brian Hegleland’s director’s cut, not the comedic cut I saw in theaters) is much more accurate to the image of Parker I have in my head.