Clop-clop-clop

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When I think of the great Lee Marvin, who's being tributed with a Lincoln Center film series this month, I think only of Point Blank. That 1967 John Boorman film is the ultimate Marvin mood trip. His character's perfect name (Walker), the spareness of the dialogue ("Ninety-three") but more particularly the silences get better each time I see it. And the quintessential Point Blank scene is the clop-clop scene in LAX. Marvin striding hard down the endless hallway with the linoleum floor, his eyes glaring, his white-hair forelock flopping slightly in the breeze of indoor velocity.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 2, 2007 at 8:25 PM

comment #1

renorambler says ...

Point Blank is definitely THE film of his career in my book. But I must confess a weakness for his turn as the villain in Gorky Park. A not great film that is elevated by his presence.

Posted by renorambler at May 2, 2007 9:10 PM

comment #2

Joe Leydon says ...

Lee Marvin rules:

http://movingpictureblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/lee-marvin-still-man.html

Posted by Joe Leydon at May 2, 2007 9:14 PM

comment #3

cinefan says ...

One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes is the one where Marvin plays a gunslinger who, in order to win a bar bet, has to spend the night at the grave of a man he has killed. Very well-written episode and Marvin is quite good in it.

Posted by cinefan at May 2, 2007 9:41 PM

comment #4

JB Moore says ...

Point Blank is the shit. I love the tripped-out fight scene in the jazz/go-go club. One of my all time favorites.

Posted by JB Moore at May 2, 2007 9:43 PM

comment #5

SpinDozer says ...

J.W. Grant(Bellamy): You bastard.
Rico (Marvin): Yes, Sir. In my case an accident of birth. But you, Sir, you're a self-made man.

I know this is the screenplay, but I don't think it would've been the same from anyone else's mouth.

Posted by SpinDozer at May 2, 2007 9:53 PM

comment #6

christian says ...

marvin rules, but the pivotal shot in POINT BLANK is marvin framed in the psychedelic glare of the club.

he was even had a hit single from PAINT YOUR WAGON.

Posted by christian at May 2, 2007 10:39 PM

comment #7

Walter Sobchak says ...

I won a bar bet in Chicago a couple of years back.... ten bucks in the pot.... "who is the hardest dude in movie history?".... some guy almost took the cash with his pick of Bob Mitchum.... I chimed in with Lee Marvin and everyone, including the Mitchum picker, nodded in somber agreement.... the guy was a Marine in WWII.... he could kill you with his pinky.... yet from all I've heard he was a sweetheart most of the time and a good family man....
And don't forget "The Killers"...

Posted by Walter Sobchak at May 2, 2007 11:34 PM

comment #8

Rich S. says ...

TCM just showed The Wild One last night after part 2 of its Brando documentary. Great contrast in styles between Brando as the brooding gang leader and Marvin as the blowhard.

You want to know a big reason why movies suck these days? Because there aren't any more actors like Lee Marvin (or Steve McQueen, or William Holden, or Robert Mitchum, or....).

Posted by Rich S. at May 3, 2007 5:22 AM

comment #9

erniesouchak says ...

LIBERTY VALANCE

Posted by erniesouchak at May 3, 2007 7:11 AM

comment #10

T. S. Idiot says ...

Those who can should see Shack Out on 101, a one-of-a-kind truly bizarre experience. See it and Prime Cut, another strange one, back to back on May 13, and you'll have a good excuse not to report to work the next day.

Posted by T. S. Idiot at May 3, 2007 7:18 AM

comment #11

le corbeau says ...

The Big Heat and Bad Day at Black Rock, people!

Coffee in the face established Marvin as an all-time hard guy.

"Let's ride him a little, see if he's got any sand in him."

Emperor of the North Pole. Turning The Big Red One into Sam Fuller's greatest movie because it's one of the only ones with a first-rate lead actor.

And anybody who hasn't picked up the DVD of Seven Men From Now is a fool.

Posted by le corbeau at May 3, 2007 9:19 AM

comment #12

Cadavra says ...

Don't forget THE KILLERS, THE DIRTY DOZEN, and his Oscar-winning turns in CAT BALLOU.

Posted by Cadavra at May 3, 2007 9:59 AM

comment #13

Pelham123 says ...

There's a great story about Lee Marvin during the making of "Point Blank" where he and John Boorman are out drinking in Beverly Hills and when they leave Marvin gets up on the roof of Boorman's car and they take off. They get pulled by the Beverly Hills police who ask Boorman, "Do you know that you have Lee Marvin on your roof?" Boorman answers, "Yes" and the Policeman waves them on with a "Very well then."
"The Dirty Dozen" perfectly brilliant.

Posted by Pelham123 at May 3, 2007 10:00 AM

comment #14

Craig Kennedy says ...

I have fond memories of watching Hell in the Pacific on Saturday afternoon TV as a kid. I haven't seen it for a long time and can't say if it even holds the water of the other films mentioned, but that's what happens when you're late to a thread. Besides: Marvin vs. Mifune. Come on!

Posted by Craig Kennedy at May 3, 2007 10:03 AM

comment #15

christian says ...

and hollywood rewarded the great lee marvin by making sure the only parts he could get in his 60's was opposite chuck norris in DELTA FORCE and the tv sequel to DIRTY DOZEN (which wasn't too bad)...

Posted by christian at May 3, 2007 10:33 AM

comment #16

dangovich says ...

What erniesouchak said.

Lee Marvin was one of the few actors you really believed was tough. He had a great face and an even better voice.

Posted by dangovich at May 3, 2007 11:34 AM

comment #17

JB Moore says ...

T.S. Idiot, (or anyone) - where are "Shack" and "Prime Cut" playing on the 13th?

Posted by JB Moore at May 3, 2007 2:49 PM

comment #18

Craig Kennedy says ...

JB Moore: Lincoln Center in Manhattan

Posted by Craig Kennedy at May 3, 2007 2:59 PM

comment #19

christian says ...

PRIME CUT is utterly bizarre and cool. it's a nifty marvin role, tough and gentle. i know that ritchie's "cut" was quite different and it would be great to find that. btw, SMILE will be playing at the egyptian for their 70's fest...

Posted by christian at May 3, 2007 5:53 PM

comment #20

Cadavra says ...

I'd completely forgotten PRIME CUT. Love that film. Nobody at the time really appreciated how funny it is. (Of course, no one appreciated Sissy Spacek naked in it, either.)

Posted by Cadavra at May 3, 2007 10:15 PM

comment #21