Discland
edited by Jonathan Doyle
Mafioso (The Criterion Collection, 3.18.2008) Nino Badalamenti is a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant who hasn't taken a vacation in over two years. On his way out the door to visit his beloved childhood hometown of Sicily -- with his blonde wife and daughters -- Nino is handed a package by his boss and asked to deliver it to a powerful and influential Sicilian gangster named Don Vincenzo. Once in Sicily, Nino has a hoot seeing friends and family, but his wife has trouble fitting in and is unfairly dismissed as a snob by Nino's family. Even more worrisome, Nino finds himself entangled in an intricate web of secret mafioso dealings and is eventually sent on an unexpectedly... elaborate errand. (continued)

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Hancock

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Diminished Capacity

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Crawford's Hoover...10-4!

The fact that you can't rent or buy Larry Cohen's The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover on DVD, and that it hasn't been shown in a Los Angeles theatre since '83 or thereabouts makes the three-day booking at the New Beverly Cinema (4.13 to 4.15 at 9:25 pm) something of an event.


Of particular interest to me is something I'd totally forgotten, which is that the 1976 drama named senior FBI guy Mark Felt as “Deep Throat” over 25 years before the press broke the story. (Or so the press release claims.) Cohen will discuss this and other Hoover matters at a q & a following each screening.

Broderick Crawford plays Hoover, but isn't shown engaging in curious intimacies with FBI agent Dan Dailey's Clyde Tolson. (Revelations about Hoover's personal life hadn't surfaced when the film was made.) The film costars Jose Ferrer, Dan Dailey, Michael Parks, Celeste Holm, Lloyd Nolan and Rip Torn. It features a classic musical score by Miklos Rozsa. The film was shot at FBI headquarters, at the FBI Training Camp at Quantico and at Hoover’s own home -- but without Bureau censorship.

The New Beverly Cinema (323.938.4038) is located at 7165 Beverly Blvd., LA 90036.


Drop by Drop<< previous | next >>Who Knows or Cares?

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 08, 2008 at 04:51 PM

comment #1

Mgmax [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

I'm curious if this is any good. Cohen's history is a string of great-sounding ideas turned into so-so movies, and I wonder if it will rise above movie of the week quality. Or have a killer quetzalcoatl in it.

Hey, has anyone ever commented on the fact that when they go to meet the mysterious writer Arthur Digby Sellers, and wind up doing nothing but sitting on his couch with his teenage son Larry... Sellers is described as the guy who created "Branded" or something. Well, you know who created Branded? Larry Cohen. I have to think the Coens knew that, and it's some weird joke of theirs, either on another Coen/Cohen, or based on some experience they had with Cohen once, or something.

Posted by Mgmax [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 8, 2008 05:44 PM

comment #2

Mgmax [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Oops, accidentally deleted key words in the first sentence, second graf-- "in THE BIG LEBOWSKI"

Posted by Mgmax [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 8, 2008 05:45 PM

comment #3

Doug Pratt [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

As I recall, while it doesn't show them in bed, it does depict them like two old maids at the breakfast table together, enough to imply how they had led their private lives.
And no, the movie isn't all that good--it has a Q The Winged Serpent-type budget--but it does coalesce a few interesting historical points, and Crawford clearly enjoys himself in the role.

Posted by Doug Pratt [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 8, 2008 06:44 PM

comment #4

NDH [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Looks like Billy Crudup is in for a lengthy makeup process for Michael Mann's PUBLIC ENEMIES.

Posted by NDH [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 8, 2008 07:45 PM

comment #5

scooterzz [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

while not on dvd it is available to rent on vhs @ eddie brandt's in noho......i kinda remember that breakfast table scene also,,,,,

Posted by scooterzz [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 8, 2008 08:23 PM

comment #6

btwnproductions [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Amazon was selling it and other MGM titles exclusively on VHS. It's fun to watch, with all those old school cameos, but limited. I'm not seeing Billy Crudup in the role.

Posted by btwnproductions [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 8, 2008 08:46 PM

comment #7

btwnproductions [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Amazon was selling it and other MGM titles exclusively on VHS. It's fun to watch, with all those old school cameos, but limited. I'm not seeing Billy Crudup in the role.

Posted by btwnproductions [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 8, 2008 08:46 PM

comment #8

Geoff157 [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

I think this is one of Cohen's best films-- a movie that outwardly parodies and subverts the propaganda syntax of THE FBI STORY. It was made while Cohen was at the height of his guerilla-style filmmaking in the mid-'70s (as Jeffrey points out, it was made without Bureau censorship, because the way Cohen shot in those days, he was always on the move with his crew, and permits were the last thing on his mind-- for this film, they shot around the Justice Department building during Labor Day weekend, "when there was nobody around"). According to Cohen, he even used stock footage from THE FBI STORY, and in one scene, it is actually James Stewart's shadow the viewer sees on a wall. The film moves at a pulpy comic book pace, and the only monster is the enigma of Hoover himself. And yes, there is the implication of an intimate relationship with Tolson. I really wish I lived in LA so I could see it in style with Cohen present. I have a VHS copy from the late '80s-- this needs to be on DVD very soon!

Posted by Geoff157 [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 8, 2008 09:04 PM

comment #9

christian [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

I'll be there for you Geoff157. I love Cohen and his raw spirit. He's a better writer than director, but he's just so unique and radical.

Posted by christian [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 8, 2008 09:16 PM

comment #10

Spacesheik [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

I saw this on BBC tv a while back and it was a solid film, I particularly remember Dan Daily's performance although nothing was in the picture to indicate Hoover and mate were old queens - although I do remember a scene in the film where Hoover turns down an offer of sex from a lady

Posted by Spacesheik [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 9, 2008 01:43 AM

comment #11

Spacesheik [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Speaking of Hoover, here is Bob Hoskins from NIXON:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rQG5QLNGxpk

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mxKPPxAm72I

Posted by Spacesheik [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 9, 2008 01:48 AM

comment #12

Rich S. [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

I've never seen the film, but I gotta say, that is one hell of a cast.

Posted by Rich S. [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 9, 2008 06:36 AM

comment #13

Glenn Kenny [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

I'm with Geoff—Cohen's "Hoover" is terrific, no-budget production values and all. Call it pulp non-fiction, as it were. WIsh I was in L.A. to see it w/ Cohen in attendance.

Posted by Glenn Kenny [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 9, 2008 07:06 AM

comment #14

T. S. Idiot [TypeKey Profile Page] says ...

Appropriate that Dan Dailey plays Clyde Tolson given his reported fondness for wearing women's clothes.

Posted by T. S. Idiot [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 9, 2008 10:10 AM

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