The boat used in Jaws had so many alterations made that it was later unrecognisable as any specific model. Top heavy and easily capsized, it had to be ballasted with lead sheets borrowed from a dentist. In the final scenes only the upper parts were used, mounted on hydraulics.
A year primarily remembered for Jaws, although there were some other notable productions: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Towering Inferno, and The French Connection II. Unfortunately, I’ve no great desire to see any of these … they’re just too ’70s and seen too many times before.
Settled on one feature-length movie, Dog Day Afternoon, an award-winning Russian animation, The Hedgehog in the Fog, and the TV episode The Goodies: The Movies.
Yet to appear in the Internet Movie Database.
THE GOODIES: THE MOVIES (10 February 1975) UK
Director: Jim Franklin.
Cast: Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Tim Brook-Taylor.
Plot: The Goodies, disillusioned by film industry standards, decide to make their own movie.
Review: Just as one is advised not meet one’s heroes, so perhaps one should not dredge up a fondly recalled TV series episode forty years after last seeing it. The Goodies, along with Star Trek and Dr Who, were the three TV essentials of my childhood, and I remember my parents calling me down from bed late one evening to watch the end scenes of this episode, it seemed so amazing at the time.
The Goodies were a TV staple of the 1970s, but sadly their shows were never repeated after 1981 because of legal wrangles. A couple of generations later, and they can be sought out on YouTube, etc., although the shows haven’t stood the test of time so well. Some of their surreal comic conceptions were iconic at the time, such as Kitten Kong and the Great Bagpipe Spider.
This episode is mildly amusing, but one really has to have been there to enjoy it, otherwise it looks little more than a slightly strange pantomime. There are some good moments, such as a recreation of Buster Keaton’s most famous visual gag from Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) were a building front falls on him, the window frame surrounding him perfectly.
Score: 3/10.
Buster Keaton (above) in 1928 – with only inches of clearance as the 2 ton shop front fall on him; The Goodies (below) in 1975, not without an element of danger themselves.
THE HEDGEHOG IN THE FOG (ЕЖИК В ТУМАНЕ) (1975) USSR
Director: Yuriy Norshteyn
Cast: Mariya Vinogradova (hedgehog), Vyacheslav Nevinnyy (bear), Aleksey Batalov (narrator).
Plot: A young hedgehog gets lost in the fog on his way to visit a friend.
Review: I’d come across various mentions of this ten-minute animation having won awards, so decided to give it a look. It did, indeed, turn out to be very well made, and is a refreshing change to the CGI we are swamped with these days.
A young hedgehog goes to visit his friend, a small bear, with whom he counts the stars – a euphamism for sitting and nattering with a friend over a cup of tea. He finds himself in a dense fog and bumps into various creatures and objects on the way.
In eastern Europe in the 1970s there were few of the luxuries of western life. Families spent the summer stocking up the woodpile to keep themselves from freezing in the winter, black tea was (and still is) the staple drink, and with no TV, sitting and chatting was the major pastime. Walking everywhere, including wandering through the extensive woodlands in the autumn picking mushrooms, encountering bats, glow-worms, wandering horses, dogs, and occasional dense fog would be something well-familiar to the audience. I can see something of the Polish side of my family in this animation.
On it’s own, a slightly creepy affair. I’m not sure as a child I’d have thought much of these beady-eyed animals or storyline. As an adult, I simply appreciate the skilled animation.
Score: 4/10.
Al Pacino having another bad day in Dog Day Afternoon.
DOG DAY AFTERNOON (September 1975) USA
Director: Sidney Lumet.
Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning.
Plot: The story of a real life failed bank robbery, which became a cause célèbre in the US in the early 1970s.
Review: This was interesting to watch for the performances, but as an overall experience not so great. The movie is very seventies in style, with a grating introductory song, off-colour print quality, and disappointing camera work. It is another Sidney Lumet movie (his The Verdict was reviewed in the previous post), but lacks his usual finesse and quality.
Al Pacino plays ‘Sonny’, who, more or less on a whim, decided to rob a bank to pay for a medical operation. Pacino happened to resemble John Wojtosicz (the real life bank robber) in looks and manner, and although a polished actor with two Godfather movies behind him, gives a very raw and original performance. John Cazale plays his disturbed, accomplice, ‘Sol’. The real life ‘Sol’ (Salvatore Naturale) was a very sad individual, who, as well having served time for petty crimes, was a drug user and victim of sexual abuse. This isn’t mentioned in the movie, but Cazale’s moody performance speaks volumes about the man’s background and character.
The actors were encouraged to ad-lib, giving Pacino free licence to rant and rave at Charles Dunning (the police chief), the baying crowds, his accomplices and even the hostages at times. Comic lines are sometimes thrown in, such as Cazale stating that he like to leave the United States and move to Wyoming, but these do not always work within the movie context. Also not quite working are some of the crowd scenes, which come over as too choreographed.
So, I wasn’t overly impressed, especially with what seemed unlikely revelations about Pacino’s personal life half way through – ironicaly this part turned out to be true. Knowing that the movie is a reasonably accurate portrayal of the real crime does help when you watch it, but if you don’t know the story, watch the movie before reading about it to avoid a major spoiler at the end.
Score: 5/10.
So, the best movie of 1975 is …
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
… because of Al Pacino’s very watchable performance as John Wojtowicz, not the smartest bank robber around, and John Cazale as his equally desperate accomplice, although other aspects of the movie don’t quite match up to expectation.
Can his day get any worse? John Cazale in Dog Day Afternoon.
The next ‘The Best Movie of …’ will be the year 2006.
THE BEST MOVIE OF ... 