 |
|
(1965) Director: James Landis It seems to get anywhere in life takes a great deal of effort, save for death - you are able to sit back and do absolutely nothing at all for you to reach that goal, though it may take longer than you might think. Anyway, you can probably think back on your life and recall all the many different major goals you managed to reach, though with each and every goal you probably had to work extremely hard to get there. When you were learning to walk as a toddler, you probably along the way embarrassed yourself just as much as if you were to fall down on your butt. Then later when you started school, as you were learning essential skills of life, there were times when people would ask you, "What's the matter - can't you count/spell?" before you felt reasonably comfortable with putting those skills to practice. But possibly the goal that you considered an endgame before you even started to make serious plans to eventually plan and succeed at reaching it is a career. I can tell you that my career path was crazy for a number of years. I had a number of jobs at first, jobs that at their best only lasted a few years. And some of those jobs weren't very prestigious; at my lowest point, I was working at used book stores or thrift stores. But I didn't give up - somehow in the back of my mind, I knew that if I worked hard and never gave up, someday I would land a great job. Over the next years I had several jobs, but each one became more prestigious than the previous one. The experience I got from my hard work at those past jobs eventually got me my present job, which would be a dream job for some. Yes, I would much prefer to be a full-time (and richly paid) movie critic, but at the same time I know that I have a job that many people would kill for, so I am quite satisfied. Though my movie criticism may just be a hobby I do when I am not working at the job where I get a salary, through it I have not only learned a lot of neat things about movies, I have also learned from these movies (and literature about movies) that I was probably very lucky not to try my hand in the world of showbiz. I'm not just taking about the motion picture industry, but in other showbiz roles where you would in one way or another be considered an entertainer for the masses. Why do I feel that way despite my great love of one particular side of showbiz? Well, I have seen and heard a great deal that show you've got to work really hard in that industry. Just to enter the industry, you face a great deal of competition from other star-struck individuals, and you somehow have to rise prominently out of the pack. And even then, getting any showbiz role isn't a sure thing - having really good luck seems to play a part too, since many talented people never get far in the industry. As well, you might have to do some things against your morals if you want to step up on the showbiz ladder. Would you be willing to go for the "casting couch" angle if it were offered to you? (Since I know movie executives are all hot women in their 20s, I'd say YES!) All kidding aside, if you somehow manage to prove yourself and become popular with the public, your hard work has not ended. In fact, you'd have to work a lot harder. You may have to spend an ungodly amount of time in a studio to get product done. You might be exposed to illegal narcotics. You'd have to struggle to keep your finances and expenses in check. You would also have to be very careful of your image to the public, since there's little chance that you'd get a reasonable amount of privacy.The question that inevitably comes up is: What would you be willing to do to keep your showbiz career flourishing so you won't find yourself abandoned by the showbiz industry? I'm not sure how far I would go, except I'd try desperately to keep obeying laws and keeping up a good appearance.  But there are definitely
those who would go a lot further
to keep their showbiz position, enough that there have been movies
about characters with that cold determination. One such movie was the
1966 camp classic The
Oscar,
where actor Stephen Boyd played a Hollywood actor named Frank "Frankie"
Fane. In the course of the movie, Frank did so many outrageous and
unethical things
to get to be a superstar - and to keep that role - that I (and many
others) had to just laugh at what utter gall and dirty-dealing came
from this guy. The ending where he got his comeuppance was the cherry
on the cake. But a year before The Oscar, the
movie Rat Fink
was released, and while it wasn't about a big-time actor - instead a
big-time musician - it promised to be another exercise in showing that
some people will do anything
for fame and to keep it. Actually, since this earlier movie was a
low-budget independent production, my enthusiasm at first wasn't extremely
big. But research I did uncovered the news was that after its release
to theaters, it was completely lost for over fifty years
before someone stumbled upon a sole surviving print. My interest was
piqued, so I decided to sit down and watch it. Who knows, I thought, it
might have some amusing features. But almost right from the start of
the movie, I started to become more and more interested in what I was
seeing. Then just before the twenty-minute mark, something happened in
the movie that had me think, "HOLY
COW! I've GOT to tell
my readers about this movie!"What, you may be asking, happened in the movie at that moment? Well, before I tell you, I will admit that no other moment in Rat Fink had my jaw drop as much as that particular moment... but there were a number of those moments that got very close to the impact of that big scene. Also, I feel I need to first illustrate what happens in the movie before that big moment so you can get a better feel of the movie. Don't worry, it won't take long to get to that big moment, and it will be worth the short wait. Trust me. Let me get into the movie now... Rat Fink starts by introducing us to its main character, Lonnie Price (Schuyler Hayden, also the movie's producer), a drifter of sorts walking down the train tracks somewhere in the American southwest, eventually hopping into an empty boxcar of a passing train. Instantly there is a quite bleak feeling, continuing as the opening credits are displayed. The credits song (Lonnie's Theme) is effectively somber and low, and the black and white photography is extremely striking and makes us feel the desolation and isolation. No surprise from that photography, because it's done by a pre-fame Vilmos Zsigmond (The Sadist), who went on to be a cinematographer major Hollywood studio productions, winning an Oscar for his cinematography for Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. The credits also list James Landis, who directed the previously mentioned extremely effective movie The Sadist, as both the screenwriter and the director. Now you may understand why already my interest was going up. When the train stops, Lonnie gets off, and is chased by the railroad police in a short but very effective burst of action with the combination of Zsigmond's and Landis' respective camera skills. Lonnie gets away, and wanders into the countryside until he comes across the isolated house of one Mrs. Dunkirk (Eve Brenner). Lonnie asks her for directions, but Dunkirk sees a wound on his back, and she smiles greatly when subsequently offering Lonnie a bandage, while Lonnie has an even bigger smile when he accepts her offer. Inside, after a now shirtless Lonnie is patched up and offered a meal, Lonnie makes his move. "You know, traveling alone can be mighty lonely...", and starts pawing his hostess, who only puts up a very weak resistance for a few seconds before... dissolving to the next scene where Lonnie is in her bed and she in a robe. During breakfast, the ga-ga Mrs. Dunkirk tells Lonnie, "I'll make myself really pretty!" and goes to the bathroom to do so. But when she comes back to the kitchen, not only is Lonnie no longer around, her emptied purse is on the table. She cries, and we get the first of many clues that Lonnie may not be the nicest of guys. (Wait, don't go away! I'm almost at that aforementioned big jaw-dropping moment! Keep reading!) We cut then to sometime later, and now Lonnie has made his way to Hollywood. Lonnie is walking the streets when he passes the local civic auditorium. There are some girls who are crowded around and admiring the cool parked automobile of one Tommy Loomis, a rock star who is performing inside. Lonnie enters the auditorium. As he watches Tommy Loomis on stage performing to the enthralled teenybopper audience, a strange look gets on Lonnie's face, and here and many subsequent times before the ending of the movie, he looks remarkably like a young cousin of another Tommy - Tommy Lee Jones. As he watches, he passes by one Paul Finlay (Hal Bokar, The Wild Angels), and from his dialogue with the auditorium's manager, we learn Finlay is the manager of Tommy Loomis. While Lonnie stays silent, we see on his face that he gets an idea. Later, when the show is over, Tommy Loomis exits the auditorium, fighting off loads of screaming and squealing female teenagers wanting an autograph and much more. Tommy manages to break through the immense crowd and enters his car. Before he can start the engine, he says out loud with confusion, "It smells like gasoline," and then... ...Lonnie, mixed in the big and heavy crowd around Tommy's car, quickly lights a match and throws it into Tommy's car's interior. What happens next can be paraphrased from a quote from another famous rock musician: Goodness gracious, great ball of fire! The car interior lights up with huge flames, and Tommy is caught in them. He starts screaming with pain, but somehow manages to get out of the car and run around the parking lot while engulfed in flames, while the very close by mass of teenyboppers continue screaming (though now for another reason.) After a lot more screaming and running around while on fire, the flames burning him are finally extinguished. Tommy is still alive, but by those visible burn marks, he is certainly in no shape to play another engagement any time soon. Lonnie looks on all this while being silent and stone-faced. Now, do you see why Rat Fink already is a keeper? Do yourself a favor now and stop reading this review, and watch the movie immediately to see that scene and the additional surprising delights that the movie will subsequently offer. ...What's that? Some of you aren't willing yet to buy a copy of this movie right now? You need extra convincing? Very well, let me now list a number of moments that subsequently follow the literal critical roasting that Tommy got:
...well, wait a minute. I think I have really illustrated by now why Rat Fink is a bonafide A+ and four star classic drive-in movie that not only really deserves your immediate attention, but also more than deserves a big cult as well. Also, I really don't want to tell everything about it so that you'll then have no interest in seeking out a way to watch it. Though I have written a lot of words about this movie to make you want to watch it, I think by now that you know a movie like this can be summed up by just one word - superfantasticamazing. As I kind of said years ago about the movie The Sweeper, I have done my duty to not only watch this movie, but to tell about it to all of my readers. So do your duty to watch it, and then subsequently, with great enthusiasm, tell your friends about it, so a mighty oak can grow from this presently little neglected seed. (Posted July 23, 2022)
Check for availability on Amazon (DVD) See also: Malbu High, The Sadist, Your Three
Minutes Are Up |
