Remember My Name

This movie is about sweet revenge for a betrayal.

Chaplin's character was once a trusting innocent and was used; now she gives him his fair due. Perkins and Chaplin and Gunn are all so right in their characters (though Chaplin's accent is "off," as it was again in "Nashville"), but they each gave real humanity to their characters. And the haunting music is for me the best part of the show. This film introduced me to Alberta Hunter, and in the years following this film I searched out five more albums by her. Bravo! And when shall we EVER get a DVD publication of the full film? Evidently Ms. Hunter died before signing a release for a commercial VHS (or DVD), so it's legal wrangling that prevents us from having our own copies of this powerful character study.

You need not have to wade through any over-intellectualized reviews of this film! Breaking it down into basics: (1) it is a low-budget indie; (2)you can figure it out by at least midway through for those with above a lukewarm IQ; (3) some very wasted time; (4) not quite as satisfying as it could have/should have been, since the predator who is really a victim is completely unsympathetic Skip it unless you really enjoy slogging through old B&W B-movies which offer little more than simple revenge as character motivation.

Geraldine Chaplin's character has been in prison for years. She murdered her husband's (Tony Perkins') lover. She leaves prison institutionalized and inept and full of vengeance. She begin to stalk the ex- and his wife, damaging property and actually invading the home and confronting her. Of course, she has reason for anger in the most unbalanced of ways. Geraldine Chaplin does a great job in what is mostly a plodding film. We have to feel sorry for her in a way because she has been robbed of the tools to integrate into society and, instead, keeps the tunnel vision going. Perkins is, as usual, pretty weird, and still seems to have some feelings toward here. It's an intense, uncomfortable film, with a very good soundtrack.

Geraldine Chaplin was so believable. It made such an impact on me that I can still remember it. Especially wonderful for me was the background music and singing of Alberta Hunter. It was not a movie of violent revenge. It was sweet revenge. Sure, it would be called stalking today, but she was just checking out that ratty ex-husband.

I suppose the main criticism you can level against a film like REMEMBER MY NAME is that it has a distinctly tame, quiet, television-movie style feel to it, so that the drama feels oddly muted for a movie made for the cinemas. It's a late '70s stalker story along the lines of PLAY MISTY FOR ME, although not quite as good as the Eastwood movie.

What REMEMBER MY NAME does have going for it is an excellent cast of past and future stars who enliven an otherwise ordinary tale. The story involves a seemingly happily married couple who are disturbed by the arrival of the husband's old flame who seems obsessed with resuming their relationship. What follows is quietly gripping in places, although the film as a whole is let down by a non-existent ending and a definite lack of incident.

Anthony Perkins is excellent at playing these mild-mannered characters hiding dark secrets but the real acting honours go to Geraldine Chaplin, who invests her disturbed character with real authenticity; she's absolutely frightening in the part. The supporting cast includes plenty of faces who would go on to become famous in the future: Tim Thomerson, Dennis Franz, and best of all a skinny Jeff Goldblum. Blaxploitation actor Moses Gunn also has a role.