A Marca da Brutalidade

It helps if you are a big Lee Marvin fan to enjoy this movie - but even if you're not especially, there's still enough in here to raise it above run-of-the-mill.

The cinematography is first-rate; lots of use of natural light and dingy locations of the city contrasted with the golden Kansas sunshine. Both Marvin and Gene Hackman are terrific and each exude good screen presence as gangsters at odds with each other, culminating in the shoot-out in the sunflower field and cattle house.

The film is slightly let down by the sentimental and unnecessary last scene at the orphanage, which feels grafted on, although the very final shot of the children running into the countryside hints at some kind of hope for the future (post Vietnam), not least between Nick Devlin (Marvin) and his new girl Sissy Spacek.

Worth watching

In 1972, critics were so offended by the violence of this film (they were easily offended, back then), that they almost wholly missed the film's humanistic message - which is strange, because I doubt a film could state a theme more explicitly without getting didactic. If this films evades such lecturing - and it does - it is largely due to the exceptional understated performance of Lee Marvin; I didn't think anyone could wear white loafers and still look cool, but Marvin pulls it off. His utterly deadpan approach underscores his character's rapid responses to crisis situations - a truly dangerous man because no one expects him to be dangerous, he just looks cool. Michael Ritchie's direction is also noteworthy; he uses some strategies that also appear understated, thus giving the film a grittier feeling than one might expect from its MidWest locale. And there are some risky editing gambits (like the combine-car collision sequence) that, even when not totally successful, are efforts to be respected exactly for the risk undertaken. There are some drawbacks to the film - the ending (which I won't reveal) is entirely of its era, and a little embarrassing now; Gene Hackman's performance is a throwaway, when it needs to be as confrontational as Marvin's is cool; but the weakest point of the film is its sense of history: This script wanted to be a period piece set in the 1930s; the criminal underworld which these characters inhabit was a victim of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (which put an end to the Irish mob in Chicago). To get a feel of the film that screenwriter Dillon really wanted to make, see "Road to Perdition". BUt taken on its own terms, and allowing that it is a genre film (and never pretends otherwise, really), this is a highly entertaining gangster film, with a grand performance by Lee Marvin.

So what if 'Dog Day', made a decade later, repeats the threshing machine chase. It only underscores the success of the original, in which the 'teeth' of the threshing machine seem almost human. Watching them grind up the limo makes you feel almost sorry for the car. There are other scenes and themes I doubt that you will ever see in another movie: the packing house expose of what that meat you eat really goes through as it goes from the moo-cow to the sausage, for one. At least we don't see the guy actually made into the sausage the brother keeps eating!!

Hackman plays his evil best as an all-American who 'gives the public what they want' from meat to dope to virgins raised in an orphanage quite unlike the one in 'Cider House Rules'. Sissy Spacek does a good job in her first onscreen role, but come on!!! No one could be so stupid as to be unaware that they are wearing a completely transparent gown!! A few other holes in the film exist, but it is certainly a unique experience.

Classic period hoodlum flick. Lee Marvin at his laconic best with minimal amounts of dialogue from him, and that which is there is monosyllabic. But it is the action that speaks for itself in this film. Admittedly disjointed in plot, the content nonetheless is indicative of the stereotype of the "good ole boy" hoodlum fraternity, and in this respect it does not disappoint. The plot is simplistic, if a little over-produced in places, but the feeling of menace from the key characters never lets up. Marvin is magnificently understated, and the overall effect of this film [if you are into the genre] leaves you satiated. Some excellent performances, particularly from Marvin and surprisingly from Gregory Walcott [Pope in the Eiger Sanction]. Its a good, understated Mob flick for those who enjoy the genre. Those who don't will find it slow, cumbersome and at times self-indulgent, but then that is what makes us all different.....

Prime Cut (1972)

*** (out of 4)

Fun crime picture has a Chicago enforcer (Lee Marvin) heading to Kansas City where an evil cattle baron (Gene Hackman) owes the big boys some money but he doesn't plan on cutting them in on his business. PRIME CUT is a film that not too many people know, which is pretty surprising when you consider how popular these type of crime films are. Not to mention the film is probably the only one in history to feature three Oscar winners as well as a man who appeared in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Overall director Michael Ritchie does a very good job at keeping the picture running very smoothly and while the picture certainly has some flaws, it's still a highly entertaining and at times sleazy picture. One of the highlights come early on when Marvin and his men show up at a "cattle" auction only to discover that Hackman has a major business of selling off women. The women, all in cages like cattle, serve up quite the image. The film also manages to have some great violence, although none of it really goes over-the-top or gets too graphic. There's a terrific sequence during a fair as well as another in a sunflower field. I'm not going to ruin either sequences but they contain some nice suspense. Of course, one of the greatest aspects is the terrific cast. While each cast member has been better in other movies, there's no doubt that it's still very fun to see them all together. Marvin and Hackman really appear to be having fun in their roles and we also get Angel Tompkins in a brief role as the woman who was with both of them. Sissy Spacek appears in a pretty thankless role but it's still fun seeing her. Gregory Walcott, a veteran of Edward D. Wood, Jr., appears as one of the major bad guys. As I said, there are certainly some flaws including the entire relationship between Marvin and Spacek but fans of 70's crime pictures will still want to check this out.