HalfCentury

I've been working my way through the DVDs by timeless media. Man, they are great. Great because of Lee Marvin. I was expecting Marvin might have some work yet to becoming the Lee Marvin we know in Point Blank and The Killers. No way. He has tough guy cop done better here than it's ever been done. Someone mentioned that Marvin's Frank Ballinger challenged bad guys to escalate things with him. That's the perfect way to put it. The gun stays on the hip, Marvin gets in their face, reads them the facts and lets them absorb it. And then cuffs them. There are so many subtle things Marvin does here that make the tough guy work. It's maybe how he appraises the other actors. Like he's thinking " I'm listening, I'll tell you later if I believe you." Very stony. The material, in it's sketchy short form, deflates the magic of Marvin here and there but in a funny way. My favorite Police Squad type of moment has Marvin in a fistfight at the circus that starts a fire that burns the whole circus down in an apocalypse of panic and flames. Footage of some old big budget movie used as a backdrop. Very Frank Drebbin kind of unintended consequence. I recommend you get your own copy of Marine sniper turned actor kicking ass on TV

Quibble , quibble for a near perfect movie. I notice under locations there is no mention of Bronson Canyon ( or caves). But it was a very big part of the Stark in captivity shots. Unless, it was a set dressed to look like Bronson Canyon as a homage to all the low budget flicks that used it as a handy dandy ready made cave setting. Pretty good gag if that is the case. Building a set that looks like Bronson Cave. The trivia mentions a special fork lift transportable cave set but I think that refers to the interiors.

Great movie. I'm glad Downey is enthusiastic about making more of them.

Stan Lee, did you ever imagine yourself showing up in this great a film.