The Happening

I caught this movie on late-night TV one night when I had nothing better to do and I'm not sure I might have been better off just doing nothing. I have a weakness for these kind of swingin' sixties movies, but even I couldn't take this junk. The story is about four alleged hipsters who kidnap a Mafia kingpin just for kicks, but then it goes from hijinks to pathos rather suddenly when the don realizes he can't extract the ransom money from his so-called "friends". I guess this is Hollywood's interpretation of what constituted coolness and hip in the late 60s, but in a post-Manson world, I don't know that there's anything funny about any of this. The music, surprisingly for the time, is just dreadful. The Supremes theme song is all right, but the rest of the soundtrack is a lot of Herb Alpert-ish tripe.

As for the acting, Michael Parks and George Maharis turn in the usual rotten performances. The big stars in the movie have a few good moments- Milton Berle as a restaurant owner has a fairly hilarious scene where he tends to various guest complaints. And Anthony Quinn as the Mafia don has a beautiful scene outside, I guess, Dodger Stadium, when it finally hits him that everyone has turned their back on him for the ransom money, and he becomes disturbingly violent and on the edge of tears, and Faye Dunaway says to the others, "I don't want to play this game anymore", which is a genuinely moving episode. But that's part of the problem with the movie: it can't quite reconcile the comedy with the sadness and back to comedy again. It's generally a lousy movie, only significant that it was Faye Dunaway's first big-time movie role, and not significant in any other way. 1 1/2 * out of 4

I have confounded for a long time this film with another one, also starring Anthony Quinn - THE WILD PARTY - with more or less a close plot. A bunch of punks abduct - kidnap someone. In THE WILD PARTY, Anthony Quinn was a former football player and was one of the punks. Here, he is a mob boss who, this time, is abducted and by hippies. So, you have understood that this movie is very typical from the late sixties and the peace and love generation - don't miss the first five or ten minutes. The tone is sometimes funny, in the total comedy mode, but not all the time. The overall result is however very light hearted, not a gritty movie. So, if you look for a harsh and tough crime flick, avoid this rare film from the director of CAT BALLOU and THE CAR; I nearly forgot A MAN CALLED HORSE.

Of all the films one sees, there are a select few which you start out expecting one thing and end up with something completely different. Here is one unusual movie called " The Happening " which features the magnificent talent of the late great Anthony Quinn. The story written and directed by Ronald Austin begins with a group of young lay-abouts (Michael Parks, George Maharis, Robert Walker Jr. and Faye Dunaway) who take life as it unfolds or 'happens' and thus accept their motto ' Go with the flow baby. ' As with everyday, they do nothing, plan nothing and exact the same, allowing events to just take shape. On one particular day, they stumble upon a well-to-do suburban family, enjoying their upscale social life. However, that family is governed by a powerful, but retired Mob Boss, Roc Delmonico, (Anthony Quinn) who's wife Martha Hyer) believes he is to be kidnapped and held for Ransom. What Roc discovers is that all the people in his life who he believed cared for his safety and well being, create excuses for not being able to rescue him. Thus he is left to his fate at the hands of Kidnappers. Dismayed and deeply disappointed, Roc begins to suspect he has been deluded into thinking he was an important figure, Concluding the opposite, he joins his kidnappers and plots his revenge. A kooky, but surprisingly underrated film, Quinn gives a superb performance and thus elevates a comedic movie into a Classic. Oscar Homolka and Milton Berle make brief appearances. Well recommended for anyone seeking something different. ****

Funny thing is I'm a child of the 60's & 70's. I remember seeing this when it was first released and I loved it! I saw it recently as an adult and it sucked the big one. Oh well. Pass on this film, It has nothing to say and just isn't funny. Unless you're 13. Put it in the same category as X Men. Good now, sucks later.

My friend and I, laughed so hard, had a hard time walking out of the theater. Lucille Ball also had a cameo appearance in the movie. Lucy was the wife of Anthony Quinn, and showed her in bed with Uncle Milty.

As for the slam on the Supreme's song "The Happening", I still like it, and it always brings back the good times, my friend and I had that day at the movies.