The Happening

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.

Hey, the premise is pretty good: some fairly appealing but terminally bored young people kidnap a restaurateur (Anthony Quinn), and then they find that neither Quinn's wife nor his business partner partner want him back. After spending some time with the old coot Quinn, they end up feeling sorry for him, and they help him wreak vengeance on the people who have been making his life miserable all these years. The performances are a bit idiosyncratic: Michael Parks working on his James Dean thing, but with blonde hair; George Maharis trying to look like a hippie in a ducktail; Robert Walker Jr being typically odd and, of course, a very young Faye Dunaway overacting broadly and getting away with it. Some of the hijinks might seem slow and lame, but some of it is funny, and I can't vouch for others' musical taste, but I like the theme song.

This was not a great movie. Probably barely a good movie if that. I give it a 7 because it was so much fun. It was a very summertime type of movie. Break out the suntan, break out the shorts and head to the nearest beach. Kidnapped by beatniks but not worth it to his fellow mobsters or loved ones, Mr. Quinn gives a great performance , when on the scale of things this movie is not cinematic art. I do not mean that in a bad way. Its the type of film you watch while drinking a couple or a few beers or more. Supremes song The Happening, the title cut fits in with this oddball movie. In many ways this movie sort of brought the hippie movement to main stream and not in a bad way. I liked this movie and took it for what it was . A fun movie and a very young , sexy Faye Dunaway . Do not expect much , have a party with old friends and reminisce about childhood times and if you are a bit younger like I am , mid 40s , just watch this film and enjoy it anyway. It will make you laugh and really thats what its all about folks.

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. ****

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.