This Blake Edwards film has some interesting aspects to it. It's an action/adventure mystery film featuring a dramatization of two figures that actually existed - cowboy film star Tom Mix (Willis) and lawman Wyatt Earp (Garner). The premise finds Earp coming to Hollywood to consult on a film about his life that's to star Mix. The night he arrives the two of them go to a house of ill repute called the Candy Store, run by a woman named Candy. When Candy turns up dead they take it upon themselves to figure out who did it. Along the way they meet mobsters and find themselves coming up against the Hollywood power elite. Will they solve the crime or will it be the end of the both of them?
This film marks the second time James Garner played Earp. The first time was in the 1967 film Hour of the Gun. Also featured in the cast are Marial Hemmingway, Malcolm McDowell, Kathleen Quinlan and Dermot Mulroney.
You can find this film on DVD, and it's available to rent on YouTube. Click here for the rental page. Above is the television trailer for it, uploaded to YouTube by seanmc31076.
Obscurity factor: 7 (not well remembered, but available on DVD and online)
Yesterday's film (The Odessa File, 1974) got me thinking about suspenseful films of that era. Many of them had a Cold War theme to them, so for the next few days I'll be featuring some obscure cold war cinema.
In 1974 Julie Andrews starred in this film directed by her husband Blake Edwards. Also starring was Omar Sharif as a Soviet agent who meets Ms. Andrews (a British Home Office worker) on holiday. They begin an affair, platonic at first, and it causes all sorts of problems for both of them with their respective governments. This film is based on a book of the same name by Evelyn Anthony and, except for a venue change from New York to London, is (as far as I remember) fairly faithful to it. One of the most intriguing aspects of Mr. Sharif's character is his deft ability play the game of espionage while still maintaining his integrity with Judith Farrow (Andrews) and the audience. His honesty is very refreshing. As Cold War dramas go, The Tamarind Seed has it's share of edge-of-your-seat action and doesn't disappoint on dramatic effects. There's a bit of a melancholy quality to the film but the resolution is quite a surprise. Look for veteran character actor Oskar Homolka as Omar Sharif's boss.
The film is available on VHS and on region 2 (UK) DVD, but has yet to come out on DVD for the USA/Canada market. It can be found in its entirety on YouTube and iOffer.com. The first installment of it is above, uploaded by DrageReborn.
Obscurity factor 7 (available on VHS, YouTube & iOffer.com and on DVD in the UK, rarely screened on TV, largely forgotten)
I thought it might be fun to contrast yesterday's post with another, very different film also from 1970. In Darling Lili Julie Andrews plays a very unlikely German spy during WWI. She's the darling of Great Britain - a musical hall performer named Lili Smith (nee Schmidt) who has a squeaky clean image. Her controllers are concerned about an Allied squadron that is wreaking havoc on their air craft and give Lili orders to seduce the squadron leader and pump him for information. The squadron leader is, of course, Rock Hudson and they, inevitably fall in love, which compromises Lili's position. The film, directed by Blake Edwards is as much a big budget, glamorous Hollywood production as Alex in Wonderland isn't. The sets, costumes, cinematography and art direction play a huge part in creating the mood of the nineteen-teens as seen through the lens of the late 1960's and the areal segments are spectacular, which is in stark contrast to the catch-as-catch-can settings and photography of Alex in Wonderland. It's a perfect example of the tension that existed between the establishment and the new, rebellious film makers that were starting to make over Hollywood. Aside from all that, the film is charming, especially the original music by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer.
This film was a big budget release in 1970 and though it failed to capture the public's imagination and wasn't a financial success, it was a critical success and found its way into several Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. It's rarely on TV, but it is available on DVD and can be watched in its entirety on YouTube thanks to DrageReborn's upload.
Obscurity factor: 4 (Available on DVD, can be watched on YouTube, rarely screened on TV)
