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Volume Ten
I’d like to dedicate this episode of the Mud, Blood & Beer to a couple of people. First and foremost, Roy Scheider, perhaps best known as Sheriff Brody in “Jaws”, who passed away February 10. I haven’t seen much of what he’s been in, but the two movies that I’ll talk about here are fantastic and come highly recommended.
Secondly, a good friend of mine who I had much in common with, a former co-worker and a man I was happy to call friend, Terry Thrasher. 20+ years ago Terry and I worked together in a grimy factory manufacturing reinforcement units for road repair projects. We both were huge fans of wrestling, The Honeymooners, drinking & movies. We devoted one day a week, a day that we called (using our collective creative powers) pizza-movie-morning, to watching a movie that neither of us had ever seen, drinking beer that we’d never drank & cooking a frozen pizza that we’d never eaten before. A few years passed and life called us in different directions. I would see Terry on a few occasions. Terry died a couple years ago, alone at his job. After hearing of Terry’s passing and seeing the 2nd of the movies discussed here, I immediately recalled the glory days of pizza-movie-morning and how much Terry would have loved seeing it. Now I wonder if Terry had ever seen a movie that triggered his memory of those days. Rest in peace, brother- I’ll never forget you.
The French Connection
I’m a big fan of locations. The opening scene takes place in France & 3:20 in we see a dude get shot in the face. Next scene we’re in Brooklyn, NY and two tough-as-nails detectives, Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) & Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) are getting ready to bust a brother for possession. After a quick chase on foot, they catch up to the guy and proceed to beat the shit out of him.
The boys decide, after a long day, to go have a few cocktails. Popeye spots a table with a few couples and believes that at least a couple of the guys are most likely in possession. They begin tailing one of them Sal Boca (Tony Lo Bianco). After a background look-see, they find out that Boca is of the criminal variety.
While the location changes decrease in frequency, we begin to focus more heavily on what’s happening in NYC. When the boys are actually on duty, they’re busy shakin’ down the brothers. It’s during one of these shakedowns that Popeye gets the lowdown on a big heroin shipment due to come in. He takes this information to his Lt. and they’re given the go ahead to investigate.
Tailing the suspects is half the fun here. We watch as Doyle & Russo shadow Boca, through the streets. Boca is fully aware of his surroundings, but Doyle, Russo & their little gang do good jobs of covering. There’s a subway tail that’s worth the price of admission alone. But don’t buy yet….the car chase, rather elevated train chase, scene here is as good as it gets. If you’re a fan of “Bullitt”, or any other car chases committed to film, you are really going to like this one. Excellent movie by none other than William (The Exorcist) Friedkin.
The Seven-Ups
First off, this comes across as a carbon-copy of “The French Connection”, to an extent anyway. Same feel, the tailing of suspects, location. I believe I even heard it touted as a sequel of sorts to that classic. Roy Scheider gets top billing this time, though and stars as Buddy, one of a secret group of cops known as the Seven-Ups. They get results from less than ethical methods. The opening bust involves counterfeit money and takes place in an antique shop, with just about everyone involved belonging to the Seven-Ups. You may be able to see it coming from a mile away, but it’s still fun to watch.
The big fun begins when a couple of imposters, posing as police, start abducting big-shots that have mafia ties. Tony Lo Bianco is here as well, as shady informant/thug Vito. He works with Buddy & on his own as the set-up guy in this scheme. At a funeral for one of the mobs own, one of the Seven-Ups undercover is found out and promptly deposited in the trunk of a car, still alive and being used as bait to try and work out some sort of exchange for one of the recently abducted bosses. At least that’s the way I see it. He won’t stay alive for long though. The scene in which he’s murdered takes place in garage with none other than “Maniac” Joe Spinell.
We get another great car chase through the streets of NYC, this time from wide shots & from the drivers’ point of view. As car chases go, this is the one to rival all others, including the one in “The French Connection”. This all takes place in the first half-hour. Now, you might think that the story could possibly hit a snag, but it doesn’t. This one is going to hold your attention for the entire length of the movie.
I sometimes want to kick myself for not having seen gems like this earlier, and it’s especially true in this case. Terry & I would have sat speechless throughout, watching. Just watching.
