I watched a really entertaining movie on Sunday afternoon. It was a nice film to enjoy with the wife while we wound down from the 3 day weekend. the movie was the 1966 film The Professionals. Now listen to this cast. Burt Lancaster. Lee Marvin. Robert Ryan. - That threesome alone is enough to watch a flick. Cool as can be bad ass Lee Marvin, great in everything from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance to The Big Heat, Point Blank to the Dirty Dozen. Burt Lancaster, one of my absolute faves, whether it's as Elmer Gantry in the film adaptation of Herman Melvilles novel, the steely armed services officer in the Train, the Right Wing hatchet man in Executive Action, and a ton of other great roles. Robert Ryan, a classic tough guy in tons of movies, from westerns to Noirs, including The Wild Bunch and On Dangerous Ground. However, in addition to these three you have Ralph Bellamy, Jack Palance, Woody Strode, and the so gorgeous it should be outlawed Claudia Cardinale. Now that is a hell of a cast.
The set up is simple: Ralph Bellamy is a rich american living near the Mexican border. He has his handlers recruit Strode (playing a master scout and tracker), Ryan (playing a horse expert and a man good in a tight spot) and Lee to lead them on a mission: rescue Claudia Cardinale, the young, beautiful kidnapped wife of Bellamy, and bring her home. Ah, but there be twists and turns along the way, and lest I forget, Lee tells Bellamy he needs one more man, a man good with dynamite; Burt Lancaster.
My wife grew a bit tired of the film towards the end, feeling that a few minutes could have been cut off. I disagreed. I enjoyed the quest, and the interactions and slow respect that develops between the men made me think about the great Tarantino heist (without showing the heist) film Reservoir Dogs. There is even a line from Ralph Bellamy when the men are walking out where he says "Let's go to work", exactly like Joe in RD.
My favorite line of dialog is this exchange b/w Lee and Burt.
Burt " that Chiquita is 100 percent woman"
Lee - " Yeah, ok. anything else on your mom besides 100 percent women, 90 proof whiskey and 14 karat gold bullion?"
Great flick, well worth a watch, and likely a future addition to the DVD library.
Beast
2 comments:
Woody says - Sinclair Lewis wrote Elmer Gantry. Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick.
Damned, you are completely right. I had a feeling while typing it that it didn't feel quite right. - thanks for the correction!
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