just saw this film for the first time at the Palm Springs
noir fest last week. Angie Dickenson was the guest &
spoke after the film : "What a shitty script!" she said. haha
She also said Reagan HATED working on the film. It was his
last onscreen appearance and he was dialing it in. "He was
already looking into other work," as she put it. Some of the
racing scenes felt endless, but Dickenson was sexy in the
film & Marvin was laconic and menacing. Their
performances, the garish color and bursts of surreal
brutality made it pretty ok for a 60s noir. It was originally
made for TV and felt blocked for the small screen. Thy put it
in theaters because it was deemed too violent for the living
room. Dickenson claimed it was the first made-for-TV
movie.
--- Dave Zeltserman <
dave@hardluckstories.com> wrote:
> I actually much preferred the Lee
> Marvin/Dickinson/Reagan version.
> Maybe partly because it was so surreal
watching
> Reagan doing stuff like
> slapping Angie Dickinson around, but also the
Lee
> Marvin version had
> this weird offbeat vibe that I liked a
lot.
>
> --Dave Z.
>
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Nathan Cain"
> <IndieCrime@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > I recently watched the 1964 version of
the
> Killers, after having
> > watched the 1948 version with Lancaster
and
> Gardener. The original was
> > one of the best films I've ever seen,
and
> Gardener's character is, in
> > my mind, the most evil femme fatale to
ever
> saunter across a screen.
> > It was hardly surprising then that the remake
with
> Lee Marvin and John
> > Cassavetes didn't measure up. I think,
though,
> that Ronald Reagan
> > really ruined what could have been an all
right
> film. Was it just me,
> > or was he horribly miscast as a gangster? He
had
> no menace, no charm,
> > no anything at all. I just could not believe
him
> in that part. It
> > didn't help that the man looked exactly the
same
> in 1964 as he did in
> > 1984 when he was president. Watching the one
time
> leader of the free
> > world bitch slap Angie Dickinson was a
surreal
> experience.
> >
>
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 06 Jun 2008 EDT