MICKEY ONE (1965) TCM 8/9/10

[Dewey1960]

A last minute heads up for MICKEY ONE, the enigmatic 1965 Arthur Penn film starring Warren Beatty. TCM will be airing this oddity on Monday, August 9. Never available on DVD, it's one of the films on my upcoming NOT NECESSARILY NOIR program at the Roxie and probably the American film that most closely resembles a film from the French new wave.

When watching it, it’s almost impossible not to think of Francois Truffaut’s SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (an adaptation of the American paperback writer David Goodis’ novel “Down There”) which it resembles in many, many ways. Beatty is the existential hero, a fringe nightclub comic who wanders helplessly into the path of serious trouble. Both films speak the same dopey, sweat-stained poetry of film noir, primarily through the mood of the photography and the scattered nature of the narrative.

Truffaut had already been courted as the director for the film BONNIE AND CLYDE (which airs on TCM later tomorrow night as well) around this time and probably would have directed it had the opportunity to make FARHENHEIT 451 not come up. Beatty, who was to star in and produce the upcoming gangster epic, then sought out Godard who passed because he didn’t trust Hollywood. Ultimately it would be Arthur Penn, the director of MICKEY ONE who would get the job.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I'd heard of this one, but have not had the chance to see it till now. Thanks for the heads up.

[jdb1]

I cannot bear Warren Beatty. He is every inch the obnoxious kid brother. He is the most self-regarding and overrated "talent" ever. He parlayed his overweening sycophantic satyriasis into a career, and consequently to me he embodies everything that's wrong with Hollywood.

I think any one of the films mentioned here or being run today would have been twice as good with actors other than Beatty in the leads. The concept of an entire day of Warren Beatty films gives me the williwaws.

[In case you didn't pick it up from the above -- I loathe the guy.]

Thanks for listening.

[knitwit45]

Breathe, Judith, breathe. Tomorrow IS another day.....

[Dewey1960]

Little Miss Sunshine sez: [In case you didn't pick it up from the above -- I loathe the guy.]

You should hear what he says about you!

[jdb1]

Little Miss Sunshine sez: [In case you didn't pick it up from the above -- I loathe the guy.]

You should hear what he says about you!

Oh, right, I fogot. Nice girls don't have opinions, especially negative ones. Especially negative ones about men. And here I am thinking this is the 21st Century, and those "ring-a-ding-ding" days are over. Silly-billy me.

Obviously, I need a refresher in proper female behavior. What time is Mad Men on?

[srowley75]

You could always wait and revel in Ishtar when it comes on this evening.

[Dewey1960]

Oh, right, I fogot. Nice girls don't have opinions, especially negative ones.

Judith, those aren't opinions. They're pronouncements. As if statements of fact. And they're almost
always negative. You take all the fun out of discussing movies.

[jdb1]

If I have negative opinions about some actors or movies, I would have thought I'd be free to express them here, of all places. I express just as many positive opinions about these subjects -- or maybe I'm not using the right adjectives when I call something "enjoyable," or "excellent" or even "terrific" or refer to an actor as "talented" or "wonderful."

A lively and cinema-savvy group of people should be able to have a wide spectrum of opinions on the subject, not all of them compatible, and be able as well to discuss them civilly. I was not attacking your taste in actors, Elliott, I was expressing my personal opinion of someone who I don't care for as an actor, and who, incidentally, I think is not a very nice person. Sometimes it's hard to separate the two when the celebrity himself is the one who has melded them. I feel strongly about this particular person, and I said so, accordingly.

I am under the impression that SSO is not an academic journal, nor a law-making body. Therefore, I would have thought it understood that everything expressed here is an opinion. At least, IMO, that's how I thought it was.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I recorded it. Hopefully, I'll have the opportunity to check it out soon and report back.

Another of Beatty's films I've wanted to see for some time is The Parallax View (1974), showing late tonight. Anybody got the scoop on that one?

[knitwit45]

Ark said:

Hopefully, I'll have the opportunity to check it out soon and report back.

Watch it while you do the 2:00 feeding.... my pastor told my husband "volunteer to take the 2 am feeding...you'll look like a real hero, and it's the first one they give up"...

[Dewey1960]

Mr. Brand-New-Papa-Ark sez: Another of Beatty's films I've wanted to see for some time is The Parallax View (1974), showing late tonight. Anybody got the scoop on that one?

One of my favorite films from the 70s, PARALLAX VIEW is one of the most exciting political thrillers ever. And of course, Beatty is brilliant (as usual) in it. As are supporting players Paula Prentiss, Hume Cronyn, and William Daniels. One of director Alan Pakula's best! Highly, highly recommended!
[youtube][/youtube]

[klondike]

I'll second that motion, Elliot!
I've always held The Parallax View in high regard (even after I looked up what the word meant), and feel it stands up well even now, after our "view" of politics has become so much more sophisticated, and jaded.
Even though this gem in the rough did purloin the self-defense with a fly-fishing rod plot-device right outta Out of The Past (shame, shame ).
Fitting, then, I guess, that so many other thrillers have shoplifted nuts & bolts from Parallax: like Flashpoint, Winter Kill, Arlington Road, Wag the Dog, and most recently & unabashedly - Viewpoint . . . not to mention TV dramas like "Prison Break" & "24".

[Dewey1960]

Klondike said: Even though this gem in the rough did purloin the self-defense with a fly-fishing rod plot-device right outta Out of The Past.
The best borrow from the best, you might say. You could also say that it (PV) takes more than just a little from THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, with its intense depictions of brainwashing and political assassinations. PARALLAX VIEW is very strong stuff, held together so tightly by Beatty's darkly vulnerable performance. All in all, yesterday was quite a red letter day on TCM, what with PARALLAX VIEW, MICKEY ONE, SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS and BONNIE AND CLYDE in the line-up!