My Week of Movie Watching

Detour – The legendary “First Noir” from 1945. Small-time piano player (Tom Neal) on his way west to meet his girl picks up the hitch-hiker from Hell (Ann Savage), and is bullied by her into a scam to bilk an old dying man out of his fortune. It has been many years since I saw this, and I was struck this time by just how crudely drawn the two lead characters are. Neal’s character is such a milksop, and Savages such a shrieking ball-breaker, that it took me a bit out of the movie. After a while, you think, man, just dump this woman. Detour is important in that it basically sets the template for the weak Noir heroes to come, but really, Noir was done a lot better later on. Recommended as a historical curio only - Not so much as a stand-alone viewing experience.

California Split – Robert Altman’s great 1974 examination of habitual gamblers. Elliot Gould is a wild full-time gambler. George Segal is a magazine writer who likes the action, and is in deep debt to his bookie. When they meet, gravitational pull takes over, and they are really not apart for the rest of the movie. This is really a brilliant film, as it is immersed in the jangled, over-caffeinated world of the gambling junkie. These people are the type who come out of a gambling game and are surprised to see that it is now the next morning. I love that the film builds not to a loss, but to a big win – Which somehow feels hollow to the winner. A must-see.

Les Cousins – Claude Chabrol’s second film takes the two leads of his first, Le Beau Serge, and essentially flips them. Charles (Gerald Blaine) is a serious, bland young man who comes to Paris to study, and live with his charismatic, bohemian cousin Paul (Jean-Claude Brialy). Things go well until a woman (Juliette Mayneil) comes between them. I have to say that this one is a sort of a miss for me. I liked the two leads, and I liked the relationship between Charles and Mayneil’s Florence, but I was unclear on what Paul’s motivation was for getting involved with her. There is also an older character who is a hanger-on to Paul, and I was never sure who he is supposed to be. A pimp, perhaps? Some good things, but overall, not a recommendation.