
-An Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Paul Schrader. I'm a huge Schrader fan, so I relish any opportunity to hear him speak about his work. Once he starts in about HARDCORE being a variation on THE SEARCHERS , I'm fully in and hooked by what he has to say about the film and his memories of it. His story of meeting George C. Scott for the first time about the movie is fascinating and so is the whole track.
-An Audio Commentary with Film Historians Eddy Friedfeld, Lee Pfeiffer, and Paul Scrabo.
-An Isolated Score Track of Jack Nitzsche's music for the film.
-Original Theatrical Trailer
-Original Theatrical Trailer
You can purchase HARDCORE directly from Twilight Time here:
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/hardcore-blu-ray/
TONY ROME (1967; Gordon Douglas)
As TONY ROME opens, we hear Nancy Sinatra singing the title tune about her father's character. Let's sample the lyrics shall we:
Mothers lock your daughters in
It's too late to talk to them.
'Cause Tony Rome is out and about
And Tony Rome'll get 'em
If you don't watch out.
Tony Rome'll get 'em
If you don't watch out.
So forgive me, but isn't it even the tiniest bit creepy to have your daughter sing about you in this way? I'm implying absolutely nothing other than that it seems a bit in weird taste. That said, the whole movie is thrown a touch off kilter by the fact that Sinatra himself was about fifty-two at the time it was made and the Tony Rome character seems to have been written originally as a younger man. I couldn't get my hands on Marvin H. Albert's source novel - Miami Mayhem - to verify, but this would appear to be a classic case of an older actor playing a part that they are too old for. So of course, most of the ladies in the movie are almost inexplicably drawn to Rome, despite him being waaaay older and frumpier than Frank was in his prime. Frank also looks older than he was by a good ten years and it'd be easy to credit that to the kind of living he did. Jill St. John (DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) is sort of the main romantic interest in the movie and she was close to thirty-five years Frank's junior at the time. Anyway, not to dwell on that aspect of the movie, but it always has been something that tends to take me out and think about the main actor as a movie star and not the character. That said, I still enjoy TONY ROME as a film and a somewhat traditional detective story. It resembles a copy of a copy of something like THE BIG SLEEP, with Rome getting entangled with a rich family via one of the daughters and her questionable behavior. I always kind of enjoy watching a story like this unfold wherein the private dick just keeps peeling away layer after layer and new angle after new angle. Sinatra is just sarcastic enough to play the world weary shamus part pretty well
and make him affable enough. As much as TONY ROME is a good time and it features the likes of Richard Conte, Gena Rowlands, Simon Oakland and other recognizables, I find myself being a bigger fan of its follow-up - LADY IN CEMENT. This may or may not have something to do with Raquel Welch being the female primary in that one, but there's more to it than that. In LADY, Frank is back as Tony Rome, but he is somehow more flippant and the movie plays slightly more tongue in cheek than its predecessor. It's like Frank wanted to acknowledge his age a little more this time and the movie feels better for it overall. Richard Conte returns and that's always a plus.
You can purchase this TONY ROME double from Twilight Time here:
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/tony-rome-lady-in-cement/
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/hardcore-blu-ray/
TONY ROME (1967; Gordon Douglas)
As TONY ROME opens, we hear Nancy Sinatra singing the title tune about her father's character. Let's sample the lyrics shall we:
Mothers lock your daughters in
It's too late to talk to them.
'Cause Tony Rome is out and about
And Tony Rome'll get 'em
If you don't watch out.
Tony Rome'll get 'em
If you don't watch out.

and make him affable enough. As much as TONY ROME is a good time and it features the likes of Richard Conte, Gena Rowlands, Simon Oakland and other recognizables, I find myself being a bigger fan of its follow-up - LADY IN CEMENT. This may or may not have something to do with Raquel Welch being the female primary in that one, but there's more to it than that. In LADY, Frank is back as Tony Rome, but he is somehow more flippant and the movie plays slightly more tongue in cheek than its predecessor. It's like Frank wanted to acknowledge his age a little more this time and the movie feels better for it overall. Richard Conte returns and that's always a plus.
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/tony-rome-lady-in-cement/
2 comments:
It's funny how having kids can totally change the way you look at a film. I watched The Hills Have Eyes right after my first son was born and some of the scenes I laughed at before now made my breath stop.
Absolutely! Pretty sure that the next time I rewatch that one (which will be soon), I'll have the same reaction.
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