Point blank 19676/20/2023 ![]() ![]() But at times, it feels a touch self-conscious – a box of directorial tricks employed to compensate for an occasional lack of real substance elsewhere. His unashamedly Godardian smash-cuts and off-kilter angles add style and there are moments of breathtaking visual creativity, from the not-quite-freeze-frames over the opening credits to a series of confrontational close-ups when things turn violent. And Angie Dickinson is equally magnificent as his squeeze Chris, simultaneously remote and needy, brittle and brash.īoorman’s flashy direction hasn’t aged quite so well. Marvin was never better, the ruthless personification of late ’60s bulldog cool, all snarling quips and sharp suits. Walker (Lee Marvin) wants revenge on the hoods who left him for dead, so he goes out and kills them, one by one. The story – from Donald E Westlake’s frequently adapted novel ‘The Hunter’ – is magnificently simple. Described as ‘Japanese-Alpine’, the property was luxurious enough to have been rented by The Beatles during their 1966 tour.British director John Boorman’s 1967 Hollywood debut (he was hired off the back of Dave Clark Five vehicle ‘Catch us if you Can’, amazingly) is a slippery beast. With two members of the mysterious Organisation out of the way, Walker turns his attention to Brewster ( Carroll O’Connor), who arrives in L A at Santa Monica Airport.īrewster’s extensive ranch-style estate is a private home at 7655 Curson Terrace, on a bluff overlooking Hollywood Boulevard, with fantastic views across the city. ![]() There’s a sniper waiting on the Gothic Revival 4th Street Viaduct immediately to the north – but Walker is naturally prepared for this. Having become structurally unsound, though, the bridge has been demolished. You might remember this as the spot where the giant ants emerge in Them! or the site of the car race in Grease.īuilt in 1932 and two thirds of a mile long, the 6th Street Viaduct was the youngest of the monumental bridges crossing the river here, and possibly the most impressive – even being used as a landing strip in S.W.A.T. Walker is sent – ostensibly to collect his money – at the storm drain of the concrete bed of the LA River, east of downtown, beneath the 6th Street Viaduct. The entrance has unsurprisingly been remodelled but the gleaming monolith remains unmistakeable. The monumental 27-story office block of Reese's boss, Carter ( Lloyd Bochner), only just built in 1964 and still towering over the south side of LA's Miracle Mile at 5670 Wilshire Boulevard between Masselin Avenue and Hauser Boulevard, Midtown almost opposite the La Brea Tar Pits. Look out for a very young Sid Haig ( Rob Zombie’s Captain Spaulding) as one of Reese’s guards, and Kathleen Freeman ( The Blues Brothers’ Penguin and Singin' In The Rain's elocution teacher) as a socialite at the fundraiser. Point Blank location: the well-guarded penthouse of double-crossing Mal Reese: Huntley Hotel, 2nd Street, Santa Monica Point Blank (1967) Parents Guide Add to guide Showing all 8 items Jump to: Certification Sex & Nudity (4) Violence & Gore (1) Profanity (1) Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking (1) Frightening & Intense Scenes (1) Certification Edit Sex & Nudity Mild 11 of 23 found this mild In one scene Chris (a woman) is naked in bed with a man seen mainly from the back. ![]() The novel is set entirely in San Francisco, but for the film, Walker’s quest for the $93,000 owed to him, leads down the coast to Los Angeles. Walker is shot – but is what follows a revenge drama, a ghost story or a dying man’s dream? Trips are understandably popular so, if you want to avoid disappointment, best book ahead. Despite the prison's fame, few inmates were household names, though celebrity guests included "Machine Gun" Kelly, Robert Stroud (the ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’), and of course, Al Capone.īy 1963, when the concept of confinement without hope of reformation had become outdated and the cost of maintaining the island prohibitive, the prison was closed.Īlcatraz is now a national park and can be visited by boat from Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. The island functioned as a Federal prison, in effect little more than a dumping ground for problematic convicts, from 1934. It’s been followed by Don Siegel‘s Escape From Alcatraz, with Clint Eastwood, Murder In the First and, of course, Michael Bay’s The Rock. Point Blank was the first feature to be shot on the island ( Birdman of Alcatraz, made in 1962, was filmed on studio sets). It kicks off with the double cross and shooting of Walker ( Lee Marvin) during a money drop in the exercise yard of a deserted Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Not the greatest moneyspinner on release, but with its surreal flourishes and carefully controlled colour scheme, John Boorman’s dreamlike thriller was hugely influential, not least on the work of Nicolas Roeg, and has gained a deserved cult status over the years.
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