Based on the novel by Vincent Patrick, The Pope of Greenwich Village is the story of two cousins who decide to go into crime to help fund their dreams of owning and running a restaurant. Directed by Stuart Rosenberg and screenplay by Vincent Patrick, the film is an unconventional crime-drama that follows two men trying to do whatever they can to get money as well as go head-on into the world of crime. Starring Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Darryl Hannah, Geraldine Page, Kenneth McMillan, Frank Vincent, M. Emmet Walsh, and Burt Young. The Pope of Greenwich Village is a witty and exhilarating film from Stuart Rosenberg.
The film follows two Italian-American cousins working and living at the Greenwich Village area of New York City as they dream of being successful and run their own restaurant where they go into the world to crime to fund that dream. It’s a film that is about two guys trying to do what they can yet they deal with so much adversity as well as the fact that one of them is a total screw-up and the other is cautious with a lot to deal with. Vincent Patrick’s screenplay explores the unique dynamic between Charlie (Mickey Rourke) and Paulie (Eric Roberts) as these two cousins who both want to succeed yet Charlie is someone that is trying to work hard and do things the right way. Paulie is a guy that likes to scheme and often put Charlie in trouble as the film begins with Charlie working as a maître d’ at a restaurant where Paulie is the waiter who gets Charlie in trouble and they both lose their job.
Paulie gets a tip about money stashed in a safe as he coerces Charlie to be involved as they’re joined by a locksmith/clock repairman in Barney (Kenneth McMillan) as their safecracker. The job succeeds except for an encounter with an undercover policeman (Jack Kehoe) that went wrong as Charlie then learns who the money belongs to which causes even more trouble. Adding to Charlie’s problems is that he is paying alimony to his ex-wife as they have a son and his girlfriend Diane (Daryl Hannah) is pregnant with his child as he is trying to do good things for her. Still, Charlie has a loyalty to Paulie which irks Diane since she knows that Paulie is an idiot and always find a way to mess things up. Even as Paulie would be confronted by hoods who work for the mobster Bed Bug Eddie (Burt Young) including Paulie’s Uncle Pete (Tony Musante) forcing Charlie to settle the matter.
Stuart Rosenberg’s direction does have bits of style yet much of it is straightforward as it is shot on location in New York City and in the Greenwich Village area with some of it shot in New Jersey. While Rosenberg would use a lot of wide shots that would create some unique compositions of the characters on a roof with certain city landmarks in the background. Much of the compositions Rosenberg creates are intimate with its close-ups and medium shots that includes a key meeting between detectives and the mother of the dead undercover officer as it’s a very chilling moment due to what happened to the undercover officer and his mother’s reaction. There are scenes of humor in the film yet much of it is dramatic with some stylish dialogue as it play into the environment of the film. Rosenberg’s direction also play into this world of the streets where it has its own rules and idea of justice as it’s something Charlie is fully aware of while Paulie is sort of ignorant about it thinking he can charm or bullshit his way out of a situation. The third act revolves around Paulie dealing with the consequences of who he stole the money from and the fallout of those consequences in which Charlie realizes what he has to do. Yet, there is a sense of conflict in Charlie in whether to help out someone that is family or to save himself. Overall, Rosenberg crafts a lively and engaging film about two cousins going to crime to fund their dream.
Cinematographer John Bailey does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with the richness of some of the daytime exterior scenes as well as the usage of low-key lights for Bed Bug’s hideout in its interiors and the usage of lights for some of the scenes set at night. Editor Robert Brown does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward to play into the drama and the few moments of suspense such as Paulie being confronted by his uncle. Production designer Paul Sylbert and set decorator George DeTitta Sr. do fantastic work with the look of the restaurant Charlie and Paulie work at in the film’s opening sequence as well as the former’s apartment and the place where Bed Bug works at.
Costume designer Joseph G. Aulisi does nice work with the costumes from the stylish suits that Charlie wears to some of the stylish clothes that Paulie wears. Sound mixer James Sabat does terrific work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of some of the locations. The film’s music by Dave Grusin does amazing work with the film’s soundtrack as it’s a mixture of jazz and pop to play into the energy of Greenwich Village while music supervisor Harry V. Lojewski provide a fun soundtrack that mixes pop and jazz that include music from Frank Sinatra.
The casting by Bonnie Timmerman is superb as it feature some notable small roles from Joe Grifasi as Jimmy the Cheese Man, Philip Bosco as Paulie’s father, Val Avery and M. Emmet Walsh as a couple of detectives, Tony Musante as Paulie’s Uncle Pete, Jack Kehoe as the undercover detective Bunky, and Frank Vincent as Bed Bug’s crew chief. Geraldine Page is incredible in her brief two-scene performance as Bunky’s mother Mrs. Ritter as a woman who is wondering what her son is doing and later cope with the aftermath as it’s just a very powerful performance. Burt Young is fantastic as Bed Bug Eddie as a local mob hood who is trying to maintain some power in his turf while wanting to find out who stole his money. Kenneth McMillan is excellent as Barney as locksmith/clock repairman who helps Charlie and Paulie as their safecracker where he understand what is going on as well as becoming uneasy about who the money belonged to where he knows something is about to go wrong.
Daryl Hannah is brilliant as Diane as Charlie’s girlfriend who is concerned about what Charlie is doing as well as seeing if he can provide a future for both of them and their child that is on the way. Finally, there’s the duo of Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts in phenomenal performances in their respective roles as the cousins Charlie and Paulie. Rourke provides a performance that is grounded while also having moments of anger and frustration into the obstacles he is given relating to his dreams of running his own restaurant and his relationship with Diane. Roberts’ performance is filled with charm and an energy that is insatiable to watch as someone that is often upbeat but also naïve about the ways of the world as Roberts is always fun to watch. Rourke and Roberts together have this chemistry that is powerful as well as having this sense of brotherhood as two guys who depend on each other no matter how fucked up one of them is.
The Pope of Greenwich Village is a remarkable film from Stuart Rosenberg that feature top-notch performances from Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts. Along with its great supporting cast, riveting story, dazzling visuals, and a fun soundtrack, it’s a film that explore the folly of ambition and crime as well as two cousins trying to do whatever they can to reach their dream. In the end, The Pope of Greenwich Village is a sensational film from Stuart Rosenberg.
Stuart Rosenberg Films: (Murder Inc.) – (Question 7) – Cool Hand Luke - (The April Fools) – (Move (1970 film)) – (WUSA) – (Pocket Money) – (The Laughing Policeman) – (The Drowning Pool) – (Voyage of the Damned) – (Love and Bullets) – (The Amityville Horror) – (Brubaker) – (Let’s Get Harry) – (My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys)
© thevoid99 2017
Based on the novel A Painted Devil by Thomas P. Cullinan, The Beguiled is the story of a wounded Union soldier who is taken in to an all-girl’s school in Mississippi during the American Civil War where he finds himself in serious trouble due to his infatuation with some of the women at the school. Directed by Don Siegel and screenplay by Albert Matz and Irene Kamp, the film is an exploration of temptation where a small school filled with women and young girls deal with a man in the house as their intentions to help him suddenly goes wrong. Starring Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman, and Jo Ann Harris. The Beguiled is an entrancing yet gripping film from Don Siegel.
Set during the American Civil War at a remote all-girl’s school in rural Mississippi, the film follows a wounded Union soldier who is found by a young girl and brought to the house where he is to tended and rested despite the reluctance of its headmistress. It is a film that play into the sense of temptation and the struggle to help someone even though he is the enemy and could possibly kill them. Though there are some good intentions at first from both sides, it is clear that things are going to go wrong due to not just temptations but also for the sense of longing and anguish. The film’s screenplay by Albert Matz and Irene Kamp, with re-writes by Claude Traverse, doesn’t just explore the reluctance of the school’s headmistress Martha Farnsworth (Geraldine Page) in taking in this wounded Union soldier in Corporal John “McBee” McBurney (Clint Eastwood) but also how his arrival seems to disrupt a certain status quo in the school that is kind of isolated from everything else.
Throughout the course of the story, there are glimpse of who Farnsworth and McBurney really are through flashbacks as the former seems to have something as it relates to her reluctance in bringing McBurney in while the latter is shown as someone who isn’t he says he claims to be. Still, he manages to charm one of the teachers in Edwina Dabney (Elizabeth Hartman) who is reluctant to express her feelings due to her own history with men while one of the school’s older students in Carol (Jo Ann Harris) wants him for herself. Though Farnsworth initially wants to turn McBurney in to the Confederates, she would eventually see his worth as it eventually leads to a very complicated web of lust and temptation. It would lead into this very chilling third act where it is about power but also anguish and regret over what had happened. There is also this theme about innocence loss as it relates to the young girl Amelia (Pamelyn Ferdin) who would be the one to find the wounded McBurney as she thinks he’s a good man yet would see some of the darkest aspects of humanity.
Don Siegel’s direction is definitely intoxicating in terms of its Southern Gothic setting with its evocative usage of super-imposed dissolves and dream-like tone. With many of its exteriors shot on location near Baton Rouge, Louisiana with interiors shot at soundstages at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California. The film does play into this world of the American South during the Civil War where it is quite tense but also has something that is quaint in its location where these women are in a world that is completely isolating from the chaos of war though it’s happening a few miles away. Siegel’s usage of close-ups are quite intense as it relates to the drama as well as in the suspense where it would come to ahead for its third act. The direction would also have these moments where Siegel would create these flashbacks that play into the past of both McBurney and Farnsworth as it is quite dream-like but also unsettling. One notable sequence during the film’s second act involves a surreal dream sequence as it relates to temptation.
The sequence also has a little moment where it is also quite taboo for its time which adds to this air of surrealism but also would lead to a key plot-point that would change the film’s tone into something much darker. Some of the camera movements that Siegel makes with the crane shots definitely have an air of beauty from the way he shoots scenes on the roof of the house overlooking the landscape to a shot directly at the stairs. There are also moments in the film that are unsettling during the third act but also would have an air of innocence in one sequence relating to Amelia as it goes back to what she was doing at the beginning of the film. Another aspect of the film that is unique which also plays to its dream-like tone is the usage of voiceovers as it showcases the thoughts and temptations of the characters and how it would undo them leading to this very intense climax which is really a battle of dominance. Overall, Siegel crafts a very eerie and ravishing film about a Union soldier taking advantage of the hospitality of women at an all-girl’s school in the South.
Cinematographer Bruce Surtees does amazing work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of sepia-drenched film stock for the film’s opening and closing shots as well as the usage of candle lights and natural lighting for some of the interior scenes set at night. Editor Carl Pingitore does excellent work with the editing with its stylish usage of jump-cuts and dissolves to help play into the drama and suspense. Production designer Ted Haworth, with set decorator John P. Austin and art director Alexander Golitzen, does brilliant work with the look of the many rooms inside the house as well as some of the exteriors of the house where Farnsworth runs her school.
Costume designer Helen Colvin does nice work with the costumes in the way the women dress during those times as well as the ragged clothes of McBurney. The sound work of John L. Mack and Walden O. Watson is terrific for some of the natural elements presented on location with a few sound mixes to help intensify some of the suspenseful moments in the film. The film’s music by Lalo Schifrin is fantastic for its orchestral-based score that is calm at times but also eerie and unsettling which help play into the drama and suspense as it is one of the film’s major highlights.
The casting by Robert J. Lasanka is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Charles Briggs as a Confederate captain, George Dunn as a Confederate soldier, Matt Clark as a Confederate militia, and Patrick Culliton as Farnsworth’s brother from the flashbacks. Other noteworthy small roles include Pattye Mattick and Darleen Carr in their respective roles as the teenage students Janie and Doris who don’t like McBurney because he’s a Yankee while Melody Thomas and Peggy Drier are wonderful in their respective roles as the young students Abigail and Lizzie. Pamelyn Ferdin is excellent as Amelia as a young girl who would be the one to discover McBurney as she befriends him while trying to comprehend some of the things he does as a man. Mae Mercer is brilliant as the African-American maid/slave Hallie who is charmed by McBurney but also becomes aware of how troubling his presence is as she isn’t sure if some of the things he says are true.
Jo Ann Harris is fantastic as the 17-year old seductress Carol as a young woman with a crush on McBurney as she would do whatever she can to claim McBurney for herself as well as cause trouble. Elizabeth Hartman is amazing as Edwina Dabney as a virginal teacher that is groomed to become the school’s headmistress as she becomes torn for her love for McBurney and devotion to the school as it is a very heart-wrenching performance from Hartman. Geraldine Page is incredible as Martha Farnsworth as a school headmistress who is trying to maintain order in her school as she is reluctant to heal McBurney where she is intrigued by him as it relates to the loss she carries as it’s a very dark but compelling performance from Page. Finally, there’s Clint Eastwood in a phenomenal performance as Corporal John “McBee” McBurney as a wounded Union soldier that is tended to as he charms the women around him yet would cause trouble with his presence as well as his own desires as a man as it is a very dark performance from Eastwood.
The Beguiled is a tremendous film from Don Siegel that features great performances from Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, and Elizabeth Hartman. Along with a brilliant supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, a gripping story, and a chilling music score, the film is definitely an intense suspense-drama that explores temptation and anguish during the American Civil War. In the end, The Beguiled is a sensational film from Don Siegel.
Related: The Beguiled (2017 film)
Don Siegel Films: (Star in the Night) – (Hitler Lives) – (The Verdict (1946 film)) – (Night unto Night) – (The Big Steal) – (The Duel at Silver Creek) – (No Time for Flowers) – (Count the Hours) – (China Venture) – Riot in Cell Block 11 – (Private Hell 36) – (The Blue and the Gold) – (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) – (Crime in the Streets) – (Spanish Affair) – (Baby Face Nelson) – (The Lineup) – (The Gun Runners) – (Edge of Eternity) – (Hound-Dog Man) – (Flaming Star) – (Hell is for Heroes) – (The Killers (1964 film)) – (The Hanged Man) – (Stranger on the Run) – (Madigan) – (Coogan’s Bluff) – (Death of a Gunfighter) – (Two Mules for Sister Sara) – Dirty Harry – (Charley Varrick) – (The Black Windmill) – (The Shootist) – (Telefon) – (Escape from Alcatraz) – (Rough Cut) – (Jinxed!)
© thevoid99 2017
Written and directed by Woody Allen, Interiors is the story about three adult sisters dealing with the separation of their parents as they have a reaction towards this separation. Inspired by the works of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, the film is a full-on drama that explores the world of marriage and family. Starring Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page, Mary Beth Hurt, E.G. Marshall, Maureen Stapleton, Kristin Griffith, Richard Jordan, and Sam Waterston. Interiors is a compelling yet mesmerizing film from Woody Allen.
The film is the story about three women who are dealing with the separation of their parents as it relates to their very artistic yet mentally-unstable mother. For the older sisters in Renata (Diane Keaton) and Joey (Mary Beth Hurt), both would have a different reaction towards the news as they have to deal with their mother Eve (Geraldine Page) who is known for being an interior decorator but is someone who is very aloof and is a bit of a control freak. Notably as Eve is having a very hard time dealing with her separation from Arthur (E.G. Marshall) while the youngest daughter Flyn (Kristin Griffith) is away working on a movie as an actress. When Arthur returns from his trip to Greece, he arrives with a woman named Pearl (Maureen Stapleton) that would shake the foundation of the entire family as well as some the attributes that Pearl carries that the women realize that their mother never had.
Woody Allen’s screenplay is a major departure from his previous work which was comedy where he goes into a full-on drama. In exploring the complexities of family and marriage, he also reveals how fragile this family dynamic is where it’s sort of told in a non-linear fashion early on where Renata is talking to a psychiatrist about her mother and how troubled she is. There’s also some tension between Renata and Joey where the two seem to resent each other as they often have to watch their mother after a suicide attempt yet neither of them seem capable of taking care of her as they’re busy with their own lives. Renata has become obsessed with death as she’s suffering from writer’s block while her husband Frederick (Richard Jordan) is dealing with negative reactions towards his own book. Joey is a woman who has no idea what she wants to do as she is more attached to her mother though there’s also a sense of resentment as her husband Mike (Sam Waterston) has a very testy relationship with Eve.
When Pearl is introduced in the film’s second half, there is a bit of a tonal shift of sorts where Pearl is a woman who is more open with her feelings and is very kind to people around her. While she is admittedly not in tune with politics or art, she makes up for it with the fact that she does know things and is also someone who is full of charm. Plus, she makes Arthur very happy where he can be more outgoing yet it causes tension between himself and Joey. While Renata isn’t happy about the news either, she wants to support her father while knowing that Eve will not handle it very well at all as she is still clinging to the idea that she and Arthur will get back together.
Allen’s direction in the film definitely recalls a lot of the compositional style and framing of Ingmar Bergman. While Allen does infuse some of his own ideas into the shooting, he does maintain this air of melancholia and dread into the drama where something is going to happen. Yet, he takes it very slow to showcase a family that is unraveling through these changes as well as the fact that there’s a woman in that family who is becoming more detached and impossible to deal with. The first half of the film is a completely straightforward drama where there are elements of melodrama as Allen infuses a sense of coldness that is lurking. Even in the framing of where he puts his actors in a frame where he will shoot from afar at times while keeping the camera still for most of the time.
In its second half, things do get a bit warmer when the character of Pearl arrives as she liven things up a bit with her personality. Plus, her presence including a party scene with the entire family minus Eve features the only use of music in the film that is played on location. Still, there is a sense of dramatic tension in the way both Renata and Joey react towards Pearl as it will play to some huge moment. Even in the film’s very emotional penultimate sequence where Allen showcases not just all of the resentment and anger that had been looming towards Eve. There’s also a sense of sadness in how detached Eve was with her children and with Arthur though the latter does love her deeply but admits she was impossible to deal with. Overall, Allen creates a very haunting yet evocative drama about family.
Cinematographer Gordon Willis does brilliant work with the film‘s photography where it‘s mostly shot in interior settings to underscore the mood in some of its locations while using the scenes at the beach house to play up the film‘s melancholia with its use of low-key lights and natural setting for some of its exterior scenes. Editor Ralph Rosenblum does excellent work with the editing to create very steady yet methodical cuts to underplay the drama as well as keeping things low-key to create some effective moments in the drama. Production designer Mel Bourne, along with set decorators Mario Mazzola and Daniel Robert, does amazing work with the set pieces from the apartments that Renata and Joey live in to Eve’s interior decorating work place and the family beach house.
Costume designer Joel Schumacher does nice work with the costumes where a lot of the clothes from the characters doesn‘t have any sense of color where it is intentionally bland with the exception of Pearl who wears clothes that are colorful to match her warm personality. The sound work of Nathan Boxer is superb for the sense of intimacy that occurs in many of the film’s location setting from the sounds of the waves in the beach house scenes to the more intense moment in a meeting between Arthur and Eve at a church.
The casting by Juliet Taylor is fantastic for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small roles from Kristin Griffith as the youngest sister in the actress Flyn who is often away and somewhat oblivious to what is happening while Richard Jordon is terrific as Renata’s husband Frederick who is dealing with his failings as a writer as he finds himself attracted towards Flyn. Sam Waterston is wonderful as Joey’s husband Mike who is often frustrated towards Eve as he is also dealing with Joey’s sense of aimlessness. Maureen Stapleton is amazing as Pearl as this woman who is so full of warmth and love as she is someone that likes to have fun while being gracious towards the people around her. E.G. Marshall is excellent as Arthur as a man who does love Eve but feels overwhelmed by her behavior as he seeks to escape where he falls for Pearl as he’s eager to find something in his life that isn’t complicated with the support of his daughters.
Mary Beth Hurt is brilliant as the middle sister Joey who is troubled by her mother’s declining state while feeling lost in her role in life as she takes it out on Renata while becoming more angry by Pearl’s presence as well as her mother’s lack of love towards her. Diane Keaton is phenomenal as the eldest daughter Renata who is dealing with a troubled marriage and her mother’s mental illness as she tries to comprehend everything while trying to keep everything grounded including her own relationship with Joey. Finally, there’s Geraldine Page in a remarkable performance as Eve as she brings this sense of aloofness to a woman detached from reality as she believes Arthur will come back to her only to fall prey to the truth as Page has this haunting quality in some of the quieter moments to display a woman who is becoming more lost in the real world.
Interiors is a ravishing yet intense drama from Woody Allen that features a great ensemble cast that includes Geraldine Page, Diane Keaton, E.G. Marshall, Maureen Stapleton, and Mary Beth Hurt. While it’s a film that is definitely different from Allen’s more light-hearted comedic work, it is still a very engrossing film that explores the world of family and how fragile it can be. It’s also a fascinating ode to the works of Ingmar Bergman where Allen is able to put his own spin on Bergman’s style. In the end, Interiors is an exquisite film from Woody Allen.
Woody Allen Films: What's Up Tiger Lily? - Take the Money and Run - Bananas - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) - Sleeper - Love and Death - Annie Hall - Manhattan - Stardust Memories - A Midsummer’s Night Sex Comedy - Zelig - Broadway Danny Rose - The Purple Rose of Cairo - Hannah & Her Sisters - Radio Days - September - Another Woman - New York Stories: Oedipus Wrecks - Crimes & Misdemeanors - Alice - Shadows & Fog - Husbands & Wives - Manhattan Murder Mystery - Don’t Drink the Water - Bullets Over Broadway - Mighty Aphrodite - Everyone Says I Love You - Deconstructing Harry - Celebrity - Sweet & Lowdown - Small Time Crooks - The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - Hollywood Ending - Anything Else - Melinda & Melinda - Match Point - Scoop - Cassandra’s Dream - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Whatever Works - You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - Midnight in Paris - To Rome with Love - Blue Jasmine - Magic in the Moonlight - Irrational Man - (Cafe Society)
The Auteurs #24: Woody Allen Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4
© thevoid99 2013
