Directed and starring Clint Eastwood and written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack, Pale Rider is the story of a mysterious gunslinger who arrives in a mining town to help the innocent deal with the corrupt people running the mines. The film is a western that involves a man who is quite religious as he tries to help those in need of saving in a world that is quite corrupt. Also starring Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Chris Penn, Richard Dysart, Sydney Penny, Richard Kiel, Doug McGrath, and John Russell. Pale Rider is a rich yet eerie film from Clint Eastwood.
The film revolves around a small community living nearby a creek in Northern California where they’re being harassed and attacked by thugs working for a businessman as the community get unexpected help from a mysterious drifter who is also a preacher. It’s a film that play into this struggle of a group of people trying to find gold in their own land nearby a small town that is largely owned by this mining businessman. Though this community have a legal claim to the land, the businessman hires thugs to try and get rid of them until they meet trouble in this mysterious drifter known only as the Preacher (Clint Eastwood). The film’s screenplay by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack is straightforward in its narrative while not doing much to reveal the identity of the Preacher other than he arrived as if he answered the prayer of this 14-year old girl named Megan (Sydney Penny) whose dog was killed by thugs during an attack.
When a man named Hull Barrett (Michael Moriarty) goes to town for supplies and to pay off some money he owes to its merchant, he is attacked by those same thugs until the Preacher comes in. It would set the story in motion as the Preacher would be a source of inspiration where he doesn’t kill anyone at first while remaining very little about who he was. Even Megan’s mother Sarah Wheeler (Carrie Snodgress) has her suspicions but eventually warms up to him once he shows his worth and willingness to stand up to the thugs who work for the businessman Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart). Adding to this growing conflict between LaHood and the small community of settlers is the fact that LaHood is trying to take control as well as embark on a new venture that does more harm to the land than good through strip mining.
Clint Eastwood’s direction is mesmerizing for not just its setting but also for the haunting tone of the film as it relates to the Preacher’s mysterious presence. Shot on various locations in Idaho such as the Boulder Mountains and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area as well a few scenes shot at Tuolumne County in California. Eastwood sets the film at a time in the mid to late 19th Century during the final days of the California Gold Rush as Eastwood would shoot on locations around creeks and canyons to play into the life of settlers as well as what they do when they go to this small town with some caution due to the fact that LaHood’s men are lurking wanting to cause trouble and get the settlers out for good. Eastwood’s usage of the wide shots play into the vast look of the locations including the land that LaHood’s worker led by his son Josh (Chris Penn) is watching over as it showcases this piece of land being stripped by these hydraulic water pipes that play into this idea of modernism as there’s a scene of the Preacher looking at this with immense disgust. Eastwood would also use medium shots and close-ups to help characters interact with one another including a tense scene where the Preacher meets LaHood for the first time in LaHood’s office as the former is given an offer by the latter.
The direction also have these elements of mysticism as it relates to the Preacher where is seen in a shot at a certain position in the frame and then when it goes in the same shot on that location, he’s not there. It also play into Megan’s need for salvation although she is unsure if the Preacher would really do good as there’s still a lot of anger towards LaHood and his thugs. The film’s third act relates to the arrival of a corrupt marshal in Stockburn (John Russell) who is hired to take care of business as he is aware of the Preacher but isn’t sure if he remembers him. The film’s climax with Eastwood’s careful approach compositions and suspense help play into the excitement of the film as well as this sense of justice where it is about one man versus an order of greed and corruption. Overall, Eastwood creates an evocative yet exhilarating film about a drifter helping out settlers fight off a gang of thugs.
Cinematographer Bruce Surtees does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its emphasis on natural lighting for some of the exteriors in the daytime and some of its sunny look to the usage of grey skies for the scenes during the winter as well as low-key lighting for scenes set at night and in the interior settings. Editor Joel Cox does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some rhythm cuts for some of the action scenes. Production designer Edward C. Carfagno and set decorator Ernie Bishop do amazing work with the look of the sets from the design of the town to the strip mining camp that Josh LaHood runs.
Costume designer Deborah Hopper does nice work with the costumes as it is largely straightforward to play into the look of the times with the exception of LaHood who is often wearing a suit. Sound mixer C. Darin Knight does superb work with the sound as it is straightforward with some textures into the way some of the locations sound such as the strip mining camp and in the film’s climax. The film’s music by Lennie Niehaus is wonderful for its orchestral score that play into the air of bombast and eerie string arrangements as well as some cadence drum sounds for the film’s climax.
The casting by Phyllis Huffman is terrific as it feature some notable small roles from Billy Drago as one of Stockburn’s deputies, Doug McGrath as a settler named Spider Conway, Jeffrey Weisman and Chuck Lafont as Conway’s teenage sons, Charles Hallahan and Marvin J. McIntyre as a couple of LaHood’s goons, Fran Ryan and Richard Hamilton as local merchants who help the settlers as they don’t like LaHood but are afraid of him, and Richard Kiel as a gigantic hood of LaHood in Club who doesn’t say much yet his presence alone is intimidating. Chris Penn is fantastic as LaHood’s son Josh as a young cowboy who help take charge of the thugs and the mining where he tries to intimidate the Preacher only to get his comeuppance. Sydney Penny is excellent as Megan Wheeler as a 14-year old girl who prays for help and is fascinated by the Preacher to the point of infatuation. John Russell is superb as Marshal Stockburn as a notoriously corrupt marshal that is known for taking care of business as well as being extremely skilled in killing people where he is bewildered by the mention of the Preacher.
Richard Dysart is terrific as Coy LaHood as a mining businessman that wants to have control of all lands nearby just to make money by any means necessary as he also wants to intimidate the settlers any way he can. Michael Moriarty is brilliant as Hull Barrett as a settler who is trying to mine for gold to have a decent life as he also pines for Sarah Wheeler and befriends the Preacher whom he sees as a source of inspiration. Carrie Snodgress is amazing as Sarah Wheeler as a woman who is suspicious about the Preacher and his motives as she is also wondering if he is really a man or something else. Finally, there’s Clint Eastwood in an incredible performance as the Preacher as a mysterious man who wears a preacher’s cloth as he helps out Barrett and Wheeler with their troubles while also not being intimidated by everyone by playing it cool and knowing when to strike as it is Eastwood at his best.
Pale Rider is a phenomenal film from Clint Eastwood. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, an eerie music soundtrack, and a compelling story. It’s a film that play into the many tropes expected in a western while showcasing a darker side into the world of corruption, greed, and the fallacy of modernism. In the end, Pale Rider is a sensational film from Clint Eastwood.
Clint Eastwood Films: (Play Misty for Me) – High Plains Drifter - (Breezy) - (The Eiger Sanction) - (The Outlaw Josey Wales) - (The Gauntlet) - (Bronco Billy) - (Firefox) - (Honkytonk Man) – Sudden Impact - (Heartbreak Ridge) - (Bird) - (White Hunter Black Heart) - (The Rookie) – Unforgiven - (A Perfect World) - (The Bridges of Madison County) - (Absolute Power) - (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) - (True Crime) - (Space Cowboys) - (Blood Work) - (Mystic River) – Million Dollar Baby - Flags of Our Fathers - Letters from Iwo Jima - Changeling - Gran Torino) – (Invictus) – (Hereafter) – (J. Edgar) – (Jersey Boys) – American Sniper - (Sully) – (The 15:17 to Paris) – (The Mule (2019 film))
© thevoid99 2018
Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 6/8/05 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.
Based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski, Being There is the story about a simpleton gardener with no background and no past as he encounters the wife of a political figure as his colleagues mistake him for someone who could be a political adviser. Directed by Hal Ashby and screenplay by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones, the film is a continuation of Ashby's themes of naive men who step into a world they don't know about only to be confused as the focus is on a middle-aged gardener named Chance played by Peter Sellers. Also starring Shirley MacLaine, Jack Warden, Melvyn Douglas, Richard Dysart, and Richard Basehart. Being There is a witty yet captivating film from Hal Ashby.
For all of his life, Chance is just a simple-minded gardener whose only knowledge of the outside world was through radio and later television as he works for a rich benefactor while always being in the care of a maid named Louise (Ruth Attaway). When the benefactor dies and Louise leaves, Chance is suddenly forced out of his home by two real estate agents in Sally Hayes (Fran Brill) and Thomas Franklin (David Clennon) where he takes a step into the outside world for the very first time with a suitcase, an umbrella, and a remote control. While walking around Washington D.C. where he stops at a TV shop, he is accidentally hit by a car owned by the wife of a millionaire in Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine). She takes Chance to her home where she misinterprets his name as Chauncey Gardiner where she takes him to Dr. Robert Allenby (Richard Dysart) to look over Chance as he's is the caretaker for the ailing millionaire Benjamin Rand (Melvyn Douglas).
With Chance at the home of the Rands to recover from his injury, he meets Benjamin where the two have a conversation where Ben mistakes Chance's simple ideas about gardening as political rhetoric that intrigues the millionaire who also has political connections. Chance becomes an inspiration for Ben while Eve is also in awe of Chance though he does nothing but watch TV as Ben later introduces Chance to President (Jack Warden) who is impressed by Chance's words as the President also mistakes it for political rhetoric. With Chance becoming a political messiah of sorts as he becomes a celebrity of sorts though only a few know who he really is. With Ben nearing death, Eve accompanies Chance to a party where a Soviet ambassador (Richard Basehart) believes that Chance's statements are influenced by Russian literature. With Eve falling for Chance as political figures try to make their move as the President's approval rating is in decline. Dr. Allenby makes a discovery of who Chance really is as no one is aware about everything Chance had been saying all along.
While the film has a softness that a more hardline audience will find to be overly sentimental, Ashby delivers a solid direction in finding the humor and idiocy of politics and the media itself. Ashby is a master of satire but here, he chooses a simple protagonist whose lighthearted innocence and mild-mannered intelligence who looks into the world of our eyes. Yet, it's the kind of protagonist that most films would expect since he is a childlike man who doesn't know very much. In many ways, Ashby is Chance because he likes to watch. It's probably the most personal film of Ashby's career, especially since it's about a decade that he has watched all of these years fall into decline. It's really a film about a man watching a time, idealism, and a nation going into decline with the world itself not getting any better with no power or mind to do anything.
The strength of the film also goes to its script by its novelist Jerry Kosinski who brings in a mix of humor and melancholia. The film also attacks the cynicism of the 1970s after the fallout of Vietnam and Watergate with a hope for optimism. Yet the film's surreal and memorable ending shows a lot of things including the end of an American innocence to be replaced by something worse as a major character dies with the film's final line of "Life is a state of mind". In many ways, this story is years ahead of its time. Especially since the state of the nation that we live in is led by not just a soulless idiot but one who doesn’t have the honesty or heart that Chance the Gardner possesses. The script isn't just satire but an attack of everything that the 70s represented in the course of its behavior and political rhetoric which made the 80s to be a decade of mindless decadence. There, Ashby and Kosinski capture the future just before it was about to happen.
Helping Ashby in bringing is quirky yet melancholic vision is cinematographer Caleb Deschanel who brings a richness and elegance to many of the film's interior scenes that captures the world of upper-class society and its alien-like tone to the eyes of Chance. Production designer Michael Haller and art director James Schoppe help capture the film’s dark-colored look of wooden furniture and look that shows the upper class world with the wood being the only thing that Chance seems to know. Even the elegant costumes by May Routh shows that richness, notably on how well-dressed that Chance is since he's the only who seems to be comfortable in those close. The film's music score by Johnny Mandel has a sad, melancholia since it conveys the innocence of Chance but also the doom he is about to face when he is about to become something he's unaware of.
The casting in the film is awe inspiring with some nice performances from Fran Brill and David Clennon as the baffled estates people who are dumbfounded by a simpleton with Richard Basehart bringing in a slightly, humorous performance as the Russian premier. Ruth Attaway stands out as the maid Louise with her maternal presence for Chance and as she sees him, she displays the cynicism of how the media and culture acts towards Chance as a messiah. Richard Dysart is excellent in the role of Ben Rand’s ever-suspecting doctor who wants to know the truth but doesn’t want to harm anyone in a masterfully executed performance. Jack Warden brings humor to his role as the President in a performance that is expertly handled as a man of power with a lot of flaws that is handled realistically. Melvyn Douglas gives a fascinating performance as a dying man who finds hope in Chance while realizing about his own fate and regrets.
Shirley MacLaine gives an understated and elegant performance as a woman who is about to become a widow while finding new hope in a man like Chance. MacLaine brings a sweetness to her performance while channeling one of her most hilarious moments in one of the film's funniest scenes. Then there's Peter Sellers in what is probably one of the best performances ever assembled on the screen. Sellers brings a restrained, subtle performance as a simpleton who isn't very smart but isn't a bad man either. He brings a childlike innocence and a well-mannered tone to a man who doesn't have much to offer or say anything profound but his kindness is so enchanting, you can't help but fall for a man like Chance. Sellers could've gone for slapstick for this role but instead, he shows a soul that is filled with sadness and heartbreak in each frame. Even in the film's final moments as he becomes unaware of what is laying ahead for him. It's one of the most spellbinding performances of the decade.
Being There is a sensational and extraordinary film from Hal Ashby that features a mesmerizing performance from Peter Sellers. Along with great supporting work from Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Richard Dysart, and Jack Warden. It's definitely a very witty yet touching film that is both satirical but also heartwarming in its subject matter and characters. In the end, Being There is a wonderful and entertaining film from Hal Ashby.
Hal Ashby Films: The Landlord - Harold and Maude - The Last Detail - Shampoo - Bound for Glory - Coming Home - Second-Hand Hearts - (Lookin’ to Get Out) - (Let’s Spend the Night Together) - (Solo Trans) - (The Slugger’s Wife) - 8 Million Ways to Die
© thevoid99 2012
Based on the novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr., The Thing is the story about a group of mysterious life form that infiltrates an Antarctic research station where a group of men to defend themselves from the creature who can imitate these men as paranoia ensues. Directed by John Carpenter and screenplay by Bill Lancaster, the film explores the world of men trying to deal with something they don’t know as they eventually start to distrust each other. Starring Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, T.K. Carter, Donald Moffat, and Charles Hallahan. The Thing is a chilling yet harrowing film from John Carpenter.
A group of American Antarctic researchers witness a Norwegian helicopter team trying to kill a dog as it later shoots at them only to kill the shooter and save the dog. Suspicion arises as a helicopter pilot named R.J. McCready (Kurt Russell) and Dr. Copper (Richard Dysart) go to the Norwegian camp where they find the place in ruins as well as a strange body. Upon bringing the body and video documentation at the camp, something strange happens where an autopsy is made where a man named Blair (Wilford Brimley) makes a discovery about this strange thing as it starts to imitate various life forms and kill those around the area as many struggle to survive against this strange alien being. Yet, distrust and paranoia starts to play in as the residents in the camp try to figure out what to do just as their numbers start to dwindle.
The film is essentially a story of survival and paranoia that revolves around a team of American Antarctic researchers trying to kill a strange alien who can imitate all sorts of life forms including themselves. During the course of the film, these men realize that the monsters can turn into humans and is willing to kill at any length leaving to all sorts of mistrust among many. Leading the pack is a helicopter pilot who is trying to maintain his cool and get everyone in tact where everyone becomes afraid or starts to act erratic leading to them being suspicious around one another.
Bill Lancaster’s screenplay definitely plays to a lot of the schematics of horror in which characters get picked off one-by-one and whoever are left are all trying to deal with the monster. The script does manage to invest a lot of time with the characters as they’re all just normal guys who do their job and such as they try to live their life in the extremely cold Antarctic. There’s not much plot in the story but it doesn’t need one since it’s just simply about a group of men fighting a monster and eventually themselves just as distrust starts to arrive. Even as they all realize that if they need to survive, they have to trust one another through some strange tests and such where there’s also the feeling that they might not make it all.
John Carpenter’s direction is very engaging for the way he builds up suspense and horror as he knows how to maintain a sense of rhythm into creating that sense of momentum in the suspense and horror. From the film’s opening scene that is this amazing wide shot of a helicopter trying to follow a dog through these snowy rocky mountains. It is clear that Carpenter is establishing something that would play a key part in the story with this opening sequence for what these men are to face. Through these vast locations set around British Columbia, Canada and parts of Alaska, Carpenter creates a world where nature is unforgiving in the cold world of the Antarctic. It’s not just this dark creature and themselves that they’re facing but also nature itself.
Carpenter’s direction also has a sense of foreboding intimacy in his framing where it’s clear that everyone is trapped in the rooms they’re in as Carpenter shoots the actors in various group shots and cuts to another small group to see who is the monster and who is not. It’s all part of the world of paranoia that Carpenter is trying to set-up that adds to the suspense where the third act revolves the small group of survivors trying to fight the monster any way they can. Overall, Carpenter creates a truly captivating yet mesmerizing horror film that plays to a lot of its schematics and more.
Cinematographer Dean Cundey does great work with the film‘s exhilarating photography to capture the beauty of the landscapes along with the sense of dread in the film‘s nighttime interior and exterior scenes where the lighting creates an unsettling mood. Editor Todd C. Ramsay does excellent work with the editing to play up the suspense and horror while utilizing dissolves and fade-outs for the film‘s transitions. Production designer John J. Lloyd, along with set decorator John W. Dwyer and art director Henry Larrecq, does amazing work with the set pieces such as the base the characters live in to the ruined Norwegian base and spaceship that is found nearby.
Special creature effects designer Rob Bottin, along with Stan Winston, does brilliant work with the look of the monster as it imitates itself in various forms that also features an element of repulsiveness in its look as it plays a large key to the film‘s horror element. Sound editors Colin C. Mouat and David Lewis Yewdall do superb work with the sound to play up the sense of atmosphere that occurs as it also plays a key part in the film‘s suspense and horror. The film’s music by Ennio Morricone is fantastic for its intense, orchestral-driven score that adds to the film’s drama and suspense as Morricone’s score is a major highlight along with the film’s opening theme by John Carpenter that is this chilling, electronic-driven piece that adds to the film’s darkness.
The casting by Anita Dann is terrific for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small roles from Norbert Weisser and Larry J. Franco as the Norwegian men in a helicopter as well as Adrienne Barbeau as the computer chess game that McCready is playing against. Other noteworthy small roles include Thomas G. Waites as the radio operator Windows, T.K. Carter as the cook Nauls, Richard Masur as the kennel operator Clark, Joel Polis as the scientist Fuchs, Richard Dysart as the doctor Copper, Peter Maloney and Charles Hallahan as the researchers Bennings and Norris, David Clennon as the scientist Palmer, and Donald Moffat as the base head Garry. Wilford Brimley is great as the scientist Blair who makes a discovery about the autopsy and his powers as he immediately starts to act erratic. Keith David is superb as the researcher Childs who rallies around everyone while often challenging McCready in the game of distrust. Finally, there’s Kurt Russell in an incredible performance as McCready who leads the team in fighting everyone while is willing to do anything to prove that he’s not the monster as it’s Russell bringing a lot of guts and charisma to his performances.
The Thing is an outstanding horror film from John Carpenter that features an intense performance from Kurt Russell. The film is definitely a horror film that doesn’t try to create any scares by focusing on characters and heavy themes that adds to the element of suspense and horror. Even as it explores the world of paranoia and survival in an unforgiving landscape that adds to the sense of terror in the film. In the end, The Thing is a hypnotic yet engrossing film from John Carpenter.
John Carpenter Films: Dark Star - Assault on Precinct 13 - Halloween - Someone’s Watching Me! - Elvis - The Fog - Escape from New York - Christine - Starman - Big Trouble in Little China - Prince of Darkness - They Live - Memoirs of an Invisible Man - Body Bags - In the Mouth of Madness - Village of the Damned - Escape from L.A. - Vampires - Ghosts of Mars - The Ward
The Auteurs #60: John Carpenter Pt. 1 - Pt. 2
© thevoid99 2012
