Second-Hand Hearts

Directed by Hal Ashby and written by Charles Eastman, Second-Hand Hearts is the story of a widow who marries a loner as they try to recover the former’s children for an unusual road trip to California. The film is a love story of sorts with a road movie where two very troubled individuals try to form a new family in an offbeat journey. Starring Barbara Harris, Robert Blake, and Bert Remsen. Second-Hand Hearts is a quirky but very messy film from Hal Ashby.

The film follows a couple who recently got married as they embark on a road trip from Texas and all the way to California where they stop to retrieve the woman’s three kids while her husband copes with the new role of being their stepfather. It’s a film with a simple story as this lonely drifter who has never had a lot of luck in his life marries this widow who is also down on her luck as her husband had died some time ago with her children living at her in-laws. Though the two got married during a drunken bender, they’re eager to make it work despite their own flaws and fears where they hope to go to California in a beaten-up station wagon and create a new life. Charles Eastman’s screenplay has a lot invested in the story but it has no center in what it wants to be. While it’s mainly a road movie, it tries to cram a lot where it’s a family film of sorts but also a romantic-comedy as it never has a center. Plus, the character of Loyal Muke (Robert Blake) is a total loser that is often afraid of things or reluctant to do something though his development is well-written. It’s just that he is played as a comedic figure rather than someone totally sympathetic.

Despite the beauty of the many locations in and around Texas and the American Southwest, Hal Ashby’s direction definitely suffers from the film’s screenplay due to its lack of a central identity. While Ashby’s wide shots for many of the scenes set on the road are very beautiful as it is expected in a road movie. Ashby is more concerned with the dynamic between Loyal and his new wife Dinette Dusty (Barbara Harris) where they had just gotten married and aren’t sure if this marriage will be successful. Ashby’s usage of close-ups and medium shots in and around some of the locations including the station wagon are unique but there are moments when the attempts at comedy feel very forced. Even in moments where it tries to be serious but ends up being very silly where Ashby’s attempt in offbeat humor also doesn’t work despite some of the earnest moments involving Loyal, Dinette, and Dinette’s children late in the film. Overall, Ashby creates a compelling but very uneven film about a newlywed couple taking their rag-tag family on a road trip to California for a new life.

Cinematographer Haskell Wexler does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography from the gorgeous scenery of the sprawling American Southwest locations to some of the shots at night including a scene where the car runs out of gas as well as the early scenes at a club where Dinette is singing at. Editor Amy Holden Jones does nice work with the editing as it is mostly straightforward with few jump cuts as it relies more on something simple and to the point. Production designer Peter Wooley, with set decorator Robert R. Benton and art director Rick Carter, does fantastic work with the look of the station wagon as well as the bar where Dinette sings at and the pool hall where her father-in-law manages.

Costume designer Ann Roth does terrific work with the costumes from the lavish and colorful clothing that Dinette wears to the more ragged look of Loyal. Sound mixer Art Rochester does superb work with the sound to play into the atmosphere of some of the locations as well as some of the funny sounds in the station wagon. The film’s music by Willis Alan Ramsey is alright as it mainly a country-based music soundtrack with some contributions from Willie Nelson, Freddy Fender, and other country artists.

The casting by Lyn Stalmaster is brilliant despite the substandard material the actors had to work with as it include some notable small roles from Joe Wilson as a one-armed snake rustler, James Steven Beverly as a young man who would help Dinette and her children when they’re stranded on the road, Woody Chambliss as a deaf gas attendant, Bert Remsen and Sondra Blake as Dinette’s in-laws, and Shirley Stoler in a wonderful small role as Maxy as a woman who would give Dinette and her children shelter while Loyal tries to find them. In the role of Dinette’s children, there’s the duo of Jessica and Erica Stansbury as the toddler Sandra Dee, Amber Rose Gold as the talkative middle child Iota, and Collin Boone as the eldest but mute kid Human.

Robert Blake is alright as Loyal Muke as a bum who is able to do a lot of things but doesn’t have a lot of confidence where Blake feels misdirected whenever he tries to be funny in his breakdowns or to try and con someone. Barbara Harris is amazing as Dinette Dusty as this woman that has endured a lot of bad luck but is eager to start a new life with Loyal despite his shortcomings as it’s a performance filled with charisma and humility where Harris does also bring in the best of Blake when he is restrained.

Second-Hand Hearts is an OK but very uneven film from Hal Ashby despite a winning performance from Barbara Harris and the great cinematography from Haskell Wexler. It’s a film that fans of Ashby would want to seek out although it doesn’t bear a lot of the elements that he is known for as it’s just a very lackluster film that is rarely shown on television and is considered to be very hard to find. In the end, Second-Hand Hearts is just a messy and disappointing film from Hal Ashby.

Hal Ashby Films: The Landlord - Harold and Maude - The Last Detail - Shampoo - Bound for Glory - Coming Home - Being There - (Lookin’ to Get Out) - (Let’s Spend the Night Together) - (Solo Trans) - (The Slugger’s Wife) - 8 Million Ways to Die

© thevoid99 2017

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Based on the novel by B. Traven, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is the story of two Americans who go to 1920s Mexico with an old-timer to find gold where they would encounter trouble. Written for the screen and directed by John Huston, the film is a look into the world of greed and human nature at its ugliest as well as a look at how a journey can lead to great danger. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, and Bruce Bennett. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is an incredible yet eerie film from John Huston.

It’s 1920s Mexico as a man named Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) is seeking to find some way to survive as he needs money as he and a man named Curtin (Tim Holt) got cheated out of wages that was promised to them for labor work. After meeting an old prospector named Howard (Walter Huston), the three go on a journey to find gold in an old mine in the Mexican mountains as they have to endure all sorts of things while greed eventually seeps in the mind of Dobbs as he become paranoid. The film explores the world of greed and how far one man is willing to keep what he’s found as he has no sense of morals while becomes paranoid thinking that everyone wants his loot while Curtin realizes the danger of greed as he turns to Howard who knows a lot more about what is important.

John Huston’s screenplay explores the dynamics of these three men as they all want some gold in the Mexican mountains yet it is Howard that knows a lot more as he knows where the gold is and what it looks like. The only reason he takes part in the journey is so he can get his cut of what they’ve earned but he knows that gold and money aren’t that important. The Curtin character is a man that just wants what is right as after he’s got his gold, he has ideas for what he wants to do. He and Howard share a bond over what they want as they become good friends while Dobbs becomes more engrossed in his greed where he starts to talk to himself and become paranoid. Notably as the three men encounter a man named Cody (Bruce Bennett) who is also looking for gold as he knows what these men have. Other characters they encounter are a group of bandits led by a man known as Gold Hat (Alfonso Bedoya) who just wants weapons.

The script also has some very stylized dialogue in the way it plays to that development of the characters where Dobbs starts off as a man looking for money to survive but once he comes across with a lot of money. He definitely descends into some form of madness making Curtin and Howard uncomfortable and realizing that Dobbs could do anything. When the appearance of Cody causes more trouble where the result would be tragic. Curtin and Howard become aware of what this man really wanted to do as they become more concerned with doing what is right rather than give in to the gold but Dobbs starts to lose that sense of right and wrong where he becomes selfish. Eventually, the three men would separate though different means but its conclusion would definitely lead to an understanding about humanity where some will survive while others don’t.

Huston’s direction is truly engrossing in the way he explores the dark world of greed in the world of Mexico as many of the film’s exteriors are shot in Mexico with some scenes set at night shot in a studio. Huston’s compositions create some very telling images in the way he explores the relationship of these three men as it starts off in the town of Tampico where Dobbs and Curtin are looking for work. Much of the first act is set in Tampico where Huston uses medium shots and close-ups to play up that world with a few wide shots until the film moves into the Mexican mountains where Huston uses more wide shots to captured the rugged beauty of that world.

One aspect of Huston’s direction that is very interesting is that since the film is set in Mexico, he allows many of Mexicans to actually speak Spanish while the main characters also talk some Spanish without the use of subtitles. Unless the audience understands what the Mexican characters are saying though Howard does some of the translating. Huston knows that he doesn’t need to use subtitles to understand what they’re saying by focusing more on the action as well as some subtle close-ups to establish what is happening. Even as Huston knows what not to use in order to establish a few moments of violence as he also uses some wide shots to capture a world that is unique and also not filled with any complications such as greed. Overall, Huston creates a very captivating yet sensational film about greed and humanity.

Cinematographer Ted D. McCord does fantastic work with the film‘s black-and-white photography from the look of many of the daytime exterior scenes while using available light and such for some of the scenes at night to maintain a sense of darkness that looms in the film. Editor Owen Marks does excellent work with the editing where it is quite straightforward for the most parts though he uses fade-outs to help structure the film while utilizing some rhythmic cuts to play up some of the action and suspense. Art director John Hughes and set decorator Fred M. MacLean do superb work with the set pieces from some of the places in Tampico to some of the other places in the mountains as well as the look of the well near the mines that the men built

The sound work of Robert B. Lee is wonderful for some of the sound effects created from the sound of gunfire to the sound of coyotes and such in the locations set in the desert. The film’s music by Max Steiner is brilliant for its array of orchestral pieces created from some upbeat, playful themes to some more ominous yet suspenseful moments to play up Dobbs’ paranoia.

The film’s cast is amazing as it features some notable appearances from a young Robert Blake as a boy pestering Dobbs to buy lottery tickets, John Huston as a man Dobbs keeps asking for money in Tampico, Barton MacLane as the contractor that cheats Dobbs and Curtin over their wages, and Alfonso Bedoya as the bandit leader who spouts one of the most famous lines in film. Bruce Bennett is terrific as a man named Cody whom Curtin meets in town as he later tries to blackmail the three men into giving him a share of the gold without any trouble. Tim Holt is excellent as Curtin as a man that wants to look for gold for his own reasons as he later becomes aware of how much trouble it brings as he has to deal with the paranoid Dobbs.

Walter Huston is great as the old prospector Howard as a man who knows a lot about getting gold from mines as he also tries to deal with Dobbs’ paranoia where he brings a lot of charm and humor to his character. Finally, there’s Humphrey Bogart in a phenomenal performance as Dobbs as a man who is in need of money to survive in Mexico as he becomes desperate to go find gold with a couple of men only to descend into madness as it’s a very chilling yet mesmerizing performance from the actor.

The Treasure of Sierra Madre is remarkable film from John Huston that features amazing performances from Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, and Walter Huston. The film is definitely a very compelling piece into the exploration of humanity as well as the dark world of greed. It’s also a film that explores a world of the West that is very different from American westerns while still having some element of honor. In the end, The Treasure of Sierra Madre is a spectacular film from John Huston.

© thevoid99 2013

Lost Highway

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 10/11/07 w/ Additional Edits.

Following a career backlash, the cancellation of his TV show Twin Peaks, and the barrage of bad reviews from fans and critics for its prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. David Lynch went into hiding as from 1992 through 1995, he spent his days working on experimental projects and short-lived TV projects. Finally in 1996, David Lynch decided to return to the world of feature films with a dark, film noir-inspired film that would not only return him to the twisted, surrealism of his previous film work. It also marked a new transition into his film career with the 1997 film Lost Highway.

Directed by Lynch with a script he co-wrote with Wild at Heart novelist Barry Gifford, Lost Highway tells the story of a jazz musician who suspects his wife is having an affair while delving into an underworld that included voyeuristic videos and a mysterious man. After being suspected for murder, the musician suddenly turns himself into a young mechanic who falls for a gangster's mistress. Inspired by noir films of the past including Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 cult-film Detour, Lynch enters into a mysterious world as he re-shapes the film noir genre for a new generation. Starring Bull Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Loggia, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Robert Blake, and in their final film appearances, Richard Pryor and Jack Nance. Lost Highway is a haunting, surreal, and enchanting take on film noir by David Lynch.

In his posh, Los Angeles home on the Hollywood Hills, Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) hears his doorbell ringing for intercom as he hears a man's voice saying "Dick Laurent is dead". Later that night, Fred goes out to play at a club while his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette) is at home. When he calls her after his performance, she doesn't answer as he finds her sleeping when he returned home. The next morning, Renee wakes up to find a manila envelope on her front doorsteps. She and Fred learn it's a videotape of their house being filmed. Things get stranger the next day when another videotape surface that showed the couple sleeping in their bedroom. After calling a couple of detectives named Al (John Roselius) and Ed (Louis Eppolito), things don't get better when Fred tells Renee of a nightmare he has that involved a mysterious man (Robert Blake).

Going to a party of Renee's friend Andy (Michael Massee), Fred's suspicions about Renee having extramarital affairs make him uneasy. Things get stranger when the mysterious man he saw in his dream appeared at the party. The two talk briefly as the man claimed he's at his house. Fred doesn't believe him until he called at his own house to see that the man is at his home. Spooked by what happened, he and Renee return home as he asked Renee about Andy. The night gets darker as the things Fred sees haunt him and the next morning gets even stranger. Another videotape surfaces in which he sees the same images and a new one, Fred kneeling down covered in blood as he finds Renee dead. Guilty of murder and sent to be electrocuted, Fred suddenly has awful headaches. The visions Fred sees in his head starts to unravel as a blue light starts to blink as the headaches become awfully worse.

The next day, a guard finds a different man in Fred's cell that turned out to be a 24-year old mechanic named Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty). Immediately released back to his parents (Gary Busey and Lucy Butler), Pete has no recollections of how he got into a jail cell while he decided to rest at home. After joining a couple of his friends (Giovanni Ribisi and Scott Coffey), he also rekindles his relationship with girlfriend Sheila (Natasha Gregson Wagner). Returning to work as a mechanic for Arnie (Richard Pryor), he is also greeted with delight by a gangster named Mr. Eddy (Robert Loggia). Unbeknownst to Pete, two detectives named Hank (Carl Sundstrom) and Lou (John Solari) are watching out for him as Pete rides with Mr. Eddy, who is also known as Dick Laurent. The next day, Pete meets Mr. Eddy's mistress Alice Wakefield (Patricia Arquette) who comes to his garage the day later to seduce Pete.

The two begin an affair only to cause more trouble as Mr. Eddy suspects something. Meanwhile, his relationship with Sheila falls apart as Pete seems to have no memory of what happened the night he was sent into Fred's jail cell. After another meeting with Alice, she tells him about a guy named Andy and her first meeting with Mr. Eddy as she hopes to steal money from Andy in order to escape. The robbery was a success except that Pete starts to have increasingly bad headaches as reality and fiction begin to blur even further. Hoping to meet a man who could help them, Fred makes his return to unravel the mystery of the mysterious man as well as Laurent, Alice, and Renee.

While a lot of the imagery, style, and caricatures are definitely inspired by film noir, David Lynch and co-writer Barry Gifford chose to play with the cliches of the genre adding new twists as well. The result is a mind-bending film that still brings more questions than answers when the mystery is unraveled. Yet, this is part of what is expected from Lynch who is a storyteller that never reveals a lot of details or what the film is about. Instead, he leaves it up to the viewer to make their own guess or interpretation about what the film is about. If one was to make an idea of what it's about, it's about a man trying to figure out about his wife's affairs, her murder, and then turns into a young mechanic who falls for a doppleganger as he delves into a world of pornography, crime, and voyeurism.

The stylized dialogue is very true to the tradition of noir while remaining modern that includes information that relates to the film plot. Both Renee and Alice have similar dialogue in their meeting that relates to Andy that eventually, revealed a darker story. The characters of Pete and Fred are similar though it's Pete that has to deal with the fact that he might be a different person. Fred has a more interesting development where he starts off as a paranoid, suspicious man until he returns late in the film as he becomes a darker character. Then there's the mysterious man. Who he is? His name is never revealed and his motives aren't clear either. Yet, he's there but is he real? All of this is part of Lynch's approach to surrealism.

The direction of Lynch is definitely top notch as he aims for a more intimate look that is reminiscent of film noir. Yet, he also goes for that Lynchian style of strange characters, symbolic images, and dreamy compositions. The film's low-key look works to convey the suspense as well as the paranoia inside Fred's head. The look of the film also has that sense of being from the perspective of Fred Madison and Pete Dayton. They're both having very surreal images where the look of the film almost has a horror-like feel while the use of a video camera also creates a sense of horror in conveying that dark feel of voyeurism. While audiences might feel confused by its complex plot and Lynch's eerie direction, even in the end, the film still proves that Lynch still has some tricks up his sleeve.

Cinematographer Peter Deming brings a wonderfully stylish look to the film that is very intimate with a grainy-like look to add the film-noir look. The use of colored lights also adds to the film's mood to show where the characters are while some wonderful, dreamy images are made to convey the style of Lynch. Lynch's then-partner and editor Mary Sweeney adds style that emphasize the film's unique tone and duality theme as if the film is told in an almost, non-linear style. Production designer/costume designer Patricia Norris and set decorator Leslie Morales help create the film's dark look with posh-like designs on some of the film's mansion scenes to the motel that is pure noir with its intimate look. Norris' work on the costumes also have film noir with the evening dresses that Renee wears to the old-school 40s clothing that Alice wears while the men wear a range of suits to street clothing.

Sound editor Frank Gaeta along with Lynch on sound design create an array of sounds to add a horror-like tone to the film where it brings suspense that also includes ominous sound overtones courtesy of Nine Inch Nails' leader Trent Reznor and Coil's Peter Christopherson. The film's soundtrack includes music from Lynch's longtime collaborator Angelo Badalamenti brings a diverse film score that includes dark, ominous classical cuts with the Prague Philharmonic that is in the noir style. Other tracks by Badalamenti range from ambient-like electronic music to a wide array of jazz from freestyle to sultry with contributions from David Lynch. Another composer added to the mix is Barry Adamson, formerly of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, who brings some wonderful theme music to the character of Mr. Eddy along with mixes of jazz and electronic music.

The rest of the soundtrack is helmed and supervised by NIN leader Trent Reznor. Along with his own sound work and an industrial score piece, he also contributes the hit song The Perfect Drug while former protegee` Marilyn Manson brings in a couple of cuts. The film open and closes with two variations of I'm Deranged by David Bowie from his 1995 album Outside while Bowie's art-rock cohort Lou Reed brings a cover of This Magic Moment. The Smashing Pumpkins brings an eerie electronic track called Eye while the German industrial band Rammstein brings in a couple of rocking tracks. Adding to the film's dark, dreamy soundtrack though not on the actual soundtrack album is a cover of Tim Buckley's Song To The Siren by the 4AD label outfit This Mortal Coil as it's sung hauntingly and beautifully by Elisabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins accompanied by its guitarist Robin Guthrie. Overall, the film's soundtrack is a real highlight of the film.

The casting is wonderfully assembled with cameos and appearances from Henry Rollins as a prison guard, Marilyn Manson and then-Manson bassist Jeordie White as porn stars, Lisa Boyle as a porn star, Giovanni Ribisi and Lynch regular Scott Coffey as Pete's buddies, and in his final film role just before his death in December of 1996 is Lynch regular Jack Nance as crazed-eye mechanic named Phil. Richard Pryor, in his final film appearance before his death in 2005, is excellent as head mechanic Arnie, where despite his illness from Parkinson's disease, Pryor lights up any scene he's in. Lucy Butler and Gary Busey make great appearances as Pete Dayton's parents with Busey showing restraint and care as a father who is haunted by the moment his son had disappeared. John Roselius, Louis Eppolito, Carl Sundstrom, and John Solari are great as the detectives who investigate the different crimes while Sundstrom and Solari get to have hilarious one-liners.

Michael Massee is excellent as the sleazy Andy, a guy who seems to love a lot of porn and women while not have a clue to the associates of Mr. Eddy. Natasha Gregson Wagner is good as Pete's girlfriend Sheila, a girl who noticed that he's changed since his disappearance while trying to keep him grounded. In what is possibly his last film role before his notorious murder trial a few years ago, Robert Blake gives a chilling performance as the Mysterious Man who is a troubling voyeur that always carry a video camera or a telephone. Blake, wearing lipstick and no eyebrows with a painted white face, is a very scary man in this film and his presence remains haunting. Robert Loggia is in great form as a gangster who has a lot of charm and wit despite his dangerous persona. Loggia has a great scene that involves a tailgate driver who did something stupid that proves that tailgating is bad.

Balthazar Getty is in solid form as Pete Dayton, a confused, troubled young mechanic who is unaware of what has happened to him. Getty's performance serves as a wonderful plot device in relation to the theme of duality. Getty has to be this young man who is torn between two different women while trying to figure out is he really himself or is he possessed all of a sudden as Getty does some fantastic work. Bill Pullman is also in amazing form as Fred Madison, a man whose suspicions lead him to a possible murder and then returning to discovery about his wife. Pullman's performance is also strangely subtle as he doesn't do anything very dramatic but rather observe what's going on around him. It's definitely one of his more underrated performances, aside from Spaceballs.

The film's best performance truly goes to Patricia Arquette in her double-duty role in playing both Renee and Alice. In the role of Renee, Arquette dons a brunette hair style that is reminiscent of noir-style female characters while being very secretive and worrisome as that character is revealed whether she's having an affair. Then as Alice, Arquette shows more of her sex appeal in this femme fatale role as she is a bit more humorous, charismatic, and engaging. Arquette has that dream-like quality that makes her perfect for both roles as this reveals to be one of her more overlooked performances in her diverse career in working with the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, and Martin Scorsese.

While it's not a perfect film, especially for general audiences, Lost Highway is still an amazing, complex, provocative noir film from David Lynch and company. Fans of Lynch will no doubt enjoy the film's layered story as well as surrealistic directing style. Those new to the director will enjoy the images and style that Lynch has taken into a genre. With a great cast and an amazing film soundtrack (that is unfortunately out of print), it's a film that will test the mind as well as expectations for the genre. For a film that takes an old genre with unique twists and turns, Lost Highway is the film to go see and who better from the always provocative David Lynch.

David Lynch Films: Eraserhead - The Elephant Man - Dune - Blue Velvet - Wild at Heart - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me - The Straight Story - Mulholland Dr. - INLAND EMPIRE

The Short Films of David Lynch Pt. 1 - The Short Films of David Lynch Pt. 2 - The Music Videos of David Lynch

The Auteurs #50: David Lynch: Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 3 - Pt. 4

Related: Lost Highway OST

© thevoid99 2011