Flickers in Time

Godspell
Directed by David Greene
Written by David Greene and John-Michael Telebak from Telebak’s book for the Off-Broadway musical
1973/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

When your faith is all but shattered
When your faith is all but killed
You can give up bitter and battered
or you can start to slowly build …

A beautiful city
Yes, we can; yes we can
We can build a beautiful city
Not a city of angels but finally a city of man  – lyrics and music by Stephen Schwartz, updated post 9/11

It’s hard to write a review today as the U.S. Capitol is under siege.  I’m not thrilled with the direction or concept of this movie but the music is so inspirational and uplifting that I might watch it again today.

The film is set on the streets of New York City and you almost get a travelogue along with your musical.  It was filmed when the World Trade Center had almost completed construction so the towers keep showing up everywhere.

The story is based on the Gospel According to Matthew.  It covers Jesus’s life from his baptism by John the Baptist through the Passion and a symbolic resurrection.  The performers are clad to look like a combo of hippies and clowns.  Everything is done fairly simply and broadly.

The message of the Gospel is conveyed through vignettes including several amusing enactments of the Parables.

I’ve been listening to Steven Schwartz’s score since before the movie was made.  I still listen to the Broadway and off-Broadway cast recordings once in awhile when I need to cheer up.

The cast performs “All for the Best” throughout New York ending the song atop the World Trade Center, which was then under construction.

Jesus Christ Superstar
Directed by Norman Jewison
Written by Melvyn Bragg and Norman Jewison based on the Broadway musical, book by Tim Rice
1973/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Judas: [singing] Did you mean to die like that, was that a mistake? Or, did you know your messy death would be a record breaker? – “Superstar”, lyrics by Tim Rice, music by Andrew Lloyd Weber

I have a feeling this is a movie you either love or hate.  Don’t expect a positive review from me, despite the my fondness for the music.

This musical version of the last week in Jesus Christ’s life was filmed on location in Israel at the Dead Sea.  It is presented as a story being put on by hippy actors who arrive in a psychedelic bus.  Gradually the presentation morphs into a bizarre world where most of the Christians wear hippy clothes, the Pharisees wear black robes with headgear reminiscent of Pasolini, and King Herod is a fat, half-naked, debauchee.

Jesus (Ted Neeley) has a loyal fan base but it is growing and he becomes perceived by the authorities as a dangerous man.  Mary Magdalene (Yvonne Ellison) is his devoted servant and maybe his lover, this is left unclear.  Judas (Carl Anderson) heartily disapproves of the relationship and the expense of anointing Jesus with expensive ointments.

The Pharisees think Jesus is becoming far too popular.  Soon Judas provides them with a means of getting rid of him.  All the basic incidents of the Passion story ending with the Crucifixion are presented.  After his suicide, Judas reflects on what it all meant.  Then the hippies get back on the bus.

Jesus Christ Superstar was a hit concept album before it was a stage musical.  The album was in regular rotation at my house at the time.  There are a few fantastic songs but Rice and Lloyd Webber would go on to do much better.  I can remember seeing a concert version of the musical but don’t think I have ever seen this movie.

Anyway, I think it is a real mess.  Jewison and his creative team just seemingly threw together all their random ideas for irreverently presenting the piece and it does not work in my opinion.  It is cringingly 70’s.  Also, the key issue of this film is whether Jesus succeeded or failed as a superstar.  We get none of the message of the Gospels.  To top it off, being a “rock opera”, all of the dialogue is sung.    What worked for Jacques Demy seems dreadfully silly in this movie.

I am going to wash the taste out of my mouth by revisiting 1973’s  other hippy Jesus musical Godspell.  It’s lower rated on IMDb, but in my opinion vastly superior and leaves the viewer uplifted rather than kind of disgusted.

Jesus Christ Superstar was Oscar-nominated for Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation.

Carl Anderson and company perform “Superstar”

Charley Varrick
Directed by Don Siegal
Written by Howard Rodman and Dean Reisner from a novel by John Reese
1973/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Harold Young: I can’t start my life over again now.
Maynard Boyle: You don’t have much choice, Harold. They’re gonna try to make you tell where the money is. You know what kind of people they are. They’re gonna strip you naked and go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.

This gritty heist movie is quite OK.  I’m on the fence whether Walter Matthau was a great choice for a brilliant, gutsy, babe magnet.

The story is set in New Mexico.  Charley Varrick (Matthau) was formerly a stunt pilot and now flies crop dusters.  He plans a series of small bank robberies with his wife acting as driver and psycho friend Harman Sullivan (Andy Robinson) in second seat.  The very first try goes spectacularly wrong.  Charley’s wife is killed.  Then, the robbery netted $750,000.00 cash when it should have netted no more than $30,000 at such a small country bank.  Charley correctly guesses that the money is being held by the bank on the way to its laundering.  So he knows he has the cops, the mafia, and the dirty bankers on his trail.

He holes up in his trailer with Harman, who is a loose cannon to say the least.  What Charley would like to do is figure out a way to return the money and leave the country but Harman wants nothing to do with that.  Charley leaves with the money while Harman is sleeping.  The bank hires a sadistic hitman named “Molly” (Joe Don Baker) who is close behind at all times.  I will stop here.  The movie ends with a spectacular stunt that left me gasping.

This is the kind of movie Don Siegel was born to make – taut and with plenty of action.  I felt like I had seen this story before and couldn’t get too invested in it.  If you are in the mood for this kind of thing, though, it could be just the ticket.

Scarecrow
Directed by Jerry Schatzberg
Written by Garry Michael White
1973/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Max Millan: You didn’t pick me, I picked you.
Lion: Why?
Max Millan: ‘Cause you gave me your last match. You made me laugh. God damn crows are laughin’…

The 70’s were a decade for road movies.  This is one of the good ones.

Max (Gene Hackman) has just been released from prison.  He has saved all his money and meticulously planned buying a car wash business in Pittsburg.  He is hitchhiking cross-country with a detour to see his sister in Denver.  On the road, Max meets fellow hitchhiker Francis Lionel (‘Lion” – Al Pacino).  Lion has come home from the sea and is on the way to Detroit with a present for the five-year-old child (sex unknown) he has never met and a desire to make it up to the child’s mother.

The larger-than-life brawler Max and the goofy peacemaker Lion could not be more different. However, Max is immediately taken with Lion and decides on the spot to take him into the car wash business.  They make a good team.

The boys have adventures along the road and a high old time with Max’s sister and her sexy friend Frenchy (Ann Wedgeworth) in Denver.  Their luck kind of changes in Detroit.

Wow, this movie is so much of its time but continues to work well now.  It is simply a pleasure to watch Hackman and Pacino in their prime.  The supporting characters are memorable as well. And since this is a character study that’s all you really need.  It’s got that seventies sadness but is also warm and funny.  Recommended.

Scarecrow was the co-winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes.