John Cassavetes has an interesting history behind him. Today he’s revered as a Hollywood great, and considering his directorial body of work, from Faces to A Woman Under the Influence, it’s easy to see why. To most, though, he is remembered as an actor, notably from Rosemary’s Baby and The Dirty Dozen, the film that gave him his first nomination and the one that finally led to leading roles. In truth, though, he was never much of an actor. Smarmy, one note and stilted, whether he was leering at his daughter in The Incubus or getting his head blown off in De Palma’s The Fury, he’d always play the same smug part. As a villain he could get under your skin, but it was more because of his indifference to the role than the quality of his performance. It’s a shame, because early on in his career he demonstrated a lot of promise beside James Whitmore in the Rebel without a Cause clone, Crime in the Streets (recently released in Warner’s Film Noir Collection Vol. 5). In that role there was a fire behind those brooding eyes, and a surprising emotive range – going from tough hood to crying child at the turn of a dime. The roles never really came fast and furious after that initial screen introduction, and instead three years later he’d find himself behind the director’s chair for the first time.
Unable to get the parts he wanted, Cassavetes instead turned to directing, and the films thereafter seemed to be just the bottom line. He needed financing for his movies, and since Hollywood never gave him plum parts as an actor, he seemed to bullishly turn his back on them with his dry, detached performances. One such performance is as the titular robber in Machine Gun McCain, released at the height of his popularity a year after Rosemary’s Baby. It was directed by the political Italian filmmaker Giuliano Montaldo, who had seen some Stateside success with another heist picture two years prior, the Edward G. Robinson vehicle, Grand Slam. Montaldo mentions in the extras how it was tough to work with Cassavetes, as he was always passive aggressive in trying to call the shots from in front of the camera. It’s a wonder why he was so confident, since his character is undeveloped, inconsistent and uninterested. He mouths off any suggestion from his son who just picked him up from prison. He’s unaffectionate and power hungry with his newly-eloped wife (The Wicker Man’s Britt Ekland). Cassavetes never seems to know how to play the character, painfully evident in a scene later in the film where he goes from determined and on the hunt, to crying, to laughing and finally to smug – all in the span of about 30 seconds. Perhaps he was going for some type of Method internal allocation, bringing forward whatever was in his head at the moment, but whatever the pretense, it’s a really muddled and closed off performance.
The film isn’t really one to watch for its story, either. It too seems rather closed off, exploring a family mafia in Las Vegas, but one we the viewer are not really made a part. We understand Charlie Adamo’s (future Cassavetes regular and Columbo star Peter Falk) frustration at being a targeted outsider in the gambling ring because we too can’t seem to get a break into the inside. The film follows Cassavetes’ McCain as he plans and executes his first big heist out of the slammer, but as presented in the film there really isn’t much to it. There are no major obstacles in the second act, no hitches during the heist and little more than your stock film noir finale for the ending. The story is forgettable, and Cassavetes’ performance is memorable for the wrong reasons.
What makes a viewing justifiable are the parties on the periphery – Gena Rowlands is quite strong in a limited part as McCain’s steadfast love interest (and Cassavetes’ in real life) and nearly equally as beautiful. While Fulci favorite Florinda Bolkan (Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, Don’t Torture a Duckling) doesn’t offer up the same kind of performance, she’s even more beautiful here. Shapely bone structure, thick, voluminous hair and a tight, olive physique, she was quite the looker, and she looks especially good in the costumes outfitted to her here. Falk is of course always a good watch, and aside from the acting, Ennio Morricone’s titular theme done in the repetitive, character name-spewing fashion of Django, is also good. It’s a shame Morricone’s score consists of little else other than a few instrumental riffs on the title track and some light backing. This is definitely a far cry from the work he was doing with Leone at the time, but considering he clocked 25…yes, 25, films in 1969 alone, you can understand why his contributions here are so meager.
In the end, meager is really the word that describes Machine Gun McCain in full. It’s got familiar story elements with familiar sound and familiar faces, but none of it really rises above the bar. Cassavetes doesn’t give us a character to care about, and Montaldo does sub-par job establishing even a viable adversary for Cassavetes’ McCain. When the stock finale comes to a close, you get the sense everyone involved cares about as much as we do for the outcome. Not much. Cassavetes made the film to fund his directorial efforts, Rowlands did it for her husband, Morricone did it in between 24 others that year,and Montaldo directed it just to get a piece of the Hollywood money machine. Machine Gun McCain is the epitome of a paycheck movie – one done with competency but without passion. This gun shoots blanks.presentation...
Blue Underground fires out Machine Gun McCain in hard hitting 1080P HD. While on past titles like The Stendhal Syndrome and The New York Ripper I’ve expressed my reservations of their grainy post-sharpening techniques, on the whole Blue Underground has consistently delivered some of the best HD presentations available on the format. Machine Gun McCain is another looker, incredibly vivid with all those grand late-sixties colors, from the bright lights of Las Vegas to Florinda Bolkan’s lush green dress. The transfer has a nice, natural film grain present, and detail is solid without seeming artificially sharp. Print damage is virtually non-existent and aside from a few color matching issues shot to shot, there was little to really nitpick here. The disc is only single layer, but there’s only about thirty minutes of HD extras, and coupled with the film that’s just over 2 hours of HD content on a single layer. Not the best compression, but certainly more than enough for a satisfying, and in this case very satisfying, final product.
Sound-wise, we hear the gunfire in DTS-HD Master Audio, but all that frill is for a mono mix. It’s not a particularly rousing track, and Morricone’s soundtrack often rings quiet aside from the eponymous “no one does it better than McCain!” theme song. Dialogue is mostly clear, although there were a few times, like in the noisy casino, where it was tough to make out all the speech. Still, a perfectly serviceable sound mix for a film that deserves just about that.extras...
A relatively sparse slate here other than an articulate and enthused interview with director Giuliano Montaldo. He explains at length how he got his start in acting and how he was eventually given an opportunity to direct by the company behind the Dollars movies. He then goes on to talk specifically about McCain from working with all those actors, including the at times tough task of directing Cassavetes, to staging scenes and mastering the camera. He also talks more broadly about his career and why he declined an offer from Paramount to make more American movies. It’s an engaging 20-odd minutes, although he doesn’t mention the figures that cult fans would care about the most like Bolkan or Morricone. It’s recorded in Italian and subtitled in English. There are separate English and Italian trailers also included to round off the disc.wrapping it up...
Blue Underground has kept a relatively low profile on the cult video scene for the last two years, relying almost entirely on repurposing their catalog for Blu-ray. It was a nice surprise, then, when they finally announced a new title in McCain for both DVD and Blu-ray. The end result, though, isn’t quite what it could have been. Cassavetes gives a disinterested and disjointed performance, the story is cliché pulp all the way, and there isn’t much in the way of style. To its benefit, it has a fine cast of cult favorites and a charming theme song from Mr. Morricone. On the whole, though, it’s a paycheck for all involved. Blue Underground has earned their pay in the presentation, though, with an excellent film transfer and a satisfying mono DTS mix. The interview with the director adds a nice personal touch, even if the film itself is lacking one. If you like star gazing, it’s worth a ratatatat shot, but all others should go out and support the Underground by buying one of their other, better discs like The Prowler or City of the Living Dead. | overall... Content: C Video: A- Audio: C+ Extras: B- Final Grade: C |
