In The Outfit, John Flynn, 1973.
Of all the great performers prominent in American cinema in the 1970s, Karen Black embodied the most pleasing paradox: she had a screen presence so entirely particular that she never once seemed out of place in any role she played, any genre context. You could play musical chairs with the likes of Black, Jane Fonda, Jill Clayburgh and a few others to your hearts content, and only Black is the one who COULD be equally comfortable, equally right, in the likes of the corruscating drama Five Easy Pieces, the post-noir near‑B picture The Outfit, and the oft-frantic made-for-television horror omnibus Trilogy of Terror. I also understand that she was a good enough sport to have taken the teasing post-punk band name The Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black in stride. The movies will be less interesting without her.
The NYT obituary closed with this quote by Black in reference to her character in “Five Easy Pieces”:
“Certainly Rayette can just be,” she said. “I dig her, she’s not dumb, she’s just not into thinking. I didn’t have to know anybody like her to play her. I mean, I’m like her, in ways. Rayette enjoys things as she sees them, she doesn’t have to add significances. She can just love the dog, love the cat. See? There are many things she does not know, but that’s cool; she doesn’t intrude on anybody else’s trip. And she’s going to survive. Do you understand me?”
As I commented at LGM, it’s impressive that she was able to articulate the character so simply and also embody that characterization so fully in the film. Perhaps that’s the source quality you’re talking about.
Glenn, thanks for the bad news (I guess). Though not unexpected, it still stings. Plan to have a Karen Black film festival this weekend, screening ‘Easy Rider’ (“I know you!”), ‘Five Easy Pieces,’ ‘Nashville,’ ‘Jimmy Dean’ and maybe even ‘Airport ‘75’ (Black makes Doris Day’s Julie look like she’s on sopors) and ‘Day of the Locust’ (too old for Faye Greener, don’t you think?).
She was excellent in “The Great Gatsby” (1974 version), too. And most watchable in Dan Curtis’ “Burnt Offerings” and Hitchcock’s swan song, “Family Plot” (both from 1976).
I finally caught up with THE OUTFIT in late May and loved it (just finished the Stark novel as well). And one of its pleasures was seeing Black again for the first time in a good while. RIP