Image of the day, 1/31/12
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ME-TV has been running “Route 66” in the middle of the night on Sundays, but I never remember to check it out. Didn’t know Peckinpah had done an episode, much less with Lee Marvin! Will have to keep an eye out for it.
It’s a great channel; I randomly watch episodes of BRANDED, THE FUGITIVE, NAKED CITY, DOBIE GILLIS and THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW. Can’t DVR all of them — it would fill up in a week.
That’s a great still. I wish Peckinpah’s THE WESTERNER would get a proper DVD release. Btw, I recently read somewhere that it was ROUTE 66 and the writing of the creator/showrunner Stirling Silliphant that initially inspired thriller writer(and Rambo creator) David Morrell to take up storytelling.
I’ve lately become hooked on late night runs of Kraft Suspense Theatre, or Crisis as the syndication title card has it. The writing and directing are mostly serviceable, though occasionally an episode will display some flair in one or the other direction. But man those casts. Ida Lupino hunting down the hussy in the hotel room when her husband died, not realizing it’s close friend Gena Rowlands. Robert Ryan sick with horror confronting the bohemian proto-hippie friends of daughter Katharine Ross. Backwoods sheriff Mickey Rooney tossing vacationing surfer James Caan in jail, then into the woods to hunt him for sadistic sport. (That latter from an Altman story, turns out.)
I’ll probably start adding Route 66 to the rotation now. Such is the power of a Marvin profile, even in soft focus.
Wow what a fabulous still!
The cinema is all about putting Lee Marvin and Macha Meril in the same frame.
Oh..that reminds me of my childhood days way back before. How I wish there will be a DVD bluray copy of this one.
ROUTE 66 and KRAFT are well worth exploring. Both old favorites that I love getting excuses to write about them. Glad you’re checking into this kind of thing, Glenn, and I’ll recommend Altman’s ROUTE 66 one-off (“Some of the People, Some of the Time”) next. It is even more Altmanesque than “Mon Petit Chou” is Peckinpavian. Altman and Keenan Wynn were “drunk all the fucking time, fighting all over the bar” on the location. Altman rewrote Silliphant’s script; producer: “Fuck you, I’m never going to hire you again.” (All from Pat McGilligan’s great Altman bio.) Good stuff.
Glenn only thanx to your flawless taste for the most unlikely frame grabs in the history of cinema Ive just had to spend another 30 bucks at amazon for Season 2 which includes Mon Petit Chou.
This grab gave me the biggest high after a totally dreadful week. Sometimes I think movies really do save our lives. And people like Marvin and Macha. I had no idea (to quote Jodie Foster.)
I’m very glad you enjoyed it so much, Mr. H.!
It would seem that I can’t write — please disregard the syntax error in my second sentence above.
David, I may be in the minority, but I think ROUTE 66 gets better as it goes along. It was famously named in a congressional anti-violence crusade in 1961, and the show’s gratuitous fistfights were dialed down somewhat, allowing Silliphant et. al. to write more cerebral scripts. Enjoy.
The Peckinpah and Altman episodes are in Season Two of “Route 66.” The DVD set is worth the investment. Aside from Marvin, you get to see Robert Redford, James Caan (billed as “Jimmy Caan”), Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Burt Reynolds, Tuesday Weld, Ed Asner and more. Some of the episodes look more like art films than TV episodes.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0690503/
One of the oddest (and best) “Route 66” episodes: “Here I Am — Here I Always Am,” co-starring Tatum O’Neal’s gorgeous mom, Joanna Moore. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it on TV.
tarletshowcase.blogspot.com/2009/09/joanna-moore-georgia-peach.html
Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like Joanna Moore in that “Route 66” episode (here’s a shot from it). A striking, offbeat personality who should have become a real star.
http://starletshowcase.blogspot.com/2009/09/joanna-moore-georgia-peach.html
Oops, try this.
The episode features an extended fistfight between Marvin and Milner, ending with a highly unlikely outcome. Milner actually broke Marvin’s nose during filming.