The 1970’s was a weird time for movies. Themes became
darker, action became grittier, and characters became, well, jerks. The flawed heroes (or saps) from Film Noir
escaped into the mainstream. Movies like
THE FRENCH CONNECTION, GET CARTER, and THE GODFATHER challenged audiences to
get behind some pretty unpleasant protagonists.
Jerks even ruled lightweight comedies (is there a single character in
THE BAD NEWS BEARS that you wouldn’t want to pop with a baseball?). And for drive-in movies, it was the jerkier
the better. Just look at 1974’s high octane
reverse kidnapping flick, DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY.
The Capsule:
Ex-racer Larry (Peter Fonda) and his creepy mechanic
sidekick, Deke (Adam Roarke), think they are home free after a brazen and
morally reprehensible supermarket hold-up.
Their smooth getaway is unexpectedly complicated when Mary (Susan George),
Larry’s impulsive one-night-stand, decides to tag along. Not because of the money, or because she
particularly likes Larry, but because she doesn’t have anything better to
do. Try as they might Larry and Deke can’t
get rid of her. The volatile trio can’t
help but cause chaos on the roads, and soon every cop in the county is on their
tail. Leading the chase is Captain
Franklin (Vic Marrow), a maverick lawman who plays by his own rules, ‘cause
that’s what cops did in the ‘70s. If
they can learn to work together, these outlaws might be able to out run, out
think, and outlast the cops, if Larry doesn’t kill them all first.
The movie opens with a quiet, intense man in a black cap
sneaking into a house. He makes note of
the little girl watching TV in the living room before heading to the
bathroom. He stares at the silhouette of
a woman taking a shower for several seconds before tearing back the curtain and
grabbing her. He moves her into the
living room (with a robe on, at least), and instructs her to call her husband
(Roddy McDowell), the manager of a large supermarket. If the manager gives the kidnapper’s partner
all the money in the supermarket safe, no harm will come to his family. When the husband hesitates, the kidnapper makes
a move towards the kid. The sound of his
wife screaming makes the manager instantly relent and give up the money.
If this was a Clint Eastwood or Steve McQueen movie, this
motherfucker would be the villain. But psych,
Deke is one of the heroes. Perhaps not
heroes, but you are clearly supposed to be rooting for them. It’s one of those strong anti-establishment, stick-it-to-the-man
kind of movies, with a wild free spirited vibe.
While not a straight up comedy, like SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, there is a
lot of humor infused into the story. Larry
and Deke are ripping off an insured business, without using violence, so
everything is cool. Never mind the
horrible psychological trauma inflicted to a perfectly innocent family (you
know poor Roddy McDowell is never going to recover, he’s so fragile when out of
ape make-up).
Ironically, Deke is actually the nicer of the two. It’s Larry that is the real asshole. Peter Fonda does give the character a certain
roguish charm, but not enough to excuse his overall dickishness. He only cares about himself; specifically
himself behind the wheel. He definitely doesn’t
care anything about Mary, who he would happily ditch any chance he gets. By the end of the movie, he’s developed a level
of affection for her, but it’s obvious he wouldn’t lose any sleep if he never
saw her again. He also lightheartedly
makes a few sexually violent threats behind her back, like “I’ll braid her
tits.” At the time those comments made
him sound like a rascal, now they make him seem like he’s begging to be pepper sprayed.
His closest connection is with Deke, but even that seems
mostly out of necessity. Larry needs a
good mechanic, especially one who is so desperate and guilt-ridden that he has
to put up with Larry’s bullshit. Larry
needles Deke every chance he gets about his alcoholism and how much he screwed
up their racing career. All Deke can do
is take it in silence.
The movie never addresses it directly, but there are subtle
hints that Deke may have an unrequited love for Larry. This explains his devotion and makes it that
much worse. The one time he stands up to
Larry is when he comes to Mary’s defense after Larry pushes her. They bond over their mutual attraction to a
jerk that mistreats them. He even
suggests that she take off with him after they get away, leaving Larry to
self-destruct on his own. It’s a great character
arc, and in that moment you almost forget about him terrorizing that naked
woman and her child.
The wild card in the situation is Mary. I think she’s supposed to represent a
liberated gal who fearlessly goes after what she wants, even when she doesn’t
know exactly what that is. She is a lot
like Laurie Bird’s free love hitchhiker from TWO LANE BLACKTOP, but with more
of a ditzy Goldie Hawn vibe. Susan George doesn’t play her as stupid,
though. Mary is worldly (or so she
claims), reasonably well read, and matches Larry insult for insult. She’s just not the best decision maker and a
terrible judge of character. At the
time, the way she stubbornly inserts herself into a risky get-away with two men
she barely knows would have been considered kooky, instead of, you know, blatantly
suicidal.
She does excel at getting under Larry’s skin (or breaking it
sometimes, she’s a biter). After Larry
does his first show-offy car jump of the movie, Mary looks unimpressed and says
“average.” Clearly, this was one of Immortan
Joe’s favorite movies.
Vic Marrow does a good job with what could easily have been
a stereotypical hayseed sheriff. Franklin is
obsessive and rude, but he isn’t malicious.
This is nothing personal, he’s trying to do his job. And he is completely justified. The guys he´s after are unquestionably
despicable criminals (except Mary, who just has criminally poor judgment). Plus, they are on the hook for destroying
approximately eight police cars, several billboards, a pick-up, and a gas
station. They are a legitimate menace.
Even though he is technically The Man, Franklin has a
rebellious streak in him, too. He
refuses to wear a uniform or a gun, and gets into a fight with his stogy old
superior, Donahue (Kenneth Tobey), who is more concerned with politics than
catching the fugitives. And of course,
he plays by his own rules. He’s kind of
an older, pricklier, less muscle bound version of Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs
character from THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS series.
I know you’re not supposed to want him to win, but I kind of did.
I’ve been a fan of ‘70s grindhouse car chase movies since as
long as I can remember. Or, more
specifically, since Tarantino’s DEATH PROOF.
DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY is one of the more famous ones, and a
favorite of Tarantino, but surprisingly, the car action is pretty light. There are a number of great stunts and a lot
of general destruction, but much of it seems routine after all this time. It’s not up to the level of VANISHING
POINT.
The chases convey a sense of speed, but they are mostly
straightforward and over quickly. Even
Hanks (Eugene Daniels), the macho hick dipshit driving the souped up
interceptor, only lasts a few minutes before getting clobbered by a telephone
pole. It is an inauspicious end for such
an offensive loud mouth. At least it
follows with a scene where he, after boasting the entire movie about how he’s
going to nail the suspects, has to get on the radio and admit he can no longer
pursue. I hope the girls at the dispatch
got a good laugh out of that.
One stunt does stand out, though, particularly because it
was done practically and was incredibly dangerous. After Franklin has lost all of his cars, he
bullies the helicopter pilot who has been flying him around to stop Larry’s
bat-out-of-hell Dodge Charger. He
doesn’t specify how. So the helicopter
gets down side by side with Larry, zooming down a tree lined road, and tries to
force his car off to the side. The
helicopter is going at full bore, no more than four feet off the ground at
times, with a swerving car right beside it.
That is the kind of stunt no one would walk away from if anything went
wrong. It’s a marvel of old school
stunt precision.
Even though its ‘70s social sensibilities can be wince-inducing, and Larry is a colossal douche and Deke can be creepy as fuck,
DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY is still a fun flick. Like a lot of the movies of the time, it is
about yearning to be free. These days,
that message can be more attractive than ever.
The idea of hopping in a tricked out muscle car and outrunning the
cops—without cameras at every intersection and streaming video and instant nationwide
APBs (or whatever they are called today)—can be a thrill. It could make you long for the simpler
days. But then you would have to deal
with more assholes like Larry, so you’re probably better off where you are.
C Chaka
Posts
Just like last year with my THE FORCE AWAKENS predictions, I’ve
been under a self-imposed media blackout regarding this new Star Wars joint. I only saw the first teaser this time, and since
there aren’t as many returning characters, I know even less about this
one. I remember a couple of bits and
pieces, and know the basic plot, but otherwise, the lion’s share of my
statements will be completely unencumbered by facts. It’s a successful strategy these days.
