You Lose Carl Miller!: Game Of Death (1978)

Usually it takes a lot for me to excuse a film for not being good, either it has to have an endearing quality about it so much so that I can look past its general awful nature and see the heart of a director and cast attempting with all earnest to pull something off, but failing in the end.  I am also willing to let a film slide a bit if it is the first of its kind to undertake a narrative, or in other cases revive a genre through a considerable revision, a prime example of this being the far from perfect The Blair Witch Project, that, nonetheless, garners unquestioned praise on my part for its reinvigoration of a then flailing horror industry.  The third situation where I am able to provide some leeway to a film is when tragedy results in a severe change to the production, but a product still manages to emerge.  A prime example of this being The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, which met tragedy when its star Heath Ledger died mid-shoot, fortunately, a set of well-respected actors stepped in an made it a viable and decidedly watchable work.  It is this third scenario where a film like The Game of Death fits, because its star, the master of martial arts, Bruce Lee died from a traumatic head injury and was never able to complete the film, as such what exists is a series of fight  sequences including the late star and a film centering around revenge by a martial arts movie star for attempts at his death.  I mention that I find myself quite forgiving of this film, because so much of the first hour and fifteen minutes clearly reflects a sporadic and wild attempt at salvaging something worth delivering to audiences, but in its frantic execution it often comes off as dull or completely fabricated, never delivering the instant accessibility like Enter the Dragon.  It does not help that the replacement actors are clearly not Bruce Lee, nor does the awful dubbing lend to engaging cinema, often dropping lines completely or becoming so mumbled as to be inaudible.  However, those are the parts that do not contain the late Lee.  His portion of the film, the last twenty minutes are probably some of the best in all the genre, whether it be his fighting Kareem-Abdul Jabbar or chasing an old man on the rooftops of Hong Kong, it is indicative of action cinema at its finest, indeed, if Game of Death were just this as a short film, I would not be surprised if it were not considered to be one of the highlights of the genre, while also contending fairly well as one of the great short films of all time.  Unfortunately, what exists as Game of Death is a tacked on story that drags on, ultimately leaving viewers a bit unenthusiastic by the time real action does emerge on the screen.

The Game of Death clearly evokes the Bond espionage style right from the opening credits which include music by John Barry and credits design that could easily have been the product of Maurice Binder.  Nonetheless, the film begins by focusing on Billy Lou (Bruce Lee, Kim Tai-Jong, Yuen Biao) a martial arts star who has come under threat by a group of racketeers who think his success is a means to attack his wealth.  Refusing to pay the money demanded by the mobsters, Billy is shot on set by one of the lackeys in the syndicate, leading to what is assumedly his death.  However, it is revealed that while the bullet did do a considerable amount of damage to Billy, he has survived and can go on surviving if he agrees to getting plastic surgery, as it will help to hide him from the still working syndicate.  Reluctantly agreeing to do so, Billy gets the plastic surgery and while the scars are beginning to heal he plans his revenge upon the syndicate, while attempting to hide from his former girlfriend who has also taken it upon herself to exact revenge against the mobsters.  Realizing that he will have to move through the ranks in order to find out who ordered the hit on him, he begins by tailing various leaders through the docks of China, discovering that many of the henchmen are fighting within the Chinese martial arts circuit, specifically Carl Miller (Robert Wall) a rambunctious fighter who Billy confronts in his locker room after a fight, quickly destroying him with skill and power, much to the suprise of Miller's fans and the media present.  This fight does afford Billy with the information necessary to track down the syndicate boss Dr. Land (Dean Jaeger) whose slippery ways have placed him on the top floor of a pagoda, in which each level is protected by a kung fu expert.  Billy knowing that the only way to get his revenge is to move through the various encounters, some of which require him to wield weapons, while others require him to grapple more than strike.  Billy proves adept in each fight, often making quick work of his opponent, only ever seeming challenged by Hakim (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), which is almost entirely a result of height differences.  Billy eventually makes it to Dr. Land's floor but the crime boss flees to the roof and while attempting to escape via a latter slips and falls to his death.  Billy has exacted his revenge in a theoretical sense, but as the closing shots suggest, frustration emerges in the knowledge that the death was not technically of his own doing.

The plot probably seems very straightforward and rather bare bones and that really is not the case, because there is assumedly a lot going on between the opening movie sparring between Billy and another martial artist, played by Chuck Norris, and what happens in the closing moments.  However, it is not worth considering, because in my book, and from what it seems others as well, Game of Death only matters for what Bruce Lee brings to the table, which in the case of Game of Death are martial arts skills so varied and realized as to be completely baffling.  As such, it is necessary only to consider what elements relate specifically to Bruce Lee's presence on screen, while he rocks his iconic yellow jump suit.  I will note that while the jump suit is bad ass, I am more a fan of the rad Adidas he wears., but I digress.  Were I to be a mad man in charge of film programming, I would do a double feature of Game of Death and Harold Lloyd's silent comedy Safety Last, which may not seem like an obvious connection since one is a hackneyed kung fu flick and the other is an early icon of slapstick comedy, but one could contest that in the cases of both films, it is entirely what happens in the last act that make the film memorable.  Furthermore, another obvious connection arises when one considers that both these closing acts concern trouble figures ascending from points of nothingness, for Lloyd's character it is from economic impoverishment, whereas, for Billy it is more of a Phoenix rising from the ashes, or as the film clearly suggest him to be, a christ figure.  The two are also expected to engage in this climbing by proving themselves worthy of extraordinary feats of strength and poise, while being challenged with a variety of absurd or insurmountable obstacles and often times it is a combination of both.  The films also manage to leave the result of the ascension rather ambiguous, particularly in the case of Game of Death where, given available archival footage, there were not many scenes to pull from for Lee, meaning that his staring off into the camera has nothing to move on to, which adds an eerie layer of regret to an otherwise action pact moment.  I know it is a stretch to pair the two, but the struggle for upward mobility metaphor is rampant in cinema, yet, these two films deal with the issue in a way so literal, as though to be mocking, yet both suggest that the endeavor is both valid and worthwhile, even if it seems daunting at the onset.

Key Scene:  As noted the last twenty minutes are glorious cinema.

This is available on Hulu, but the quality is horrendous.  To be honest, I would just suggest finding the last section online, it is much more worth watching than sitting through all the nonsense prior.

Dangling From A Clock For One's Life: Safety Last (1923)

When it comes to silent film actors/directors/and whatever other hat one had to put on, I am stand in the corner of Buster Keaton, although I am also completely aware of the cinematic magic that is Charlie Chaplin.  However, I had up until about a week ago never seen a Harold Lloyd film, but had always remembered seeing clips of him dangling from a clock on shows when I was younger.  Fortunately, I had the opportunity to attend a screening quite similar to the one I blogged about last year, concerning Flesh and the Devil, in which a live organ accompaniment occurred whilst screening the film.  When I heard that this years would be Safety Last, I made sure I was in town to attend the film and the decision was certainly for the best.  While the overall construction of the film does not rival that of Buster Keaton, it is clear that Harold Lloyd takes the prize for the most dynamic and dangerous stunts, even if many of the tense moments are aided by some excellent cinematic illusions.  Furthermore, I have never, and I mean this sincerely, seen a crowd engage with a film with such liveliness and excitement as the mostly elderly viewers of this center piece of silent comedy.  It is not a particularly complex film, but it does possess the sparkle and magic of everything one expects when they talk about the magic of cinema, each of Lloyd's jokes and stunts top the previous one, so much so that one finds themselves exhausted at the films close, however, this worn out demeanor is more than welcomed as it is certainly an engaging film, made more so by the addition of live music and an ecstatic audience.

Safety Last, follows a young man, named, as should be no surprise, Harold Lloyd, as he leaves for the big city to make a name for himself and succeed financially.  He leaves behind his girlfriend, played rather wide-eyed by Mildred Davis, promising to propose to her once he has obtained financial grounding.  Renting an appartment with his Pal (Bill Strother) the two pursue the tough road to economic success, Harold working in a department store, while Pal appears to do factory work.  It becomes clear that Harold's job is not providing him with financial stability, especially considering that much of his money is spent on rent, however, through some pawning and slyly worded letters, Harold makes his girlfriend believe that he is quite successful in the city and desires to marry her in the very near future.  Taking this as a sign of his great successes Harold's girlfriend travels to the city to meet him and plan their marriage.  When Harold makes this discover, literally as she enters his place of employment, he begins putting on the facade that he is indeed doing extremely well and, in fact, manages the entire department store, something his girlfriend comes to believe true do to a series of lucky encounters and well-delivered stretches of the truth.  When the department store seeks a means to attract customers, Harold volunteers Pal to scale the building in a feat of strength and athleticism for a large sum of money to be split between the two, an amount that will allow Harold to truly get on his feet and marry his love.  However, when the day of the spectacle emerges it becomes evident that Pal is under surveillance by a diligent cop who prevents him from climbing the building, thus requiring Harold to take his place, for what he assumes to be only a few floors.  Yet through a series of follies and mishaps it is Harold who climbs the entire length of the building thus earning the money for himself, as well as winning over his girlfriend in new ways.  Harold has succeeded in the city, all be it, by some rather unusual means.

It is easy to dismiss a film like Safety Last as being purely spectacle, or as a series of daring stunts loosely connected by narrative elements.  To do so would, however, be an incredibly ignorant reading of a keen film, about self-advancement and the pursuing of the American Dream.  Sure the film has some rather problematic elements of racism and gender issues, but it was made in 1923, one must accept cultural issues differently before approaching the films themes.  With all this in mind, the film clearly critiques the trouble of making oneself successful with the burdens of capitalist structures, particularly the renting of property and the interferences of private property into one's ability to succeed.     Furthermore, the film clearly delineates between the bourgeois and the proletariat in the zany and roaringly hilarious fabric sale scene.  This all culminates into a visual metaphor of a man's climb to the top of success, this lengthy climax covers a large portion of the film and is certainly met with challenges, whether they be those of law, or those of absurdity, it is not simple for Harold to reach the top and it certainly requires an amount of aid and an even larger amount of luck.  Yet, as the film suggest, one can succeed in this climb, by of course trying not to look down, and if one does accidentally do so they should pursue their goals in a frantic and possessed manner, or in another sense destroy their preoccupation with time, because it will,  in this film very literally, slow you down.

Key Scene:  It should be no surprise that the climbing of the building takes precedence here.

Unfortunately, many of Harold Lloyd's films have been relegated to secondary thoughts on collections of silent slapstick, and Safety Last is certainly no exception.  One can hope for a bluray upgrade in the future, but until then renting one of the many DVD's containing his works will have to suffice.