www.|ist.co.uk/film
LEWIS MAY BE THE
GREATEST FILMMAKER THAT
l
is S
4.
Poverty row
AMERICA EVER PRODUCED
The fantastic 1950 B movie Gun Crazy is re-released this fortnight. It's time to worship at the altar of director Joseph H Lewis again, says Paul Dale
ince I heard that his 'lovers on the lam' film
noir (iim Crazy was to be revived I have spent a
lot of time trying to get hold of Joseph H Lewis' other films. If ever there was a wonderful filmmaker who deserves his own DVD box set. it is Lewis. My old VHS player hasn't had so mttch action in years. and l have still only managed to locate about a third of his filmograph. But even on that evidence. l am beginning to believe that Lewis may just he the greatest filmmaker that America ever produced. Reared in depressions. Lewis was the original recession auteur. the Michael \N'interbottom of his day.
Born in l‘)()7 in Manhattan. Lewis. a wannabe actor with an Adolfe Menjou moustache followed his editor brother Ben to Hollywood. Discouraged by the queues of actors looking for work as extras. Lewis managed to get himself a gofer job at MGM. then the richest studio in town.
Through some creative negotiating (he lied and said he was his brother) Lewis became supervising editor at the studio's Poverty Row operation. It was here. making quickie adventure serials with Rin Tin Tin. Rex the Wonder Horse and Clyde Beatty the lion tamer that Lewis learned his craft and probably realised that shoestring budgets and medieval working conditions aside. 8 movie freedom was far preferable to A movie refinement (and the expectations it brings).
Moving between MGM. Columbia. Universal and United Artists throughout his career. Lewis was singular in that he lacked the A list aspirations of his B Movie contemporaries Anthony Mann and Jacques
Torneur or the workmanlike detachment of long forgotten fellow contractors like Henry Levin. Alfred li (ireen and comedy specialist Alexander Hall. Lewis was the scaliest fish in the pond.
Lewis first emerged as a director to watch with his no budget horror quickie Invisible (iliusi starring Bela Lugosi. a film so breathlessly nutty and
inventive I beg you to watch it for yourself
(http://tinyurl.com/c/cjop). l‘rom here until his retirement into television in the l‘)()()s. every film Lewis made is a miracle of economy and playfulness. 1942's Silver Bullet repositions the western revenge flick way before Peckinpah. Seigel. liastwood et al started their tinkering. Bombs ()ver Burma (19-13) purports war as childish fun way before Boorman had Hope and Glory. The (littlerem'er Man. Retreat: Hell and My Name is .lulia Ross prove that Lewis could match and show anything achieved in Mann‘s T—Men. Sam Fuller's lived Bayoners.’ and Hitchcock‘s Reheeea respectively.
And then there‘s the two films upon which Lewis' reputation rests. the remarkable Bonnie and Clyde progenitor (inn Crazy (pictured) and l955‘s The Big Com/m — a duel between cop and gangster that makes Michael Mann’s Hear look like amateur hour. The revival of this film in the late 1970s kick-started a rediscovery of Lewis' work that culminated in a 24- film retrospective at the Witt) lidinburgh International Film Festival. ()h. ifl could turn back time.
Gun Crazy, Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 3-Thu 9 Apr.
THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES
>l<
* Let the Right One In Sparse. beautiful and almost ethereal Swedish vampire drama. See review, page 45. GFf, Glasgow; Cameo. Edinburgh and selected release from Fri 10 Apr.
3|! Rollgulous Filmmaker Larry Charles and comedian Bill Maher take on religion in this hilarious documentary. See feature. page 14 and review. page 45. GET, Glasgow 8 Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 3 Apr.
III Tony Manoro A Saturday Night Fever Travolta character lookalike gets murderous in this strange Chilean character study. See profile. page 45 and review, page 47. Selected release from Fri 10 Apr.
3|! Gun Crazy Joseph H Lewis' stellar film noir revisited. See feature. left and Also Released. page 47. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 3— Thu 9 Apr.
3|: 400 Blows Francois Truffaut's debut in a lovely new print. See Also Released. page 47. Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 10 Apr.
1|! In the City of Sytvla Love and yearning in Strasbourg. Jose Luis Guerin’s bold, almost dialogue free meditation on obsession and identity. Catch it while you can. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 3-Thu 9 Apr.
* Tho Good, Tho Bad, Tho Wolrd Nutty noodle western. GFF, Glasgow, Fri 3-Sun 5 Apr. * Tho Man From London Bela Tarr's mesmerising existential noir. GFT Glasgow, Mon 6-Wed 8 Apr
* Female Prloonor Scorpion 'I'HIogy All three of Shinyu Ito's 19705 exploitation films about ‘difticult' prisoner Matsui released in box set for the first time in the UK. A treat. See review. page 57. Eureka, Mon 6 Apr.
2—16 Apr 2009 THE LIST 43