HOPSCOTCH (1980)

To read history write it, Hopscotch was a film that came and largely went in 1980, but with the DVD/Blu-ray era unearthing more obscure fare, it has gained an enthusiastic following in the years since.

Walter Matthau as Miles Kendig

Glenda Jackson as Isobel von Schonenberg

Ned Beatty as G.P. Myerson

Sam Waterston as Joe Cutter (Yes, I know...)

David Matthau as Leonard Ross

Douglas Dirkson as Follett

Herbert Lom as Mikhail Yaskov

After refusing to arrest European KGB head Yaskov (Lom), veteran CIA field agent Miles Kendig (Matthau) is reassigned to a desk job by his irritable superior Myerson (Beatty). On the fly and with stunning cunning, Kendig takes it upon himself to write a tell-all book to humiliate his bosses, all the while "playing hopscotch" away from them all over the western hemisphere.

Basically, Kendig is the 80s' first big troll.

Kendig gets his tell-all idea from Yaskov as the two enjoy a sip of vodka together.

Based on the 1975 novel by Brian Garfield (who also penned Death Wish and disliked the violence of the 1974 film), Hopscotch benefits from the talent and experience behind the camera (Garfield and Bryan Forbes (The Naked Face) adapting, Ronald Neame directing) as well as in front of it.

A running theme is Kendig valuing cunning, long-term goals, and pragmatism

over Myerson's take-no-prisoners, "guns-a-blazing" approach.

Like Charley Varrick before it, Hopscotch gets us to relate to the lead by having him

display more values, morals, and charm than some of the people after him.

Not a difficult task, given how much of a profane hothead Myerson is.

While Garfield's novel was said to be darker with humorous touches (and a different ending), casting Walter Matthau as Hopscotch's lead led to a rewrite that better suited his dry-humored persona, and by gum, does this movie succeed at it. (For the opposite situation, see 1983's The Survivors.)

While less gritty than in most of his other beloved roles, Matthau's pretty much 

at the top of his game, and his slick energy propels the film beautifully.

Hopscotch has such a constant, overarching sense of fun that it carries its other elements all the way through, with Garfield and Forbes' snappy screenplay crackling great with Neame's direction. Some reviews (from 1980 and now) have pointed out that it has a relative lack of thrills for the spy genre, but I find the film makes its characters, stunts, and performances so enjoyable that most viewers likely won't feel shortchanged.

Not present in the novel, Isobel may be a smaller role given Jackson's level 

of fame at the time, but she is by no means wasted here.

Suggesting Jackson after their successful pairing in House Calls (1978),

Matthau and her are so believably fun and effortless, much like the film itself.

Like Charade before it, Hopscotch goes down and digests so easily that it almost needs little said about it. Matthau is effortlessly awesome, and the film could be called an ensemble piece given how entertaining the rest of the cast are.

I love Sam Waterston from his Law & Order days, and his Cutter

is one of the film's few "straight men", who deep down still roots

for former superior Kendig just a little.

Each of Hopscotch's characters have clear "voices" and dynamics,

putting little "wrinkles" into your run-of-the-mill spy thriller tropes.

Cutter's concern about KGB agents going after Kendig certainly

would have been valid in 1980, but true to its lighter nature, 

the film doesn't really follow up or elaborate on it further.

Lom's role isn't substantial, but it's understandably subdued

given the other characters already in the film.

On a subtextual level, Hopscotch, with its ad-libs and in-jokes, will especially be a treat for Matthau fans and the like.

Arguably the film's other "straight man", David Matthau's Ross

is the subject of several of Kendig's stunts, meaning that in this scene,

Walter Matthau amusingly takes his own son hostage. 

Ross is later the victim of a prank call...

...from a rather-Thatcher-sounding Kendig.

(Geez, why couldn't this have been the ending for For Your Eyes Only?)

With the use of a biplane in Kendig's plan to evade his pursuers, Hopscotch could serve as

a "best-of" to Matthau's career, barring the inclusion of Jack Lemmon and a racetrack scene.

Indeed, the film rests on Matthau, his charm, and his obvious enjoyment to add that much satisfaction to the film's setups and payoffs. Certainly, the audience wouldn't be thinking "will he make it?", but rather "how's he gonna get out of this one?".

Kendig uses firecrackers to fake out the CIA and FBI men outside the house he was in.

At this point you may ask, "But what about Snakes?"

Due to Waterston's clear exhaustion from the overrun filming of

Heaven's Gate, lines were written in mentioning Cutter's "jet lag".

Some reviews note the lessened and more passive roles of most of the other characters,

but it wasn't an aspect I noticed all that much until after the film was over.

AND THE REST...

Hopscotch has a large cast of well-known British and American (mostly) character actors that include (but are not limited to)...

Jacquelyn Hyde as a Savannah, GA realtor,

who sounds like she was voiced by Nancy Cartwright.

Matthau's stepdaughter Lucy Saroyan (who looks so much like her mother)

as "discreet" seaplane pilot Carla Fleming

Severn Darden (The President's Analyst, Back to School)

as Leroy Maddox, Fleming's "connection"

Anne Haney (Liar Liar, Mrs. Doubtfire) has a small role as Myerson's wife.

Allan Cuthbertson (who also appeared in The Mirror Crack'd's film-within-a-film)

as Sir Giles Chartermain

George Baker (Sir Hilary Bray in On Her Majesty's Secret Service)

as publisher Parker Westlake

LOGO GEMS

The 1968-1982 Avco Embassy logo may not technically be rare, but it sure is unusual seeing it out in the wild nowadays. 

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

Well what do you know? Dreyfus made it to Oktoberfest after all!

Insert Buddy Buddy joke here.

Oh my god. If these two don't run into Ingrid Bergman and a bulldog in a Volvo,

I'm gonna be extremely disappointed!

Kendig in brownface disguise to buy his own book? Not good even back then.

Isobel berating him for it and its ridiculousness? Hilarious.

In view of the camera, Kendig and Isobel pretty much shoplift Kendig's own book.

TIDBITS AND SUCH

I'm going to assume Hopscotch didn't have the most tonally indicative of ad campaigns, seeing as how one U.S. poster (left) is clearly riffing on The Spy Who Loved Me (another Bond film George Baker appeared in). The Italian poster (right) is almost worse, making the film out to be a Pink Panther-esque sex comedy. Would the posters have been easier to conceptualize in the wake of more straight-faced spoofs like The Naked Gun? Who knows.

Hopscotch may have been seen as a bit too light-hearted in 1980, but its comfortable tone has aged surprisingly well given its subject matter. I made the mistake of putting this film off for so long after first reading about it, so take my advice and see it when and where you can, preferably with a spilled beer and an ever-changing photo of your boss.

Copyright © Chynna Moore

THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974)

Thrillers that defined and preserved the 1970s for future generations could, for most people, be counted on one hand: Dirty Harry, The French Connection, Death Wish, The Conversation, All the President's Men (and one could maybe make a case for Klute and Three Days of the Condor). 

But one film often left out is one that isn't as well-remembered on a count of its main characters or the cultural zeitgeist it tapped into, but rather its premise, setup, and execution. In that respect, it's likely the same reason why my 70s-obsessed self never got to it earlier. Yes, folks, as of 2019, consider me late to the Taking of Pelham One Two Three party.

Walter Matthau as Lt. Zachary Garber

Robert Shaw as Mr. Blue

Hector Elizondo as Mr. Grey

Earl Hindman (Yes, Wilson) as Mr. Brown

Martin Balsam as Mr. Green

On an ordinary day in Beame-era New York, a color-coded group of armed men take 18 passengers of the Pelham 1:23 subway car hostage for (Dr. Evil-style pinkie to mouth) one million dollars. 

Dick O'Neill as Frank Correll

O'Neill co-starred with Matthau in The Front Page that same year.

Jerry Stiller as Lt. Rico Patrone

Peter Stone (adapting the novel by Morton Freedgood (pen name John Godey)) does again what he did so well with Charade (1963). A lean, mean (but not mean-spirited) thriller, Pelham smartly rides through its darker, dangerous elements with an undercurrent of wry humor that keeps it all from getting bogged down. Taking that and the use of telephones/walkie-talkies into account, it occurs to me that Die Hard owes a lot more to this film than I ever thought before.

Pelham's hostages, all from different backgrounds, are memorable, 

likable, and pull together to try and help each other.

Matthau's stepdaughter Lucy Saroyan plays a hostage.

Perhaps the word "undercurrent" is too mild when describing Pelham's humor. Almost everyone in this film gives as good as they get in the snark department.

Well, except these guys, but their last lines are so good that I won't spoil them here.

(They're played by Sho Onodera, Toru Nagai, Conrad Yama, and Tura Nakamura respectively.)

The key here, of course, is contrast. Because while the hero and most of the other characters are cinematic New Yorkers through and through, the main villain is a cool, calm, measured Englishman who's willing to fulfill his plan by any means necessary.

Never raising his voice (except at Mr. Grey), Mr. Blue's

cold demeanor suggests he's a professional long before

bits of dialogue reveal his past.

Not to join the chorus, but yes, that yellow tie certainly is a look.

Despite having less screentime than many of his other well-known films, Matthau's Garber still has his star quality written all over him. Seemingly the only worker in his area concerned for the hostages' safety (a sentiment even the mayor doesn't share), he's arguably the closest thing the movie has to a moral compass, chiefly keeping the film from becoming too cynical and downbeat. The quips he makes to the criminals certainly help too.

Like Columbo, Garber's rough edges hide an officer who's 

damn good at his job and an intellectual match for the villain.

Pelham is also a great example of showing us characters without backstories to inform their personalities. Now as a screenwriter, I'm not against backstories on principle, if they are worked into the story organically and are thematically relevant. But sometimes, in a keep-it-moving thriller whose backbone is in its premise and how the villains' plan will unfold, you have to be economical. Basically, to quote 1996's Scream: "[I]t's a lot more scarier when there's no motive".

Unlike the 2009 film, Bernard Ryder gives us his personality

in his behavior, (relative) etiquette, and interactions 

without the need for a full backstory.

Over the course of the film, we do get pieces regarding the pasts of the gang. Interestingly, one bit left out of the film altogether is the novel's stated cause of Mr. Grey's ejection from the Mafia: Running a protection racket, he still beat up those under protection even when they paid, thus deeming him bad for business.

Out of the four villains, Mr. Brown unfortunately gets short shrift due 

to his role and his place in the subway car

However, the difference with this film is that these bits are worked in naturally, i.e. conversations between Mr. Blue and the inexperienced Mr. Green, to break up the scene's tension if need be.

It was actually difficult for me to get screencaps of the gang, 
as the film is quite darkly lit at times.

Despite being a masterclass in thrills, tension, and clashing personalities, Pelham runs little more than an hour and 40 minutes and doesn't waste a beat. And that ending shot! (No, I won't post it here. Most of you know what it is already.)

AND THE REST...

James Broderick (Matthew's father) as Denny Doyle, 

Mr. Blue's first hostage.

Lee Wallace as the Mayor, 15 years before he was Gotham's 

mayor in Batman, and three years before lookalike 

Ed Koch took the NYC mayor's office in real life.

Tony Roberts (no relation to Doris) as Deputy Mayor Warren LaSalle.

Doris Roberts (who also appeared in 1971's A New Leaf)

as the Mayor's wife Jessie.

Kenneth McMillan as Borough Commander Harry

Beatrice Winde as new NTA hire Mrs. Jenkins

Julius Harris as Inspector Daniels

Years ago, when I saw Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), a train compartment scene made me 

wish Live and Let Die's Tee Hee would show up and try and kick Matthau's ass.

So imagine my surprise when Tee Hee himself shows up and 

speeds down the NYC streets with Matthau in tow.

TIDBITS AND SUCH

There are 70s thriller scores, and then there is David Shire's masterpiece of brass and percussion that is and deserves a category all its own. 

The Japanese poster adapts the original US poster, adding a neat image of the subway route as well as the train silhouette in the corner. I'm not a fan of the red title font, however, which seems to make the film out to be a horror movie. Surely the original yellow font (or a brick-brown version of it) would have sufficed.

And I just had to share this hilariously inaccurate Italian poster. Not only does Garber never fire his gun in the actual film (nor does Mr. Green ever wear that outfit, let alone look this trigger-happy), but when the actual hell did Doyle Lonnegan make a return appearance?

Copyright © Chynna Moore