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Point blank 19676/22/2023 ![]() There’s a sniper waiting on the Gothic Revival 4th Street Viaduct immediately to the north – but Walker is naturally prepared for this. Having become structurally unsound, though, the bridge has been demolished. You might remember this as the spot where the giant ants emerge in Them! or the site of the car race in Grease.īuilt in 1932 and two thirds of a mile long, the 6th Street Viaduct was the youngest of the monumental bridges crossing the river here, and possibly the most impressive – even being used as a landing strip in S.W.A.T. Walker is sent – ostensibly to collect his money – at the storm drain of the concrete bed of the LA River, east of downtown, beneath the 6th Street Viaduct. ![]() The entrance has unsurprisingly been remodelled but the gleaming monolith remains unmistakeable. The monumental 27-story office block of Reese's boss, Carter ( Lloyd Bochner), only just built in 1964 and still towering over the south side of LA's Miracle Mile at 5670 Wilshire Boulevard between Masselin Avenue and Hauser Boulevard, Midtown almost opposite the La Brea Tar Pits. Look out for a very young Sid Haig ( Rob Zombie’s Captain Spaulding) as one of Reese’s guards, and Kathleen Freeman ( The Blues Brothers’ Penguin and Singin' In The Rain's elocution teacher) as a socialite at the fundraiser. Point Blank location: the well-guarded penthouse of double-crossing Mal Reese: Huntley Hotel, 2nd Street, Santa Monica The novel is set entirely in San Francisco, but for the film, Walker’s quest for the $93,000 owed to him, leads down the coast to Los Angeles. Walker is shot – but is what follows a revenge drama, a ghost story or a dying man’s dream? Trips are understandably popular so, if you want to avoid disappointment, best book ahead. Despite the prison's fame, few inmates were household names, though celebrity guests included "Machine Gun" Kelly, Robert Stroud (the ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’), and of course, Al Capone.īy 1963, when the concept of confinement without hope of reformation had become outdated and the cost of maintaining the island prohibitive, the prison was closed.Īlcatraz is now a national park and can be visited by boat from Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. The island functioned as a Federal prison, in effect little more than a dumping ground for problematic convicts, from 1934. It’s been followed by Don Siegel‘s Escape From Alcatraz, with Clint Eastwood, Murder In the First and, of course, Michael Bay’s The Rock. Point Blank was the first feature to be shot on the island ( Birdman of Alcatraz, made in 1962, was filmed on studio sets). It kicks off with the double cross and shooting of Walker ( Lee Marvin) during a money drop in the exercise yard of a deserted Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. I'd give a slight edge to Bullitt, from the following year, if you have a choice.Not the greatest moneyspinner on release, but with its surreal flourishes and carefully controlled colour scheme, John Boorman’s dreamlike thriller was hugely influential, not least on the work of Nicolas Roeg, and has gained a deserved cult status over the years. Overall, a good action 60's action film, but probably a little over-hyped, with the gushings of critic David Thomson leading the way. Less successful is Carroll O'Connor, who is a little harder to believe in the few scenes he has, though it was interesting to see him in role other than Archie Bunker. The bit with her wailing away at him while he stands there impassively fit well and made me smile. John Vernon, ubiquitous bad guy from this era, is solid, and it was nice to see Angie Dickinson, particularly in the scene where she gets mischievous and annoys Marvin. On the other hand, it's well made within this genre, with director John Boorman filming at Alcatraz, using a gritty, stark style, and employing mini-flashbacks to realistically show Marvin's state of mind. After you've heard the premise, you can imagine what's going to happen, and it's got a few plot holes as well. I was reminded of The Big Heat (1953), which ironically also starred Lee Marvin, and there are many others. The film was entertaining, but I'm not sure it ever really broke out of the usual Hollywood formula of a very brave, very tough guy taking on an unseen web of corruption. He's a terrific tough guy, and turns in an excellent performance. He's so direct and menacing in making it clear he's going to be paid, or he's going to kill you. When he's shot at in an underground garage, he calmly takes a couple of steps back behind a pillar, and allows the police to take care of the shooter. In one fight, he hammers a guy on the ground in the groin. After getting stabbed in the back (well, actually, shot in the chest) and left for dead, he pursues the money that was owed to him up the chain in an organized crime syndicate.
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