|
“Dirty
Mary and Crazy Larry”
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Action |
| Video: |
1.85: 1 Anamorphic
widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
2.0 |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Length |
93 minutes
|
| Rating |
R |
| Release Date |
6/28/05 |
| Studio |
Anchor Bay
Home Entertainment |
| Commentary:
|
Director
John Hough |
| Documentaries:
|
“Ride The
Wild Side” |
| Featurettes:
|
None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
Text biographies
|
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Trailer, TV spots, radio
spots plus trailers for “Race with the Devil”, “Butch & Sundance:
The Early Years”, “Moving Violations”, “License to Drive” |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
Photo galleries, 1969
Dodge Charger Commercial |
| Other:
|
Peter Fonda,
Susan George, Adam Roarke, Kenneth Tobey, Vic Morrow, Roddy
McDowall |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Leigh Chapman
and Antonio Santean based on “The Chase” by Richard Unekis |
| Written
By: |
Leigh Chapman
and Antonio Santean based on “The Chase” by Richard Unekis |
| Produced
By: |
Norman Herman
|
| Directed
By: |
John Hough
|
| Music:
|
Jimmie Haskell
|
| The
Review: |
Chase movies were all the rage during
the 70’s but this action B movie probably is the ultimate
in the genre. Larry (Peter Fonda) and his partner Deke (Adam
Roarke) rob a major supermarket and hold the manager’s (Roddy
McDowall in an uncredited role) family hostage as part of
a scheme to finance their dream NASCAR vehicle. They end up
on the run with Mary (Susan George) who had a one night stand
with Larry. ***
While “Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry”
isn’t a great drama, it’s a fun free wheeling chase movie
that helped redefine the genre with its hair raising stunts.
John Hough’s sharp direction keeps the film from becoming
just another low budget exploitation flick. 30 years on it’s
astonishing that many of these dangerous stunts were accomplished.
While many of the newer films (the remake of “Gone in 60 Seconds”)
that mine the same genre cave may have more flash, they can’t
compare to this film for sheer inventiveness when it comes
to the outrageous stunts performed for this film. As a low
budget “Bonnie & Clyde” crossed with “Bullitt” “Crazy Mary
& Dirty Larry” can’t be beat. ---
|
| Image
and Sound: |
A spectacularly
transfer from Anchor Bay makes this one of the best releases
I’ve seen of a mid-70’s film on DVD. The print appears flawless
and there’s little to no digital artifacts. Yes, there’s grain
but that’s due to the film stock used and that’s to be expected.
The grain isn’t any more noticeable because of the transfer
and that’s a tribute to the care that’s gone into this transfer.
The mono sound doesn’t offer much for Anchor Bay to work with
but the mono sound has nice presence with no problems with compression
or other issues. --- |
| The
Extras: |
Once again
Perry Martin does an outstanding job with the extras included
here. Martin writes and directs the nearly 30 minute documentary
on the making of the movie. Martin interviews Fonda, George
and director Hough discussing the making of the movie. Hough
mentions that it’s one of his favorite films he’s directed
(the other is “Hell House”) and there’s good reason to see
why; Hough broke a lot of the rules in the genre and also
set amazingly high standards with his stunt co-ordinators/drivers
in creating the chase sequences and crashes. While you wouldn’t
think that acting would be a highlight of a film like this,
he cast does an amazing job considering how thinly written
the roles are bringing elements of their own personality to
their roles. Hough points out that 30 years on the film holds
up. He’s right. Hough deliberately cast Vic Morrow and Ken
Tobey in the film because they were actors he admired and
both do a great job considering the limitations of the script.
It’s an example of a great “B” movie before “B” movies became
“A” movies. ***
In addition
to the documentary on the making of the film we get the original
theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots advertising
the movie. There’s also a vintage commercial for the 1969
Dodge Charger that plays such a big part in the movie. We
also get posters from around the world, behind-the-scenes
stills and promo shots for the movie. Talent bios round out
the presentation with three devoted to director John Hough,
actors Peter Fonda and Susan George. We also get trailers
for four other Anchor Bay releases “Race with the Devil”,
“Moving Violations”, “License to Drive” and “Butch & Sundance:
The Early Years”. ---
|
| Commentary:
|
A great commentary
track featuring director John Hough moderated by DVD producer
Perry Martin is a highlight. Hough shares lots of the behind-the-scenes
stories we’ve come to expect plus insights into the success
of “Dirty/Crazy” and why 30 years on it still works really,
really well as a movie. He discusses the casting of Roddy McDowall
in the film in an uncredited part. Evidently Hough wanted to
work with McDowall again but the only part was a small one and
McDowall took it but just asked that he not be credited. There’s
also a discussion on the casting of British Susan George as
an American girl. Hough mentions that he had no interference
from the stuio when it came to casting (outside of Fonda who
was already attached to the project) or even with the making
of the film. When he wanted George (with whom he had worked
on “Eyewitness”) nobody balked or suggested that she might be
able to play the part. She does a marvelous job bringing considerable
depth to a sketchily written character. --- |
| Final
Words: |
A terrific
presentation from Anchor Bay, “Dirty/Crazy” receives the deluxe
treatment it might not if it had been released by a major studio.
I’d love to see studios like Universal that don’t provide a
lot of extras for their older movies license more of their films
and TV shows to Anchor Bay like Fox has done with this film,
“Race with the Devil” and “Profit”. The films and TV shows get
the deluxe treatment they deserve and the audience for the film
gets the extras that they deserve as well. Great job Perry!
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