23 MADE
Director: John MacKenzie
Starring: Carol White, Roy Harper, John Castle (UK, 1972)
An Old Grey Whistle Test favourite and pal of Zeppelin he might have been, but folk singer Harper wasn’t everyone’s idea of a leading man, despite his perceived typecasting as an insecure and selfish rock star. Embarking on a relationship with single mother White, he discovers he has a rival for her affections, in the form of an idealistic young priest (Castle). The film’s earthy kitchen-sink naturalism was clearly informed by the work of Ken Loach (with whom White worked on both Cathy Come Home and Poor Cow), but MacKenzie’s playful suggestions of the Harper character as a Christ-like figure were a touch heavy-handed. At least he looked more like Jesus than Marc Bolan, whom Harper claims also auditioned for the role. TV veteran MacKenzie struggled on the broader canvas of a cinema screen, and wouldn’t truly hit his stride until 1980’s The Long Good Friday.
Expect to pay: If you can find a VHS, you’ll pay £15 tops
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22 MAIDSTONE
Director: Norman Mailer
Starring: Norman Mailer, Rip Torn (USA, 1970)
Search YouTube for “mailer rip torn” and you’ll find footage of actor Torn going at Mailer with a hammer. In response, the great American novelist almost chews Torn’s ear off. There are screams: Mailer’s children are watching in terror. This is the finale of Maidstone, the third of Mailer’s self-funded attempts at an improvised movie (preceded by Wild 90 and Beyond The Law) designed to destroy the line separating fiction and reality. Casting friends, lovers and ex-wives, and deliberately stirring an unhealthy atmosphere (he broke one actor’s jaw), Mailer starred as Norman Kingsley, a movie director running for President. The plot was supposed to lead to his assassination, but degenerated into a vanity trip – until the frustrated Torn, who turned down Easy Rider to make the movie, took matters into his own hands and reinstated the assassination idea without telling anybody, attacking Mailer for real. Mauled by critics, poorly distributed, it tanked and left Mailer broke. But it’s also a perfect fin-de-’60s time capsule, and deserves to be seen for its sheer craziness.
Expect to pay: Keep ’em peeled for French Region 2 DVD, £25 or so
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21 92 IN THE SHADE
Director: Thomas McGuane
Starring: Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Harry Dean Stanton, Margot Kidder (USA, 1975)
When prize-winning young novelist McGuane was lured to Hollywood, he embraced LA’s sybaritic lifestyle with gusto, falling in with a reckless crowd of notorious hell-raisers, including Warren Zevon, whose 1982 album The Envoy was dedicated to him. At every opportunity, McGuane lived up to his nickname: “Captain Berserko”. Somehow, he also found time to write admired screenplays for Arthur Penn’s The Missouri Breaks, starring Nicholson and Brando, and Steve McQueen’s penultimate film, the downbeat western Tom Horn. 92 In The Shade was based on his own blackly comic novel about lethally feuding Key West fishing guides – played here by Fonda and Oates – and his only film as director, a job for which he showed no discernible talent. As he later admitted, he was frankly clueless, and the chaotic location shoot was accompanied by much rowdy partying and romantic complications – McGuane’s wife Becky first of all had a very public affair with Oates and then left him to marry Fonda. In most respects the film was a shambles, rambling and often incoherent. But the cast was terrific, the dialogue hilariously idiosyncratic and everyone looked like they had such a high old time making it you end up being charmed by its cheerful haplessness.
Expect to pay: £25 for a used VHS – your only option