Meat Market

ferbs54

Just a year after copping the 1971 Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of one of the most dogged detectives in screen history--"Popeye" Doyle, in "The French Connection"--Gene Hackman was back in theaters playing a character very much on the other side of the law. In the woefully underrated "Prime Cut," which opened in June '72, Hackman played a dope-peddling, slave-trafficking gangster named (shades of Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue") Mary Ann, who is also the legitimate operator of Mary Ann's Meats, a slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant outside Kansas City, Kansas. As the film opens, we see the inner workings of this factory, in a scene guaranteed to turn the stomachs of not only the audience's vegetarians, but possibly its carnivores, as well. The strange sight of a man's shoe on the assembly line is soon explained, as we learn that Chicago mob boss Jake (Eddie Egan) has just been sent a package of sausage made from the remains of a recent "enforcer" that he had sent to Mary Ann's place to collect $500,000 in owed monies; the third enforcer to wind up dead after being sent to the slaughterhouse. Thus, Jake has no choice but to resort to his old buddy Nick Devlin (supercool Lee Marvin), who, despite being semiretired, cannot resist the $50,000 fee to do this bit of dirty collecting. And so off Nick goes, accompanied by three young Irish toughs and a limo driver, and armed with a submachine gun, on the long drive from Chicago to KC. But when the team arrives at Mary Ann's compound, it finds not only a stubbornly defiant Mary Ann, but also stock pens filled with drugged and naked young women, ready to be sold to the highest bidders. And after rescuing the pretty Poppy (Sissy Spacek, in her film debut), Devlin must soon contend with Mary Ann, his brutish brother Weenie (Gregory Walcott), and all of Mary Ann's assorted rural henchmen....

Featuring some surprisingly gorgeous photography of the heartland countryside, unexpected bursts of strong violence, a witty script from Robert Dillon and three terrific performances by its three leads, "Prime Cut" turns out to be a real winner, indeed. The film boasts at least three action highlights: in the first, Nick and Poppy flee from Mary Ann's country goons through a county fair and into a camouflaging field of wheat; in the next, which comes immediately after this Hitchcockian sequence, the two must escape the razor-sharp blades of a fast-moving combine harvester; and in the third, brilliantly shot action scene, Nick and his men engage in a pitched gun battle with Mary Ann's gang in a field of gigantic sunflowers. This last is a particularly well-done sequence, preceded by a moody lightning storm; I love the way the camera follows behind Devlin as he makes his way through those garishly bright flower heads. As revealed in Spacek's new autobiography, "My Extraordinary Ordinary Life," the film was actually shot outside Calgary, Alberta, whose wide-open wheat fields certainly do a fine job of simulating Kansas. Spacek also reveals in her book that Marvin was very easy to work with--the two DO have a strangely effective chemistry on screen, despite the differences in their ages and personae--and that he warned her that, when he was drinking, if his green eyes ever turned blue, she should keep her distance from him...advice that she apparently respected! Spacek surprisingly appears topless in this, her first screen role, and indeed, this scene is not the film's only risqué moment; well do I recall the spread that "Playboy" magazine did on "Prime Cut" that month, showcasing all the many female slaves, naked and doped up in their pens.

Of course, much of the credit for this film's artistic success must be given to director Michael Ritchie. This was Ritchie's second theatrical film, after years of work on television programs and the Robert Redford vehicle "Downhill Racer" (also featuring Gene Hackman), and he would go on to helm such popular entertainments as "The Candidate" (with Redford again), "The Bad News Bears," "Semi-Tough" and "Fletch." Ritchie here demonstrates a sure hand not only with exciting action scenes, but with quieter, more personal moments as well, and is quite adept at moving that ol' camera around! Kudos also to famed Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin for his understated, moody score; Schifrin was responsible for a whopping 78 film scores during his great career, plus 12 for TV, including, of course, his most famous piece of music: the theme song for TV's "Mission: Impossible." Ultimately, however, it is Lee Marvin's effortless sangfroid that steals the show here; what a wonderfully tough performance from this Hollywood icon! Clocking in at 86 minutes, "Prime Cut" is a compact thrill ride that effectively showcases the talents of all concerned. See it, you must...but NOT, of course, while eating a hamburger or sausage sandwich....

score 8/10

ferbs54 10 September 2012

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2671303/