Movie Reviews
The Stranger in 7a review
One of the things I love about thrifting, especially for media of any kind, is that I find a lot of crazy things I have never heard about…and by crazy, I mean super fucking cool, or what in the actual fuck; both of which make me happy. These thrifting ventures usually lead to my overbuying because, especially if I am at a Goodwill Outlet where you can buy media five for a dollar, everything is so affordable. If I wind up hating something, no big deal because it was not a lot of money to buy; if I like it, well even better because it was so cheap. Anyway #tangent I got carried away, like real carried away a few months ago and I am now officially out of room, so I picked a movie at random from the massive stack of films called The Stranger in 7a starring Andy Griffith. I love, love, love Andy Griffith; in fact, this was the only reason I bought the DVD…that, and it was only twenty cents, so…where was I? Andy Griffith, right! Ok, so Griffith stars alongside Ida Lupino and together they play an estranged married couple who find themselves caught in a hostage situation after Artie (Griffith) picks up a younger woman named Claudine (Susanne Benton) in a bar while his wife Iris (Lupino) is out of town.
Sounds pretty basic, right? Now, I wasn't expecting anything mostly because all I knew was that Andy Griffith was in it, but also because I never expect anything from the movies I buy for twenty cents; but, I was totally blown away by this film. Griffith is amazing as always, but I was really impressed with the main villain of the film Billy played by Michael Brandon…he kind of stole the show! He's a perfect foil to Artie's aging, henpecked schmuck of a man trying to hold it together in New York. Brandon plays Billy, a con-man/robber, with a believability rarely seen in 70s films; a strong-arm who is cheesy enough given the time, but also scary enough to put me on edge every time he shows up and/or starts talking. Maintaining an equanimity even as he beats up a worn out old man makes his character vile and eerie at the same time. It's not easy to pull off such a callous nature, but Brandon plays the psychopath with such great success I am convinced that he might actually be that in real life…
Susanne Benton does an equally amazing job as Claudine, Billy's girlfriend who is tasked to lure Artie into Billy's bank robbery scheme playing up her innocence while preying on his. Aside from the super awkward dancing she does (which resembles some kind of slow, primitive writhing), her performance was very convincing. Though her primary role focused on the use of her “feminine wiles” to seduce and trap Artie, she doesn't let it dominate her performance after the lure, which adds to her believability. A no-nonsense attitude on screen keeps her from falling into the traditionally vacuous role of a stupid female doing a man's bidding. The only downfall to the character is that she isn't given enough of a role. I find this, however, to be more proof of Benton's success; she didn't allow herself to be relegated to the background. She did a great job adding tension to the film with no melodrama.
The plot of the film, while being pretty typical for a bank heist scenario, employed just enough uniqueness to be really good. For instance, the well-thought-out scheme to rob the bank was pretty cool. There were some very tense moments creating enough suspense to be reminiscent of a Hitchcock film. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely NOT Hitchcock, but there were moments which felt very much like it. The unfolding of all the events was seamless, and when things begin to go wrong, there is no frill which only adds to the tension. There are no hidden, last minute, deus-ex-machina shenanigans. What happens is what happens, and I really like that. For as much story as was involved, the weaving of it unfolded very satisfactorily, and at the end there were no loose threads. The theme of hero vs antihero didn't waver, and though the end did seem a bit “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” it was not a distraction. Overall, I consider this to be one of the best bank heist films I have ever seen. I liked it more than Point Break and that movie had Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, AND surfing going for it! I highly recommend watching this with some Bulleit and Diet Coke…or just Bulleit…or just Diet Coke. Whatever suits you&hellip
So, go get reqless, watch this film, and tell me what you think…