Ask Me a Question: The Driver & Hard Times w/ Walter Hill

Saturday night we headed to Estate on Wilshire for Happy Hour with some nice Kentucky Mules, chicken sammich, hummus and pad thai (what a menu, huh?) before our second night at the Aero Theatre's Walter Hill retrospective with The Driver and Hard Times. I've owned The Driver on DVD for years but never actually watched it so what better way to do so than on a big screen with the man himself in attendance? It wasn't quite as large or lively a crowd as The Warriors but still a large and engaged turnout. If you've seen 2011's Drive, then you've kind of seen 1978's The Driver only without the shiny veneer and synth soundtrack. Ryan O'Neal plays a mysterious getaway driver who charges $10 grand up front and is the target of a relentless detective played by an unlikable yet memorable Bruce Dern ("maybe you're a fruiter", what?!). With practical car stunts and chases on the streets and in the parking structures of Los Angeles along with some interesting character bits, The Driver is a very effective crime thriller and you can see where Ryan Gosling got part of his character from Ryan O'Neal.

Another standing ovation and Walter Hill hit the stage for a more structured Q&A than the night before, joking how more people that night saw the film than upon original release. The beautiful Isabelle Adjani was cast due to a European co-financing deal and while the film tanked in America, it was a modest hit in Europe and did very well in Japan. Talk then turned to Hard Times, Hill's first directorial effort from 1975 starring Charles Bronson as a street fighter with a manager played by James Coburn. I first saw this film in college when I discovered John Sturges and his forever influential The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. While I watched The Warriors constantly through high school, I haven't watched it much since while Hard Times is a flick I routinely toss in. The southern soundtrack mixed with New Orleans location charms, Bronson always looking like he's on the verge of violence when he smiles and in great shape in his 50's, Coburn's fast and shit talking lovable loser manager and some fight scenes that still pack a punch all these years later, are just an easy watch.

Hill recalled how Lawrence Gordon had just signed a deal with Columbia and invited the young filmmaker to make his directorial debut on a low budget B movie since the studio was not flush with cash. An existing script was tweaked to become a period piece inspired by a story from Hill's great grandfather who worked on remote oil fields where sporting events and fights filled their Sundays. One day, a hobo showed up and asking for food, lodging and a few bucks in exchange to fight for their camp and won for six weeks before disappearing. While Hill wanted a young actor like Jan-Michael Vincent as brawler Chaney, it was sent to Bronson much to his dismay. But Hill admitted he was wrong when Bronson gave one of the best performances of his career and was pitch perfect. At the time, Charlie was a big deal and responded favorably to the script a day after reading it. Bronson took home nearly a million bucks and former Seven and Escape co-star Coburn was brought in as manager Speed because as Hill put it, the actor was broke. Coburn was not happy to be in a Bronson film and knew that Hill wanted Warren Oates for the role.

Bronson's wife and frequent co-star Jill Ireland was discussed as potential love interest Lucy but then became an ultimatum if he wanted to direct the film. Hill discussed meeting Bronson for the first time with the actor showing up in a muscle revealing tight shirt and asking why Hill thought he could direct the film. While the two got along during filming, Bronson took offense to several of Ireland's scenes being cut in post-production but Hill chalked it up to having the film's best interests in mind and how Bronson would be hot or cold to him in the years following. On writing, Hill said he would start scripts but never finish. Later when he would figure out the ending, only then would he begin writing as most action films end the same way so it's up to the writer to craft an interesting journey.

Gotta Eat! The Jolly Oyster

Growing up in the mid-east of America, I used to love driving. The open highways, truck stops, road snacks, traveling tunes and friendly conversation while watching the country whip by and the sun set was a simple pleasure. But for about the last five years I haven't had much of a commute and most of my car time beyond 30 minutes means we're headed to Hollywood once a week, Disneyland once a month or San Diego once a year. So this past Saturday, cruising up to Ventura for a shindig caught me by surprise as it took an hour and a half! Plus it was raining in LA and I saw three accidents in 20 minutes so it just seemed like a day meant for lounging on the couch. But alas we had already committed and just north of Los Angeles the skies cleared. Driving past Simi Valley then Santa Clarita and finally into the quaint suburb-esque areas outside Calabasas and Ventura, we made it to a state park where a sustainable seafood establishment is mere footsteps from the beach. The Jolly Oyster is comprised of a food truck that cooks oysters and clams to order and a permanent looking stall where you can get them raw and do with you as you like.

The picnic area wasn't huge but was packed by 1:00 PM with families and celebrations. It's been a while since I've tried to BBQ and boy is my game not up to par. Luckily a friend is an expert as he threw some clams into a pot with butter, minced garlic and white wine. I've never had good luck with raw oysters so I couldn't channel my inner James Coburn from Hard Times but had a couple cooked ones that were delectable. Instead I opted for some steamed clams and fried oysters from the food truck which were pretty tasty and the remote joint took credit cards so that's a plus. The park was pretty big with several celebrations going on and cost a not terrible $10 bones to enter/park. The Jolly Oyster has an interesting method of dispensing shells, you just toss them onto a pile of a makeshift wall around the picnic area. All in a fun day at a hidden gem outside Los Angeles.

Bronson of the Day: Hard Times

Charles Bronson is one of my favorite on screen personalities but honestly, I don't think he starred in that many great films.  Sure his ensemble work in The Magnificent Seven, Battle of the Bulge, The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen and Once Upon a Time in the West make each of those films more interesting but in terms of leading man vehicles, I'm hard pressed to rewatch many as they became "Charles Bronson" movies instead of just, movies.  One of my favorites, probably my all time favorite Bronson flick is 1975's Hard Times.  It's just one of those movies I can pop in anytime and still get caught up in.  A few years ago I even got to see it on the big screen with some of the surviving cast attending at The New Beverly. 

Hard Times is the story of a mysterious drifter and street fighter named Chaney (Bronson).  We don't know where he came from and never learn anything about his past.  Rolling into the Depression era streets of Louisiana, Chaney teams up with big boasting hustler and fight organizer Speed (Mag 7 & Great Escape co-star James Coburn) as they set out to make some money.  Chaney's scrapping skills attract the attention of the local shady businessmen and he's forced into a final fight with their hired hitter all the way from Chicago.  Bare knuckle brawling, oyster eating, high stakes gambling, yoked 52 year old Bronson, fox grinning James Coburn, southern man Strother Martin, fish smelling awesomeness ensues.  Chaney picks up a lady friend, Lucy, played by real life spouse Jill Ireland in arguably her greatest performance opposite her husband.  Way better than last Bronson of the Day title Cold Sweat where she overacted being high and screamed a lot.  She peppers him with questions that he somehow never really answers.  Chaney's not looking to bother anyone and doesn't look past the next bend in the road. 

Walter Hill directs a revised script from Bryan Gindoff and Bruce Henstell.  Hill is one of my favorite writer/directors with flicks like The Warriors and Streets of Fire also being examples of exciting, weird flicks set in their own worlds like Hard Times.  The flick is sparse, you could say not a ton happens but it's still somehow extremely engrossing.  The script was the same way, there's a great description of a bar being thick with smoke and losers.  Using the country vistas and industrial landscape of New Orleans (factories, warehouses, docks), Hill creates a downtrodden world without making it mean or empty as he would later do with movies like Johnny Handsome or most recent Bullet to the Head.  A mustache-less Charles Bronson is terrific as Chaney in a performance that blends world weariness and tired eyes mixed with rough and tumble fight scenes where he shows off his muscular, vascular and trim physique in effective cinematic bouts of fisticuffs that are raw, awkward and exciting versus cleanly or overly choreographed.  James Coburn gets to do a lot of the talking as fast and big mouthed Speed with his great big grin, never losing his confidence as the perennial loser.  Strother Martin is great as the strange yet endearing opium addict cut man Poe who still dresses in fine duds and recites poetry.  Barry De Vorzon provides a Cajun-folk infused score that fits the films easy going pace and would later give Hill's The Warriors a memorable, forward charging synth soundtrack.

Reportedly costing $2.7 million clams, Hard Times would be one of Bronson's first American star vehicles post 1974's mega hit, Death Wish, which was a top earner of the year bringing in $22 million.  Hard Times would turn a profit collecting $5 million with Walter Hill receiving participation checks to this day.  Hill and Bronson never worked together again after the actor didn't appreciate the cutting of several of Ireland's scenes.  Hill would remark that Bronson ran very hot and cold in the years after, on some occasions being warm and friendly and others not even acknowledging Hill's presence.  James Coburn was said to have been difficult to work with on the set, maybe feeling disgruntled after co-starring with Bronson on earlier fare, coming into his own as a leading man in films like Our Man Flint, Duck, You Sucker and The President's Analyst but was now second banana to the international action star.  Hill would go on to become a force in the industry during the 80's and 90's, producing the Alien series and directing genre and box office hits like The Warriors and 48 Hours.  Bronson would change genres and eras for follow up western-mystery Breakheart Pass, based on an Alistair MacLean novel while Coburn went on to star in a crazy sounding action flick about rescuing a kidnapped family from a mountain top terrorist lair using hang gliders in Sky Riders.  I need to find me a copy of that!