“People here live the kind of lives magazine ads talk about.” – Fred Dorella
The saying goes that actors want to be rock stars and rock stars want to be actors. Elvis Presley tried to emulate James Dean in his acting, but he never had the intensity like his fellow Sun Records label-mate Johnny Cash did in this, his noirish film debut. Cash is Johnny Cabot, a murderous hood hiding out in sunny Carmella Gardens after machine gunning down a cop in New Jersey. He hooks up with Fred Dorella (Vic Tayback) for a bank heist with a twist. The scheme involves Johnny holding the bank vice-president’s wife at gun point in her home while Fred goes to the bank and extorts the moolah. Everything would be perfect except that banker Ken Wilson (Donald West) is not in love with his wife, Helen (Cay Forester), anymore and plans to run away to Vegas with his mistress that night.
The film works because of Cash’s performance. His dark eyes and leering mouth make him the perfect anti-Elvis. He oozes menace with a wound-up nervous energy that crackles when he waves his hands about, caresses his guitar, or points his muffled gun. Lines are snapped with a laid back Southern drawl which purrs evil intent. When Cash first approaches Ms. Wilson, he pretends he’s a simple salesman, trying to catch flies with honey and $10 bills. But then he’s up behind her, menacing her with his gun, undressing her with his speed freak eyes. The implication of rape even comes up. This is one bad man in a suit. No black here, that would be too simple. A checkered suit for a checkered past. We even get some guitar picking and a couple of snarled songs to amp up the coming violence.
Vic Tayback is great as the partner in crime, but his haircut cries out male pattern baldness. Merle Travis, the country music genius, plays the owner of the bowling alley where the two criminals meet up and he’s pretty slick at being a low-life sycophant. The real shock is young Ronnie Howard as the precocious son of the Wilson’s who has a very dramatic moment near the end of the film.
The ending is probably the biggest let down because it doesn’t know when to stop. The script was written by Cay Forester, who also stars, and you can tell she just wanted to have more screen time than was necessary. However, the general trajectory of the story works and there is enough of a mix of humor and menace to keep the film humming along.
The version I watched on DVD was very dupey. Chandra said it felt as though you were watching a movie underwater. But it is watchable and very entertaining. I have wanted to see this film for a few years now and my anticipation did nothing to lessen the impact of finally seeing it. Well worth your time!
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