CITY HEAT
US, 1984, 93 minutes, Colour.
Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Jane Alexander, Madeline Kahn, Rip Torn, Irena Cara, Richard Roundtree, Tony Lo Bianco.
Directed by Richard Benjamin.
City Heat is an enjoyable if, surprisingly, forgettable police thriller. It has Clint Eastwood doing a send-up of his laconic policeman. It has Burt Reynolds doing a send-up of his genial tough guy image. There is a good supporting cast led by Jane Alexander and Rip Torn. Irene Cara sings some songs. Direction is by comedian Richard Benjamin (who directed My Favorite Year, Racing with the Moon).
The film was originally a Blake Edwards project. His storyline and many elements remain, anonymously, within the film. It is a pleasing spoof of gangster films of the '30s - and many note its similarities with Pete Kelly's Blues. There is comedy, action, spoof. However, while the ingredients are attractive and entertaining, they still seem comparatively thin. Disappointing in view of what might have been.
1. A pleasing and entertaining police thriller? Nostalgia for the '30s? The gangster genre? Parody?
2. The stars and their style? How well do they work together? The complementarity of styles? Satirising their own images?
3. The '30s and the Kansas City settings, the emphasis on night, lighting, artificiality - Technicolor equivalents of Warner Bros '30s gangster films? Environment, mood? Action? Stunt work? The stylised presentation of gangster conventions?
4. The opening with the echoes of the '30s films? A film for film buffs? The sequences from Horse Feathers and the emphasis on the Marx Brothers? The use of comedy and gangster genres?
5. Musical score, moods? The range of songs, including Gershwin's, period music? Final song?
6. The plot and its familiarity, the presentation of gangsters, kidnappings, murders, private detectives, the police?
7. Clint Eastwood's portrait of Speer? Role as a policeman, quiet, laconic, an observer? The clashes with Mike in the bar, taking on the case? His capacity for violence - though presented in a tongue-in-cheek way? Contacts? His taking Addy to the fight? Not always the gentleman in taking her home? The attraction between the two? His concern about Ginny? Ginny in the hospital? The action sequences, the stake-out of Mike's room, the contacts with Pitt, with Coll? The shoot-out in the street and the explosion of the cars? The final set-up for the raid? Clint Eastwood playing on his familiar image?
8. The contrast with Burt Reynolds' Mike Murphy? Charm, jokey? In the bar, the fight? Speer observing him? His car taken away? Relationship with Addy? Relying on her as 'Girl Friday'? The partnership with Dehl? Suspicions about his money? His death? mike's relationship with Caroline - the spoilt heiress? Her being kidnapped and his wanting to rescue her? The clash with Pitt? The deal with Coll? Meeting the demands of the kidnappers? The meeting with Ginny in the park, in the cinema? Hospital? The shoot-out in the street? His participation in the raid - and the wolf in women's clothing? The fight with Speer at the end?
9. Addy as the typical Girl Friday? Devotion to Mike? Helping him with his work? Her being kidnapped? Attraction for Speer? Her reticence with his? The fight?
10. Caroline and Madeline Kahn's comic style? Wealthy? Liaison with Mike? Her being kidnapped? Playing cards with the kidnappers?
11. Pitt and his gangster style compared with Coll? Tough images, entourages? Their books, the money deals? Murders? The killing of Dehl? The capturing of Ginny? Caroline? Their comeuppance?
12. Irene Cara as Ginny - attractive, singing, her participation in the plot, injury, hospital?
13. A piece of Americana - nostalgia for the gangster films? Gangster times? Right and wrong, private detectives, the police?
