Get Carter [1971] [DVD]

Among English movies, 1971's "Get Carter" is always cited as near the top noir/gangster/crime movies ever made. It was based on Ted Lewis's ferocious book Jack's Return Home, which I understand was based on a true crime; was adapted for the screen and directed by the British Mike Hodges, who's got a gift for this kind of thing. The British best people the cast: Michael Caine in his prime, as Carter; backed by Terence Rigby, George Sewell, Bernard Hepton, Alun Armstrong, and Ian Hendry. Britt Ekland (Mrs. Peter Sellers to you) played the love interest. And well-known English playwright John Osborne plays Kinnear, an important supporting role.

The movie opens as Carter, enforcer/hit man for a London mob, who's carrying on with his boss's girlfriend (Ekland) learns his brother has died back home in Newcastle in circumstances Carter deems suspicious. Against the wishes of his boss (Rigby), he decides to head north to investigate. He travels upcountry on a very smoky train reading the American hard-boiled author Raymond Chandler's "Farewell My Lovely" as he goes. Once home, nothing and no one will dissuade him from finding the truth -- fast and furiously -- and then taking a very bloody revenge on all concerned.

"Get Carter" packs a lot in its less than two-hour length. It preserves, more accurately than any other movie known to me, a snapshot of the sour swinging England of the 70's. And it makes inspired use of the aging industrial city Newcastle. The rusted chimneys against the sky, the graffiti, the miles of streets lined with traditional 2-up, 2-down cottages, the tear-down-candidate pubs and betting parlors with primitive toilets out back. Add the constant overcast sky/rain; the grey menacing northern sea. The little touches are also important: a knitted purple tea cosy, and a chamber pot under the bed at the boarding house where Carter stays. The clumsy provincial kids at a dance hall. And then there's the just right jazz score.

But it's Caine's movie, of course, and the theory goes that gangster pictures depend totally on the power and energy of their stars: consider James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, George Raft. Caine almost shoots sparks as a sexual predator in his phone sex scene: he achieves a double seduction; Ekland on the phone, his landlady in the room with him. His feral smile at a pub cat fight, and at the end of the picture, as he moves to avenge his brother's death, is bone-chilling. Yet he's able to cry at an important-to-the-plot porn movie.

As an actor, Caine, who was born a London cockney, has played gangsters as coldly menacing as they come, and maybe we're lucky he's strictly an actor. One of the smaller gangster roles here, Sid Fletcher, is played by a man called John Bindon, who was, in fact, a London gangster. British director Ken Loach first used Bindon to play a London villain in his now little-seen Poor Cow [DVD] [1967](1967). Bindon went on to work in a number of movies and TV shows, always playing a villain, until he decided working as the real thing paid better. After Bindon took part in a bloody Soho shootout, not even his British duchess girlfriend could save him. He died as a guest of Her Majesty: of AIDS in a none-too lovely jail cell. But Sir Michael Caine is still very much with us, no longer a pretty boy, to be sure; but he still adds something to every picture he makes.

This iconic 1971 film has to be one of the greatest gangster films ever made. The basic premise is quite simple, London gangster Jack Carter (Caine) returns to his roots in Newcastle to investigate the death of his brother.

What follows is a wonderfully atmospheric trawl through Newcastle's seedy underbelly, as he chases down old criminal and family contacts and slowly learns the truth about just what his brother and niece were involved in.

This film is a winner for several reasons. Firstly is Caine's amazing performance. He IS Carter, the stylish and intelligent yet ruthless thug. Secondly is the wonderful supporting cast, including Alun Armstrong, Ian Hendry and George Sewell. They provide a wonderful, colourful procession of heavies and gangsters that Carter has to work his way through in the search for the truth. Thirdly is the wonderful cinematography - the grimy, gloomy city in industrial decline os almost as much a star of the film as Caine. Then there's the wonderful script filled with snappy dialogue and great twists and turns, and then there's the direction, which gives this film a gritty yet stylish feel. Finally there's Roy Budd's amazing score, the opening scene of Carter on the train going to Newcastle is memorable, but would have had no impact if it wasn't for the superb score.

I could go on and on eulogising about this film, but that would be a waste of time. Just buy it and see it for yourself. And make sure you get the original, don't make the mistake of getting the atrocious Sylvester Stallone remake.

This disk presents the film in widescreen, with a mono soundtrack. The print is nice a clear with a minimum of artefacts. There is an option to watch the film with music only, and an interesting commentary from the director, Mike Hodge and cinematographer Wolfgang Suschitzky. Also included are the three original theatrical trailers.

Get it, you won't regret it!

Strongman and enforcer Jack Carter (Michael Caine) returns to his native North East (of England) to investigate the suspicious death of his brother. Here he encounter a world of sleaze, booze, violence, casual sex and people in search of easy money.

Hard to call it a classic early British gangster film given that they were so few around, but more a cracking thriller that makes full use of its cast, plot and (unusual) Newcastle Upon Tyne location.

Writer-Director Mike Hodges wanted violence with reality and he delivers it with real punch. Unlike most thrillers bystanders are not immune from the action and at various stages harsh punishment is handed out for minor crimes by anti-hero Caine.

Caine underplays his hardman role nicely - letting the action, rather than his emotions, tell the story.

Several people claim real-life events "inspired" this story, but as far as I can tell the only direct reference to real events is that the one-arm bandit business started to earn big money (in the North East) and London gangsters "wanted in." That lead to bloodshed, but that is not the thrust of this film - although one of the main characters is, indeed, in that business.

Having gone to the trouble of reading the screenplay, I was surprised how thin the dialogue was. This is a good example of how it is better to "show" things rather than "tell." I did learn, however, that the thugs that come to beat Caine up are supposed to be gay - one may wear a pink neckerchief but I thought that was just the dandy fashions of the day!

Those that are not familiar with Newcastle may also like to note that the place is nowhere near the sea, in case you decide to take a holiday up there and are thinking of packing your trunks!

On release the film did well enough in the UK, but died a death in the USA due to being released as a double bill with Dirty Dingus Magee: A terrible Frank Sinatra movie.

If you like hard-edged thrillers that don't play nice then Get Carter may well be worth your time and effort.