If you asked me in 1976 if I thought George Armitage's Vigilante Force was a good film, I would have snorted in derision. Such a question about an undeniably tawdry and mindless exploitation film was not worth answering or even considering. Nothing is more rigid than a closed mind and I have been trying to pry mine open ever since. At the time, I thought John Updike had more to say about America than Hank Williams. I feel differently now. Similarly, Vigilante Force is the same as it ever was, but my regard for it has shifted.
The film is a sleazy vigilante flick, produced by Roger Corman's brother and shot in the not too scenic Simi Valley area in about a month. The two leads, Kris Kristofferson and Jan-Michael Vincent, are not strong or adept actors. Vincent may have been the worst leading actor of his era. His deficiencies are so numerous that they detract from even the few adequate film he appeared in, like The Mechanic. At least in 1976 Vincent hadn't begun the mass destruction of his brain cells. Kristofferson does have genuine charisma and sex appeal. He struts through most of Vigilante Force with his shirt off. Unbelievably, the duo are cast as brothers.
The lead females are Victoria Principal as Vincent's girlfriend and Bernadette Peters as a prostitute who hooks up with Kristofferson. When I first saw the film I thought these were one note stereotypical roles and I was right, but I missed how much Armitage drew out of his performers. Principal, a limited performer, is far more believable and warm here than she ever was on Dallas. Peters plays the moral conscience of the film. Initially enamored with Kristofferson's character, she rejects him when she discovers that he is an icy sociopath. I adored the period detail of Peters dribbling Fresca on a masher's arm. Peters' character has aspirations as a singer and she has to pretend to be a lousy vocalist for most of the film, most entertainingly with Dick Miller as her scabrous accompanist. I feel Peters' talents would have been better served in an earlier Hollywood era, as would have Sam Elliott's. Peters' performance in Vigilante Force has a bruised ruefulness that reminds me of Claire Trevor
The Bicentennial trappings of the film are no accident. This is a film, akin to Phil Karlson's The Phenix City Story and Walking Tall, that addresses small town corruption in America. It is significant that most of the old coots Ben recruits are dressed as Minutemen for the parade. Armitage sees them not as proto Tea Party members, but as upholders of beleaguered American values in the corporate era. It is telling that the town's leading citizens all have pictures of oil derricks behind their desks.
None of this would matter if this ridiculous violent fantasy were not directed with gusto. Armitage gives us a shit-kicking portrait of the blue collar side of Southern California. Physical movement is writ large across the streets and many saloons in the picture. The choreography of the shootouts and bar fights is colorful and Jack Fisk's art direction is superb. Armitage didn't foresee the Tea Party, but he does illustrate corporate greed and the rural/urban divide. As one of the townies puts it, "If I wanted to live with degenerates, I'd move to L.A.". Vigilante Force will satisfy fans of debased genres. It would sit well on a double bill with Monte Hellman's Cockfighter.
No comments:
Post a Comment