Tabasco Lang – Updates Fridays

I think many of us at this point in time of cinematic history are no likely familiar with many of the landmark gangster films of the last 25-30 years : The Godfather series, Scarface, Goodfellas, many of the Tarantino films (notably Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction).

Back in issue #15 of Bubonix, I suggested a list of older gangster/film noir/crime films that I felt were “must-see”:

1. The Killers (1946) – Absolutely amazing flick, featuring young Burt Lancaster and young Ava Gardner. Loosely inspired from the equally amazing short story by Ernest Hemingway by the same name. Be sure to also check out “The Killers” (1964) starring Lee Marvin. This one is also based on the short story but goes in an entirely different direction. The 1946 version is probably the movie which most directly inspired many of the elements in Tabasco Lang.
2. Point Blank (1967) starring Lee Marvin again. (In addition to Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin and Robert Mitchum were the main inspiration for the look of Tabasco Lang. Clearly, he’s an exaggerated, cartoony version of these tough leading men, but you get the idea.) Point Blank is based on the first book of the amazing Parker series by Richard Stark called “The Hunter“. More to come on those books in a future post, but if you’re at all interested in gritty crime fiction, do yourself a favour and start reading that series like today.
3. “The Big Heat” (1953) stars often overlooked Glenn Ford and also co-stars Lee Marvin. All around great gumshoe flick directed by Fritz Lang.
4. “Touch of Evil” (1958) is the only Orson Welles flick on this list but I could also have included “The Third Man” and “Lady from Shanghai” even though they don’t quite fit the theme I’m going for here. Very gritty movie starring Charlton Heston and Welles himself in a repulsive role.
5. “M” (1931). While not a gangster movie, it is about crime and the cinematography of this film certainly affected the look of the comic. I had only ever seen Peter Lorre in Humphrey Bogart vehicles so it’s great to see him in an early role where he gets to demonstrate a lot more range. Another one by director Fritz Lang.
6. “In Cold Blood” (1967) is on this list purely because of the gorgeous cinematography.
7. “The Last Seduction” (1994) reinvented (in my mind at least) the whole concept of the femme fatale, mesmerizingly played by Linda Fiorentino.

And I have to add one movie since then. “City of God” is a Brazilian film from 2002 documenting the evolution and rise of gangs and drugs in Rio de Janeiro from the 1950s to 1970s. It’s one of my favourite films and certainly the best movie I’ve seen in the past ten years. Brutally violent, beatifully shot, it’s an exciting, thrilling and sometimes horrifying ride which is all based on fact.