(Ape caricature art by Richard Smith)
Lucas Hardwick, Contributing Writer
Welcome to Apes on Film! This column exists to scratch your retro-film-in-high-definition itch. We’ll be reviewing new releases of vintage cinema and television on disc of all genres, finding gems and letting you know the skinny on what to avoid. Here at Apes on Film, our aim is to uncover the best in retro film. As we dig for artifacts, we’ll do our best not to bury our reputation. What will we find out here? Our destiny.
52 PICK-UP – 1986
4 out of 5 Bananas
Starring: Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, John Glover, Vanity, Clarence Williams III, Robert Trebor, Kelly Preston
Director: John Frankenheimer
Rated: Not Rated
Studio: Kino Lorber
Region: A
BRD Release Date: July 18, 2023
Audio Formats: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Run Time: 110 minutes
A few skeletons in the closet is an ideal setup for a socially and financially paralyzing opportunity to be exploited by anyone not in the business of minding their own business. It’s always best to cover your tracks, but nobody’s perfect; of course, I’m talking about the time-honored institution of blackmail. Having a little dirt on anyone who can shell out a commodity in exchange for silence is a classic example of a positive feedback loop that compounds the lives of all parties involved into secret little living hells.
Successful Los Angeles industrialist Harry Mitchell (Roy Scheider) finds himself tied up in one such thoughtful blackmail scheme when he’s confronted by three ski-masked thugs in his girlfriend’s apartment who nail him to the wall for $105,000 a year with a few minutes of incriminating video footage that threatens not only Harry’s marriage and his business reputation but also his wife’s campaign for city council.
It’s a pretty sleepy little extortion strategy as far as blackmailing is concerned—what a weird amount of money, especially to be split amongst three people—but Elmore Leonard’s rather conventional, unsavory peopled plot in John Frankeheimer’s 52 PICK-UP is elevated by a fearless cast that leans into the sleaze so hard it’s almost Italian.
Roy Scheider takes on the troubling part of being a put-together guy who doesn’t get caught with his pants down getting caught with his pants down, and now his “tit’s in the wringer” as his extortionist Alan Raimy (John Glover) so eloquently puts it. If it weren’t for his coming clean with wife Barbara (Ann-Margret) the moment it all hits the fan, we’d otherwise have very little reason to like Harry. Harry’s honesty and the real human, behind-the-eyes way Scheider portrays a truly remorseful man facing his demons in the film’s quieter moments doesn’t necessarily forgive his sins but gets us rooting for him, especially when we see the reprehensible acts of which Raimy and his goons are capable. In a film short on good guys, Harry’s the best we can hope for.
He may have a little dirty laundry, but Harry’s a long shot when it comes to being downright evil. By day Alan Raimy runs a porno theater, and by night he’s an amateur adult entertainment videographer. Cini (Kelly Preston)—the source of Harry’s troubles—happens to be one of Alan’s homemade movie stars, putting Alan in the right place at the right time to squeeze Harry for all he’s worth. When Harry makes it clear that he’s not about to fold, Alan goes the distance to up the stakes. Pepper his character with great hair, a greasy Baltimore accent, and the way he so freely throws around the words “tits” and “pussy,” and Alan becomes a real squirmy, scene-devouring bad guy that we love to hate.
Poor Barbara unfortunately has the thankless task of being the noblest character in the film. She’s the loyal, lowly spouse to the big-time industrial magnate. While Harry drives around in a beautiful metallic blue Jag, Barbara is humbly relegated to the luxury of the middle class in her cute little Mustang ragtop. Harry makes metal for spaceships; Barbara sticks her neck out for the working class running for city council. Harry sleeps with Kelly Preston; Barbara winds up drugged and tortured. Barbara and her sweet virtues are the collateral damage necessary to balance out Elmore Leonard’s otherwise nefarious, distasteful world. And as a consequence, poor Ann-Margret isn’t really given the opportunity to explore any range beyond “angry” and “scared.”
Harry is almost too smart for the film’s own good, following his lawyer’s advice and keeping the cops out of the situation. By doing this, Harry nips off any opportunity for the story to really explore how his fling and the blackmail would truly affect Barbara outside their home. However, any scenes with Barbara dealing with pushback in the name of her career would grind the terrific pace of this movie to a bumbling halt, dumping it into mini-series territory with an infuriatingly idiotic hero. Sorry Ann-Margret, the world needs ditch-diggers too.
Kino Lorber presents 52 PICK-UP on high-definition Blu-ray disc. A thorough commentary by film historians Steve Mitchell and Edwin Samuelson, and an isolated music track featuring an interview with composer Gary Chang are the only bonus materials outside of the usual TV spots and theatrical trailer entries. The disc also comes packaged in a slipcase showcasing the film’s original poster art.
The brackish, repulsive motivations of the film’s characters push 52 PICK-UP into sleaze territory but, Frankenheimer’s skill behind the camera makes you forget how trashy you’re living in the moment. Short on action and nudity, but big on a few key introspective moments really separate this film from what would otherwise be something akin to ’70s Italian thrillers starring the likes of Fabio Testi and Susan Scott (aka Nieves Navarro). Squint your eyes and you could easily place Alain Delon in the role of Raimy and then you got yourself a grainy little grindhouse flick. Recommended.
When he’s not working as a Sasquatch stand-in for sleazy European films, Lucas Hardwick spends time writing film essays and reviews for We Belong Dead and Screem magazines. Lucas also enjoys writing horror shorts and has earned Quarterfinalist status in the Killer Shorts and HorrOrigins screenwriting contests. You can find Lucas’ shorts on Coverfly. Look for Lucas on Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd, and for all of Lucas’s content, be sure to check out his Linktree.
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