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THE ARTS
Important crime films
A DOUBLE bill of
American crime
films will be shown at
the Canberra Film
Centre's next screen-
ing on Monday, March
31, at 7.45pm in the
Canberra Theatre.
The crime drama is a
genre of the screen parti-
cularly associated with the
American cinema. From
the early days of silent
film it has been a signifi-
cant and popular part of
the output of the Ameri-
can movie industry. It has
created in the process
many classic films and
legendary actors such as
George Raft, Humphrey
Bogart, and James Cag-
ney.
The two films to be
screened are important
products of this genre.
'Underworld USA' was
directed by Samuel Fuller
in 1961. He is the director
who has specialised in
films dealing with violence,
in war, crime and the wes-
tern. His strong visual
sense and feeling for en-
vironment are combined
with a simple moralistic
theme of retribution.
Cliff Robertson plays
the young man who in the
process of trying to reach
the top of the underworld
becomes its victim.
The other film 'Point
Blank' was made in 1967
Robert Emhardt, Richard Rust, and Cliff Robertson in "Underworld USA' — one of two films to be shown on Monday night at Canberra Theatre, by the Canberra Film Centre. Help
Robert Emhardt, Richard Rust, and Cliff Robertson in "Underworld USA'
— one of two films to be shown on Monday night at Canberra Theatre,
by the Canberra Film Centre.
by a new American direc-
tor, John Boorman. It
has already achieved not-
oriety in Australia because
of the cuts made in scenes
of violence by the censor.
Walker, the central
character, is an ageing
gangster who tries to fight
the syndicate bosses who
have betrayed him in a
deal. Lee Marvin plays
Walker with his customary
aggressiveness and drive.
Director Boorman with
his elliptical techniques
shows the influence of the
fashionable European dir-
ectors, Godard and Res-
nais. Applied to the world
of crime in San Francisco
Boorman produces a bril-
liant comment on Ameri-
can society.
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