MovieChat Forums > The Gauntlet (1977) Discussion > 'Shockley, you big prick!!'

'Shockley, you big prick!!'

posted 17 years ago by rainbird131162
4 replies | jump to latest

The Gauntlet (1977)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076070/

Terrifically enjoyable star/director vehicle for Eastwood boasting a winning combination of comedy, action & drama & two leads you get behind & want to see triumph. A booze soaked 'nothing cop' in Las Vegas, Ben Shockley (Eastwood), gets the job of delivering prostitute Augustina 'Gus' Mally (Sondra Locke) to her court appearance in Phoenix. According to Ben's boss it's 'a nothing witness for a nothing trial.' Unsurprisingly then, Mally turns out to have a story that can not only bring down Shockley's boss, chief of police Blakelock (a brief but memorably repulsive character played by William Prince), but the assistant DA & various Mob types if they can make it all the way from Vegas to Phoenix. However between them & the courthouse lie dozens of trigger happy cops, car bombs, the mob, a Hells Angel gang, helicopter assassins & the 'gauntlet' of the title - hundreds of armed to the teeth police officers lined up on the streets & buildings of downtown Phoenix just itching to take out Shockley & his witness. But Shockley has a plan - hijack a bus, armor plate it, then drive right up to the courthouse with his witness!

The Gauntlet is best remembered for its numerous action scenes that at the time were regarded as seriously over the top. Yet the film has a lot more going for it than just the action scenes (which in any case seem much less absurd now then they were felt to be in 1977). Eastwood, as is his way, delights in playing against type even as he gives his audience what they want. In this case the star clearly relishes his role as The World's Thickest Cop, a law enforcement officer so dim that even after two near brushes with death - & the only link being that in both cases he called the same person at the police department immediately beforehand - still can't put the pieces together without Locke's help.

Speaking of Locke it has to be said that her subsequent appearances in Eastwood movies did became extremely wearisome but rewatching The Gauntlet is a reminder that not only could she actually act but there was once a palpable screen chemistry between her & Eastwood. There's a lovely scene late in the movie where the two of them are rolling into Phoenix in their armor plated bus & for a moment they simply fantasize about their future life together. It's so naturally played you get the impression the two actors might have momentarily forgotten the camera was even rolling.

Michael Butler & Dennis Shryack's script also gets great mileage juxtaposing Locke's demure appearance with the hilariously profane dialogue that frequently pours from her lips. Physically she also gives just as good as she gets. Following a heated exchange over the threat posed by their pursuers Shockley slaps her across the face to which Gus responds by kicking him in the balls, insolently remarking, 'Sorry, I just had to jog your memory!' The two are, naturally, equals & born survivors, & the journey to Phoenix is as much about their growing fondness & respect for each other as it is about stuff blowing up. To be sure it's all nonsense yet Eastwood the director somehow convinces us to suspend our disbelief (& believe me that's no mean achievement given some of the stuff that happens in this movie). And there are some great one-liners along the way, especially the Hell's Angelette who asks of Eastwood, 'You wouldn't hit a woman would you?' with entirely predictable results. In fact even after all these years I can still remember the huge laugh that line got in the cinema where I first saw it.

The Gauntlet is also of note for the way it showcases Eastwood's growing directorial ambitions. The early scenes introducing us to Shockley, his partner Josephson (Pat Hingle), Blakelock & Gus are tight, lean & economically staged in the familiar Eastwood tradition (good jazz score too) & the movie remains crisply directed throughout. The numerous action set pieces - most notably a helicopter/motorbike desert chase that culminates in the 'copter crashing into some power cables, as well as the armor plated bus being shot to pieces whilst running the gauntlet of the title - proved to Hollywood, as well as alert critics, that Eastwood was more than capable of handling action on a scale unlike anything seen in his previous work.

[–] joekiddlouischama 17 years ago

Nice review, rainbird. The script's darkly funny, harshly satirical material features a certain ironic richness, but I'm not sure how many other directors could have pulled together the various and delirious elements so smoothly, almost musically. I'll add my recent comments to this thread:

Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack did pen The Gauntlet (Eastwood, 1977), of course. That movie tends to receive mixed notices from viewers, but I actually believe that it's one of Eastwood's most underrated films from the seventies and possibly his entire career. The Gauntlet's exaggerated and outlandish action sequences flummox some, but the movie is remarkable in my book as a wild yet intense interweaving of social commentary, romantic comedy, stunningly subversive Vietnam allegory, and action parody. I believe that it works because despite the film's myriad and potentially zany angles, Eastwood directs with a combination of grim relentlessness and lyrical irony that gives expression to a full spectrum of moods and emotions. Add the testy on-screen interaction of Eastwood and co-star Sondra Locke in the style of cinematic couples from the thirties and forties; the vividly bleak cinematography from aerial photographer Rexford Metz; the dynamic editing from Ferris Webster and Joel Cox; the ferocious, no-holds-barred action staging; and a melancholically bemused jazz score from composer Jerry Fielding (featuring Jon Faddis on trumpet and the recently rehabilitated Art Pepper on alto saxophone), and I think that you have a strong seedy-classy action movie, thoughtful even as it seems thoughtless. I also think that The Gauntlet stands as a rather unique and transformative cop film. It looked back to the screwball comedy, romantic comedy, and noir of the 1930s-1940s while also speaking to the conspiratorial angst, social consciousness, neo-noir, and what I call the "thoughtful vulgarity" of the 1970s. It shared the subversiveness of other seventies police movies, yet offered an original and satirically daring slant in that regard. Finally, its action staging looked ahead to the parodic excess of police movies in the 1980s and 1990s and inspired a 2006 remake titled 16 Blocks, directed by Richard Donner and starring Bruce Willis.

But that's merely my take on it. The Gauntlet is also notable in Eastwood's oeuvre because it represented the first cop movie that he directed and it introduced him as a laggard and haggard character for perhaps the first time (putting aside his bemusededly iconoclastic introduction in the 1972 Western Joe Kidd). By showcasing the Eastwood character's vulnerability and impotency (to a point), The Gauntlet marked a milestone on the map to Unforgiven (Eastwood, 1992).

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000142/board/thread/92477725?d=95939629&am p;am p;p=2#95939629

[–] csu16387 14 years ago

Can't top what either of you guys have said about this film. The Gauntlet isn't considered one of Clint's best, but it's among my favorites of his work. Great fun!!

"I think we've out-sophisticated ourselves out of some of the pleasures of movies."

[–] Mississippi20 14 years ago

Ah, blast from the past.....I miss joekiddlouischama. I got into Clint Eastwood big time a few years ago and it was a treat having him around.

[–] activista 12 years ago

Just saw this flick for the first time in years (saw it on TV years ago) and really enjoyed it----almost forgot how good it really was. Of course the shooting of the house and the bus were WAY over the top,and was wondering why the hell was the bus driving so damn slow to begin with---I hadn't thought about the tires getting shot out--duh,because I knew they wouldn't be able to move at all if they were. And yeah, that crazy s*** at the end with the commissioner and NONE of the cops reacting was,frankly, insane. But everything in between was pure '70's action drama gold---with the suspense,the acting was top notch, and I like all the little details that were given to the minor characters---like the foul-mouthed,dirty-minded constable, and the waitress talking to Shockley in the waiting area. Very character-based---like a lot of the best films made in the '70's. The growing distrust and loss of faith in authority is another typical staple characteristic of '70's films. Definitely worth watching if you're into some good '70's cinema that's smart,get you to thinking AND is a hell of a lot of fun to watch! Even if you're not a major Clint Eastwood fan, it's still really good!
Liked the sumnation and analysis up above--definitely puts the film in its proper historical perspective.