“It’s In The Name Of The Title” Blogathon!

Gill from Realweegiemidget Reviews and Rebecca from Taking Up Room have partnered for a great new movie/TV blogathon – and I’m loving this idea!  Here is the graphic that says it all – and I decided to take part with a double header!

Here are two films with character names in the titles – and what different films they are!

We’ll begin in the 70’s for a “slice of life” story that is pretty “headscratching!”

“Harry In Your Pocket!”

Well, this 1973 is an odd bird: part comedy, part drama, and bit of social satire that is all rolled up into one strange little ball of celluloid.

Here is the trailer:

We meet veteran character Actor Walter Pigeon at the beginning, getting off a plane and lifting someone’s wallet – which James Coburn gets him to return, establishing the two as a pair of pickpockets arriving in Seattle.  Cobun plays the “Harry” in the title, and he’s a master pickpocket.

Michael Sarrazin is introduced as a pickpocket as well, but working the bus station. Trish van deVere watches him in action as he pilfers a few bucks here and there and catches his eye.

He chats her up, steals her watch and she demands it back – so of course these two pairs are destined to meet – but first we see Harry show up at his hotel with a girl to take to his room, while Walter snorts coke!

The young couple make love too – after they are all satisfied, they finally meet – and Harry decides to teach them how to be part of his team.

Trish is the sharp one and it shows; Michael is just a surly, grimy hippie, so much so that Coburn barks at him: “And you cut some of that hair off!”

“Why, Michael retorts. “It’s not that long!”

“It is for a thief.”

Meanwhile Water Pidgeon notes just how good the girl is.

“I don’t like it,” he says about working with the duo. “I have a feeling that one’s trouble.”

“I can handle him,” Harry says.

“I was talking about HER!”

So we go along with them on a boat to Victoria and see an extended montage of pickpocketing – and then discover their take for the entire day is only $420  – and they are all excited by their score!

Sarazin just doesn’t like Harry, so he convinces the old man to teach him tricks

So they rip someone off, then run and hit an old lady in the head and run off with her purse as well, but Walter gets busted and the other three hit a rodeo to make money to bail him out.  

All comes to a head when Harry gets busted – and the film just ends!

So, it’s not really a buddy comedy, it’s not really a love triangle, and it’s not really very high stakes at all, so what was it?  A “slice of life” from the early 70’s – this film was a head-scratching “what was the reason they made this” effort to be sure!

Let’s jump forward a decade or so and find someone else to follow: this time it’s “Withnail & I!”

Here is the trailer:

Here’s the plot: we begin in London 1969 – two unemployed actors, Withnail and Marwood, are freezing in their unheated flat – and they are flat broke. They need a plan, and fast. Here is their discussion about calling to ask someone for money…

Marwood: What about whatshisname?
Withnail: What about him?
Marwood: Why don’t you give him a call?
Withnail: What for?
Marwood: Ask him about his house.
Withnail: You want me to call whatshisname and ask him about his house?
Marwood: Why not?
Withnail: All right. What’s his number?
Marwood: I’ve no idea. I’ve never met him.
Withnail: Well neither have I. What the fuck are you talking about? 

And Don’t Forget “Danny!”

One of the funniest supporting characters in the film is “Drug Dealer Danny”, he of the super-sized spiffs and lazy drawl – who just can’t get along with Withnail…oh, and he is CRAZY, as this commentary proves:

Danny: I don’t advise a haircut, man. All hairdressers are in the employment of the government. Hairs are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos, and transmit them directly into the brain. This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight.

Withnail: What absolute twaddle.

The movie is filled with great scenes – as I said at the beginning, the roommates are freezing in their ice-cold flat…with only one thing to warm them…lighter fluid.

Withnail: I must have some booze. I demand to have some booze! 

The scene where Withnail guzzles lighter fluid to stay warm is a highlight….Withnail has also greased his body up with muscle relaxant to get warm…

Withnail: [after having entirely covered himself in muscle embrocation] Have you been at the controls?
Marwood: What are you talking about?
Withnail: The thermostats. What have you done to them?
Marwood: I haven’t touched them.
Withnail: Then why has my head gone numb?

After a near brawl in a bar, they realize they need to get out of town…

But not before Withnail invades a shop and cries out: “We want the finest wines available to humanity. And we want them here, and we want them now!”

They decide on a holiday in the countryside, courtesy of Withnail’s uncle Monty – who owns a country cottage. But when they get there, it rains non-stop, there’s no food, and their basic survival skills turn out to be somewhat limited.

Matters are not helped by the arrival of Uncle Monty, who shows an uncomfortably keen interest in Marwood…the late Actor Richard Griffiths is outstanding in his role, and the scene where he finally tells Marwood his “intentions” is funny and incredibly sweet as well:

Uncle Monty: “I adore you. Tell him if you must, I no longer care. I mean to have you even if it must be burglary!”

This is a terrific buddy comedy: it’s really funny, Richard E. Grant is mesmerizing as Withnail, and it also speaks to the end fo the swinging 60’s in London.  It has a bittersweet ending that really makes you care about both of the leads….just a uniquely special film to be sure.

You will want to read all of the posts in this blogathon, so head over to check them out here!

https://weegiemidget.wordpress.com

and here as well…

https://takinguproom.com

I had another favorite film to include as well:

This film is one of my favorites of all time – look at that cast!

See more about it here:

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Categories: 70's Cinema, Action Films, British Cinema, Comedy Movies, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Movies, Obscure Movies, Talent/Celebrities

Tags: best cult films of all time, best cults films, blogathon, British cinema, comedy, comedy movies, cult 70's moives, cult movies, entertainment, film, funny movies, harry in your pocket, harry in your pocket movie, its in the name f the title blogathon, movies, obscure movies, reviews, The Last of Sheila, Withnail & I, Withnail & I movie