Change Your Image
michael_ghee
Reviews
Prostitutes Protective Society (1966)
Horrible yet fun to watch
I watched this the other night wondering what a "dirty" movie from 1966 might be like. Well it was quite an interesting experience. PPS is about of prostitutes who work in NYC trying to ward off some two bit mafia wanna bes from cutting into their profits.
There are a lot of things I actually liked about this B.... no C movie. First of all the NYC on location shooting in Times Square and other locales is interesting. I am assuming it was filmed in the summer of '66 judging from other movie advertisements in Times Square (The Bible with John Huston of all movies !)and the light clothing people walking the NYC streets were wearing. Lots of signboards with Esso on it as well as it's gas stations seen throughout the movie. You would think they sponsored and bank rolled this piece of crap.
The movie is musically scored by some no name rock and roll band named Jimmy and the Rockets or something like that. They produce a 60's go go beat complete with organ that plays repetitively throughout the film. I can't seem to get that beat out of my head as of this writing.
No sex, a hint of lesbianism but plenty of 1966 bare breasts and bottoms in this flick. I was actually shocked by the amount of nudity in it expecting only a scant amount. Its actually quite comical to see these women walking around the "cat house" naked for no obvious reason other than the fact that the movie makers want to exploit nudity for sheer profit. Knowing very little if anything at all about the industry of prostitution, i never knew prostitutes interviewed each other in the nude for the position or took showers together for that matter. Well you see my point.
The acting is horrible. The actresses playing the prostitutes act as if they are reading lines from cue cards for the first time without rehearsal. It is actually quite funny to observe. The movie is also narrated by the "madam" who i cant tell has a authentic or fake Swedish accent ! The violent scenes are so badly acted out they are not at all violent but rather comical to look at. The extreme low budget is some times exhibited in this film which makes it all the more hilarious. There is one scene when these hookers are out in the country and i swear i think there is a guy off stage whistling bird chirping sound effects.
Grab a beer, pop this into your DVD player and laugh.. laugh...laugh..
Naked City (1958)
In a class by itself- an opus of the human condition
My comments are regarding the 1 hour version (Naked City). Though technically a cop show (crime drama), its much deeper in that it richly examines the psyche of both victims and perpetrators involved in the crime as well as the social conditions they exist in. This makes for some pretty damn compelling viewing in addition to the fact the stories take place in New York City of the early 60's. My understanding is that this is the first TV show shot entirely on location so if your familiar with the city it is fun to check out the locales as they existed back then.
The cops are based in the 65th precinct in NYC. They include Detective Adam Flint played brilliantly by Paul Burke as the young and always conscientious cop. His partner is a middle aged Det. Frank Arcaro who is dependable and good natured played well by Harry Bellaver. Lt. Mike Parker is played perfectly by Horace McMahon who act as the play it by the facts, grumpy boss. Its fun to watch the interaction between Flint and Parker as they argue over opinions on cases like father and son but yet you can tell there is respect for one another. Detective Flint's girlfriend appears in a few episodes as Libby played by Nancy Malone who in my opinion is just there to show at least one of these cops has a sex life and adds a light hearted element to the show when needed in the otherwise tense drama that usually pervades this program.
The show has a few "snoozers", but when its a good episode, trust me, its GOOD. Naked City has its fair share of GOOD episodes. They tackled a variety of interesting subjects/crimes ahead of its time for TV back then such as stalking, domestic violence, child molestation in a addition to standard cop show crime fare (robberies, murder, kidnapping). As I mentioned before it strongly focused on the human condition of the people in the stories so you also see examinations of loneliness, low self esteem, mental illness, alcoholism etc. You name it, Naked City covered it. I have observed that the earlier episodes can be quite violent at times such as one that starred Rip Torn and Tuesday Weld as southern hillbillies going on a thrill killing orgy in NYC. However, over time the violence had seemed to be toned down a bit near the end of its run (possibly due to censor and public pressure ??) However it did not take away from the tense drama the stories provided. The show did not always have neat,tidy endings. Yes the perpetrator would be caught, but often the victims were so traumatized, they too ended up screwed. I loved the way in some episodes as this the camera just fades away from the scene on a street at the end showing the despair people were sometimes left in.
Speaking of camera work, in this show it is phenomenal, showing vividly the live streets and gritty locales of NYC that Flint and Arcaro would deal with day after day, episode after episode. The show also featured a lot of good actors and actresses, many of which were just starting their careers. Picture this... Christopher Walken as a teen age son !, Dustin Hoffman as a stick up man !, A very young and unbelievably attractive Diahann Carroll facing a crisis as a school teacher ! There are just so many amazing things about this show, it deserves to be watched. Check it out on DVD. You wont be disappointed.
Dragnet 1967 (1967)
One of the Best (spoilers)
Spoilers - I really got a kick out of Dragnet 1967-70. Seeing Jack Webb act in these shows was indeed a thing to behold. He played the emotionally repressed and laconic Joe Friday. The way he played it was as if he was a parody of himself in the old 50's version. You never saw him with a woman either. I remember one episode whereas he was at a dinner party with his partner Bill Gannon (played by Harry Morgan)and his wife and Joe Friday's date got stuck in traffic and never showed up ! Therefore, you could never get a sense of what Joe's taste in women would be like.
That's what made this show so entertaining. you could see the private social lives of the main characters but most of the episodes were focused on fighting crime. I agree with one reviewer that the most harrowing episode was the one where the little girl drowned in the bathtub. still pretty strong stuff. One of my all time favorites was one when Friday and Gannon visit a cult whose leader was pro-LSD. There was no action in this episode like the typical ones which include few gun shots or a chase. It just consisted of a staccato type dialogue between the cult leader and gannon and Friday (mostly Friday) regarding the pros and cons of using illegal drugs. It was an unbelievable thing to watch ! This stuff will live on for generations. The acting is interesting, the stories always captivating. It is a classic formula that has been tried again but never exactly duplicated by any cop show since.