The Strange One — The Strange One( Blu Ray)
Appearing in 1957 The Strange One ( aka End as a Man in the UK) was the debut feature film from Czechoslovakian-born Jack Garfein, who survived imprisonment in the Auschwitz during WW2 and came to the US at age 15. He first acted on stage in the US, then went on to direct a few US TV series episodes before making The Strange One, and his only other feature-length credit 1961’s Something Wild- a seemingly downbeat & arty recovering-from-rape drama set in NYC. The Strange One was adapted from a novel and stage play by Calder Willingham called End as a Man- so this & Garfein background gives it the film very much a theatrical feel- a lot of the dialogue-heavy scenes are set in one room, and have quite a stagy but tensely edged feel about them. As film debuts go it’s a very self-assured, well-paced, and powerful film- and while there are slight arty touches here and there, it’s very much a straight & often gritty ‘n’ sweaty drama that features a good cast & damn fine acting.
The film is based in Southern American military academy- it focuses in on sleek sociopath playboy like Cadet leader Jocko De Paris(Ben Gazzara), and his leering sidekick Harold Koble(Pat Hingle). The film gets straight into its action/ point as Jacko & Harold barge their way into the room of young recruits Robert Marquales(George Peppard) & Simmons(Arthur Storch)- the pair start by mocking & berating the young soldiers, then invite one of their drunken buddies in the room to play poker- fairly soon things turn nasty & the group starts beating the weaker & bespeckled Simmons. Next door George Avery, Jr.( Geoffrey Horne), son of the school's executive office, hears what is going on, and tries to intervene- for his attempt help/ break up the attack he’s beaten, forced booze, and dumped bloody under a tree on the school's grounds- and in the ends get expelled. The remaining film focus on the interplay between the bullies, and those who are trying to uncover what really went on that night. Though-out the film remains largely dialogue-based, and set inside rooms or offices- from time-to-time violent confrontation take place, and these are handle in a powerful & at moments flinch inducing fashion, though it’s never too brutal. All in all, I very much enjoyed this edgy & tense drama with its tight dialogue, great acting, and punchy flow.
Moving onto this new Blu Ray, and the new print of the film looks good enough- with it’s crisp black & white, though at the time it’s still a little murky in places. We get two presentations of the film- the Us & UK version of the film, I just watched the US version- but I’m guessing aside from the titles there isn’t much difference between the two. On the extras side, we get a commentary track from US film critic/ writer Nick Pinkerton- and this is literally crammed with facts, observations, & general film banter- he gives in-depth bios of each cast member, discusses & points out the film homoerotic elements, talks about the differences between the stage show/ film, and different actors between the two. Similar films and much much more- all told an excellent track, that can easily be played a few times to pick up everything that he covers here. We get two recent ten-minute interviews- one with the very elderly Jack Garfein, who has since it’s filming pass away & lead actor Ben Gazzara- each of the interviews are interesting with the subjects first discussing how the got into film/ acting, before talking about the stage show & of course the film it’s self. We lastly get a trailer and image gallery.
The Strange One is most certainly well worth checking out if you enjoy tense dialogue-heavy drama with great acting. The release also nicely fits in well with Powerhouse growing selection of films focusing in on the traumatic side of the forces & war such as Resurrected, Birdy, The Triple Echo, and Gardens of Stone- so if you enjoyed any of those this is also a must.