Summer Reading: Logan's Run

Like most 40-50 somethings, the 1976 movie Logan's Run starring Michael York, Jenny Agutter, and Richard Jordan (who also played favorite literary character from Frank Herbert's novel's Duncan Idaho in David Lynch's movie version of Dune (1984)!), was a very important part of my nascent science fiction fandom. Despite being the tender age of 7 at the time, between the film version, Marvel comic book (which ran seven issues in 1977), and equally short-lived television series (14 episodes), Logan and Jessica's search for Sanctuary was a big part of daily neighborhood games of "guns".  (Back-in-the-day, my friends and I would gather with all of our plastic arms, break into groups and simulate life-and-death chases of one-another throughout a three-block radius of our hood... these were very different times.)

Logan's Run #2 cover by comic book legends
cover by George Perez and Al Milgrom.

Recently a summer school colleague stopped to share his excitement at hearing that Logan's Run was once again in the Hollywood hopper for a potential blockbuster remake. After sharing memories of Logan's Runs past, I mentioned that I had heard that the new movie is to be based on the original novel rather than the more familiar iterations. I expressed a desire to read the original novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, but had always had difficulty finding an affordable edition. Later that day he sent me a link to a recent re-release he'd come across on Amazon. Three days later it arrived in my mailbox and I jumped right in...

Released as part of Vintage Publishing's "Vintage Movie Classics" collection of "novels that inspired great films" in 2015, this edition of Logan's Run includes a foreword Daniel H. Wilson as well as publication details for the original novel and the movie adaptation. The differences between the familiar film and the original movie are many, ranging from key characterization to the scope of the world in which the action takes place. The general plot and narrative drive remains the same in all version of the story: in a secretly dystopian future, policeman Logan "ages out" and as a result of first trying to find a mythical utopia ultimately joins another runner in seeking the right to grow old all while being followed by former partner bent on bringing both he and his lady-friend to justice.

Given that the 1976 film is so familiar, the easiest way to share thoughts on the novel are to point out two key differences between the two.

• In the movie, when characters turn 30 years-old, an event communicated to those around them through the change in color (red to blinking red to black) of the crystal imbedded in the palm of their right hands, they are expected to participate in the Carrousel celebration. During this public display, their lives are extinguished. If one fails to participate, individuals become "runners" who are then targeted by policemen called "Sandmen." The future-cops are tasked with apprehending and killing runners on the spot, thus maintaining the social construct that no one lives past 30. This is actually a pretty significant point of deviation from the novel. In Nolan and Johnson's book, the age of termination is 21, an aspect that better communicates an important part of the novel's world controlled by youth theme. The movement through a prescribed color-themed lifespan is further developed and Logan's personal at each seven year increment are shared via flashback.

• Just as Logan's backstory, as well as that of the culture he resides in, backstory is more fully developed, the world of the novel is much more expansive. This aspect of the novel is among the more intriguing elements. Rather than quickly moving from the Dome City to Washington, DC, with only a couple stops along the way, in the novel, we follow the runners from Los Angeles to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and across the United States. I enjoyed the use of actual historical locales like the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota as an important locales. Additionally, the inclusion of robotic Civil War re-enactors in Virginia. These touches gave the story a much broader feel and a clearer American tone. 

It is clear that most of the decisions made in adapting the novel in 1976 were made for budgetary reasons including the hiring veteran actors who could no longer pass at 21 rather than less marketable teen unknowns. For the time, the special effects in Logan's Run (1976) were very impressive, even earning an Academy Award. With the unlimited budget afforded novelists, characters and setting could be much more imaginatively depicted. A prime example is the character Box who controls the icy area called Hell. In the movie, Box is a not-so-menacing chrome robot, in the novel a grotesque combination of machine and human parts.

William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson's Logan's Run is a very slight volume, clocking in at a breezy 166 pages. The narrative is presented in a serialized structure using a conversational writing style that includes few creatively modernized words that are easily understandable given their context. As advertised on the back cover, this novel is indeed a "page-turner", and I read a few entertaining hours.

The challenge now would be to track down the two sequels penned by the first's co-writer, Nolan: Logan's World and Logan's Search. Published to coincide with the release of the movie, neither has been re-published since and are only available on E-Bay and Amazon for up to $60 apiece. Until I come across the for a more reasonable purchase price at a used book store or garage sale, I'll need to access the guns game brain of my childhood to envision the further adventures of Logan and Jessica...

Summer Reading: Trout Fishing in America

"The old drunk told me about trout fishing. When he could talk, he had a way of describing trout as if they were a precious and intelligent metal.” ―Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing In America

Despite having read Trout Fishing in America nearly four times since I originally purchased it as part of a Richard Brautigan anthology (along with The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster and In Watermelon Sugar) wa-a-a-a-ay in 1990, I have yet to have taken an actual trout fishing expedition along any of the rivers or creeks mentioned in Brautigan's book, I reckon I have been trout fishing my whole life. Or maybe not. Richard Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America, originally published in 1967, is not a book about fishing. Or, maybe it is.

Extremely figurative and abstract in its narrative, TFiA is a novella consisting of a series of loosely connected anecdotes that is best experienced rather than summarized. In the interest of prompting others to read it, however, I will offer the brief synopsis offered by Wikipedia: "The phrase 'Trout Fishing in America' is used in various ways: it is the title of the book, a character, a hotel, the act of fishing itself, a modifier (one character is named 'Trout Fishing in America Shorty'), etc. Brautigan uses the theme of trout fishing as a point of departure for thinly veiled and often comical critiques of mainstream American society and culture."

Perhaps my own desire to occasionally re-engage TFiA is because it cannot be quickly recounted in a short Sparknotes entry or quickly compiled bullet-points. Employing language and structure reminiscent the prose poems of Charles Baudelaire or Robert Bly, Brautigan explores the internal and external cultural landscapes of the West. The cover, with support from the descriptive "chapters" explaining its inclusion within, grounds it in Sixties San Francisco though the inspiration is from other distant locales. The typography and physical structure of the novel (as is the case with most "Brautigans") carries a level of meaning. Employing a specific font, a quality which is not updated or altered with subsequent publishing--further suggesting a purposeful intent for its use by the author--lends a somewhat "antiquated" feeling to the proceedings therein.

While not an easy read, Brautigan's ability to connect well-turned and evocative phrases rewards the reader by bringing the reader on an alternately satirical and personal journey through his America. If the whole piece is not your cup of tea, especially on first blush, I would recommend sampling a few of the more clearly related chapters as individual anecdotes, in particular, the cumulative tale of the "legless, screaming, middle-aged wino" Trout Fishing in America Shorty, who is central to "The Shipping of Trout Fishing in America Shorty to Nelson Algren" (pp.45-7), "Footnote to 'The Shipping of Trout Fishing in America Shorty to Nelson Algren'" (page 63), and "The Last Mention of Trout Fishing in America Shorty" (pp. 96-7).

A unique reading experience, Richard Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America is available for borrowing as part of the larger anthology at most quality libraries.

Seen It: Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967)

Given the upcoming Christmas release of Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), one hopes that the classic Spaghetti Westerns which influenced the writer /director will be seen by a new generation of fans. What better time to continue reviewing the films as I come across them? Though considered the first "sequel" to the original Django starring Franco Nero, Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967) has exactly nothing, save the genre it inhabits, to do with any of the other films bearing the recognizable name.

There is one word to describe this film jewel: weird. Not exactly El Topo weird (despite the appearance of a naked child in the first 15 minutes as in Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 mind-trip classic), but just odd enough to wonder what could have happened had the co-writer/director, Giulio Questi, had gone the extra mile.

Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (Se sei vivo spara) stars genre-staple Tomas Milian (Run Man Run) as an unnamed anti-hero, referred to only as "Stranger" who travels from loosely related interactions and events through a brutal Mexican setting. Despite the lack of a traditionally coherent narrative, there is quite a bit of interesting activity going on, and, not surprisingly to those familiar with his screen work, the whole thing is very ably grounded by the charismatic Milian. The actor's relatively dark features helped him corner a niche for, shall we say "exotic" genre roles, and here plays the self-ascribed "half-breed,"the Stranger, as a directionless sort. With almost no background, save the flashback events (such as his initial "murder") which set the his present circumstances in motion, he is a clean slate off which Questi bounces unusual ideas.

Beyond the familiar Spaghetti Western trope of the unnamed hero/anti-hero wandering an unforgiving world, there are a number of eccentricities which make Django Kill a worthy viewing for aficionados of the genre. After watching the film the first time, it occurs to me that there is plenty of fodder therein for a college student looking to write an in depth film analysis deconstructing it. Some key points of interest are:

• Two clearly Italian actors portraying the Native American "guides" who first save the Stranger then from certain death using what appears to be a magic rabbit pelt and then agree to come with him if he'll tell them what was on "the other side" (death).
• Seemingly out of left field, two scenes have the characters begin speaking Italian with subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Both scenes, referred to as "gold digging" (cutting gold bullets out of a criminals stomach) and "scalping" (take a wild guess), were cut from the Italian original for the US and UK markets due most likely to the gore level. The "gold digging" is . As these scenes were never dubbed into English, they were reinserted with their original Italian dialogue and English subtitles.
• This film also turns the common casting of a ragtag gang of grotesque, toothless locals in the roles of "bad gang" on its ear. In an usual move which screams "subtext," Django Kill features a veritable parade of male models wearing entire outfits of black with the same white stitching on the shoulders as the bad guys. The lead villain, Mr. Sorrow played by Roberto Camardiel, even gleefully notes when trying to recruit the Stranger to his gang of muchachos that "They make me so happy in their black uniforms."

The terrifying and villainous Muchachos propose a drinking challenge... no, seriously!

• To make matters even worse, there is an implied molestation of another character (an effeminate young man played by Ray Lovelock who begs to leave town with the Stranger because it is "so evil") by the models-in-black. In a series of cut scenes, the boy is first kidnapped, released, then forced to drink. After having his hair tousled by the gang, he awakes the next day, walks into the dining area (where the mostly half-dressed gang have all fallen asleep on the floor after a night of drinking), steals a gun and commits suicide. 
• In a later scene during which the Stranger has been captured by the same group, he is tied to a large wooden t-shaped table (yes, like a cross) wearing only a loincloth. His arms and legs (akimbo) are in chains while he is gleefully watched by two of the fellas being "tortured" into revealing a location of hidden gold. The torture is seemingly exacted by the villains deadly creatures: a deadly vamp[ire bat and an iguana. We as the audience only view these terrifying monsters in stock footage but are told they were so terrible he had to talk. Uh-huh.

Next come the very persuasive iguanas and vampire bats!

As with most Spaghetti Westerns, the music plays a key role, though here, the film's primary music consists of random variations on the main theme composed by Ivan Vandor, and heard in the trailer above.

Don't worry about entering the film with too much information based on this post. It would be impossible to "spoil" this film entirely as there is so much weirdness to be seen. (I haven't even mentioned the woman who waves to the Stranger for 3/4ths of the film from her barred second-story window of the film before we are formally even told who she is, or the talking parrot.) As mentioned earlier, it is Milian who keeps it the whole; thing together hurtling toward its bizarre conclusion.

This movie is widely available in any number of genre collections. I viewed it as part of the Spaghetti Western 44 Movie Collection released by Mill Creek Entertainment that was purchased for $9.99 at a local supermarket. I was very pleased to realize the movie included was the remastered version with the previously deleted scenes, too. As both a Spaghetti Western and a "cult classic" it is worth seeking out for a few hours of bizarre viewing.

Seen It: Death Rides A Horse (1967)

  It's that sixth of five defenseless people you kill that always grows up to be a good shot and hunt you down...
After watching one too many killer hillbilly movies (one set in Europe, no less!), I recently sought to cleanse my visual pallet with a good ol' fashioned Spaghetti Western. This is not always an easy thing to do on Netflix--especially if you don't already have a title in mind. Following a few clumsy minutes "searching" around on the que (via my X-Box), I decided to re-watch a previously viewed classic, Death Rides a Horse (1967).

Though directed by Giulio Petroni, it is the twin "presences" of star Lee Van Cleef and composer Ennio Morricone that make Death Rides A Horse a clear thematic (and visual and musical) follow-up to Leone's Man With No Name trilogy. In the Eastwood-role is John Phillip Law, later of Barbarella (1968) fame, as Bill Meceita, a man whose family was murdered in front of him as a child by a gang, who 15 years later sets out to exact revenge.

Van Cleef plays Ryan, a recently released from prison gunfighter on his own quest for vengeance, who knows more than he says about Bill's tragedy (a plot point revealed early on when Ryan turns up at the Meceita homestead burial ground soon after getting out of the hoosegow.

Because this film lapsed into public domain years ago, it has been widely viewed via YouTube and any number of inexpensive Spaghetti Western DVD/Blueray collections (I actually have it in two seperate collections alone--though the transfer quality is poor).

Despite lacking the name recognition of the Eastwood/Leone films among the mainstream US moviegoer, among film geeks, it is stands as a classic of sorts. Movie-geek god Quentin Tarentino used many of the motifs, scenes, as well as some of Morricone's score, to great effect in his Kill Bill (2003/2004) films. It is with a film aficionados eye (and ear) that Death Rides a Horse is perhaps best viewed as it pales greatly by comparison to the Eastwood/Leone movies htough Van Cleef is never boring and always brings the "bad-a**" to the rodeo.

Still, as far as "cool" Netflix Westerns (NOT an oxymoron!) go, you could do much worse on a cold winter's day. For a more in depth consideration of Death Rides A Horse, I would strongly suggest the Spaghetti Western Data base's film page here.