I only recently caught this on TCM cable the other day. After watching it twice (and yes, it really does merit multiple viewings) I asked myself, "where has this little gem been hiding?" This movie came out in 1966, and this is the first time I've ever seen it.
Jim Garner is cast somewhat against type as the not-so-granite character we've come to know and love: here, he plays a man suffering from a bad case of amnesia. He wakes up on a park bench in New York City and, armed with only a few scant clues found in his pockets - a scribbled phone number without a name, some pills, a train schedule - he starts on a scatter-shot quest through the edges and byways of New York City in an attempt to discover who he really is.
The movie has some interesting vibes going on: it's edgy, dark and suspenseful, also eerie and at times darkly comic. The plot is a bit convoluted, with odd flashback scenes juxtaposed with odd events and characters that occur in present time. If all of this makes the viewer a little disoriented, then the director has done his job well, because that is precisely how James Garner's character feels throughout the movie, right up until the very end.
Along the way he encounters a colorful batch of characters, each of whom directs (or misdirects as the case may be) our hero to his final destination and ultimate discovery of who he really is, and how he came to end up on a park bench in New York. The interplay between Garner and these assorted characters - who play like a sort of human sampler of New York City - is what makes the movie so worthwhile. There's lots of interesting dialog going on, enough to make it worth your while to watch the movie several times.
Nicely filmed in black and white, with an excellent supporting cast and excellent soundtrack, this is an engrossing and fast-moving story that never bogs down, and turns out to be one of the best offbeat movies I've seen in a long time. Highly recommended.
Jim Garner is cast somewhat against type as the not-so-granite character we've come to know and love: here, he plays a man suffering from a bad case of amnesia. He wakes up on a park bench in New York City and, armed with only a few scant clues found in his pockets - a scribbled phone number without a name, some pills, a train schedule - he starts on a scatter-shot quest through the edges and byways of New York City in an attempt to discover who he really is.
The movie has some interesting vibes going on: it's edgy, dark and suspenseful, also eerie and at times darkly comic. The plot is a bit convoluted, with odd flashback scenes juxtaposed with odd events and characters that occur in present time. If all of this makes the viewer a little disoriented, then the director has done his job well, because that is precisely how James Garner's character feels throughout the movie, right up until the very end.
Along the way he encounters a colorful batch of characters, each of whom directs (or misdirects as the case may be) our hero to his final destination and ultimate discovery of who he really is, and how he came to end up on a park bench in New York. The interplay between Garner and these assorted characters - who play like a sort of human sampler of New York City - is what makes the movie so worthwhile. There's lots of interesting dialog going on, enough to make it worth your while to watch the movie several times.
Nicely filmed in black and white, with an excellent supporting cast and excellent soundtrack, this is an engrossing and fast-moving story that never bogs down, and turns out to be one of the best offbeat movies I've seen in a long time. Highly recommended.