OK, it's got Tony Quinn, who, depending on your view, either chews the scenery, or put in a GREAT performance, in every film he's in. I first saw him in "la Strada", and my theory is that, if he's good enough for Fellini, he's good enough for me. The last five minutes of Zorba the Greek" will live in my heart forever...this man had the heart of TEN men! Howver, in this movie, he had to play a relatively subdued, nuanced, role...which he handled like a Gig Young, or a Tony Randall---(i.e. perfectly)! The real treat was seeing three of the greatest young actors of the time: Faye, Michael Parks, and George Maharis, having a lot of fun playing things out. I cannot fathom why Parks and Maharis did not become major stars---Parks, in particular, was AMAZING--perhaps he was (wrongly) deemed to be a Jimmy Dean wannabe. Dunaway--who has NEVER given even a merely above-average performance (she is our "GREAT American ACTRESS!)---gave clear signs of her future greatness to be seen later in "Bonnie & Clyde", the amazing and prophetic "Network", "Chinatown" and all the fabulous work she has done. BTW, I am NOT writing as someone who has only recently first seen this film years after it was made: I saw it then, when I was 12, and was astonished by its greatness. It's very hard to find now, but I saw it again a few weeks ago in an art-house---and it STILL holds up. It's a TERRIFIC film! FIND IT. WATCH IT. A GREAT FILM. The director was a genius---he's like an Eisenstein---look at the techniques he invented--they are in EVERY film now!
Review of The Happening
