Observer ‘Borrows’ Film Forum Notes?

We’re big fans of the usually reliable, salmon-colored weekly known as New York Observer. So we don’t exactly know what to make of what appears to be an extremely lazy roundup of a Don Siegel series at the Film Forum by Andrew Sarris that “borrows” heavily from the program:

FILM FORUM: THE GUN RUNNERS (1958) Fishing boat captain Audie Murphy (most decorated U.S. soldier in WWII) gets blackmailed by Eddie Albert into running arms to Cuban revolutionaries — then Albert double-crosses the rebels. Third adaptation of Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not.

SARRIS: Sharing the bill is The Gun Runners (1958), in which fishing-boat captain Audie Murphy (in real life, the most decorated soldier in World War II) gets blackmailed by Eddie Albert into running arms to the Cuban revolutionaries — before Albert double-crosses the rebels in this third adaptation of Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not.

FILM FORUM: DIRTY HARRY (1971) “There’s only one question you should ask yourself… ‘Do I feel lucky?’” Well, do ya, punk?” queries Clint Eastwood’s .44 Magnum-wielding Harry Callahan of a recumbent crook, after breaking up a bank robbery attempt in between munches of his hot dog luncheon — and then the nutso “Zodiac Killer” (Andy Robinson, a pacifist in real life) strikes again. Eastwood’s first incarnation (followed by four not-quite-as-good sequels by other directors) of one of the icons of the American cinema gives the Miranda doctrine a workout — in between racing crosstown on foot for a kidnapper’s phone calls and breaking up a harrowing school bus abduction. … “The movie’s moral position is fascist. No doubt about it.” — Roger Ebert.

SARRIS: Dirty Harry (1971): “You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel Lucky?’ Well do ya, punk?” snarls Clint Eastwood’s .44 Magnum-wielding Harry Callahan of a recumbent crook, after breaking up a bank robbery attempt in between munches of his hot god [sic] luncheon. Callahan has more trouble with loony “Scorpio Killer” Andy Robinson, who winds up holding a busload of hostages because Callahan has ignored the Miranda Warning in his previous arrest of the Scorpio Killer, and has been handcuffed by a lily-livered Mayor (John Vernon) and a city administration that seems to be controlled by the American Civil Liberties Union. For his heavy-handedness, Callahan was termed a “Fascist” by some critics. Today he would be lionized for his War on Terror.

And The Reeler has a bunch more. We’re awaiting a response from Mr. Sarris.

Andrew Sarris: Plagiarist, Or Just Resourceful? [The Reeler]
At the Movies [NYO]

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