| HORIZONS WEST : Bruce Ricker's 'Budd Boetticher - A Man Can Do That' [7/10 TV] |
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| Thursday, 30 November 2006 | |
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There's no shortage of biographical documentaries on cinematic luminaries around at the moment, but Budd Boetticher - A Man Can Do That is decidedly a cut above the average. Though made for small-screen showings on the Turner Classic Movies channel, this exhaustive survey of the hectic life and career of director Boetticher - best known for the cycle of seven near-legendary B-movie westerns he made with star Randolph Scott between 1956 (Seven Men From Now) and 1960 (Comanche Station) - provides sufficient insight and interest over the course of its brisk 80-odd minutes to warrant much wider exposure. Ricker doesn't attempt to depart from the bio-doc genre's tried-and-tested formula: clips from the movies and talking-head interviews guide us chronologically through Boetticher's career, the tone often veering from respectful to near-hagiographic. But the clips are copious, extensive and well-chosen, illustrating Boetticher's many strengths and also some of his weaknesses - and they'r put in their proper historical and artistic context by Ed Harris's commentary - written by esteemed film-critic Dave Kehr. The interviewees are also excellent value: they include Kehr's fellow-critic Andrew Sarris, plus articulate, cine-literate Hollywood luminaries such as Robert Towne, Peter Bogdanovich, Paul Schrader, Taylor Hackford and Larry Cohen, along with many veteran actors who worked on Boetticher projects like Harry Carey Jr and Robert Stack (female voices are somewhat few and far between in what's a decidedly testosterone-heavy affair.) Some of the most entertaining segments feature the rather unlikely couple of Clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino, filmed together and clearly having a ball in each other's company enthusing about an individual both evidently hold in the highest respect and affection. But, quite rightly, it's Boetticher himself - sometime matador, world traveller, ranch-owner, movie-making maverick - who's emphatically the star of the show. He speaks at length in two interviews - one recorded in the early seventies, the other taped only a couple of years before his 2001 death - and these provide ample proof of the charisma, charm and toughness so favourably commented upon by his many friends and fans. Neil Young 30th November, 2006 BUDD BOETTICHER - A MAN CAN DO THAT : [7/10 TV] : USA 2005 : Bruce RICKER : 86 mins (timed) seen on DVD on Durham/London train (UK), 21st November 2006 - with thanks to Bruce Ricker |
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