Q&A with Nicholas Anez, author of Cinema’s Lost Treasures: Celebrating Forgotten Movies
Q. Why did you write this book?
A. The movies that I write about were either box-office failures, received terrible reviews. are forgotten today or all of the above. I hope to bring some belated recognition to them.
Q. How did you choose these particular movies to write about?
A. I think they are all good movies for one reason or another. Admittedly, I chose some for personal reasons. For instance, I first saw Attack when I was 14 years old and the scene of the tank crushing Jack Palance’s arm gave me nightmares. I had a similarly visceral reaction to other movies in this book.
Q. What are some other examples?
A. I was drafted during the Vietnam War and fortunately remained stateside but I served with soldiers who were sent over. Go Tell the Spartans shows how and why so many Americans needlessly died. Many scenes from this movie remain embedded in my mind, not the least of which is Burt Lancaster’s naked body lying in the mud.
Q. You write about another Lancaster movie, The Swimmer. Why did you choose this movie?
A. When I first saw The Swimmer, I found it somewhat bewildering but yet intriguing enough to make me want to see it a second and third time, liking it more each time. Lancaster’s final scene is haunting. It is difficult to forget him, withered into a fetal position and sobbing uncontrollably upon realizing that he destroyed his family and his life.
Q. You also discuss two Sean Connery movies. Was that a coincidence?
A. Yes, but they are totally different kinds of movies. The Offence is a very difficult movie to watch even once because it concerns a child rapist while Robin and Marian is a beautiful love story that invites repeated viewings.
Q. It is obvious from your chapter on Elvis Presley that you disapprove of his manager. Why is that?
A. Tom Parker destroyed Elvis’ film career and I tried to show how and why he did this. Elvis would have had a totally different career and life if he only had fired the leech.
Q. Were you always an Elvis fan?
A. No. I was never into rock ‘n’ roll so when Elvis burst upon the scene in 1955, I wasn’t interested. I became an Elvis fan in the 1960s. My favorite Elvis album is “From Elvis in Memphis” which was released in 1969. By the way, back in the 70s, I did a memorable Elvis impression in a Boston karaoke club. I was booed off the stage.
Q. Why did you choose to write about The Born Losers? Isn’t that a trashy movie?
A. Yes, but it’s a good trashy movie. His subsequent movie wasn’t trashy but it wasn’t good. Its immense success led to his rise and his fall.
Q. You write about three movies that have been criticized for their violence: Rolling Thunder, Sitting Target and The Grissom Gang. Does that bother you?
A. They contain scenes of violence but these scenes are not overly graphic. What appealed to me perhaps is the fact that all three movies concern protagonists who are suffering intense emotional pain that is worse than their physical pain.
Q. Your choices of Darker Than Amber, Warning Shot and P.J. seem questionable. Aren’t these simply conventional genre movies?
A. Conventional in some ways but distinctive in other ways. They also illustrate the benefits of the studio system that had collapsed the precious decade. If Rod Taylor, David Janssen and George Peppard had been managed by studios, I think they would have had totally different film careers.
Q. Why did True Confessions appeal to you?
A. Though it concerns an atrocious murder, the story’s focus is on the relationship between two brothers - a priest and a cop. And yet perhaps the most memorable scene involves the parents of the murdered girl.
Q. Why did you choose two obscure movies - No Love for Johnnie and The Night Visitor?
A. One is a political drama and the other is a thriller. The main character of both movies is a shrewd, self-centered, unscrupulous man. One is a politician and the other is a criminal. But I repeat myself.