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Pif Magazine
Pif Magazine |
Carny (1980)
Carny was very much the pet project of Robbie Robertson, the lead guitarist /songwriter for The Band, and anyone familiar with Robertson’s music will recall his song "Life is a Carnival" from the group’s Cahoots L.P. that first pointed towards Robertson’s fascination with the carnival. It’s a brilliantly made film from some diverse talent that includes (besides producer/actor/writer Robertson) director Robert Kaylor (who had previously directed Roller Derby) and veteran composer Alex North, whose score here eerily echoes the dark side of Robertson’s seedy midway. Like Nightmare Alley, the film was too dark, too atmospheric for a big audience, but those of us who saw it in its brief theatrical run in 1980 never forgot it, and the film did make many ten best lists. Unlike Nightmare Alley, Carny is readily available on video, where it has proved to be something of a cult item. Robertson plays Patch, a carny shill who works and lives in an odd symbiosis with Frankie (Gary Busey, wonderful here), star of the "Mighty Bozo" act, where he — dressed in clown make-up — insults patrons who throw baseballs at his cage to knock him in a tank of water. It’s a dreadful act, but Frankie is the master of it, concocting insults for all occasions, delivering them with an almost satanic conviction. Things are going well for Patch and Frankie until Donna (Jodie Foster), a small-town teenage waitress, shows up with her obnoxiously possessive boyfriend Mickey (Craig Wasson). Frankie spies Donna from the Bozo cage, and, after riddling Mickey with insults, Frankie finds Donna for some quick flirting. Mickey gets mad — Patch comes to the rescue with a straight razor — and Donna decides to leave Mickey and her life and join up with Frankie. Donna, however, becomes Frankie’s main focus, and Patch becomes resentful. When Donna decides to join the carny as a side-show dancer, Patch pays fellow shill Delno (Bert Remsen) to introduce her as a lead dancer (who strips). A small riot ensues among the horny patrons when Donna doesn’t disrobe. Donna takes Patch to task for it, but does not let Frankie know about it. "What do you think he’d do if he knew?" she asks Patch. "What makes you think he doesn’t know? " Patch replies, and the bizarre symbiosis continues. Donna takes a job in a pull-a-string booth with Greta (Meg Foster, she of the amazing transparent eyes), where she is leered at by drooling lesbians, and starts to feel the seamy lure of carny life. Soon, she gains Patch’s respect, and the two fall into each other’s arms and into the same bed she shared with Frankie. In the meantime, Nails (Teddy Wilson), operator of a throw-a-ball/win-a-prize booth, decides to pull a fast scam on a hick named Skeet (John Lehne). Skeet gets mad and drunk, deciding to drive a truck down the midway, causing damage and killing one of the carny’s oldest and best loved hands, On-Your-Mark (the great Elisha Cook, Jr.). The carny presses on, but soon an evil local massage parlor maven named Dill (Bill McKinney), who blames the carny for stealing his business, shows up with Skeet and asks Patch and carny boss Heavy (Kenneth McMillan) for kickbacks and for the sexual services of Donna for Skeet. Heavy gets a plan, but he needs Donna — now sick of Frankie and Patch and packing her bags to leave. What follows is an ingenious, if a bit hastily executed, sting that pits Frankie, Patch. Donna and the carny’s freak show against Dill and Skeet. It is this last section of the film that drew the most criticism, as the film threatens to turn from character study to horror film with a third act rush of plotting. Maybe that is true, but for me, it works just fine, and it is in this section of the film where the sinister atmosphere of the carny really manifests itself. Busey’s introduction of the sideshow freaks to Dill is genuinely creepy, and the final sting itself does indeed seem taken from a horror film, though none of it even seems remotely out of place. If the film has a major fault, it is that Kaylor’s direction — as fine and workman-like as it is — isn’t edgy enough for the material. Had Robertson’s good pal Martin Scorsese directed here, my guess is Carny would not be the overlooked film it is now. As it stands, however, it has more than enough to recommend it, particularly in the fine lead performances and those by a whole slew of excellent character actors. (Cook, Remsen, McKinney and McMillan are all wonderful.) Do yourself a favor and see it. It will stay with you. Tell us what you think. Email talkback@pifmagazine.com Want Pif to review your book? Nick Burton lives in Newport Beach, California. His fiction has appeared in many small press and web publications, including: Chronicles Of Fiction, Pauper, and of course Pif. |
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