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The Tarantino Connections to Straight Time

posted 7 years ago by ecarle (14979)
8 replies | jump to latest

I haven't read interviews where he gets into it, but clearly Quentin Tarantino was familiar with "Straight Time" the 1978 movie starring Dustin Hoffman, and "No Beast So Fierce," the book by real ex-convict Edward Bunker that was made into that movie.

The key connection: 14 years after Bunker made his screen debut in Straight Time(in a one-scene role as a criminal contact of Hoffman's), QT cast the real-life ex con as one of the gang in Reservoir Dogs -- Mr. Blue, the first to get killed as I recall, he's not in the movie very long.

But having just watched "Straight Time" for the first time, I can see where QT made a few of his famous "borrows" for at least two of his famous 90's movies.

Pulp Fiction: Near the end, when Mr. Wolf is instructing Travolta and Sam Jackson on how to clean up the dead guy in the back of their car and to remove all evidence, he orders the two hit men to take off all their clothes in the backyard of QT's own character. Wolf turns a hose of high-pressure cold water on the two naked men, but preferences the act with the line: "You've been down to LA county jail...you know the drill."

I found that line evocative when I first heard it years ago -- I could picture Travolta and Sam Jackson as hit men who had, nonetheless, occasional "occupational' stints" at the LA County jail(likely not for mob hits, probably for lesser crimes.)

But watching "Straight Time" I actually saw the LA County jail drill ENACTED...upon a naked Dustin Hoffman and several otherl less fit, older men. Very humiliating and degrading. QT must have remembered this scene and come up with the Pulp Fiction scene and line about "LA County jail."

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The unseen robbery that goes wrong in Reservoir Dogs is a jewelry store heist. All we see is the aftermath -- with a couple of the gang killed and one gutshot, after various car and footchases.

Well, Straight Time SHOWS us a jewelry store robbery that also goes awry, leads to car chases and foot chases and death.

I know that "Reservoir Dogs" evidently borrowed a lot from some Chinese crime picture (City on Fire, maybe?)and that the gangs use of "color names"(Mr. White, Mr. Brown) was a "borrow" from The Taking of Pelham One Two Three(1974 version.)

But we can see QT's "borrowing habit" for Straight Time being used minimally and in the service of QT's own particular dialogue and characters. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction seemed informed by Straight Time rather than stealing from it.

[–] lukejbarnett (1869) 5 years ago

very interesting about this former convict actually being in reservoir dogs. don't you think QT is not telling us any of this on purpose? the reason is then he would be even more known as a not so original filmmaker? you know he's got this thing against martin scorcese right? he's always known he can't top him or be as good as him when it comes to making crime dramas so that's why you'll never hear him talk about martin scorcese in an interview. i thought this was really interesting when i heard this.

you said he has to know about straight time so i think he should just come out and tell everyone what he borrowed from these films and that he was inspired by these films. he'd look a lot better if he did, he'd look a lot more humble if he did. heck george lucas said star wars was inspired by Seven Samurai and movie serials. every director since the '70s has been borrowing from other directors and movies. this is nothing new. it's just that QT has done it more blatantly, he's the great movie recycler.

[–] ecarle (14979) 5 years ago

very interesting about this former convict actually being in reservoir dogs.

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Its interesting, and he was able, I think to "advise" Tarantino(QT I call him) on the criminal life. (Harvey Keitel, who first got the script from young QT and helped get the financing as well as starring in it, asked QT if he had some family connections or experience in LA crime, and QT said no, he just watched movies -- but somewhow he found Bunker.) All the other members of the gang were actors who went on to big careers(though none of them is really a Brad Pitt or Leo level superstar.)

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don't you think QT is not telling us any of this on purpose? the reason is then he would be even more known as a not so original filmmaker?

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Oh, I think sometimes he tells us on purpose. He was inspired by a little-seen cheapjack movie called "Inglorous Bastards"(proper spelling) to make a movie called "Inglorious Basterds" (QT spelling) and I understand about the only thing he borrowed was the title and some scenes. His "Django Unchained" was inspired by an old spaghetti Western called "Django." So THOSE -- he hid nothing.

But I know he's borrowed lots and lots and lots of other elements from other films and not told us. And one TV episode: an old 60's show called "The Rebel" had an episode that is a bare bones model for "The Hateful Eight" the story is SO close that I expect that QT had to pay somebody something -- though I never read of a lawsuit.

But here's the important thing, I think: though I'm old enough to barely remember "The Rebel"(with Nick Adams, who I also vaguely remember) from the 60's, I never watched it, I have no recall of that "Hateful Eight" episode and so does almost nobody else. BUT with millions now connected to the internet, SOMEBODY remembered The Rebel and called out QT on it -- and: not a peep from the man.

[–] ecarle (14979) 5 years ago

Personally, I'm OK with all of this. Here's why: I am among the 99% of the population that never saw that episode of The Rebel, or saw Django, or saw The Mercenary(from which QT borrowed a "bullet through a lapel flower killing") or City on Fire or the King Brothers Kung Fu movies so...

QT brings them to me(and others) as "fresh" and -- in a whole new way.

Take that "Rebel" episode. Its on You Tube, I've watched it. The Hateful Eight plot is clearly there(including the poisoning of bounty hunter in a stagecoach way station), but none of the racial content(heavy) is there, or the "twist" of what happened hours before, or the characters(in the main) or the language(profane)....all QT probably should have done there is written "Story By (Whoever wrote The Rebel) and the rest is clearly his. Except one line: "Two measly bullets, and that's the end of Mexican Bob" -- QT acknowledged that he took that line(changed the name) from an episode of The Virginian.

And that's something else. Someone ratted out QT as "Mike Teevee" from Willy Wonka -- a nerdly sort who watches tons of TV shows(like The Rebel and The Virginian, both from way before his time) that the rest of us DON'T. Or WON'T. And from that raw material, he fashions, I think, pretty entertaining movies. And THIS nerdly Mike Teevee is a multi-millionaire who had supermodels galore before marrying one.

So I'm OK with QT's "borrowing." And Straight Time(with its authoritative knowledge of WHY small time crooks are small time crooks) is exactly the kind of "textbook" that allowed QT to write Reservoir Dogs with such authority and impress Harvey Keitel.

[–] ecarle (14979) 5 years ago

you know he's got this thing against martin scorcese right? he's always known he can't top him or be as good as him when it comes to making crime dramas so that's why you'll never hear him talk about martin scorcese in an interview. i thought this was really interesting when i heard this.

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Hmm...I had not heard that. Scorsese is in some ways "the father" of QT, cinematically. Harvey Keitel, who put QT on the map with Reservoir Dogs, had years before starred in "Mean Streets" and "Taxi Driver" for Scorsese, and GoodFellas of 1990 established the "modern crime film" from which Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction sprang(though those two films, and Jackie Brown next, focused on LOS ANGELES area crooks -- a less organized mob with black bosses.)

In 2019, QT and Scorsese finally made crime films in the same year, and the press made a meal about it. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for QT and The Irishman for Scorsese. AND -- you may not have seen this -- the two directors got together to interview each other with mutual admiration. I guess you could say that they finally had to acknowledge each other with their head to head movies -- so they "made nice" in that interview.

[–] ecarle (14979) 5 years ago

you said he has to know about straight time

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I feel that he does. He hired Edward Bunker to be in Reservoir Dogs and there is the LA county jail reference in Pulp Fiction.

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so i think he should just come out and tell everyone what he borrowed from these films and that he was inspired by these films. he'd look a lot better if he did, he'd look a lot more humble if he did. heck george lucas said star wars was inspired by Seven Samurai and movie serials. every director since the '70s has been borrowing from other directors and movies. this is nothing new. it's just that QT has done it more blatantly, he's the great movie recycler.

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This inspires me to go looking for more QT interviews. I think he fesses up when he knows he has to(Inglorious Basterds) and doesn't when he doesn't. Unlike Scorsese, QT writes his own stories and dialogue(though didn't Scorsese co-write some of his films?), so QT's "umiverse" is one of his dialogue his words, no matter where he borrows his stories from. But he really could and should talk more about his influences. DePalma made an initial surge of movies based on Hitchocck movies and HE acknowledged, while also saying "but our movies are entirely different, just look at them."(Yeah, DePalma's movies aren't as well written and the suspense sequences aren't as good -- until he broke loose from Hitchcock with Scarface, The Untouchables, and Carlito's Way.)

Back to the beginning: I think "Straight Time," all by itself , is a great and realistic movie about crime in general, and Los Angeles crime in particular. If QT could lift even a bit of it(and the convict who wrote it) and still give us the brutal pleasures of Reservoir Dogs ("Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie....or at you gonna bite?") its a win-win for us.

[–] lukejbarnett (1869) 5 years ago

so made nice makes me think QT always held an irritation at the least towards Scorsese. i mean if you think about it. this makes sense because they both have made primarily crime drama films and they are both known mostly for crime drama films. and the fact is QT has never and will never make crime films as great as Scorsese makes crime films.

it's like Scorsese always has been and always will be the grandmaster, or the teacher or the godfather and QT always has been and always will be his protege. everyone knows Scorsese is a superior filmmaker to QT, not to say QT is inferior, but Scorsese makes better films than QT.

so it makes sense that QT would always hold this against Scorsese, as a bitter thing for QT.

[–] lukejbarnett (1869) 5 years ago

where can i watch this interview? i would love to watched them both give their respects to each other. gosh Scorsese has to be about retired from making movies by now. he's got to be at least 76 years old now. when i watched the oscars this year Scorsese looked so old, like almost as old looking as a man can be.

[–] lukejbarnett (1869) 5 years ago

you know it's interesting how these formerly pretty obscure shows like the virginian are now in reruns everyday on old show channels on cable. so now we very much could find out about these influences that QT took from old tv shows. and we can now see the similarities of both things. maybe someday the rebel will be on one of these channels?