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Child stars face a tremendous challenge as they reach adulthood. Many of them do not qualify as adorable children anymore, a status that was crucial to their initial success in the industry. Some kids deal with this change in a really poor manner. The question begs, how many were drug addicts or committed suicide because they could no longer relive their heightened fame? A few kids are fortunate enough to change their careers before it is too late, akin to Shirley Temple. However, some are all too fortunate; they do not lose themselves during the thunderstorms of puberty, stay relevant to the audience, and strive to excel in adult roles. It is these few who become ageless film icons. The likes of which include Marceau and Foster, and everyone else who serve as a reminder.
The following are a success story where the child actor successfully transitioned into an adult film star. She was among many other brats who acted in Disney’s family comedies during the 70’s and at one point in time, was evaluated to depict a young Princess Leia in the original Star Wars movie. Her rival in tomboy character acts was Tatum O’Neal, who won an Oscar for her role in the Peter Bogdanovic’s beautiful tragic-comedy Paper Moon (1973) next to her father. O’Neal was the youngest to ever win an Oscar. She was also a tomboy in the Bad News Bears playing the daughter of Walter Matthau. Ironically, Paper Moon turned into a TV series where Jodie Foster took over O Neals role. Unfortunately, O’Neal went through the teenage struggles and faded away from the screen until she gained limelight due to her abusive marriage and her addiction to drugs. A few years back, she was captured by the police as she was attempting to purchase drugs.
Well, this is a lengthy introduction that I feel could do with some further explanation. The disparity in how her career ultimately unfolded is rather unfortunate, even though each and everyone is accountable for their choices and it is very hard to plan for being in the “high grossing films”. But take the career of Foster for instance, who had a similar basis, she went through some very uninspiring movies during her mid 80’s, but eventually moved on and thrived. Her second career in films started off with an Oscar for Accused in 1988, magnificent things followed from there. It just demonstrates that people can have talent and be recognized for a period in Hollywood. If a timely movie and role do not show up, and one ends up making poor choices, anyone’s bright future in cinema can literally vanish in a heartbeat.
Here is an example of a movie that could be a changing point that opens doors for more types of roles or even an entirely new genre. Certain Fury (In the heat of New York) could have been that movie for O’Neal. But I guess that was not the case.
From 1985, this story fits perfectly into the 80’s action buddy genre. Two prostitutes instigate a shootout in the courtroom during a mass trial of young girls for their crimes and it’s a sight that is shocking to say the least. Anyone watching this will definitely be surprised by this brutal act of violence, especially when viewing a modern action movie today where the plot is surprisingly sterile. Tracey, who is played by Cara, is the woman whom we see carrying out the self-defending act of murder. She, along with Scarlet, have the opportunity to dive into the chaos. They make a run for the building as police chase them down the streets.
The pair somehow make it into the sewers and manage to evade an underground explosion caused by a cigarette an officer’s cigarette. This film could only exist in the eighties and comparing its possibility in today’s Hollywood is just baffling. And what’s even crazier is that one of the prostitutes they come across gets shot in the back. Scarlet has a lover named Sniffer who is especially repugnant. He is a vile creature played by Nicholas Campbell. Porn was created by him and he tries to rape Tracey as soon as she gets out of the shower after Scarlet leaves. This might not be an explicit scene, but it does eliminate the chances of any future US releases of the film.
Rodney, on the other hand, an arrogant criminal ex lover is portrayed by Peter Fonda. Scarlet is desperate to get in contact with him, but she doesn’t like her as the rest of her lovers. To put in simple words, he is a rich man with a knack for crime. Did he ever manage to get an Oscar in one of these movies? Jim claims that he was only nominated for Uele’s gold. To be frank, right now, he is the most prominent actor in this movie, which does make it even more bizarre.
At the heart of it is a crime drama directed by Serbian Vuk Lungelo who, like many other contemporary directors, was unable to find funding for his work. Just in time, she comes back to Tracey and is able to escape before Rodney’s men arrive to capture her. He had made an arrangement with the police after all. Scarlet is in a bad state, having taken much of Sniffer’s drugs which she attempts to market it in what looks like a giant derelict house scattered deep in the city slums. It really is a movie from the Reagan era! :-))
His ‘persecutor’ arrives on the scene and spurts the drugs into Tracey, burns the house while battling it out with Scarlet, before meeting a fiery demise. At this point police inspector Speier (Murdock) is trying to find the girls alongside Dr. Freeman, Tracey’s father (Moses Gunn plays a gangster in Shaft). In these characters lie the theme of White and Black working together and, like in the girls themselves, is indeed a rather positive message. The difference in today’s scenario is that it has become a troubling lesson on the issue of discrimination and racial hatred. It makes this much more palatable for me than modern day movies who lose the entertainment in the background, while putting their lessons at the forefront.
Knowing that the two girls are considered dead Tracey reads it in the newspaper while Scarlet is unable to read they ponder over starting a new life in the mountains together. However, Scarlet doesn’t believe it is possible and she aggressively pushes Tracey away. When the police reaches there, Scarlet is still walking on the bridge and they shoot her in her back. The last scene portrays Tracey and Dr. Freeman comforting Scarlet by telling her it is just a shoulder injury and it is not serious. Scary Chase turns out to have a happy ending… or almost.
Anyhow, this is indeed very tough stuff. Certain Fury is not an important movie: there even exist debates if it is good or not.
Honestly, while watching this film, I was convinced that at any moment, Charles Bronson would step into the frame and say something about his hobby: “cleaning up the slums of New York.” It truly feels like a cheap Cannon film that, for some reason, many of those who grew up in the 80’s (and perhaps, even more so now!) take pitiful pride in. Well, not too long after, Charlie was canonically ‘handcuffed’ to a teenage brat and embarked on an all too familiar road trip expenditure through gangster-infested territory in Murphy’s Law (1986). However, that movie more or less abandoned the social issues of the O’Neal Cara film and focused instead on the sheer bloody action of Bronson and the rest of the criminal underworld.
I also perceive certain parallels to The Defiant Ones (1988) which featured Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier, a classic from Stanley Kramer. Curtis on the other hand is ruthless, angry and totally insulting. In fact, she even uses the N-word towards Tracey. So the inspiration is arguably there. Gosh, I can only guess that it was not a coincidence that the very next year DEF was made, there was an update of The Defiant Ones released in 1986 starring Robert Urach and Carl Weathers, also a very watchable movie. Jim, there is also Black Mama, White Mama, where Pam Grier and Margaret Markov are another inter-racial pair who escape from prison while handcuffed.
Although I mostly liked and watched Certain Fury for what it was entertaining crime action cinema, the movie was able to touch on certain social concerns that are probably as topical today in America as it was about forty years ago. Racism, social class discontent, omnipresent crime, multi-generational poverty, drug abuse, and even racialized police violence are present in the film.
Let’s start from the beginning, it is understandable why the police over reacted with their gunshots, and it all stems from the courtroom mass shooting, however one question arises; what purpose does this forgotten film serve? The alternative answers lead to the suggestion that no matter how extreme the circumstance is, individuals can band together. This theme was similarly presented in the contrasting set of the black surgeon and the white police inspector.
I wouldn’t recommend the movie for a high-grade social drama: too high on Charles Bronson, if you were to put it that way. But it is fun action rubbish, and funny that at one point Tatum O’Neal may have found herself in an action or thrill movie. The latter sub-genre was, after all, the one when Jodie Foster made it big in the business. O’Neal’s acting is pretty good, I believe; she does not resemble the little brat she used to portray in the 70s. Her Scarlet is an interesting character of the “tough exterior, tender interior” sort. Maybe she could have kept it up; who knows? Instead, she decided to marry tennis player John McEnroe, which obviously, troublesome in any way is not her best undertakings.
It’s a little embarrassing, but I must admit that I do have an emotional bond with this film due to the fact that I found the trailer on the internet and recommended it to a German DVD label which then released the movie on DVD here in Germany (and included an audio commentary of two film historians!) I believe my ego is going to explode! Still as a last interesting detail: In the German language edition, I read that the person that gives the voice to Tatum O’Neal’s character is the one that dubs… Jodie Foster!
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