Much has been written about the Pre-Code era of 1927-34, when, prior to the implementation of Hays Code governing the content of Hollywood’s output, the movies went wild. Comparatively little has been written about the films of the era that followed the 1968 abolishment of the code, an especially representative example of which is PRIME CUT. A much wilder-than-average Lee Marvin vehicle from 1972, it also starred Gene Hackman, coming off his Oscar winning turn in THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971), and, in her film debut, Sissy Spacek.
The film was an early credit for mega-producer (and future studio executive) Joe Wizan and director Michael Ritchie. The late Mr. Ritchie was known for finely textured comedies like THE CANDIDATE (1972), THE BAD NEWS BEARS (1976) and FLETCH (1985), yet he could dish out violent exploitation with the best of them, as proven by THE ISLAND (1980) and the film under discussion. Its screenwriter was the veteran exploitation movie scripter Robert Dillon, who worked with directors ranging from William Castle to Roger Corman, John Frankenheimer and John Milius.
The script appears to have been written with the Hays Code in mind, starting with the opening scenes, which violate one of the Code’s major prohibitions: animal cruelty. These scenes take place in a Kansas City slaughterhouse, where cows are seen being killed, skinned and gutted–as is (a few pointed cutaways indicate) a man, whose remains end up taking the form of a string of hot dogs the slaughterhouse’s proprietor Weenie (Gregory Walcott) ships to a Chicago address.
Enter Nick Devlin (Lee Marvin, whose mere presence eliminates the need for character development), a tough Chicago mob enforcer. He’s contracted to head to Kansas and confront Weenie and his brother, the ironically monikered Mary Ann (Gene Hackman), as they owe the mob money (and share an implied homosexual bond). They’ve already answered the mob’s call for payment in their handling of a previous enforcer, whose fate was detailed in the opening scene.
Upon arriving in Kansas City, Nick and his fellow enforcers discover a hotbed of depravity in which naked white women are auctioned off like cattle (white slavery, FYI, was another Hays Code prohibition). Nick ends up with one of those women, a young lass named Poppy (Sissy Spacek) who takes to wearing see-through tops with no bra but keeps her relations with Nick platonic (Marvin having nixed the sexual angle). Further outrages include a combine harvester whose driver tries to grind up Nick and Poppy in a wheat field but ends up devouring a car, a shoot-out at a county fair, an erotically-charged confrontation with Mary Ann’s slutty wife Clarabelle (Angel Tompkins) and a final showdown at Mary Ann’s farm, where lots and lots of people get killed.
Trashy though all this is, it’s a directorial tour de force. Michael Ritchie achieves something here that other filmmakers (such as Robert Altman) attempted but rarely ever pulled off: a highly quirky, observant quasi-comedy that works equally well as a violent thriller. It often seems as if Ritchie was trying to parody the script he was filming, as in an early scene in which one of Nick’s fellow enforcers takes him to meet his mother before they depart for Kansas City, an erotically-tinged brawl between Mary Anne and Weenie, and an affectionate depiction of the Kansas City locals, who appear (like the crowds seen in Ritchie’s THE CANDIDATE) unaware that they’re being filmed.
Yet the violence and depravity register just as strongly. The film was an envelope-pusher in its day, and may be even more subversive now (just try and imagine it being made today). It was pointedly referenced in Ray Garton’s 1988 horror story “Cinema” as a nefarious influence on a young religious boy who, reflecting upon Mary Ann’s none-too-pleasant fate, concludes it was a “fitting punishment” and that “Some people simply deserved to be punished.”
Regarding the performances, Lee Marvin essentially plays Lee Marvin, i.e. a skilled professional who keeps his emotions in check. Gene Hackman delivers an early iteration of the charismatic bad guy roles with which he’d come to be identified (in SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, UNFORGIVEN and THE QUICK AND THE DEAD), while the debuting Sissy Spacek offers a dry run for CARRIE in a characterization that’s authentically alien-like, and delivers an eye-opening amount of nudity in the bargain.
Vital Statistics
PRIME CUT
National General Pictures
Director: Michael Ritchie
Producer: Joe Wizan
Screenplay: Robert Dillon
Cinematography: Gene Polito
Editing: Carl Pingitore
Cast: Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, Sissy Spacek, Angel Tompkins, Gregory Walcott, Janit Baldwin, William Morey, Clint Ellison, Howard Platt, Hugh Gillin, Les Lannom, Eddie Egan, Therese Reinsch, Bob Wilson, Gordon Singer, Gladys Watson, Wayne Savagne