LI'L OLE HAZEL LOVED "THE MACKINTOSH MAN"..........BUT WHY??

The Mackintosh Man (1973)    I know.......Li'l Ole Hazel?  Who the hell is she?

             Back in prehistoric times, when BQ labored in purchasing movies for video stores, I sometimes (and not often enough, come to think of it) enjoyed feedback from actual paying, movie-renting customers......

              Among them was the gentlest, sweetest senior citizen, Hazel......

              Hazel stood out because her viewing/renting habits were remarkable........for a period of one year, she selected one particular film and exclusively rented that film only....... week after week.....after week.

              And her yearly selections were singularly eclectic.  One year it was 1957's "Island In The Sun", a racially charged, steamy Caribbean melodrama..........the next: 1968's "Mayerling", a overripe remake of an ole 1936 Doomed-Royals romance........

               I could see how Hazel loved all the overblown, theatrical soap opera qualities of those two films.........but her third pick for endless viewing stymied me........

                "The Mackintosh Man"?

                  It was the second collaboration between star Paul Newman and director John Huston after their rambunctious, rollicking epic "The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean"........

                  But their second time at bat stinks to hell and gone........playing like a James Bond film that's been slowed down into a dead-on-arrival states of inertia.

                   Newman glumly walks through the film as if barely awake. And it's debatable whether Huston was awake at all.

                     A secret agent (Newman) gets himself deliberately thrown in prison to infiltrate an escape-for-pay organization run by a duplicitous parliment Lord (James Mason). Aiding and abetting Newman in his mission:  his boss's Gal Friday. (the dead-eyed, comatose, dull as sand Dominique Sanda......as you can see, BQ was never a fan.....)

                    All the requisite chases, beatings and escapes unfold, but done with no flair, no style, no suspense........no nothing.  Huston directs this film like he spent the entire shoot checking his watch to see when Happy Hour started at the pub......

                     But Li'l Ole Hazel must have rented it over 52 times or more.........so at least she liked it.

                   BQ has a hard enough time sitting through it even once.........

                   But as much as I hated this film, I dearly loved Li'l Ole Hazel........the last year I worked as a buyer for the store chain she frequented, I hunted down brand new copies of "Island In The Sun" and "Mayerling" to present as Christmas gifts for her.......

                     My staff couldn't find a factory fresh copy of "The Mackintosh Man" for Hazel, but we planned to offer her a gift of the rental copy......(since she and only she had ever shown the slightest interest in it).......sadly Hazel passed before we could make that happen.

                    Hazel knew what she liked and stuck with it....... always, she was a 5 star lady..(****)....but "The Mackintosh Man"?   Well, you can guess how I'd rate it........but in Hazel's memory, BQ will apply a Hazel-Approved 3 stars (***) 

                     The movie's already a distant memory.......but that kind lady who so enjoyed her few movies till stay with me forever.