Tough Guys (1986 film)
| Tough Guys | |
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 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Jeff Kanew |
| Produced by | Joe Wizan |
| Written by | James Cruikshank James Orr |
| Starring | Burt Lancaster Kirk Douglas Charles Durning Dana Carvey Eli Wallach Darlanne Fluegel |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography | King Baggot |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 3, 1986 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Box office | $21,458,229 |
Tough Guys is a 1986 comedy starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Eli Wallach and Dana Carvey. It was directed by Jeff Kanew.
Lancaster and Douglas made several films together, including I Walk Alone (1948), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Devil's Disciple (1959), and Seven Days in May (1964), becoming something of a team in the public's eye. Douglas was always second-billed under Lancaster but, with the exception of I Walk Alone, in which Douglas played a villain, their roles were more or less the same size. Tough Guys was their final collaboration.
The film has gained a cult following in recent years.[when?] Upon its digital release in 2011, film critic Andrew Moser called Tough Guys "The best film you've never seen", and named it the top film of the 1980s. Boston College law scholar Christopher Pesce calls Tough Guys "A poignant exploration of the American penal system of the 80's, along with the complex dynamics of old age, masculinity, and parole in post-modernity."
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[edit] Plot
Harry Doyle (Lancaster) and Archie Long (Douglas) are gangsters who have served a 30-year prison sentence for hijacking a Southern Pacific train called The Gold Coast Flyer, ready to collect their Social Security.
Upon release, they are briefed on how their new lives will be. Harry, at age 72, is committed to a retirement community, despite his desire to work (Mandatory retirement age was 70 at the time of this movie, and this law has since changed). Archie, still allowed to work, takes a job at an ice cream parlor and later a restaurant. They're also instructed that they're not to have further contact with each other. It also turns out to be the first of many conditions of their parole that they ultimately violate.
Both are in for a shock at how much the world has changed from 1956 to 1986—clothing, sexual lifestyles (their favorite bar is now a gay club), lack of respect by the younger generation, and the advance of technology. Archie's young manager treats him poorly and Harry is denied proper food by a nasty orderly and the even worse manager.
Harry attempts to recreate a 1940s lifestyle with a woman of his generation named Belle (Alexis Smith), whilst Archie embraces the contemporary scene, asking out a much younger woman and dressing in a much younger man's clothes. Neither he nor Harry seems to fit in anymore.
Their parole officer, Richie Evans (Carvey) seems more a fan of historically notable criminals than a representative of law enforcement. Meanwhile, a hit man of their generation, Leon B. Little (Eli Wallach), still has an outstanding (30-year-old) contract on them, even though he can barely see his targets.
Bored with their new lives, Harry and Archie decide to hijack the Gold Coast Flyer again. The train is on its last run, being pulled by Daylight 4449, and the two old-timers are going to run it full throttle to the Mexican border.
To their surprise, Leon has arrived and forms a truce with the two and Richie (feeling bad for his new friends poor treatment) is driving the train. Unfortunately the tracks end a few feet from the border. Harry throws Leon from the cab with the hit man saying he'll get them even if it takes another 30 years. Archie takes Richie up to the coaches and uncouples the train telling Richie that if he gets into touble tell the police that he was kidnapped. Harry and Archie drive the 4449 through a fusillade of bullets from U.S. border police. They crash the fence, burying the engine partially in the soil of Mexico a few feet across the border, surviving without a scratch, tough guys to the end, just as the Mexican border patrol arrives to arrest them. However, they appear to cheat the law once more as they dupe the Mexicans, leading into the closing credits.
[edit] Music
- Kenny Rogers sings the song's opening theme, They Don't Make Them Like They Used To.
- The Red Hot Chili Peppers play themselves in the movie. They play a song never heard outside of this movie "Set It Straight". As no soundtrack album was released, there is great fan demand for this track. Frontman Anthony Kiedis was quoted as saying they recorded it solely for inclusion in the movie and had no intention of releasing it themselves.
- The 1977 Bing Crosby recording of Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" features in the film.
[edit] Train
- The locomotive Southern Pacific 4449 was also used to pull the American Freedom Train exhibit during the Bicentennial, now based in Portland, Oregon.
- The locomotive engineer is played by Doyle L. McCormack, the man most responsible for the actual restoration of SP 4449.
- A portion of the Eagle Mountain Railroad was used in the filming of the movie. During the filming of the exterior shots of Southern Pacific 4449 the train was stored nightly at the Eagle Mountain rail yards. The local school children from Eagle Mountain School took a field trip in early 1986 to see and tour the train on the location of the shoot along the Eagle Mountain Railroad south of Interstate 10.
[edit] Cast
Burt Lancaster ... Harry Doyle
Kirk Douglas ... Archie Long
Charles Durning ... Deke Yablonski
Alexis Smith ... Belle
Dana Carvey ... Richie Evans
Darlanne Fluegel ... Skye
Eli Wallach ... Leon B. Little
Monty Ash ... Vince
Billy Barty ... Philly
Simmy Bow ... Schultz
Darlene Conley ... Gladys Ripps
Nathan Davis ... Jimmy Ellis
Matthew Faison ... Man in Gay Bar
Corkey Ford ... Gang Leader
Rick Garcia ... Federale Captain
[edit] External links
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