Trade magazine ad promoting Pollard's nomination for Best Supporting Actor Oscar in "Bonnie and Clyde".
BY LEE PFEIFFER
Actor Michael J. Pollard has passed away from cardiac arrest at age 80. Pollard's unique look and acting style propelled him to fame in the 1960s. Pollard was born in New Jersey and crossed the river to study in the famed Actors Studio. He first appeared on Broadway in the smash hit production of "Bye Bye Birdie" and quickly became a familiar face on popular television programs including "Gunsmoke", "Lost in Space", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Star Trek", "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Route 66", "I Spy", "The Fall Guy", "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.", "Crime Story", "Superboy" and "Tales from the Crypt". Pollard's trademark onscreen persona was as a lovable but dim-witted, slow moving character. The image paid off handsomely for him when was cast as C.W. Moss in director Arthur Penn's 1967 classic "Bonnie and Clyde". In the key role, Pollard played a loyal accomplice to the infamous gangster couple. Pollard was nominated for numerous major awards for his performance including a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. The success of "Bonnie and Clyde" briefly elevated Pollard to leading man status and he starred in numerous films including "Jigsaw", "Hannibal Brooks", "Little Fauss and Big Halsey" and "Dirty Little Billy" before reverting to supporting player status. Pollard often had key roles in "B" movies such as director Rob Zombie's cult classic "House of 1,000 Corpses" but he sometimes appeared in small parts in major films such as "Dick Tracy", "Melvin and Howard", "Roxanne" and "Tango & Cash". Pollard's potential was undoubtedly compromised by his admitted problems with substance abuse, though by the 1980s he appeared to have successfully kicked his bad habits. Actor Michael J. Fox had paid tribute to Pollard by placing the "J" in his name when he first started out in show business.
While
it’s got its defenders and fans, The Fearless Vampire Killers is not
Roman Polanski at his best. It does, however, have a certain charm if one
places the film within the context of when it was made and released.
Originally
titled Dance of the Vampires, the movie is a comedy horror flick that is
an obvious send-up of the British horror movies made by Hammer Studios that
were hugely popular in the 1960s. It looks like a Hammer picture… the
film stock is the same and the colors have that muted, yet oddly vibrant, appearance—and
of course the blood and bosoms are in full bloom. It was a British production
as well, but the film was made in ski resort locations in Italy, doubling as
“Eastern Europe.â€
Probably
of special interest these days is the presence of Sharon Tate in a lead role,
as well as her soon-to-be husband, the director himself, Roman Polanski, as the
protagonist’s sidekick. Their off-screen budding romance is palpable in the
movie, and, if anything, The Fearless Vampire Killers reflects a moment
in time when there was no controversy in the filmmaker’s life and the future
for him and his bride-to-be appeared to be rosy.
It's
the story of Professor Abronsius (Jack MacGowran), a sort of Van Helsing
figure, and his assistant, Alfred (Polanski), as they hunt for vampires. Tate
is Sarah, the daughter of the tavern innkeeper (Alfie Bass), and Alfred falls
madly in love with her. When she is taken captive by the local vampire head
honcho, Count von Krolock (Ferdy Mayne), Abronsius and Alfred take it upon
themselves to rescue her and destroy the count’s huge coven of undead
followers, who congregate annually for a ball in Krolock’s castle.
The
movie is wacky, full of slapstick, and has little true horror. There’s something
of a Benny Hill sensibility that permeates it; the picture is certainly
atypical of what we think of as a Roman Polanski movie. Polanski himself is
quite good in his role of the 90-pound weakling who summons the bravery to
complete his tasks. Tate is eye candy supreme, and she plays her role
relatively straight. MacGowran, when you can understand his dialogue, is
effectively comical, but it is Polanski who steals the picture.
When
the film was first released in the U.S., the distributors re-cut it and added a
cheap animated sequence before the credits, dubbed MacGowran’s voice with a
silly-sounding one, and added the subtitle: …OR: Pardon Me, but Your Teeth
Are in My Neck. The movie bombed at the time, disappeared, and was relegated
to cult status over the years. Eventually, a restored U.K. version (Polanski’s
preferred cut) resurfaced and was released on home video. The Fearless
Vampire Killers was then re-evaluated, and it is now considered, in some
circles anyway, to be one of the filmmaker’s minor classics.
The
Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray release is, thankfully, the original U.K. cut, and
it looks quite good in its widescreen, colorful splendor. The supplements
include the U.S. animated pre-credits sequence, a vintage featurette on the
making of the picture, and the theatrical trailer. English subtitles can be
turned on, which is highly recommended—the dialogue, with its many accents and
muddied deliveries, can be rather difficult to follow.
The
Fearless Vampire Killers is an oddity, but it’s enjoyable enough to pass the time
and serve as a rare happy bookmark in the life of one of cinema’s most important—yet
troubled—filmmakers.
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