BY TODD GARBARINI

By the time he directed Breezy in November and December 1972, Clint Eastwood had already proven himself a capable actor with fifteen years of experience under his belt. He took up the role of director with his debut 1971 film Play Misty for Me and his follow up, 1973’s High Plains Drifter, both titles in which he also starred. His third outing is different in that he set aside his acting hat this time to reside firmly behind the camera of what is more or less the unlikely tale of a May/December romance between Frank Harmon (William Holden), a cynical and divorced 54 year-old Los Angeles realtor and a free spirited teen-aged hippy (Kay Lenz in a wonderful performance) whose itinerant lifestyle, clearly leftover from the Sixties, lands her in his car one morning prior to driving to work. Her method of dress, carefree ideals and circle of friends go against everything he has known and stands for. Breezy (her nickname suits her as she tends to breeze into and out of Frank’s house) is imbued with charm, innocence and some worldly experience following a failed relationship. Frank, conversely, is older – much older – and is tired. He has achieved success and lives alone in a very nice abode in a respectable neighborhood overlooking the City of Angels and is unwilling to play the field, or the fool if you will, when it comes to matters of the heart. Breezy champions the notion of living life to the fullest and spends a lot of time lecturing Frank on a variety of subjects. Frank half listens while attempting to concentrate on his work and their platonic friendship begins to deepen when Breezy confesses her love for him. Things come to a head when Breezy is mistaken for Frank’s daughter and the behind-the-back comments and the looks askance from peers at a High Plains Drifter (a nice shoutout!) screening prove to be more than Frank can handle and Breezy is forced to leave in tears.

Onscreen romances between an older man and a significantly younger woman are nothing new in cinema. Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita (1962) was controversial for its time and Woody Allen has made a career out of casting attractive young females opposite himself (as in 1979’s Manhattan) many times to initially comedic effect, though now in the midst of the #MeToo Movement it’s downright unnerving, especially in light of the controversies that have ensued in his personal life. Richard Burton, of all people, gave this storyline a whirl at the age of 60 and raised the ick factor up to eleven in Jules Dassin’s final film Circle of Two (1980) where he gets with a 16-year-old Tatum O’Neal who was fresh off of Little Darlings. Then again, American Beauty (1999) won the Best Picture Oscar, so who knows what audiences will accept? As William Goldman famously wrote, “Nobody knows anything.” What sets Breezy, which opened in New York City on Sunday, November 18, 1973 at the Columbia II, apart is that it was written by a woman, the late Jo Heims who tragically succumbed to breast cancer in 1978. The brief nudity is handled matter-of-factly without licentiousness and as the film progresses Frank begins to open up to Breezy, though there is a bit of reluctance that is detectable.

The late Mr. Holden gives his customary excellent performance. Frank is nuanced and deliberate. His face speaks volumes with no dialog. He is a man weathered and battered by life. We have an idea of what sort of person Frank is and even he slowly begins to acknowledge that Breezy has impacted his life in a positive way. A decrepit dog lying in the street would have gone unnoticed by Frank in the past; Breezy’s influence compels him to transport the pooch to a veterinarian and thus save his life. Ms. Lenz, who got her start at the Pasadena Playhouse at age 13 and also appeared as a student in George Lucas’s American Graffiti (1973) around the same time, is always appealing and by the end of the film we really feel for her, though the uncharacteristically “happy” ending during a decade mired in Vietnam, Watergate and general overall disillusionment with the country may seem trite and even perfunctory today. (Recall the unusual freeze-frame ending of Tony Richardson’s The Border (1982) with Jack Nicholson), it almost screams “TV movie-of-the-week”, but ultimately, I was happy to see them end up together – for how long, who knows?

The supporting cast is also quite good. The late Marj Dusay co-stars as someone Frank could easily see himself with, Joan Hotchkis is notable as Paula, Frank’s bitter ex-wife who regards Breezy with disdain, and the late Roger C. Carmel is comical as a friend of Frank’s who bickers with his wife at parties. It also has a score by the late Michael Legrand who won the Oscar for his lush theme to Robert Mulligan’s Summer of ’42 (1971). There is a romantic interlude with a song just like in Play Misty for Me, that film’s sole glaring misstep.

Kino Lorber presents Breezy with a beautiful high definition transfer. There is also a spirited feature-length audio commentary by film historian Howard S. Berger and author/screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner who discuss the making of the film and where it fits into the director’s career. It also includes the theatrical trailer for the film.

Look fast for Mr. Eastwood in a white jacket and blue pants looking over a metal fence as Frank and Breezy pass him while walking the dog.

Keep ‘em coming, Kino!

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