By Lee Pfeiffer
I had long wanted to see director Samuel Fuller's 1961 low-budget film noir Underground U.S.A. ever since its star, Cliff Robertson, extolled its virtues to me. Now the movie has finally come to DVD as part of an outstanding new boxed set dedicated to the maverick filmmaker, the seven disc Samuel Fuller Collection. Underground U.S.A. represents the style that has defined Fuller's work: no nonsense, fast-moving and featuring believable characters and dialogue. There isn't a wasted frame of film. Robertson stars as a small time crook from the inner city who witnessed the beating death of his father at the hands of locals thugs when he was a teenager. Years later, after doing a stint in jail for safe-cracking, Robertson makes it his life's mission to track down his father's murderers and extract his revenge. He learns that these goons are now prominent figures in a national crime syndicate. He concocts a scheme to infiltrate the syndicate and gain their trust before dishing out his violent vision of justice.The film largely consists of studio interiors, which gives the story a claustrophobic feel that was probably exactly what Fuller had hoped to achieve. Robertson is particularly good, playing against type in the kind of role Robert De Niro would play in Martin Scorsese's films years later. He's given able support by ultra sexy Dolores Dorn (who should have been a much bigger star) as a streetwalker marked for death by the mob; Beatrice Kay as a lovable old maid/saloon keeper and noted character actors Robert Emhardt and Larry Gates - neither of whom ever received enough recognition for their consistently fine work in the cinema.An excellent and thoroughly engrossing film on every level.
The set includes another film directed by Fuller -
The Crimson Kimono- as well as five movies written by him:
It Happened in Hollywood, Adventure in Sahara, Power of the Press, Shockproof and
Scandal Sheet. This release was produced in conjunction with Scorsese's Film Foundation and the Oscar-winner appears along fellow directors Curtis Hanson, Tim Robbins and Wim Wenders in various new featurettes in which they discuss Fuller's career in general terms as well as individuals movies in the DVD set. If you're not familiar with Fuller's work, this set stands as an excellent opportunity to acquaint yourself with a major American filmmaker.
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