Release Date: September 3rd, 1975
Format: Blu-ray
Written by: Mort Briskin
Directed by: Phil Karlson
3 Stars
A rewarding experience, if not a great movie, Framed is a pure expression of the 1970s particular distaste for the man.
In order to stick it to the film’s crooked cops and the corrupt politicians, screenwriter Mort Briskin (adapting the similarly titled novel by writers Mike Misenheimer and Art Powers) gives us our protagonist, Ron Lewis (Joe Don Baker), a nightclub owner and professional gambler who is dating his club’s resident lounge singer, Susan (Conny Van Dyke). Driving home late one night, Ron happens upon two suspicious parked cars and is nearly shot by an unknown assailant. Ron escapes, but upon returning to his house he is met by a waiting policeman (Roy Jenson) in his garage. What follows is one of the more memorable fight scenes that I’ve seen in years: sweaty, labored, and brutal, Ron kills the cop with his bare hands in an act of self-defense.
Ron has no idea why he’s being targeted by the cops, or why he was shot at, and neither do we.
Saddled with an ineffective and possibly corrupt defense attorney (Joshua Bryant), Ron is pressured into a plea deal for the killing of the deputy and sentenced to four years in prison, meanwhile Susan is visited in their home by two thugs who first threaten to kill her if she gets nosy about the circumstances of Ron’s trial, and then attack and rape her.
It’s in prison that Ron meets a mob boss named Sal (John Marley) and a hit man, Vince (Gabriel Dell). These two play a crucial role when Ron is eventually released, returns home, and exacts revenge against those who attacked Susan and tried to kill him.
The film’s revenge plot gets a little convoluted at this point, but I still like what director Phil Karlson achieves with the picture. The film has an authentic blue collar spirit that makes it seem as if it was shot outside of the Hollywood system (it wasn’t; it’s a Paramount Picture production) and the film’s textures are modest and well-worn; Karlson proudly shot Framed on location in rural Tennessee, as he did with his prior collaboration with Joe Don Baker in their surprise 1973 hit, Walking Tall.
Speaking of Joe Don Baker, what a perfect vehicle Framed serves for his leading man attributes. Critic and self-described Joe Don Baker aficionado Will Sloan puts it best on his audio commentary for Kino Lorber’s Framed release when he says that in many ways, Baker serves as the anti-Clint Eastwood. Where Eastwood is lean and stoic, Baker is broad and expressive. Eastwood scowls and squints, Baker grins and chuckles. Eastwood is cool, Baker is hot.
But most importantly, Joe Don Baker is a wonderful avatar for working-class Americans who feel left out. He looks like the type of guy who drinks a big glass of whole milk in the morning before he heads over to a construction site where a contractor tries to stiff him on part of his day’s pay, and then returns home with a burger and a six-pack and wants to watch a little TV.
He’s a naturally affable guy, but he wants a square deal, too.
And you better give it to him, or else.
