Clu Gulager Is My Homeboy

As the New-Bev faithful and I filed out of the theatre following the final night of Clu Gulager's film fest, we all agreed on one thing: Four nights barely scratches the surface of this actor's monumental resume.


The second batch of Clu's films were much more serious and subdued compared to the wacky double shot of horror films that kicked things off. The night began with THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, which, as I learned that night, really needs to be seen at the cinema to fully be appreciated.

It had been many years since I had seen this early-'70s epic, and, like many films I've revisited in recent years, I found a new appreciation for it. I'd chalk to it up to maturity, but we all know that couldn't possibly be the case with me.

Although the films ends with Cloris Leachman's scathing Academy-Award winning monologue, the soul of PICTURE SHOW is found in its quieter moments. The small Texas town that contains the lives of its characters is dying a slow death in 1951. Anarene is expiring with a whimper, not a bang, while the space age is booming elsewhere. The vast plains that surround it on all sides are slowly strangling it, and most everyone who lives there have tacitly accepted it with a shrug and are meandering on.

The big screen underlines the enormity of the emptiness that's suffocating Anarene. It's not quite the end of the world, but you can see it from there. The highways that serve as the only lifeline between civilzation and this small Texas town seem to stretch forever. Drive too far and you'll fall off the edge of the planet into oblivion, as ancient sailors feared.

I was really intruiged by Clu since it was, after all, his night. I'm sure it also had something to do with the fact that he's the only actor in the film that I hang out with.

The man I know now is something of a favorite great uncle. He's your grandparent's sibling who can both spin fascinating stories about his experiences and have you rolling with a well-timed off-color remark, often in the same sentence.

But he had an air of danger and mystery about him four decades ago. In PICTURE SHOW he plays a roughneck named Abilene. (His name or a handle given to him based on his hometown?) He says little and wears a perpetual poker face that leaves you a little uneasy about what could be simmering beneath the surface. We spend two hours watching Cybill Shepherd's Jacy effortlessly bend overmatched boys to her will before she briefly gets mixed up with Abilene and immediately learns that life isn't going to be as easy as she thinks it'll be.

Afterwards, Clu dished about working for the megalomaniacal Peter Bogdanovich, who the actor both praised for his skill and slammed for his overbearing directorial style. Clu said his pool-hall scene with Shepherd, who Bogdanovich had recently begun romancing despite their age gap, caused the director a lot of grief. The scene was cut from the theatrical print, added decades later in an extended cut, and Clu made no effort in hiding his anger over Bogdanovich's mistake.

The festival wrapped with 1964's THE KILLERS, which I had never seen before but was being highly lauded by my fellow New Bevvers. Clu and Lee Marvin play a pair of hit men who have a bit of a "bad cop-worse cop" routine to their partnership. I could clearly see these characters' fingerprints all over the subplot of a film that would be made three decades later.

Marvin's performance is pretty subdued. Clu is a wildman, whose antics elicit the same nervous laughter Joe Pesci gets in GoodFellas. The pair complement each other nicely, and I can easily say this is the best made-for-TV film I've ever seen.


Clu honored several of us on the final night of his festival with thanks and shoutouts. Once again, never would I have imagined during any of my countless THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD viewings that one day Clu Gulager would be thanking me by name for being his chum. It was an honor both because of my admiration of his work as an actor and my affection for him as a person.

Seems like it wouldn't be a night at the New Bev if it didn't end with a wacky photo, and the cake fellow freaks Rob and Jen brought served as the inspiration for this installment. Naturally, Clu was game for this freakshow wedding photo.



Four nights really isn't enough. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that Clu-Fest 2: Clu's Revenge happens soon.

CURRENTLY LISTENING: Silversun Pickups - Carnavas (Yes, still. They're that good and I was a little late in discovering this one.)