ENGL 4860: Special Topics in Film Studies The Gangster Film Spring 2011 Room: PH 322 Day/Time: Monday, pm Gangster Film

3/14/11 | Meeting 7 Miller’s CrossingMiller’s Crossing (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1990; 115m) The Coen Brothers

Ethan (1957) & Joel Coen (1954) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Ethan & Joel Coen Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Joel & Ethan Coen Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Ethan & Joel Coen (and George Clooney) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Ethan & Joel Coen (with Martin Scorsese) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Ethan & Joel Coen (with an employee of the Hotel Earle) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Ethan & Ethan Coen & Roger Deakins Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Ethan & Joel Coen Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Joel & Ethan Coen Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Ethan & Joel Coen Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Joel & Ethan Coen Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

The Movies of The Coen Brothers The Movies of The Coen Brothers

Blood Simple (1984) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Raising Arizona (1987) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Miller’s Crossing (1990) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Barton Fink (1991) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Fargo (1996) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

The Big Lebowski (1998) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Intolerable Cruelty (2003) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

The Ladykillers (2004) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

No Country for Old Men (2007) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Burn After Reading (2008) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

A Serious Man(2009) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

True Grit (2010) Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Ethan Coen’s Books The Coen Brothers

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers

Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) The Coen Brothers

Leo O’Bannon (Albert Finney) The Coen Brothers

Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) The Coen Brothers

Eddie Dane (J. E. Freeman) The Coen Brothers

Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) The Coen Brothers

Verna Bernbaum (Marcia Gay Harden) The Coen Brothers

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Tom Reagan Lines * If I'd known we were gonna cast our feelings into words, I'd've memorized the Song of Solomon. * Nobody knows anybody. Not that well. * Close your eyes ladies! I'm comin' in! * You don't hold elected office in this town. You run it because people think you do. They stop thinking it, you stop running it.]

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers * [to Caspar] My chin's hanging out right next to yours. I'd worry a lot less if I thought you were worrying enough. * Tell Leo he's not God on the throne, he's just a cheap political boss with more hair tonic than brains. * If you want me to keep my mouth shut, it's gonna cost you some dough. I figure a thousand bucks is reasonable, so I want two.]

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Johnny Caspar * It's gettin' so a businessman can't expect no return from a fixed fight. Now, if you can't trust a fix, what can you trust? For a good return, you gotta go bettin' on chance - and then you're back with anarchy, right back in the jungle. * I'm talkin' about friendship. I'm talkin' about character. I'm talkin' about - hell. Leo, I ain't embarrassed to use the word - I'm talkin' about ethics. * You got references? You been to college? We ONLY take yeggs what's been to college, ain't that right, Dane? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I'm joking, of course.

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Johnny Caspar * Shut up you son of a bitch! Son of a bitch! You stupid son of a bitch. * What is this, the high hat? * That son of a bitch! I had a feeling about this son of a bitch! We silence him! And we do the same to Mink this very night! * It's like I tell all of my boys. [Casper shoots Eddie Dane] Always put one in the brain! * You double-cross once - where's it all end? An interesting ethical question.

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers * Eddie Dane * You are so goddamn smart. Except you ain't. * You killed Mink you son of a bitch! You killed Mink,and by God I'll hear you say it! * Then I wondered "Why would Einstein want to talk to a gorilla?" So I grab the gorilla and I beat it out of him. * Go ahead and run, sweetheart. I'm gonna cut down all of you whores. * I am gonna send you to a deep, dark place and I am gonna have fun doing it!

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Miscellaneous * Leo O'Bannion: [to Caspar] You ain't got a license to kill bookies and today I ain't sellin'. So take your flunky and dangle. * Verna: Maybe that's why I like you, Tom. I've never met anyone who made being a son of a bitch such a point of pride. * Tic-Tac: You gotta remember to put one in his BRAIN. Your first shot puts him down, then you put one in his BRAIN. Then he's dead. Then we go home.

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Dialogue [Refering to Bernie] Leo: So you wanna kill him... Eddie Dane: For starters. Caspar: You think that I'm some guinea, fresh off the boat, and you can kick me! But I'm too big for that now. I'm sick a' takin the scrap from you, Leo. I'm a' of marching into this goddamn office to kiss your Irish ass. And I'M SICK A' THE HIGH HAT! [Puts on his hat and coat] Caspar: Youse fancy pants, all a youse.

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Dialogue Leo: Johnny, you're exactly as big as I let you be, and no bigger, and don't forget it, ever. Caspar: That's right, Leo. You're the big shot around here, and I'm just some schnook likes to get slapped around. Tom: Think about what protecting Bernie gets us. Think about what offending Caspar loses us. Leo: Oh, come on, Tommy. You know I don't like to think. Tom: Yeah. Well, think about whether you should start.

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Dialogue Leo: I reckon I can still trade body-blows with any man in this town. [Tom looks at him] Leo: Except you Tom. Tom: And Verna. Verna: Shouldn't you be doing your job? Tom: Intimidating helpless women is my job. Verna: Then go find one, and intimidate her.

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Dialogue Bernie: I'm praying to you! Look in your heart! I'm praying to you! Look in your heart! I'm praying to you! Look in your heart! I'm praying to you! Look in your heart… I'm praying to you! Look in your heart. I'm praying to you... look in your heart... look in your heart! You can't kill me... look in your heart. Eddie Dane: Where's Leo? Hitman: If I tell you, how do I know you won't kill me? Eddie Dane: Because if you told me and I killed you and you were lying I wouldn't get to kill you then.

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Dialogue Leo: They took his hair, Tommy. Jesus, that's strange, why would they do that? Tom: Maybe it was injuns. Verna: What're you chewin' over? Tom: Dream I had once. I was walkin' in the woods, I don't know why. Wind came up and blew me hat off. Verna: And you chased it, right? You ran and ran, finally caught up to it and you picked it up. But it wasn't a hat anymore and it changed into something else, something wonderful. Tom: Nah, it stayed a hat and no, I didn't chase it. Nothing more foolish than a man chasin' his hat.

Miller’s Crossing (1990) The Coen Brothers Dialogue Eddie Dane: How'd you get the fat lip? Tom: Old war wound. Acts up around morons. Bernie: Look in your heart! Look in your heart! Tom: What heart? [Tom shoots Bernie]

Coen Motifs:  Howling Fat Men: Drop Johnson at Johnny Caspar’s  Blustery Titans: Johnny Caspar  Vomiting: Tom, twice, when hungover and at Miller’s Crossing when he’s about to be killed  Violence: Tons: the Dane’s slaughter of Leo’s guys at Verna’s; Caspar’s shovel to the face and bullet to the brain of the Dane; Bernie’s murder of Caspar; Tom’s murder of Bernie  Dreams: Tom’s dream of losing his hat  Peculiar Haircuts: All the gangsters (but Tom)  Lost Hats: The opening credits, and Tom  loses has his hat constantly. From Tricia Cooke and William Preston Robertson. The Big Lebowski: The Making of a Coen Brothers Film. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998: The Coen Brothers Miller’s Crossing (1990)

The Coen Brothers

Gangster Film The Coen Brothers

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"

Gangster Film "Chasing the Hat"