Last Embraceis a 1979 Americanneo-noir[2]thriller film directed byJonathan Demme.[3]Very loosely based on the novelThe 13th Manby Murray Teigh Bloom, it starsRoy ScheiderandJanet Margolin,telling the story of a woman who takes a role similar to the biblical avengerGoeland kills the descendants of theZwi Migdal,who enslaved her grandmother.
| Last Embrace | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jonathan Demme |
| Screenplay by | David Shaber |
| Based on | The 13th Man(novel) by Murray Teigh Bloom |
| Produced by | Michael Taylor Dan Wigutow |
| Starring | Roy Scheider Janet Margolin John Glover Sam Levene Charles Napier Christopher Walken |
| Cinematography | Tak Fujimoto |
| Edited by | Barry Malkin |
| Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,537,125[1] |
Plot
editIn a Mexican cantina across the border from El Paso, Texas, government agent Harry Hannan is romancing his wife, Dorothy, when he observes an informant he is supposed to meet in a few days. Realizing he is about to be attacked, he shoves his wife to the ground and starts shooting at the informant's companions who return fire and flee the restaurant. Dorothy is killed in the attack, and he suffers a nervous breakdown. Harry spends five months in a Connecticut sanitarium before being released.
On his way back to New York City, Harry stumbles and nearly falls into the path of an express train. He goes to the makeup counter atMacy's Herald Squareto retrieve his next assignment, but the assignment slip inside the lipstick case is blank. He accosts his contact who assures him that the agency probably does not have any work for him.
When Harry returns to his apartment, he finds it is occupied by a doctoral student named Ellie Fabian. She explains that she had a sublet arranged while she was in the last semester of her studies at Princeton University. Ellie claims that the housing office said the Hannans would be gone indefinitely. She gives Harry a note that was slipped under the door, but it contains only a few Hebrew characters that he cannot read.
Paranoid that he is being targeted by his own agency, Harry visits his supervisor Eckart, who assures Harry that the agency has higher priorities. Eckart insists that Harry is not ready to return to the field, but that he is perfectly safe.
Harry takes the Hebrew note to a local rabbi who can only partially decode it, and explains that it means "Avenger of Blood.".The rabbi then calls Sam Urdell, and informs him that Harry has visited him. Harry notices that he is being surveilled, loses the tail and goes to theAmerican Museum of Natural History,where Ellie is working.
He gives her some money and urges her to stay in a hotel, because he fears she will be accidentally targeted. He then visits his wife's grave, where he confronts her brother, Dave Quittle. Afterwards, Quittle visits Eckhart, who orders Harry's murder.
Ellie stays in the apartment despite Harry's request. Ellie suggests that they take the note to her friend at Princeton who specializes in Hebrew studies. When Harry wakes from a nightmare, he tells Ellie about the death of Dorothy. He takes a prescription pill, but spits it out, realizing that it is cyanide. The next morning, they leave for Princeton. On the train, Ellie tells Harry about her grandmother, when Harry notices Quittle, and an old man, watching them.
At Princeton, Richard Peabody decodes the note for Harry. Peabody has accumulated several notes, all attached to very peculiar murders. Harry is the first one to have received the note and lived. He also relays a message that someone wants to meet Harry in the bell tower courtyard the following day.
In the courtyard, Harry is lured into a trap by Quittle. Harry manages to kill Quittle during a shootout in the bell tower, and then encounters Sam Urdell, the old man on the train. Sam explains that he is part of a committee investigating the blood murders. They investigate the various clues, and they piece together that Harry's grandfather owned a brothel on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
In a hotel at Niagara Falls, Ellie is dressed as a prostitute and lures Bernie Meckler into a bathtub with her. As she has sex with Meckler, she drowns him. As Harry and Sam put together their information, they are led back to Princeton. Harry realizes that Ellie is the one murdering men, on behalf of victims of white slavery like her grandmother. They drive up to Niagara Falls, where they have an emotional confrontation. She tries to kill him, but confesses that she loves him. He is conflicted, but he tells her that he will turn her in. Ellie knees him in the groin and runs away; he chases her through theRobert Moses Niagara Power Plant.She escapes onto a tour bus and he steals another tour bus and follows her to theJourney Behind the Falls,where he chases her through the tunnels until they have a final confrontation at the edge of the falls. They break through the railing and Harry grabs Ellie, but she struggles and takes a deadly plummet.
Cast
edit- Roy Scheideras Harry Hannan
- Janet Margolinas Ellie Fabian
- John Gloveras Richard Peabody
- Sam Leveneas Sam Urdell
- Charles Napieras Dave Quittle
- Christopher Walkenas Eckart
- Jacqueline Brookesas Dr. Coopersmith
- Andrew Duncan as Bernie Meckler
- David Marguliesas Rabbi Drexel
- Marcia Roddas Adrian
- Gary Goetzmanas Tour Guide
- Lou Gilbert as Rabbi Jacobs
- Mandy Patinkinas First Commuter
- Max Wrightas Second Commuter
- Sandy McLeodas Dorothy Hannan
- Joe Spinellas Man In Cantina
Reception
editThe film received mixed reviews from critics.Vincent CanbyinThe New York Timeswrote of Scheider: "No other leading actor can create so much tension out of such modest material."[4]As of July 2022,Last Embraceholds a rating of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 24 reviews.[5]
References
edit- ^"Last Embrace".Box Office Mojo.Retrieved27 December2021.
- ^Silver, Alain;Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992).Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style(3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York:The Overlook Press.ISBN0-87951-479-5
- ^"Last Embrace".Turner Classic Movies.RetrievedMarch 9,2016.
- ^Canby, Vincent (4 May 1979)."Movie: 'Last Embrace,' a Hero-Besieged Thriller:The Game Is Deadly".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon 27 July 2021.
- ^"Last Embrace".Rottentomatoes.Retrieved27 December2021.