cult film freak: NEO NOIR 'THE SWEENEY' EPISODE OF 'CHALK AND CHEESE'

Written by James M. Tate / 4/02/2022 / No comments / boxing , british , cop , crime , david lodge , dennis waterman , john thaw , lesley-anne down , neo noir , paul jones , seventies , shane briant , sweeney , thriller , TV

NEO NOIR 'THE SWEENEY' EPISODE OF 'CHALK AND CHEESE'

4/02/2022 | No comment

Paul Jones on The Sweeney Year: 1974 Rates: *****

Beginning with a rubbed water-glass rim creating a crystalline sound, there's a misleadingly mellow vibe as we cut from an orange car on the highway to an old rich couple's vehicle cruising a rural, wooded area followed by a blunt-bullying robbery, filmed in askew angles more like an art film than cop TV-show, THE SWEENEY episode title CHALK AND CHEESE means the two ski mask-wearing bandits are polar opposites... yet they have one thing in common...

Real life singer Paul Jones is a lowly boxer... his dad the owner of a grungy boxing gym... while Shane Bryant's a rich kid grown-up flaky and gambling-broke into his mid-twenties...

Paul Jones on The Sweeney: Chalk and Cheese

And there's a femme fatale between them; although the poor tough guy doesn't know everything as Lesley-Anne Down brought both money-hungry fellas together, but is only pretending to belong to him: And as the show will sometimes focus on either John Thaw's Regan or his younger partner Carter in Dennis Waterman, the latter gets the focal point here...

Once a close childhood friend of the boxer, whose "Pop" was like a dad to both of them, enter the episode's most sympathetic character in David Lodge, the working-class gym-trainer who knows something's awry with his son; so the conversations with a subtly investigating Carter ties this slowburn and sublime, unflinching and streamlined neo noir together: like a movie in itself.

From THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

Paul Jones on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

Shane Briant in THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE with Paul Jones

THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE with Paul Jones

John Thaw and Dennis Waterman on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

Paul Jones on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

Paul Jones on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE with Dennis Waterman

David Lodge on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE with Dennis Waterman

Shane Briant and Lesley-Anne Down on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

Lesley-Anne Down in THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE with Paul Jones

Lesley-Anne Down on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

Shane Briant in THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE with Paul Jones

Lesley-Anne Down on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

Lesley Anne-Down on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

John Thaw on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

Dennis Waterman & David Lodge on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

David Lodge & Dennis Waterman from 1963 to 1975

Dennis Waterman & John Thaw on THE SWEENEY: CHALK & CHEESE

Share This Post :

Tags : boxing , british , cop , crime , david lodge , dennis waterman , john thaw , lesley-anne down , neo noir , paul jones , seventies , shane briant , sweeney , thriller , TV

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)CHARLES BRONSON1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER