In this golden age of home viewing, the Criterion Collection still provides some of the best editions of the best movies ever released, usually with a rich selection of extras and often including audio commentaries (a feature they pioneered, and perhaps the greatest gift ever to film students and cinephiles alike). This column features one Criterion release per week, based on where my interests lead me and what’s available from my local public library.
You know you’re in the United States when someone says “You know, about that mass shooting…” and the most likely response is “Which one?” They’re nothing new, unfortunately, and don’t seem likely to go away end time soon,which means that Targets, Peter Bogdanovich’s credited directorial debut, will continue to remain as timely as it was upon initial release in 1968.
Two stories entwine in Targets. One is that of the clean-cut Bobby Thompson (Tim O’Kelly, who made only one more film after this one), who appears to be the very model of a respectable young man, right up to the point where he goes on a killing spree. The other is that of aging horror film star Byron Orlock (Boris Karloff, appearing in his last major American film), who only wants to retire and be done with the film business. Their paths cross at a drive-in theatre (the Reseda Drive-In in Los Angeles, demolished in the 1970s), where Orlock is making one final promotional appearance.
The character of Bobby Thompson is modeled on Charles Whitman, an apparently ordinary and respectable young man who one fine day in 1966 stabbed his mother and wife, packed up an array of firearms. took the elevator to the 27th floor of the Main Building (a.k.a. the “clock tower”) at the University of Texas, and proceeded to shoot at random passersby from the observation deck, killing 15 and injuring another 21. But there are echoes of other killers as well, including Lee Harvey Oswald (a highway shooting segment recalls the Zapruder film of the JFK assassination), and the rampage of Charles Starkweather, from the slaughter of his girlfriend’s family to the combination of road trip and mass murder that also characterizes Thompson’s rampage.
Like Whitman, Thompson appears aggressively ordinary—and in the 1960s a neat haircut and a polite manner were equated with moral virtue because they proved you weren’t one of those damn hippies—right up until he doesn’t. His family (he and his wife live with his parents) is so respectable and conventional it’s creepy, an effect heightened by production designer (also in her first credited feature film) Polly Platt’s choices for their suburban home. Everything is just a bit strange: the colors are off, there’s lots of empty space yet the house also feels claustrophobic, and there’s a dreadful family portrait that looks like it was painted by a 19th century limner who hadn’t learned his trade very well. Guns and hunting trophies are everywhere, and father (James Brown) and son practice shooting together, the former once admonishing the latter for breaking a basic rule of gun safety.
Roger Corman was the uncredited executive producer on Targets (Bogdanovich is credited as producer), and like most Corman films, this one was made on a low budget (reportedly $130K) which required Bogdanovich to make the most out of what was available. Example: Karloff is in the film because he owed Corman two days of shooting and using those two days was a requirement Corman set for financing the film. In addition, Bogdanovich incorporated clips from Corman’s The Terror and Howard Hawks’ The Criminal Code, and one of my favorite moments in the film, a retelling by Orlok of a fable about a man who tried to outrun death, was presumably included to let the aging actor show off his voice while resting his body.
Targets was a box office bomb upon first release, but critics liked it and it has since become recognized as a quality film that has something to say about American conformity, violence, and the film business. Bogdanovich’s commentary track is unusually good, full of information about how and where the film was made as well as his reasons for specific creative choices. | Sarah Boslaugh
Spine #: 1179
Technical details: 90 min.; color; screen ratio 1.85:1; English.
Edition reviewed: DVD.
Extras: 2003 audio commentary by Peter Bogdanovich; 2023 interview with Richard Linklater; 2003 introduction by Peter Bogdanovich; 1983 audio interview with production designer Polly Platt at AFI; booklet with essay by film critic Adam Nayman; trailer.
Fun Fact: Among the many firsts in this film, it’s the first time cinematographer László Kovács used his Hungarian name; previously he had been credited as Lester Kovacs, Leslie Kovacs (and Kovacks), and Art Radford.
Parting Thoughts: How much of this film’s impact is due to Polly Platt, who co-wrote the screenplay with Bogdanovich as well as serving as production designer and (uncredited) costume designer? And how much to the uncredited (by his own choice) efforts of Samuel Fuller, to whom Bogdanovich was so grateful that he named the young director character Sammy Michaels (Fuller’s full name was Samuel Michael Fuller) after him?
