Fingers [1978] Harvey Keitel

http://bayimg.com/iAMFgaaco

Fingers (1978)


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077549/

Fingers is a 1978 drama film directed by James Toback. It features Harvey Keitel as a pianist who also works for his loan shark father as a "collector". He is a conflicted soul, torn between his art, his loyalty to his father, his sexuality, and his past. The film makes use of music to create a dichotomy between what the viewer is hearing and what they are seeing, which helps them feel the schizophrenia being experienced by the protagonist.

Includes a smug superficial documentary and original trailer.


Harvey Keitel ... Jimmy Fingers
Tisa Farrow ... Carol
Jim Brown ... Dreems
Michael V. Gazzo ... Ben
Marian Seldes ... Ruth
Danny Aiello ... Butch
Ed Marinaro ... Gino
Georgette Mosbacher ... Anita (as Georgette Muir)
Tanya Roberts ... Julie
Carole Francis ... Christa
Lenny Montana ... Luchino
Vasco Valladeres ... Luchino's Son
Tony Sirico ... Riccamonza (as Anthony Sirico)
Tom Signorelli ... Italian Prisoner
Dominic Chianese ... Arthur Fox

The film was remade in 2005 as The Beat That My Heart Skipped.

The only film to have been financed by Fabergé Brut (Cary Grant was on their board of directors at the time and steered his fellow members to believe in Toback), it’s positively redolent with the drugstore after-shave, and pulses with a unapologetic sexual energy that the period was known for. Jimmy brazenly approaches women and talks to them in ways that would have him on NOW’s hit list, and other races come in for a bruising in language that would never pass the censors today. Still, the film has a moving, messy humanity and an urgency that makes it clear why it has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years.

The cinematographer, Michael Chapman, who also lensed Taxi Driver for Scorsese, gives Fingers a similar look: dark, gritty, but splashed with rich, violent color.

A number of gem-like cameos are studded throughout: Stage actress Marian Seldes as Jimmy’s asylum-dwelling mother; Danny Aiello as one half of the two-member bodyguard detail surrounding arch-villain Riccamonza, the other half being Ed Marinaro; Tanya Roberts, in a bikini which slips off easily, as Riccamonza’s girlfriend; Lenny Montana (The Godfather) as the pizzeria owner (filmed at John’s Pizzeria on Bleecker Street), and – are you ready for this? – GOP fundraiser heavy Georgette Mosbacher as Jimmy’s father’s cheap and tawdry girlfriend, Anita. (Checking it out, it makes sense, she was then married to the producer, George Barrie.)

Francois Truffaut named it as one of his favorite films from an American director in years. Shortly afterwards while at The Beverly Hills Hotel, Toback spotted the famous French auteur poolside, who was in town during the making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Instead of approaching him directly to thank him and risk putting Truffaut on the spot, opted to page him on a house telephone, as was the fashion of the day. When he picked up the phone – Toback watching from inside the hotel – he graciously thanked Truffaut for his support, only to be met with a long silence. Getting flustered, he suggested that he would love to meet Truffaut for a drink while he was in town. “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” replied Truffaut. “Why is that?” asked Toback. “I think we should just continue communicating to each other through our films.”

Two notable pieces from the film are "Angel of the Morning" by Merrilee Rush and "Summertime, Summertime" by The Jamies. Director Toback, who is very knowledgeable about music, initially wanted to use the song "Summertime" because the movie had "a summertime feel to it," and they wanted to shoot it during the summer months. It wasn't to be however, yet he thought it appropriate enough to leave the song in there.

"Now Is Forever"
Music by George Barrie
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Italian lyrics by Pat Noto
Sung by Jerry Vale
Released by Buddah Records

"Summertime, Summertime"
Written by Sherman Feller and Tom Jameson
Performed by The Jamies
Courtesy of Epic Records

"Mockingbird"
Written by Charlie Foxx and Inez Foxx
Performed by Charlie & Inez Foxx
Courtesy of United Artist Records

"One Fine Day"
Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King
Performed by The Chiffons
Courtesy of Laurie Records

"Angel of the Morning"
Written by Chip Taylor
Performed by Merrilee Rush and The Turnabouts
Courtesy of Bell Records

"Baby Talk"
Written by Melvin Schawrtz
Performed by Jan & Dean
Courtesy of United Artist Records

"There Goes My Baby"
Written by Ben E. King (as Benjamin Nelson), Lover Patterson, and George Treadwell
Performed by The Drifters
Courtesy of Atlantic Records

"Cry Baby"
Written by Bert Russell and Norman Meade
Performed by Garnet Mims & The Enchanters
Courtesy of United Artist Records