Dazed And Confused / Emperor Of The North
The Gap Theatre - Wind Gap, PA
One of the cool services offered by The Gap is the ability to schedule a movie to be screened on 35mm at their theater.
My friend Mike took advantage of this service by booking one of his favorite films to play last night. They happened to be playing one of my favorite movies prior to that, so we headed out a few hours early to make it a double feature.
Dazed And Confused is one of my favorite movies of all time. We got to see it two years ago at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater. In all likelihood, it was the same 35mm print that we saw last night at The Gap. There's just something special about this movie that draws you into its world and gives you an immediate connection to the cast. I'm sure everybody who loves this movie sees pieces of their teenage self in one or more of the characters.
The second movie of the night, and the one that Mike booked, was the 1973 railroad-based action adventure film Emperor Of The North. The story takes place in the 1930's during the Great Depression and it features Lee Marvin as a hobo who's known and respected as A-1 by his peers, and Ernest Borgnine as the brutal conductor of the Oregon Pacific & Eastern Railroad who enacts lethal justice on any hobos who attempt to stow away on his train.
This isn't the type of movie that I'd ever choose to watch based on the description, but I'm glad to have had this opportunity to see it. I wouldn't say that I loved it. There were a few scenes that dragged on too long (and probably could have been cut altogether), but it was a pretty good overall with excellent performances from its two leads.
