Prior to directing his first feature, "Hard Times" (1975), Walter Hill was an assistant director or screenwriter on some of the best guy-movies of the era. His second unit and assistant director gigs were on three very diverse films which were to impact his later career. On "The Thomas Crown Affair," Hill worked with director Norman Jewison. The film's influence was to show up in Hill's later work. "The Thomas Crown Affair" was a star driven vehicle (Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway), but it also featured split screen photography, and more importantly, complex intelligent characters. The anti-hero was a millionaire thief who epitomized 'cool'.

      Mr. Hill worked on yet another Steve McQueen movie in 1968. He was an uncredited second unit director on the influential "Bullitt." The third film he worked on as an assistant director was Woody Allan's heist comedy "Take the Money and Run." Hill was to later combine comedy and crime himself in the megahit "48hrs."

      Hill has five screenwriting credits which predate his directorial debut. The first was the 1972 Peckinpah hit, "The Getaway." Read my archived review of "The Getaway" from the Peckinpah boxed set "Video Risk".

      The second Walter Hill film to come out in 1972 was the hip, violent crime caper "Hickey and Boggs." Designed to cash in on the popularity of the racially groundbreaking TV series, "I Spy," "Hickey and Boggs" re-teamed actors Robert Culp and Bill Cosby as private eyes who are looking for a missing girl. The movie posters featured a smiling Culp and Cosby in front of a car holding very large post-Dirty Harry pistols. Far from being a comedy, the Robert Culp directed film is an extremely violent and brutal film. While not a big commercial success, "Hickey and Boggs" is a good little crime caper. The non-comedic performances by Culp and Cosby actually work to the films advantage. Hill's script sets up just about everyone in the movie for a violent death. As far as I know, "Hickey and Boggs" isn't available on DVD or VHS right now. It has been a few years since I saw it on cable. It is worth catching if you have the opportunity. As I haven't seen it in a few years, I'll not go into a detailed review. I know our faithful readers would e-mail me with goofs as soon as I mispoke about the movie. (I do appreciate such e-mail! It keeps me on my toes.) Don't let the PG rating fool you, "Hickey and Boggs" is still brutal. The film was rated PG in 1972 as was "The Getaway." The 1972 PG rating allowed for much more sex and violence than today's PG rating. The movie is also helped immensely by a great supporting cast which includes Rosiland Cash (The Omega Man), Michael Moriarity, James Woods and Vincent Gardinia.

      Hill's third script was the forgettable "The Thief Who Came to Dinner" starring Ryan O'Neal. Directed by Norman Lear's partner Bud Yorkin, "The Thief Who Came to Dinner" has already received more space in this review than it deserved. His fourth screenplay "The Mackintosh Man" should have been better than it was. Directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman, "The Mackintosh Man" is a spy movie that is best compared to Hitchcock's "Torn Curtain." I compare it to "Torn Curtain" because it is a mediocre work of a master director. There are a couple of memorable scenes, but the overall effect is blah! Hill had one more screenplay to be directed by another person before he started taking over his own reigns. Along with "Hickey and Boggs," "The Drowning Pool" was the best adaptation of a Hill screenplay by another director from Hill's early career.

      "The Drowning Pool" (1975) is a sequel to the Paul Newman private eye movie "Harper." Hill co-wrote the script with Tracy Keenan Wynne and Lorenzo Semple. Lew Harper (Paul Newman) is called down to the Bayou's of Louisiana to help Iris Devereaux (Joanne Woodward), an old lover accused of murder. The plot revolves around a rich twisted family, adultery, incest, a deserted mental hospital, environmentalists and oil tycoons. More style than substance, the great cast is still fun to watch. In addition to Newman and Woodward the cast includes Tony Franciosa, a hot nymphet Melanie Griffith, a slimy Murry Hamilton (the mayor in Jaws) and the always solid Richard Jaeckel. The film's highlight is the scene which explains the movie's title. Hill would return to the Bayou 16 years later in a film which would rival "Deliverance" for building mistrust of backwoods folk.

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Rusty White