Jack Lemmon is a man pushed to the edge. He's a WWII vet haunted with the guilt
of being alive when so many of his buddies died. What did he do with his life?
The life that his buddies didn't get to live. Did he become a baseball player
like he so innocently dreamed of as a child? Did he find a woman who would fill
his life with love and happiness? No, he started a clothing factory, a pretty
successful one, but now due to some financial acrobatics he's secretly broke and
unless he comes up with a whole lot of money before the IRS audits him he's
gonna go to jail, his factory closed and everybody put out of a job. But that's
not all of his problems.
The first few times I saw SAVE THE TIGER I knew it was a great film, but it
wasn't until the third time that I realized that it was a masterpiece. Billy
Wilder was obviously smarter than me cause the first time he saw it it said "
There's only one problem with that movie: I didn't direct it." That's a hell of a compliment coming from a master like Wilder, but I'm
actually happy that he didn't direct this film because it's absolutely perfect
the way it is. I think with his name attached the studios would have raised the
budget and interfered too much. As it was, the budget was only a million dollars
and that budget restraint actually helped the film, I think, because it forced
the filmmakers (kinda like the
Hays Code
back in the late 1930's) to become more creative, not in a moral sense, but in a
artistic sense to make the film completely 100% off of the studio lot and out on
the streets with regular buildings using real people in the background and
normal street noises and natural lighting. It doesn't even feel like you're
watching a movie, but almost like you secretly peaking into people's private
lives filled with hidden demons, false faces and very real fears.
I cannot recommend this movie enough (if you like good movies). It's my 373rd
review on Happyotter, but only the 3rd movie that I've added to my
Best Movies List. It really is that good. Jack Lemmon gives one of the best performances in the
history of cinema and director John G. Avildsen would go on to direct
ROCKY
and
THE KARATE KID. Highly recommended, especially if you're interested in learning how to make
movies.
[SPOILER!!!] I've heard some people question the title, SAVE THE TIGER. During
one scene, a man mentions that there's only a 500 or so tiger left in the world.
They are a dying breed. Later the young woman, Myra, mentions that tigers are
known to return to a place of beauty and that's how hunters capture (or kill)
them. At one point, Lemmon looks at a poster of a tiger and his reflection is
cast in the glass. Lemmon is a dying breed and it is only when he's alone or
relaxed that he starts dreaming of playing baseball when he was a child. At the
end of the movie, after he tells the arsonist to never mention his partner he
goes to the park to watch the children playing baseball. He is returning to a
place of beauty because he knows that his days are numbered and if the police
don't get him or the IRS don't get him that his mind is finally going to crack
from all of the pressure/guilt.
That's at least my take on the title. I should probably read the novel,
but I'm nervous that it will taint my admiration of the film.
A huge alligator in Africa is eating people. A 24-hour news channel sends in a
news crew, an animal expert and a guide to not only film this man-eating
monster, but also capture it alive!
