Interesteg
What makes it different from others?
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Derrick Gibbons
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
utgard14
A projectionist (Chuck McCann) fantasizes that he is a superhero named Captain Flash and his jerk of a boss (Rodney Dangerfield) is a villain named The Bat. This seemed like it would be a fun movie but it just didn't work for me. I'm not saying it isn't interesting but it's just not that entertaining. The Captain Flash segments are especially tedious. The film would have been better served focusing less on that and the tiresome clips and more on the somewhat interesting goings-on at the theater. Speaking of clips, I have no idea how the producers and distributors of this film were able to get away with using the wide variety of classic film clips they used. I'm going to assume they didn't pay for them as this was a very low budget movie. Even more puzzling than how they got away with it in 1971 is how they managed to get it on DVD in this sue-happy day and age.
John Seal
The Projectionist is not a great film, but it IS a film that every self-respecting movie fan will love, in whole or in part. Chuck McCann plays a union projectionist who escapes from his day job via black and white fantasy sequences where he 'plays' an overweight super hero or a bit part in Casablanca. The film also features footage from Buck Rogers and lots of other old movies, parodies of Universal horrors, the trailer for The Day the Earth Stood Still (original version of course!), and copious newsreel footage featuring Hitler, Mussolini, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John and Bobby Kennedy, and others. We also get Rodney Dangerfield, who gives the best film performance of his career as the manager of the decaying bijou where McCann works, beautiful Ina Balin (sans dialogue) as The Projectionist's (fantasy?) girlfriend, and a bittersweet semi-autobiographical turn by Czech émigré Jara Kohout as the theater's concessions salesman. An obvious labor of love for writer-director-costar Harry Hurwitz, this prophetic post-modern salute to the magic of the motion picture will appeal to admirers of Mohsen Makhmalbhaf's Once Upon a Time...Cinema and Bill Morrison's Decasia, as well as those who just want to soak up some circa 1970 Times Square atmosphere.
Zontar-2
When not goofing off, the titular yutz daydreams of being a silent film superhero. Parts of the score are cribbed from old serials, and scenes are lifted from features of the 20's thru 50's. One wonders how John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart would react to seeing their work intermingled with clips of war atrocities and grindhouse dancers. Chuck McCann's character is immensely likeable when he dwells in the present, but his superhero mugs like the class clown you always despised. Released on VHS in 1986 to capitalize on Rodney Dangerfield's (straight) supporting role.
zmaturin
"The Projectionist" is a witty, clever, creative fantasy that deserves a large underground following. The simple tale tells of Chuck McCann (played by, er, Chuck McCann) who is the projectionist at the local uniplex. His life is pretty uneventful, and most of his time is spent watching, quoting, and generally living deep, deep inside movies.His boring every day life gives way to wonderfully shot black and white fantasy sequences in which Chuck becomes Captain Flash, super superhero and all around nice guy, who must save the world from the Bat (Rodney Dangerfield) and his army of Nazi stock footage.The fantasy sequences look great, really capturing the look of a silent movie serial. The scenes mix real old movie footage with the new stuff seamlessly, looking fantastic. There is another fantasy sequence, in which Chuck tells about a women he met & fell in love with, also shot in black and white, that is sweet and very reminiscent of Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories".McCann is a wonderful talent, mixing impersonations, physical comedy, and a surprising tenderness that would almost be heart-breaking if the movie didn't remain upbeat. Rodney Dangerfield is superb also. He doubles as McCann's boss in the "real" world as well as the villainous Bat in Captain Flash's world. Dangerfield's character is a miserly control freak, and Dangerfield never breaks character to crack a joke or anything- he remains slimy and unlikable in a professional performance altogether missing from his starring roles (not to undermine the subtle nuances of "Meet Wally Sparks").My only complaint is that the color reality sequences don't live up to the day-dream scenes, but they too look great and gritty, a real great contrast to the fantasy scenes.I whole-heatedly endorse "The Projectionist" as a fine, entertaining art film disguised as a comedy that makes few mistakes in it's character study of a lonely, good natured man mired in pop culture.
