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Strange, Small & Forgotten Films: Inserts (1976)

August 26, 2010 in Film | Permalink

Jessica Harper's career-best role in Dario Argento's "Suspiria" was released the year after "Inserts."

Most people watch Sunset Blvd., Billy Wilder’s brilliant tale of madness and degradation in Hollywood, and think it sufficiently dark. Writer-director John Byrum apparently watched that 1950 classic and thought that it was far too sunny. Byrum’s Inserts, a five-person period piece about the seamy side of Hollywood during the advent of Talkies, while not close to being on par with Wilder’s work, all but completely turns out the lights on that town.

The Wonder Boy (Richard Dreyfuss) was the genius director of the Silent Era, but by the 1930s he’s an alcoholic, agoraphobic, impotent wreck. He makes stag films in his decrepit mansion for Big Mac (Bob Hoskins), a creepy gangster and fledgling fast-food hamburger kingpin. A young actor named Clark Gable wants the erstwhile golden boy to direct him in a picture, but the auteur’s been down too long to rise to the occasion. When he’s not urinating in the swimming pool or dodging bill collectors, the Wonder Boy coaxes erotic performances from his strung-out girlfriend Harlene (Veronica Cartwright) and her leading man, a vile meathead known as Rex, the Wonder Dog (Stephen Davies). When Harlene ODs, Mac and Rex exit to dump the body, leaving the filmmaker alone with the gangster’s girlfriend, Cathy Cake (Jessica Harper).

The aspiring actress Cake talks the director into using her to film inserts, or complementary shots, that can pad the movie, which was a few scenes shy of completion when the leading lady died. While Cake is the one who’s literally naked during the shooting, it’s the Wonder Boy who really gets undressed as the duo insult, coax and seduce one another. Despite its heavy themes, the film is essentially a dark comedy that even slyly offers a glimmer of hope. Byrum wasn’t in complete command at every moment of what he wanted to say and not all of his dialogue works, but the final line is one of the funniest finishes a film could hope for. (Available from Netflix and other outlets.)

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