Private Property, 1960
Two toughs named Duke (Corey Allen) and Boots (Warren Oates) are in the middle of intimidating a gas station owner into free goods when they spot the upper class Ann (Kate Manx). When the man they've intimidated into giving them a ride remarks that she'd never give them the time of day, Duke takes this as a challenge. Following Ann up to her isolated hillside home, the men take up residence in an abandoned house next door. Promising Boots a chance to "make it" with Ann, the two men spy on Ann and begin a dangerous game of seduction and home invasion.
A woman being terrorized in her home is hardly an original plot, and the sub-genre of home invasion films is mostly dominated by single women facing down violent men. I'll admit that this type of plot is slightly what I expected when I picked this one as a late Saturday night viewing.
Boy was I wrong.
The film begins by establishing just how dangerous these two men are. First intimidating the gas station owner, and later pulling a knife on the mane who gives them a ride, threatening to "gut him like a dead sheep". With this background, you'd expect an immediate and violent home invasion. But what makes the film more interesting, and in some ways more sinister, is the way that the men (and specifically Duke) choose a different angle. You see, Duke explains, rape is a little bit too much like "work". He wants Boots (who may be a virgin?) to have a more special first time. "You want me to drag her up here by the hair? Hold her down for you while she screams? Cut her so that she bleeds all over you?", Duke asks, when Boots grows impatient.
And so the game of seduction begins. It's not typical to see a film in which a male character physically seduces a female character--especially in an older film--and it's just interesting to watch. Because it's not purely seduction, it's also about slowly eroding the boundaries that Ann sets. In one scene Duke (who is posing as a gardener), strips down to just his pants. He asks to cool off in the pool, and despite Ann telling him no several times, he jumps in. Emerging dripping wet and standing a bit too close to her, she can only remark that he keeps himself in good shape. "Yeah," he replies. "I guess I'm what they call the physical type." There's a real physical magnetism to Duke, but he pairs this with emotionally manipulative actions. Whenever Ann grows uncomfortable, he knows just what to say--accusing her of classism, playing on her guilt.
And yet the counterbalance to the seduction--which is surprisingly effective in the charged eroticism it develops in certain scenes--is the sense of ownership and voyeurism. The men watch Ann as she swims, naked, in her pool. They talk to her from inside the neighboring house as if she's there to perform for them. Their idea of seduction (and the accompanying consent) only goes so far. They feel that they've earned and deserve access to her. In a really chilling sequence, Ann gets too drunk and struggles to keep herself vertical even as she is led, barely able to walk, to the bedroom. I won't spoil it, but what happens when Duke finally leads Ann to a waiting Boots is both shocking and unexpected.
The sensuality and the creepiness of Duke's seduction alone are enough to make this a charged, engaging thriller. But to me there's another element that elevates it further, and that's the nature of why Ann is vulnerable---to seduction and to assault. Ann is living the "perfect" life, right? Nice house in the hills, private pool, all the modern gadgets. But this woman is both bored and isolated. Her days consist of running errands, halfheartedly maintaining a garden she didn't plant and doesn't understand, and swimming to keep her legs slim for a borderline indifferent husband. Ann is a sexual, sensuous woman. I was really relieved that the film didn't seem to judge her for this. She's a young, beautiful person and she clearly just wants a satisfying sex life. She doesn't "tease" or flirt with Duke---she dutifully directs all of her sexual energy at her husband. But she is lonely, and so when an attractive, interesting man shows up, it is entirely understandable that she falls under his spell a bit. Ann is not a saint, but neither is she a stuck up priss who "needs to be taught a lesson." She's just an ordinary (albeit gorgeous) person who has found herself living in a life as flush and empty as a page from a catalog.
I had never heard of this film before, but I really loved it. I thought that the performances were spot-on, the seduction was shockingly erotic, the dynamics between the two bad guys were really interesting, and the final act was tense and thrilling. I loved the degree that the swimming pool----really the center of a lot of the film and the most potent symbol for Ann's wealth and empty life---played a role in the last act.
If you have the Criterion Channel, definitely check this one out.
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