Deja Vu

Karen Black passed away today.  I was not a massive Karen Black fan either way.  She did a few things I saw, some I liked, one I adored.
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Years ago (and in a land far away) Robert Altman was giving a tiny amount of money to film his stage show Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean.  Instead of a direct filming of the play, he made a movie of it, starring Cher, Sandy Dennis, Karen Black and Kathy Bates (before she was KATHY BATES - if you know what I mean).
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Karen Black, Kathy Bates and Cher tearing up the joint in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean

It is a single set movie, played out in a washed out west Texas town (either Alpine or Marfa-ish) where Giant was filmed years ago (the one with James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor).  You should see it, but be warned up front.  It was shot in 16 millimeter film and blown up to 35mm purposefully to give it a grainy, ancient feel the day it was released.  It looks very old fashioned.
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It was the first time I had seen Cher act.  I mean like really ACT!  This was before Silkwood or Mask or Moonstruck.  This was her jump from TV caricature to actress - and she rips it.  Karen Black plays, well you have to see it.  Sandy Dennis is, unfortunately, more a collection of ticks, stutters and twitches than a real life character, but she has some wonderful moments.
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Perhaps it hit me because I had actually driven through the area a few times (Marfa Texas has a very strange hold on me - and that was before the pop-up Art Galleries, back when it was all pick-up trucks and tumbleweeds).  Perhaps it was the discovery of Cher as an actress, not a TV wardrobe dummy.  Or maybe it was the haunting performance of Karen Black in a role that was, no is, riveting.
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Rent it, netflix it, whatever, but watch it sometime.  It's slow, it builds, it is sweet and moving and well.. heartbreaking.  And Karen Black should be remembered for it.
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Updated:  A site had the trailer for it.
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