By the time Robert Aldrich made TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING in 1977, he had become a director for hire. Gone were the days when he had his own studio to make the films he wanted (THE GRISSOM GANG, THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE) and gone were the glory days of WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? and THE DIRTY DOZEN. Three years earlier THE LONGEST YARD had been a huge hit but HUSTLE alienated just about everyone and sent his career into a tailspin from which it never really recovered. He would make only 3 minor films after this before his death in 1983. One of Hollywood’s great maverick producer-directors, he is all but forgotten today but this quality release will allow people to see him at the top of his game and to hopefully seek out some of his other films.
TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING tells the story of a renegade general (Burt Lancaster doing a 180 from his SEVEN DAYS IN MAY character) who hijacks a missile silo in Montana and threatens to start World War III unless the government releases a secret document about the origins of the Viet Nam war. The original novel, VIPER THREE, had no political message but Aldrich, a staunch anti-authoritarian, added one. Trying to stop him and/or negotiate with him are an old school general (Richard Widmark), an idealistic U. S. President (Charles Durning looking like a plump Bill Clinton), and his cabinet (Melvyn Douglas, Joseph Cotten and others). Finally the President has to go to the silo as a hostage in order to get Lancaster to come out. A flop at the time of its release, it now can be appreciated for what it has to say and for how well made it is.
Aldrich’s use of split screen is masterful with sometimes as many as five pictures up on the screen at one time and several images changing within each frame. This helps to make the film visually compelling while increasing the suspense factor as we see the same thing from several different vantage points. The performances from Lancaster to his cronies (Paul Winfield, Burt Young) to even the smallest bit parts are uniformly fine and help to draw us into the action while making the screenplay’s points very clear. The German restoration of the film (it was originally shot in Germany) is first rate and the documentary about the making of the film is very illuminating. Although overlong at 145 minutes with occasional slow spots, this TWILIGHT is a must see now that the Blu-Ray/DVD format does justice to its multi-screen technique.
The Capsule Critic 