Downey could have cashed in on that success, taking a big paycheck from one of the majors to crank out some kind of lobotomized formula comedy; instead, he followed it with the scrappy, oddball Pound<\/em>, which is notable (for among other reasons) as the film debut of his son and namesake. Greaser\u2019s<\/em> shows some of the signs of an earlier financial success; it\u2019s one of his most expansively mounted productions (not exactly a high bar, but still), a surrealist, scatological acid Western riff on the Christ story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The setting is a nowhere town somewhere in the Southwest \u2014 a kind of city-in-progress, a la McCabe and Mrs. Miller<\/em> (released the previous year, so it may or may not have been an influence), run with an iron fist by one Seaweedhead Greaser (Albert Henderson). This grotesque tyrant demands his loyal subjects sing and dance to his satisfaction lest they die at his feet. He also suffers from chronic constipation. The contemporary parallels just draw themselves sometimes, don\u2019t they?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Into this tinpot dictatorship strolls Jesse, a nattily-dressed dandy played in just the right note of Wonka-esque vigor by the great character actor Allan Arbus (best known for his recurring role as the Army shrink on M*A*S*H<\/em>, or, to another sector of the audience, as Diane Arbus\u2019s longtime husband). Jesse is a song and dance man \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m on my way to Jerusalem to be an actor-singer\u201d \u2014 who is, oh yes, the messiah, but in a charmingly offhand way. Sure, he can heal, and bring folks back from the dead (ever the showman, he does it with a catchphrase: \u201cIf you feel, you\u2019re healed\u201d), and walk on water, albeit primarily to tap dance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hijinks ensue, but it\u2019s difficult to articulate exactly what Downey is up to here. He\u2019s carving out a tone that\u2019s not quite comedy, nor drama, nor Western; it\u2019s too bloody and unpleasant to categorize as an outright satire, but too proudly vulgar to take altogether seriously, and too bizarre to approach as an oater. What is perhaps most striking about it is the sheer audacity of the thing; he refuses to indulge in conventional exposition, to explain much of anything<\/em> really, preferring to just drop us in and let us figure it out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Downey\u2019s staging is occasionally clumsy, but he\u2019s taking formal risks that are sort of exhilarating; this is the earliest movie I can think off, of the top of my head, to open with the full closing credits, a fairly efficient way to let your audience know right off the bat that they\u2019re about to watch something that\u2019s going to turn them upside down. He appears to have encouraged his performers to absolutely go for it, to great effect; Henderson is one of the most viscerally repugnant villains this side of Kenneth McMillan in Dune<\/em>, and Arbus is a gem, throwing off his dialogue out of the side of his mouth, but stepping up when he hits the stage with a vaudevillian performance that\u2019s full-throated and a little nuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While not quite a comedy, Greaser\u2019s Palace<\/em> is full of funny bits (my favorite was the weakling, risen from the dead, repeating his half-whispered \u201cI can crawl again!\u201d) and cheerful anarchy. It\u2019s a fun picture to watch while playing Spot the Influence (and influenced); it may have touches of the aforementioned McCabe<\/em> and (especially) 1970\u2019s El Topo<\/em>, but it also predates Blazing Saddles<\/em> by two years, and I\u2019d be shocked to learn Brooks wasn\u2019t a fan. It\u2019s a film of batshit insane images and sustained peculiarity, designed for both hearty chuckles and maximum discomfort. I\u2019ve never seen anything quite<\/em> like it, and would be surprised if I ever do.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Greaser’s Palace” is streaming on Amazon Prime<\/a>, Peacock<\/a>, Tubi<\/a>, PlutoTV<\/a>, and various other ad-supported and a la carte services<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/greasers-palace-1024x576.jpg\")
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