Tightrope (1984)

Director:

Richard Tuggle

Writer:

Richard Tuggle (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 August 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A cop on the edge...

Plot:

Wes Block is a detective who's put on the case of a serial killer. His victims are young and pretty women...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Rape | Detective | Serial Killer | Single Parent

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Wes Block
Geneviève Bujold	...	Beryl Thibodeaux
Dan Hedaya	...	Det. Molinari
Alison Eastwood	...	Amanda Block
Jenny Beck	...	Penny Block (as Jennifer Beck)
Marco St. John	...	Leander Rolfe
Rebecca Perle	...	Becky Jacklin
Regina Richardson	...	Sarita
Randi Brooks	...	Jamie Cory
Jamie Rose	...	Melanie Silber
Margaret Howell	...	Judy Harper
Rebecca Clemons	...	Girl with Whip
Janet MacLachlan	...	Dr. Yarlofsky
Graham Paul	...	Luther
Bill Holliday	...	Police Chief
John Wilmot	...	Medical Examiner
Margie O'Dair	...	Mrs. Holstein
Joy N. Houck Jr.	...	Swap Meet Owner
Stuart Baker-Bergen	...	Blond Surfer
Donald Barber	...	Shorty
Robert Harvey	...	Lonesome Alice
Ron Gural	...	Coroner Dudley
Layton Martens	...	Sgt. Surtees
Richard Charles Boyle	...	Dr. Fitzpatrick
Becki Davis	...	Nurse
Jonathan Sachar	...	Gay Boy
Valerie Thibodeaux	...	Black Hooker
Lionel Ferbos	...	Plainclothes Gus
Eliott Keener	...	Sandoval
Cary Wilmot Alden	...	Secretary
David Valdes	...	Manes
James Borders	...	Carfagno
Fritz Manes	...	Valdes
Jonathan Shaw	...	Quono
Don Lutenbacher	...	Dixie President
G. Wood	...	Conventioneer (as George Wood)
Kimberly Georgoulis	...	Sam
Glenda Byers	...	Lucy Davis (as Glenda Byars)
John Schluter	...	Piazza Cop (as John Schluter Jr.)
Nick Krieger	...	Rannigan
Lloyd Nelson	...	Patrolman Restic
David Dahlgren	...	Patrolman Julio
Rod Masterson	...	Patrolman Gallo
Glenn Wright	...	Patrolman Redfish
Angela Hill	...	Woman Reporter
Ted Saari	...	T.V. News Technician

Directed by
Richard Tuggle

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Richard Tuggle		screenplay

Produced by
Clint Eastwood	....	producer
Fritz Manes	....	producer

Original Music by
Lennie Niehaus		(original music by)
Lennie Niehaus

Cinematography by
Bruce Surtees

Film Editing by
Joel Cox

Casting by
Phyllis Huffman

Production Design by
Edward C. Carfagno

Set Decoration by
Ernie Bishop

Costume Design by
Glenn Wright

Makeup Department
Barbara Guedel	....	makeup artist
Marlene D. Williams	....	hair stylist
Mark Shostrom	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Fritz Manes	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
L. Dean Jones Jr.	....	second assistant director
Paul Moen	....	second assistant director
David Valdes	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Edward Alona	....	property master (as Eddie Alona)
Airick Kredell	....	lead man
Bob Lawless	....	stand-by painter
Michael Muscarella	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Rick Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Dick Alexander)
Neil Burrow	....	sound effects editor
William Cawley	....	first assistant sound editor (2003 restoration)
Gordon Davidson	....	sound effects editor
Les Fresholtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
William B. Kaplan	....	sound mixer (as William Kaplan)
Alan Robert Murray	....	sound effects editor
Alan Robert Murray	....	supervising sound editor
Vern Poore	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chester Slomka	....	sound effects editor (as Chet Slomka)
Jules Strasser	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Joseph A. Unsinn	....	special effects (as Joe Unsinn)

Stunts
George Orrison	....	stunts
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunt coordinator
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunts
George Orrison	....	stunt double: Clint Eastwood (uncredited)
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Kirk Bales	....	dolly grip (as Kirk E. Bales)
Billy Bragg	....	camera operator: second unit
Sal Camacho	....	assistant camera: second unit (as Salvador Camacho)
Jack N. Green	....	camera operator (as Jack Green)
Leo J. Napolitano	....	assistant camera (as Leo Napolitano)
Víctor Pérez	....	best boy electric
Marsha Reed	....	still photographer
Charles Saldana	....	key grip
Bruce D. Spellman	....	second grip (as Bruce Spellman)
Tom Stern	....	gaffer
Johnny Walker	....	assistant camera (as John Walker)
Jeff Wolf	....	assistant camera: second unit
Alex Rodriguez	....	lighting technician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Phyllis Huffman	....	casting executive

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Deborah Hopper	....	wardrobe: women (as Deborah Ann Hopper)
Glenn Wright	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Jack Garsha	....	color timer
John Morrisey	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Donald Harris	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Keith Dillin	....	transportation captain
H. William Miller	....	transportation coordinator (as Bill Miller)

Other crew
Marco Barla	....	unit publicist
Paul A. Calabria	....	animal handler (as Paul Calabria)
Judie Hoyt	....	assistant to producers
Linda Sony Kinney	....	production secretary
Michael Maurer	....	auditor
Lloyd Nelson	....	script supervisor
Elise Ganz	....	studio teacher (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Malpaso Company, The
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Film (1984) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1987) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sandrews (2003) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner-Columbia Filmverleih (1985) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (Spain)
• Warner Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• New Orleans Film Commission, The  film commission

Also Known As:

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Australia:M | Canada:18+ (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:16 | South Korea:15 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Portugal:M/18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1984) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bourbon Street, French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Malpaso Company, The

Trivia:

Film debut of Alison Eastwood.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Despite shooting on location in New Orleans, not one person in this movie has a regional Louisiana, New Orleans, or Cajun accent.

Quotes:

Wes Block:Twenty-eight years ago I borrowed 40 dollars from my father, packed up an old, beat up suitcase, took a bus and came here. I was seventeen at the time. While I walked through the French Quarter, I looked out over the Mississippi and swore I'd never leave.
Beryl Thibodeaux:Ever come close?
Wes Block:Only once. When I looked down and saw that the suitcase was missing.

Movie Connections:

References The New York Ripper (1982)

Not as tight as it could be.

TightRope is a very accurate name for this picture, the most interesting aspect of which is Eastwood's attempts to balance his duties as a responsible and loving father with his taste for deviant sex. This latter he shares with the serial killer he is pursuing. The killer has a penchant for strangling his victims with ribbons which I guess is another meaning for "tight rope".

Eastwood's character is very well fleshed out and his desire to provide a safe and normal home life for his daughters and later to establish a relationship with a rape defence adviser he is attracted to, is very believable. While this is happening, he is drawn deeper and deeper into the dark world of bondage and sado-masochism and there is for a long time some doubt as to which way he will fall and even that he may know more about the killings than he admits.

All this is very compellingly handled.

Unfortunately the villain is straight out of central casting. A one-dimensional cardboard cut-out who the film makers attempt to give some mystery to by having him wear masks. Yawn. Unlike Eastwood, this villain is poorly drawn and apart from an uncharacteristic appearance at the start, is completely silent. He just swans around in the shadows a-la the phantom of the opera and has little of the sense of personality even of Scorpio in Dirty Harry.

There is no real reason why he should be masked, actually, since he is an undistinguished looking character, and stalking around with an assortment of facial coverings is more likely to draw attention to himself if anything. One must believe that this oddly disguised person can enter and leave buildings (such as brothels - highly security conscious in the real world) without anyone noticing. Or perhaps he goes in unmasked and whips out his disguise later? Who knows? If the latter, why bother with the disguise at all? It certainly has not been thought out and is a very cheap attempt to create a sense of intrigue and danger.

Its a pity because the constant appearance of this silly villain actually detracts from the menace and darkness of this film. Without him, there would be real doubt as to whether Eastwood was really the killer himself, for instance. I do not think I give anything away in saying this, since the clunking villain is seen stalking Eastwood from quite early on, hovering behind him or looking in the skylight, so much so that you feel like shouting "He's behind you!" in a pantomime sort of way.

Other details do not ring true, such as Eastwood telling a young male hooker to go to a warehouse to be paid by the killer then going there himself to find (surprise! Surprise!) the hooker hanging by his neck. Cheap and unrealistic writing like this add to the schlock horror feel.

All this leads to a routine and unnecessarily gory finale. However, a touching moment with his girlfriend shows that the film makers do understand subtlety.