Fuller’s Earth
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. This week, we are happy to feature three films from the late, great, Samuel Fuller. Unfortunately, I can claim no relation. We are happy to drink a toast to the man, with a wine pairing for each movie.
Fuller wrote and directed The Big Red One in 1980. With Fuller directing and Lee Marvin starring, I’m sold already. It’s a war picture taken from Fuller’s own experiences in WWII. The Big Red One is the nickname of the 1st Infantry Division in which he served.
Fuller’s tale was nearly three hours long, so United Artists, the distributor, took out the scissors and snipped it down to just under two hours. They did that without Fuller’s consent, so imagine his surprise. After his death, the Reconstruction edit restored Fuller’s sprawling vision.
If you ask me, and demand a knee-jerk answer, I’d say I’m not a fan of war films. Then I would think of movies like M*A*S*H, Catch-22, Coming Home, and this one, and I’d have to revise my thinking. Hell, even White Christmas has a wartime setting and a dandy little tune about how much we love our commanding officer.
Big Red opens with an American soldier in hand-to-hand combat with a German counterpart. He is told that the war is over, but he doesn’t buy it. Later he finds out it was the truth. The story follows the soldier’s bootsteps through the war and into a place where enemies turn into partners.
The Fuller Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley Vineyards is a good one, if you can find it. Sadly, winemaker Bill Fuller passed away last year. The 2023 vintage is what remains. It’s a $100 bottle, but very scarce
1963’s Shock Corridor was also written and directed by Fuller, who produced it as well. The story is Samuel Fuller through and through. A journalist commits himself to a mental institution in order to solve a murder in the hospital. He’s the original man on the inside.
The movie’s one-sheet promises “sights you’ve never seen before,” and it’s likely true. The nymphomaniac attack and the lover/sister act are about as lurid as it got in the early ‘60s. Some of the scenes come off like a Fuller fever dream.
The experience of pretending to be insane takes its toll on our intrepid newspaperman. He gets the killer to confess and writes his story, but it turns out to be a hollow victory.
Bottle shock in wine is a temporary condition, but shock therapy can be the gift that keeps on taking away. The movie Bottle Shock was about wines from Chateau Montelena in Calistoga, so let’s go there. You may think it’s crazy to spend $200 on a bottle of wine. Shocking, I know. But Montelena’s flagship Cab is a taste worth experiencing.
Pickup on South Street is a Cold War classic, written and directed by Fuller. It’s not an ad for an F-150 for sale in Cerritos. It’s the story of a small-time hood who picks the wrong pocket and ends up with microfilm secrets intended for the Commies. Okay, Richard Widmark. You’re in the spy business now.
An earlier version of the script was titled Pickpocket, but Darryl Zanuck thought that sounded too European. I don’t know why that makes me laugh, but it does. The movie drew criticism from none other than J. Edgar Hoover, who claimed he didn’t like the film’s politics. Maybe he just wanted a better look at Jean Peters’ wardrobe.
Sans Liege Winery of Paso Robles makes a 100% Grenache called The Pickpocket. Aged for two years in French oak, we hope it doesn’t taste too European for you. It’s a $50 bottle.
https://www.sansliege.com/product/2021-Pickpocket
Randy Fuller
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