For the first five minutes, it’s her movie.
The steely Chicano
woman in the drab clothes and sunglasses stepping off the train at
Union Station, greeted by a rare Los Angeles rain, sitting in a taxi
while reverentially wiping the water off her battered suitcase and
uttering one of the few lines of dialogue she will have, “Madre
dios, protect us now.” A transition to the early ‘70s hazy L.A.
skyline we know from dozens of depictions, complete with smog alarm.
We will later learn that almost a year has passed since her arrival.
A florist retrieves the preserved suitcase from an earthen hiding
place, literally digging up the root of all the evil we will see in
this movie. And there she is behind the florist, looking for all the
world like just another workaday woman, placing uncirculated $1000
bills into envelopes. It is only when the setting shifts to a dive
bar and two shabby men watching boxing on TV, that we learn the movie
is named HICKEY & BOGGS, and these are our actual protagonists.
Then again, the manner in which Walter Hill’s screenplay and Robert
Culp’s direction reveals information, anytime we see a particular
group of characters, it’s almost as if we have entered a different
movie from their point of view. There’s the movie about the
mobsters trying to recover money from a robbery they sanctioned.
There’s the movie about the scummy criminals eager to get the cash.
There’s the near-silent movie about the “Torpedos,” the hit men
on a single-minded pursuit to find and kill everyone depriving the
mob of their cash. There’s the movie about the L.A. police trying
to break this case, annoyed by these private detectives – one of
them a disgraced former cop – who keep intruding in their
investigation. And the movie of this woman, her husband, and their
children, alternately one step ahead of all these pursuers yet still
over their heads in how to resolve their situation. Even the closing
credits represent this: aside from the main cast of Culp, his partner, and
the characters of immediate significance to them, all the other
parties are grouped in their own headings - “The Chicanos,” “The
Organization,” “The Contract Soldiers,” “The Law, “The
Fences.”
But
throughout all these intersecting stories, it is always this woman of
multiple aliases who is steering the narrative. It is her that will
commit the first murder we see. It is her all these competing forces
are seeking, almost all underestimating her intelligence; she may be
derided as “Mary Jane,” “the girl,” “the woman,” “that
bitch,” by these men, but she’s the one that’s outfoxed them
all. It is her that will play the mob against the fences and set up
Hickey and Boggs to either be killed or take the fall. We will never
learn the full story of how and why she does everything, how she
learned to do it, but we get enough hints to know it’s as grim a
tale as the hard look in her face. She didn’t want to be a femme
fatale and a master manipulator, but there’s family to protect and
a deal to make and jobs to do, and she’s going to finish this
matter because she has to. Eventually Boggs, whose toll from pursuing
this case has included the murder of his partner’s wife, tells her
husband his grudging respect:
“You
still have Mary Jane. She must be a heck of a woman. Killed Farrow
for you ‘cause he wanted a bigger bite. Ran the whole show until
you got out. She’s one hell of a woman. Of course you’ll both be
indicted, but it’s too shaky, they won’t make it stick.
So...maybe you still get home.
The woman has a proper name: it’s Mary Florida Quemando. And the
woman who played her, billed only as “Carmen” in the credits,
generating as much mystery about the real performer as the character,
is Carmencristina Moreno.
Photo courtesy Carmencristina Moreno
Carmencristina Moreno comes from an entertainment dynasty. She was born to Luis M. and Carmen A.
Moreno, who performed ranchera music on radio and records from the
‘30s onward as El Dueto de Los Moreno; Luis is credited with
composing hundreds of songs that have been covered into the present.
Carmencristina would write and record music in English and Spanish
for major record labels, and went on to found her own when she balked
at working in an environment hostile to her rich heritage. She was
named a NEA National Heritage Fellow in 2003, the pinnacle of honors
a folk artist can receive. In the present day she still performs her
original music, is a
published author, and teaches Mexican-American history through
song-and-lecture presentations in California schools.
There have been a good number of articles about HICKEY & BOGGS,
and a good number of articles about Ms. Moreno, but Moreno has never
previously spoken at length or detail about her experience until now,
when she graciously agreed to answer my emailed questions about her history
and relationship to the film.
To
provide context, the production of HICKEY & BOGGS was an
extremely stressful affair.
In
1971, when Walter Hill’s script was optioned by
Warner Bros., Robert
Culp had been humiliated by
the production shutdown and foreclosure of Bernard Girard’s
thriller A
NAME FOR EVIL the
year before. EVIL had been
a pet project he previously
told the press was,
“the kind of picture you wait for all your life,”
and during
which,
his third marriage to actress France Nuyen broke up, and
led to his fourth marriage with
supporting player Susan Sullivan. He
and co-star Samantha Eggar were
suing the producers and
investors to obtain
compensation for their
previously deferred salaries.
(The footage
was ultimately bought by Penthouse magazine, re-edited, and dumped
into theatres in 1973.) While
he never stopped working in the interim, the high-profile collapse
affected him deeply; as he remembered it in 2007, “After BOB AND
CAROL, I was hot as a pistol…by the time it was done, I wasn’t
hot as a pistol anymore.” When
WB courted Culp to reunite with his former “I
SPY” co-star for this
project, it was an opportunity to regain his momentum as a bankable
movie star.
However,
his friend’s participation in the film was obtained on the actor's insistence
that Culp be allowed to direct it.
Culp had previously helmed an
“I SPY” episode and a documentary for TV, but never a feature.
When WB would not approve Culp as director, the duo offered to buy
out WB’s investment and take the script elsewhere, and a
preliminary deal was made with their
series’ location cinematographer-turned producer
Fouad Said to find independent money. A bad bluff by Said with WB
resulted in a higher-than-planned buyout price, and funding ran out
three times, leaving Culp with a tight budget and only 35 days to
shoot. Impediments that Culp withheld from all parties were that
immediately after the planned 35 days, his
marquee co-star was due to
commence filming “THE ELECTRIC COMPANY” for PBS in New York,
meaning there was no flexibility for lost days on his scenes, and two
weeks before shooting was to start, Culp had undergone a double
hernia operation from which he had not fully recovered, but did not
disclose for fear the insurance company would shut down the
production. In short, it is
very likely Culp feared a repeat of what befell A NAME FOR EVIL.
While Culp presented a sanguine demeanor about recalling this state
of affairs in a
2007 Q&A at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, from the
account offered here by Ms. Moreno, he was clearly under enormous
pressure, and unfortunately, the negativity had a direct effect on
the production, and its lynchpin actress...
How
did you become involved in HICKEY & BOGGS?
I
really don't recall how [Robert Culp] knew about me, except that my
career as a singer/guitarist was "in demand" in those days
in L.A. Mexican-Americanism seemed to be "in" in those
days and I seemed to be the "go to" musical grass-roots
Chicana around town. I couldn't help it. I carried my parents’
Mexican traditional folk music, as well as my modern American music
in English. I was what I considered a true...musical
Mexican-American, and I demonstrated it in many performances. But
then, in those days, I also had friends and acquaintances in the film
industry there in L.A.
So
who knows how Culp found me. But he called ME!
Did
you have any previous interest in movies in particular before you
appeared in the film? Did you have a favorite film or TV show back
then?
What
little girl doesn't dream of becoming a "movie star"?
Yes.
I loved "movies" and films and I had a lot of interest in
acting in them since I had been a little girl. Plus, I always had
stories that I made up rolling around in my head. It must have been
because ever since I can remember, I had seen many Mexican musical
movies with my parents as in L.A., they scouted for the latest songs
coming from Mexico to perform in the USA.
Later,
as I was growing up in Fresno, I saw many American movies with my
favorite actresses: Susan Hayward, Deborah Kerr, Doris Day and
others. I wanted to "act" in movies just like they did! Ah,
the unrealistic dreams of a naive poor young Mexican teenager living
in the farmlands of Fresno, California! My parents always encouraged
me to "go to Mexico" to continue my career, but Mexico
seemed "foreign" to me. I was born, raised and educated in
the United States. I didn't want to go to anywhere else
because...here...the USA, was home!
Anyway,
I would see these actresses on TV and in movies and thought I could
"act" like them.
On
television, I had a lot of favorite TV shows: "I LOVE LUCY,"
"THE TWILIGHT ZONE," "THE LORETTA YOUNG
SHOW," [and] including "I SPY," to name
just a few shows that I liked to see. Each show presented different
dramas every week with different actors and actresses. And the
stories were compelling and well-written.
As I
grew up, our high school library offered some books about the
different "methods" or styles of drama and of drama classes
and drama coaches in New York and Hollywood. Even certain movie
magazines had articles about "acting". So I wasn't totally
unfamiliar with the process. In fact, when I got into Hollywood, I
studied for a while with different acting coaches in their classes,
but after
a few unpleasant experiences, I became disenchanted with studying
with "Hollywood drama coaches." Besides, the whole process
seemed elementary to me. I was so naive!
But
nothing had prepared me for the reality, and I do mean REALITY, of
working as a film actress, which encompasses a myriad of requirements
for working in front of a camera. Height, dress size, skin color and
etc.
What
were your feelings about getting cast in such a significant role in
the film?
I
was impressed, at first. But the "luster" began to wear off
after the script began to be changed, Plus every time I was called
into Culp's production office, I would overhear the problems they
were having. So much so, that I became "confused" and lost
my focus. Not only did I not know WHAT was happening, I even began to
get worried the movie would never be made.
And
to boot, Culp one day complained to ME that they could not find
another actor tall enough to play my husband! Fearing I would lose
the part or that the project would fall through, I tried to help. I
said to Culp, "I have an older brother who is taller than I am!"
But in wanting to help, not only the movie, myself and help my
brother "break into the business," I forgot that this "male
actor's" part, was to play MY HUSBAND! This was terrible!!!!
Incest? E-e-e-e-ek! What would my parents, friends and relatives say?
But, I didn't mention my concerns to anyone that this bothered me.
Perhaps it was because I thought myself "drama knowledgeable"
enough and strong enough in my acting ability
to not let that fact that he was my brother worry me. After all, it
would only be "acting".
So,
they called my brother in. And then I worried they wouldn't like him.
And I worried if he was rejected, he would be humiliated and get his
feelings hurt! But I had nothing to worry about. Culp and Cosby LOVED
him, Louis Moreno. His demeanor (very macho) and his handsome stoic
Mexican good looks, made a great impression on them both. Indeed, my
brother, after HICKEY & BOGGS,
went on to play other small parts on other TV shows. Had he lived
long enough, he might have been a more successful actor.
Unfortunately,
he died in 1989 of lung cancer. The "macho" guy, whose day
job was as a painter for CSUN, drank too much tequila, smoked too
many cigarettes, and even when a doctor told him early on that he had
lung cancer, I guess he didn't believe it and he did not seek
treatment until it was way too late. I think I'm still "angry"
at my only brother for not trying to live longer.
Had
you ever seen any of the main cast in any of their previous TV/movie
work before you acted with them?
No,
except for Bill Cosby and Robert Culp because of their work in the TV
series "I SPY".
Did
you ever talk to writer Walter Hill about your character, did he give
you any guidance on how to embody her?
No,
I did not speak to him about it. He never seemed to be available to
me in order to have "that type" of conversation. And Culp
never facilitated any meetings with Hill and I either. Besides, the
script was being changed many times. I know this because I would
overhear bits of conversation to this regard during the times I was
in Culp's office. And I would be there only after being called in. I
would catch glimpses of Mr. Hill and feel sorry for him. He always
looked so beleaguered and worried. I thought it was probably because
he was trying to keep up with the changes to his script.
What
was your impression of Robert Culp and his directing style? How did
he counsel you for your scenes?
Let
me share something with you here, Marc. I grew up mainly in Mexican
"show business" and began singing on stage and in many
Mexican cafes and nightclubs; places some people would consider
"dangerous." So early on, I learned to "read people,"
as a defensive mechanism in order to survive and stay out of trouble.
My
impression of Robert Culp? Unfortunately, as a director, I found he
definitely lacked "people skills." Or maybe Culp should
have replaced me with another much more experienced actress. Or maybe
another actress would have been much more expensive? Or maybe....who
knows? But he was a "hard-headed, stubborn man"! And I
found him unapproachable. He didn't need or ask for any input, LEAST
of all, mine! For instance, he could have made Mary Jane a sister to
the male character. But they had hired a little boy to play the part
of "our" child. [The boy was Robert’s son, Jason Culp]
On
top of all the hassles Culp was having, I felt it was too late to
suggest anything. He didn't need THIS. But it would have freed me up
a lot. Yet, in retrospect, he couldn't have made them sister and
brother! It would have changed the "thrust" of the story.
So, I did not feel free to suggest any changes or anything like that.
Then,
as filming began, I started to feel his hostility towards me. I think
now he must have hated my inexperience, or perhaps...I don't know.
(Sexism? Racism?) Anyway, I stayed out of his way.
I
ask myself now that perhaps his attitude was was hard because he was
feeling "overwhelmed" by what he'd taken on? He was the
"star" of the film. And he had to protect that! Plus, he
had to protect his "vision" of the story he was trying to
tell on film. And there I was...!
Did
he "counsel" me on my part? Only ONCE, during filming and
in a brief and private moment when out of the blue, he asked me to
join him for lunch. We got in his car and drove almost in silence.
Then he said something about "method acting." After which,
he remarked with a smirk, "There! I've given you your first
acting lesson!" Out of respect, I didn't reply. But my first
thought was, "What a jerk!"
It
was there that I felt he and I were beginning to hate each other! And
his cold and hostile attitude towards me began to erode any
confidence I might have felt for the part. I ended up not "acting",
but rather, "reacting" to the instructions he would give me
before each scene! That's the only way it could have been done
because by that time, there was no script (that I knew of), to follow
or digest. And unfortunately, my "wooden performance" on
film shows it. I hate it and am STILL VERY embarrassed by it. I could
have done better. But like Culp, I too, felt overwhelmed by
circumstances.
Was
it always intended by Hill and/or Culp that she would be near-mute
throughout the film?
I
don't know what their real intentions were. As I state before, there
was a script at first, but then even during filming, Culp was giving
everyone updates of changes. He had set up a storyboard there on the
set. Being inexperienced in film work, I suppose that is done on
other films too. But to me, it seemed strange and strained to do that
at the last minute.
How
did the single-name "Carmen" billing come about in the
credits?
There
are many places and instances in American show business where having
a Hispanic surname was, and sometimes still is, not commercially
viable. So I didn't use it then. But I sure use it now!
What
sorts of things did you do in creating your performance? Did you
study other actors, other movies? Did you lean on personal
experience?
What
was there to do or study? What was to prepare?
From
what I recall, when I first read the script, I felt I knew who the
character was and what a negative character she was supposed to be. I
felt I knew how to play "her". But as the script changed
and Culp's "forceful" instructions prevailed, I think I
became personally intimidated. Intimidated!!! I lost my personal
voice and thinking ability. Nothing I did in my performance seemed to
please him. In the end, as I write above: I didn't "act," I
ended up [reacting]...to his instructions!!! Or maybe Culp hated me
because I was just a tender inexperienced "wanna-be"
actress." Or perhaps, after thinking about it, it leads me to
believe the Director was just using my "off-camera"
professional show-business persona
(my Chicanismo) to tell HIS vision of the story, his negative
personal racial feelings.
As
it turned out, according to ending credits, perhaps my feelings about
his hostility was correct. Check out the closing credits: Blacks -
listed separately, Chicanos - listed separately, Whites - separately.
We're all segregated. There's no room for respect or acknowledgment
of individual artistic abilities there! But oh well...that's show
biz...!
What
was your impression of the stunt men playing "The Torpedoes"
- Fatboy (Matt Bennett), Monte (Bill Hickman), and Nick (Tom
Signorelli)?
I
did not fraternize with them. It has been and still is, my experience
that many times, a man mistakes my "friendliness" for a
"come on." So I stay away from a lot of people I don't have
to interact with.
When
some of the lesser-known supporting cast became marquee names later,
were you surprised or did you anticipate they had that potential back
then?
I
don't recall. The only name or person I recognized on set was Bill
Cosby. And even then, I was not on close personal terms with him.
There
have been stories about much more footage being shot but not used. Is
this true? Were you featured in any of those scenes, and if so, what
sorts of things would have happened in them?
I
don't know about additional footage that was shot and not used.
But
I do know that at one point, the Director (Culp) wanted to shoot a
silhouette of a hooker putting on her bra, and he told ME [to] take
off my blouse and bra so they could film my silhouette putting on my
bra. But I wasn't about to expose my large breasts to the cast and
crew! I am not that type of actress. Besides, it was not in the
script that I had agreed to do. So I refused to do it. Of course he
wasn't happy about that either! Nudity or partial nudity was never
mentioned in my contract. That is a "line" I definitely
would not have crossed! Part or no film part. Besides, asking to do
that, seemed to me like he was trying to "punish" me.
So
after I refused, they shot him throwing money on top of a ratty mink
coat, and it's my hand that takes the money and the coat.
What
was it like on the set? Did you get along particularly well with
anyone on the cast or crew?
I
kept largely to myself with my "nose in a book" most of the
time. I was feeling like an inept fool by then and wasn't feeling
"friendly" towards anyone by that point...and no one was
friendly with me either!
Were
there any fun moments during shooting or off the set?
Sadly,
I don't recall "having fun" with anyone there. I was
totally miserable. Perhaps I "over thought" everything!
Were
there any upsetting moments during shooting or off the set?
Early
on in the filming, I found I had to watch out for my own safety.
There was a gun where my character shoots someone through a screen
door, a gun that did operate properly and the "bullet" kept
getting stuck between the gun barrel and the chamber. A gun explosion
could have blown my hand off!
During
filming on the beach the scene called for me to be flying an
airplane, which they shot with the plane on the ground or with the
plane's door as a backdrop while I was flown in a helicopter. But in
this one shot, while in the airplane was on the ground, the propeller
was rotating and while I was in the plane's cabin, Culp whispered
loudly to me to "gun it" so that the plane would take off!
I don't know the first thing about flying a plane, so I didn't!
Shortly afterwards, it turned out that the wing nuts were not
tightened down on the wings, and the wings were being held to the
fuselage loosely only by the bolts! That was upsetting to me! What
the heck was this guy thinking? That scared the heck outta me. I had
to watch out "for this guy," I thought! And of course, I
didn't say anything to anyone about it then either.
Did
you learn anything from the experience that helped you later in life,
in any kind of situation that is not necessarily artistic?
This
filming experience was catastrophic for me as an aspiring
actress. But it taught me a good lesson, which I now choose to keep
to myself. But I was glad when filming was over.
What
was the reaction of you and your friends when HICKEY & BOGGS was
released?
To
paraphrase Janis Ian's song: "[In] debentures of quality and
dubious integrity, their small-town eyes will gape at you in dull
surprise when payment due, exceeds accounts received."
What
kind of attention, if any, did you experience from the film, and did
you find it pleasant or unpleasant?
The
pleasant or unpleasantness part depended on what type of attention
was being paid to me, and by whom. You must know what I mean.
What
is the most unusual encounter, conversation, or life event that has
taken place when someone found out you were in HICKEY & BOGGS?
Shortly
after doing HICKEY & BOGGS, I fell into a deep depression that I
couldn't overcome. It took me YEARS to emerge from it!
But
thinking back, on one memorable evening, as I and my 3 sons toured
the Griffith Park Observatory, there was another Mexican-American
lady with her own 3 children, who recognized me and approached me,
wanting to shake my hand and proudly telling her sons that "[She]
was the lady who was in 'that' movie!"
In
view of the fact that my movie part was that of a "lying
murderous thief whore" (though one never heard the "lying"
dialogue), and though I wasn't exactly proud of having played that
part, what I was REALLY ashamed of was feeling that I had done such a
bad job of it. And to me, it shows!!! OMG! I was so stiff and wooden!
No wonder they all hated me. I hated me too!!! Since then, I had
auditioned for other parts, and gotten a few. But my heart is just
not in acting anymore. What do I know?
Did
you maintain any further contact with anyone else involved in the
film?
No,
and didn't want to either!
Have
you watched the film recently?
Not
recently, no. I think I watched a DVD of it again about 5 or 7 years
ago.
Do
you think the film plays differently now years after its release than
when it first came out?
I
have found that one has to watch it several times in order to find
its basic story-line or "appreciate" the story Culp was
trying to convey, though I still don't know why...anyone...would be
interested in the story.
What
will you remember most positively and/or most negatively from being
in this movie?
The
positive is that it made me aware of my lack of drama training and
thereby my limitations as an "actress" or "actor".
Being an "actor" really requires devotion and dedication.
If I ever try to "act" in a film again, I will definitely
study and research a lot more, so that I will be able to feel free to
explore the character and be quick enough to "own" the
part. The negative side, is that during this filming process, I
allowed myself to be BULLIED and INTIMIDATED out of believing in
myself or feeling so oppressed. I had felt intimidated to the point
that I lost my nerve! That's disastrous for a performer, whether on
film or wherever.
So
there you are, Marc. I still feel I failed them all in this film and
they ended up hating me. And for a long time, I hated me too! Last
year, I was trying to find snippets or photos of myself in this film
to construct some promo stuff I was working on, and I couldn't find
anything of my image, save one photo of a woman (me) with dark
glasses and a hood over her hair. No one else would have recognized
that woman as being me. But maybe it's a good thing!
Thank
you again for your interest in my "performance" in this
film, Marc. I wish you the best of good luck.
Yours
sincerely,
Carmencristina
Moreno
Photo courtesy of Howard Watkins and KQED
My
deepest thanks to Ms. Moreno for revisiting a less-than-pleasant
memory with such strength and candor. Her testimony has only
intensified my respect for her performance, and I hope it does the
same for you. May it inspire all of you to seek out her larger legacy
of creative activity as well.