Well, some men, once they get a whiff of it, they trail you like a hound.
Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on Body Heat (1981). This movie is one of the best Neo-Noirs ever. It has been immortalized in a song by none other than Jimmy Buffet in the song “Frank and Lola” 1985.
So he took her to this movie called “Body Heat.” She said, “The Junior Mints were mushy, and the sex was neat.[1]
The film is a quality uncredited rehash of Double Indemnity (1944). iMDB.com has the movie at a pretty low 7.4[2]. Rottentomatoes.com has it ranked somewhat better, with 98 percent on the Tomatometer and 81 percent audience approval.
In a mostly positive review, the great film critic Roger Ebert said:
The last scene that works as drama is the one where Ned suggests to Matty that she go get the glasses in the boathouse, and then she pauses on the lawn to tell him, “Ned, whatever you think–I really do love you.”
Does she? That’s what makes the movie so intriguing. Does he love her, for that matter? Or is he swept away by sexual intoxication–body heat? You watch the movie the first time from his point of view, and the second time from hers. Every scene plays two ways. “Body Heat” is good enough to make film-noir play like we hadn’t seen it before.[3]
New York Times film critic Vincent Canby really liked the film, stating in an Oct. 25, 1981 review:
With ”Body Heat,” the steamiest, most thoroughly satisfying melodrama about love, lust and greed to be seen since Billy Wilder’s ”Double Indemnity” and Tay Garnett’s ”The Postman Always Rings Twice” (forget about this year’s lethargic remake), Lawrence Kasdan, heretofore known as a screenwriter (”Raiders of the Lost Ark and Continental Divide”), suddenly emerges as a member of the American directing elite.[4]
Actors – Body Heat (1981)
Returning
Richard Crenna played the ill-fated husband, Edmund Walker. Crenna was first covered in the space drama Marooned (1969).
New
William Hurt played Ned Racine. Hurt was born in DC in 1950. During high school, he was in several school plays. He began studying theology at Tufts University but switched to acting at Juilliard. He began performing on stage and was quite successful.
After some television, he made a big splash with the strange movie Altered States (1980). He hit it again as the not so innocent victim in Body Heat (1981). He was terrific again in The Big Chill (1983) as the drug-dealing friend. For a time, every movie he made was a big deal including Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) where he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, Children of a Lesser God (1986) where Hurt was again nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, Broadcast News (1987) where he was again nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, and The Accidental Tourist (1988).
Other good movies include Lost in Space (1998), The Village (2004), A History of Violence (2005), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Kathleen Turner played Femme Fatale Matty Walker. Turner was born in Missouri in 1954. Turner graduated from the American School (London) in 1972. She returned to the U.S. and began studying at Missouri State University but received her B.F.A. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 1977. Turner is listed as an alumnus of the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, but the dates are not specified[5].
Turner’s first film role was Body Heat (1981), where her husky voice and sexy acting made her an instant star. She was great at writer Joan Wilder in Romancing the Stone (1984) and in the inferior The Jewel of the Nile (1985). Other films include Prizzi’s Honor (1985), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), which was pretty darn good with Nicolas Cage and Leon Ames, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) as the voice of sexy Jessica Rabbit, The War of the Roses (1989), V.I. Warshawski (1991), Undercover Blues (1993), and Serial Mom (1994). Health and drinking derailed her career for a time, but by 2000 she was working again.
Other actors include Ted Danson as Peter Lowenstein. Danson is probably best known for his role on the television show “Cheers” 1982-1993. Mickey Rourke, who had a small part in this film and I will cover in Angel Heart (1987), played Teddy Lewis. J.A. Preston played Oscar Grace. He is best known as the judge that shutdown Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men (1992).
Story – Body Heat (1981)
Ned Racine (William Hurt) is a small-time lawyer in a small southern coastal town. He has been sued for malpractice after he messed up someone’s will. Ned is content getting by and sleeping with the local waitresses. He is good friends with Assistant Prosecutor Peter Lowenstein (Ted Danson).
After barely getting a client off, Ned and Peter go to a local café. The heatwave is weighing on everyone. Ned drinks in the local bars looking for something or someone to get involved with. He goes to an outdoor concert, and he sees an amazingly beautiful woman wearing all white. He approaches her tries to start a conversation. The woman says she is married.
He follows for a while, and they make small talk. The woman lets out that her husband is out of town and only around on the weekends. At her request, he buys her a cherry snow cone. Ned deduces that she is from Pinehaven. Ned makes a good joke, and she spills the snow cone on her dress. She reveals her name as Matty (Kathleen Turner) and then asks if he wants to lick the stain off. He goes to get her a paper towel, and when he returns, Matty is gone.
Ned begins to spend the evenings prowling Pinehaven and other locations where Matty might be. One night, Ned finds Matty in a Pinehaven bar. They finally share names. Matty’s body temperature is around 100 degrees, hence the title of the movie. Matty decides to let Ned follow her home. As a cover, she slaps Ned and walks away.
Ned follows her to the house, and it is a large estate on the water. In a bit of foreshadowing, Ned notices the boathouse in the distance. Matty tells Ned to leave. She kisses him at the front door, leaving him confused. He sees her waiting inside and breaks the glass door with a plant. They begin kissing and make passionate sex.
Ned returns to his dull life as a lawyer.
Ned returns to Matty during the week, and they turn the boathouse into a love nest. Matty is cautious and has even started smoking the same brand of cigarettes as Ned.
Peter meets Ned in the café, and the timeframe has been a month. Their other friend Police Detective Oscar Grace (J.A. Preston), joins them as well. Ned won’t tell them who he has been seeing. Oscar says that the heat is causing more crime.
Ned continues to visit Matty, and they continue to have a steamy relationship. Matty starts telling Ned that she hates her mean husband. Ned is now lost when he can’t seem Matty, although he does sport an F.S.U. shirt when he goes running. He spies on the house, and Matty’s husband, Edmund Walker (Richard Crenna), has his car parked out front.
Later, Ned shows up at the estate and sees a woman wearing a white dress standing in the gazebo. He crudely asks her for sex, and it is not Matty. Matty comes out and introduces the new woman as Mary Ann (Kim Zimmer) as Matty hands her an envelope. Mary Ann says she is just passing through. Matty says Mary Ann is an old friend and only wants her to be happy. Later Matty tells Ned about Edmund’s will. She says she wants Edmund dead.
Ned’s two lives continue. When he is with Matty the next time, she says she has signed a prenup and won’t get much money if she divorces Edmund. In another homage to the genre, Matty gifts Ned a gray fedora.
Edmund comes home, and he brings his niece to stay with Matty for the week. Ned is crushed that he can’t see Matty and spends time throwing his fedora onto his hat stand. One night, while the niece is still there, Ned shows up at the estate. The child walks in on them while they are in flagrante delicto. The mother picks the child up on Thursday, and Matty is distraught.
One-night, Ned walks into a restaurant and runs into Matty and Edmund. Edmund invites him to join them. They talk about work, and Edmund says he buys beach property for investments. Edmund talks about infidelity, Matty’s ex, business, and being a little shady.
Another day, Ned checks out an old beach restaurant that Edmund owns. When he goes to his office, Matty is waiting inside. She asks to be held and says Edmund had left that morning. They confirm that they cannot use phones to communicate. Ned tells Matty that they are going to kill Edmund. He says with the right will, Matty will get half of everything.
Ned begins to case the property Edmund owns. When Ned and Matty meet again, she tells him that half of the money will get the niece. She wants to change the will and have Ned do it. He is against it.
Ned goes to see one of his old clients, Teddy Lewis (Mickey Rourke), who will be covered in Angel Heart (1987). Teddy shows Ned how to make a timer and make an arson fire. Matty is waiting in the car and knows where the arson expert is located. Lewis advises Ned about not being a criminal.
Ned and Matty meet again for sex and put the final details on the murder plan. Ned travels to Miami and gets a hotel to establish his alibi. He sees a clown driving a classic red car and freaks out a little.
Matty has to make love with Edmund to keep him on schedule. Ned drives back up in a rental car. Edmund hears something downstairs and goes down with his gun drawn. Matty yells, “He has a gun,” and Ned jumps out of the closet. The two men fight, and Ned eventually clubs Edmund to death.
Ned wraps up the body and takes it to the beach property that is owned by Edmund. He is using Edmund’s car. Ned almost gets killed a few times in the fog. He takes the body inside and unwraps it. Ned sets the arson bomb to go off. They plan to make it look like Edmund was trying to burn his building and died when a timber failed.
Matty picks him up outside in his rental car, and he drops her off, saying they cannot talk for a long while. He drives back to Miami. The bomb goes off later, destroying the evidence.
Sometime later, a Miami layer calls Ned about Edmund and the new will that they say Ned wrote. Of course, Matty is the one that made the changes. Matty knows that if the will is invalid, she will get all of the money.
Ned goes to meet the other lawyers, Edmund’s sister, Matty, and Peter. The signing of the fake will was alleged to be witnessed by Ned and Mary Ann. Mary Ann is not available. The phony will that Matty made has a bad in perpetuity clause and is invalid as far as the niece inheriting her half of the money. The Miami lawyer says the judge caught Ned’s mistake and says that Ned had been sued before.
Ned and Matty have words outside about the fake will, and she invites him to the house that night. When Ned gets back to his room, Peter and Oscar are waiting for him. Oscar asks about Edmund’s death. He says Matty is poison. Oscar says there is no record of Mary Ann leaving the country. They tell him to stay away from Matty. He says he can’t stay away because she has started coming on to him. Oscar warns Ned again before the two men leave.
After the next sexual encounter, Matty tells that she had a misspent youth and was into drugs. She said a lawyer helped clean her up, and that is where she learned about the law. He tells her the cop’s think she may have committed the murder.
The aunt brings the niece into the police station. Oscar is questioning Ned about his trip to Miami. Peter says Edmund’s glasses are missing from the murder scene. They think that Edmund was murdered someplace else and brought to the site of the fire. Oscar says the niece has reported that she saw Matty with a man. Ned looks a little shaken. Oscar says Ned can sneak out the back, but he walks out the front way and goes straight to the aunt. He introduces himself to the niece—slick move. Peter later tells that the niece only saw the penis that night and not Ned’s face.
Ned rages on Matty about Edmund’s missing glasses. Matty lures him back in with the promise of the money.
Oscar goes to Miami and checks Ned’s reservation, phone log, car rental, valets, and exit paths.
Peter is dancing on the pier when Ned comes in from his run. Peter says he doesn’t care kill who killed Edmund and who gets rich from it. Oscar has found Mary Ann’s place but not here. Peter says someone is putting him in trouble because the night of the murder, someone repeatedly called Ned’s hotel room in Miami, destroying his alibi. He also says someone is negotiating with the police to turn over Edmund’s glasses.
Ned goes on another trip to Miami. While he is in a bar, he runs into a lawyer that was part of the suit against him. The lawyer mentions that he told Matty, a year or so before, about Ned and the lawsuit over the messed up will.
Ned can’t find Matty, and the next day he finds out that Teddy, the arsonist is in jail. Teddy does not know why he was picked up. Teddy tells Ned that Matty has come to him for another arson bomb that can be wired to the door. The cops have also been asking Teddy about the fire where Edmund’s body burned.
Finally, Matty calls Ned at his office. Matty has gotten the money and stashed it somewhere safe. Matty says that the maid has the glasses and has been paid to leave them in the boathouse. Ned goes to the boathouse that night and sees the wire for the bomb.
Oscar and Peter are sick about having to arrest Ned, who they now believe is guilt.
Ned goes into the house and removes Edmund’s gun.
Oscar goes to arrest Ned at his house, but he is not there. Ned waits in the gazebo, unsure of the next move.
Finally, Matty returns, driving Edmund’s Cadillac car. Matty sticks to her story and says she loves Ned. Oscar comes to the estate. Ned tells her to go get the glasses from the boathouse. Oscar sees the pair in the distance. Matty walks to the boathouse proclaiming her love for Ned. He drops the gun and runs after Matty. The boathouse explodes.
Ned is in prison. He wakes up and realizes Matty is alive. Oscar comes to see him in prison so he can explain that the body in the boathouse was Mary Ann. But Oscar says the dental records matched Matty Walker. He continues that the woman they know as Matty is really Mary Ann. Mary Ann has been blackmailing the fake Matty, hence the envelope exchange earlier.
The fake Matty killed Mary Ann, who is the real Matty. Fake Matty left real Matty in the boathouse. Fake Matty pulled the door to set the bomb delay and swam away from the boathouse. Oscar doesn’t buy the story even though they have not found the money.
Another day in prison, Ned gets the 1968 yearbook from Wheaton High School in Illinois. He sees a picture of the women he met as Mary Ann under the name Matty Walker. Under the name Mary Ann Simpson he sees a picture of the woman he knew as Matty. Her ambition is listed as “to be rich and live in an exotic land.”
The last scene shows the wealthy Mary Ann Simpson/Fake Matty lying on a tropical beach when an unseen male says to her in Portuguese that it is hot. So, we assume they are in Brazil. Will she kill again?
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – Body Heat (1981)
After watching this movie, it is pretty clear that it is a supped up version of Double Indemnity (1944). Many sources have noted this point. Today’s film was released 37 years after Double Indemnity (1944).
Richard Crenna, who was the victim Edmund, played the Walter Neff role in the horrible Double Indemnity (1973). In Turner’s second role, a comedy titled The Man with Two Brains (1983), she played a Femme Fatale character.
Kathleen Turner, in her first role, Body Heat (1981), has been compared favorably to the fantastic Lauren Bacall in her first movie, To Have and Have Not (1944). Both actresses were noted for the incredibly sexy role that played that include a deep sensual voice; Turner’s was better, long leg, and a tall slim body. These two films made both of these women big stars.
World-Famous Short Summary – I did it for the money, and I did it for the woman. I didn’t get the money, and I didn’t get the woman.
Beware the moors
[1] https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jimmybuffett/frankandlola.html
[2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082089/
[3] https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-body-heat-1981
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/25/movies/film-view-the-pleasures-of-body-heat.html
[5] https://www.cssd.ac.uk/content/high-profile-alumni (Archve)
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