FORGOTTEN FILM: THE TIGER MAKES OUT (1967)

THE TIGER MAKES out is a very rarely shown 1967 film that recently aired on TCM.

The film is about a man, Eli Wallach, who lives alone in the basement / storage room of an apartment building. Angry at the world, and the dumbing down of society around him, he spends his days as a mailman. He finally decides to do something. He ends up kidnapping Anne Jackson, a bored housewife who sees the world as Wallach does.

Directed by Arthur Hiller, it was written by Murray Schisgal (based on his own play). The film's stage roots are evident in a lot of dialogue. Much of the film is made up of Wallach walking the streets of New York, muttering to himself.

There are moments of comedy. One scene, with a suburban family obsessively searching a lawn for crabgrass is near classic. Charles Nelson Reilly has a bit as a college Registrar. But a lot of it, especially its reliance on speeding up the film to make something funny, is a bit dated. Also, once Wallach kidnaps Jackson, the film grinds to a halt.

And, lets be honest. In today’s day and age, is a film about a deranged loner kidnapping women all that funny? It isn't.

This was the film debut of Dustin Hoffman. He only has one scene (and incidentally, Schisgal was an early writer of TOOTSIE before Larry Gelbart).

Released by Columbia, the film is with Sony. Sadly, they have slowed down their DVD output of late. This was its first TCM airing in quite a while so that may be the only way to see it.