Like Some Surreal Occurrence, ‘The Plot Against Harry’ Appears Again

Harry Plotnick — what a punim. With that sheepish smile, eyelids at perpetual half-mast, and air of unceasing befuddlement, Harry is among the most lovable schlemiels in cinema history. As portrayed by Martin Priest in Michael Roemer’s “The Plot Against Harry” (1971), he’s the perfect embodiment of a man whose professional station is proving increasingly untenable. Life, he discovers, isn’t a complete boondoggle, but neither is it all that it’s cracked up to be.Film Forum is hosting a two-week run of Mr. Roemer’s one-of-a-kind shaggy dog story, a tale of absurdist woe that would’ve struck a chord with Sholom Aleichem, Franz Kafka, and, for that matter, anyone who has stood in line at the DMV. Moral lessons are arrived at through bone-wearying tribulations, obstacles that come in through the back door, and a sense that duty can seem like the most thankless of endeavors. Oh, and “The Plot Against Harry” is very funny.Mr. Roemer made his on-the-cheap slice of life in 1968, filmed it in black-and-white, and hired, for the most part, non-professional actors. Distributors didn’t know what to make of the movie. It played for one week at Seattle in 1971, and then — nothing. Two decades later, Mr. Roemer hired a technician to transfer the film onto tape so that he could show it to his children. The guy at the controls began laughing as the picture commenced. Could Mr. Roemer’s ill-fated venture find a new life?“The Plot Against Harry” was subsequently re-released and wound up on the docket of prestigious film festivals the world over. It was met with audience enthusiasm and almost uniform critical plaudits. In a 1990 interview with the New York Times, Mr. Roemer likened the circuitous and improbable adventures of Harry Plotnick to “Alice in Wonderland.” It must have occurred to Mr. Roemer that the analogy holds equally true for himself and his “out of joint” masterwork.Who is Harry Plotnick? He’s a low-level gangster who’s just finished a nine-month stint in the penitentiary. Harry is picked up at the prison gates by his loyal chauffeur Max (Henry Nemo), and after some nervous kibitzing they’re off to the old neighborhood — the numbers business waits for no man. Still, maintaining the rackets is proving to be vexatious. When Harry has difficulty communicating with his Spanish-speaking aides-de-camp, he has to enlist the skills of a Chinese restaurateur to translate. Then there’s the African-American attache who’s making inroads on Harry’s turf with the blessing of the mob. What gives?That New York City doesn’t sleep, we know about, but neither does it sit and play nice. After an obligatory visit with his sister at a less-than-deluxe spa, Harry takes over driving duties from Max. After getting cut off by a car, Harry plays chicken with the driver and causes a crash. As it turns out, the other party is his brother-in-law Leo (Ben Lang in an indelible performance) and ex-wife Kay (a stately Maxine Woods). Among the other passengers is Margie (Sandra Kazan), the grown daughter Harry never knew he had. Priest’s blinking response to the news is worthy of Stan Laurel at his most befuddled.Mr. Roemer’s film is a picaresque that schlumps along from one underplayed catastrophic event to another. Harry buys into Leo’s catering business; meets a lingerie model who’s yet another daughter he never knew about; runs afoul of his probation officer, his lawyer, and his mistress; attempts to make inroads into middle-class respectability; and joins the Mystic Knights of the Sojourners, a charitable organization whose members wear silly costumes and risk having their “hearts ripped out by vultures” should they stray from a virtuous path.Trust me, there’s more: a Senate subcommittee looking into organized crime, as well as Harry’s bum ticker. Should that all sound like more tsuris than any one movie can handle, rest assured that Mr. Roemer brings a steady rhythm to the proceedings, maintaining a lovely deadpan throughout. The laughs are generated by character and circumstance and build as the storyline becomes increasingly Byzantine. The plot, such as it is, culminates with a wedding overseen by the irrepressible Leo. The absence of laughter that Mr. Roemer rued upon the film’s initial release won’t, I guarantee, be a marker of the Film Forum revival. “The Plot Against Harry” is worth relishing.

Like Some Surreal Occurrence, ‘The Plot Against Harry’ Appears Again

Like Some Surreal Occurrence, ‘The Plot Against Harry’ Appears Again

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