Forgotten Film Friday (on a Sunday): The Public Eye

A retrospective by Brooks Rich

Joe Pesci is Leon "Bernzy" Bernstein, a freelance photographer in 1940s New York. He is known for out scooping the competition and always finding the perfect shot, especially murder scenes. Night club owner Kay (Barbara Hershey) asks him to look into a man who has been hustling her for money. Bernzy is soon involved in a murder plot with ties to the mob and gas prices.

This was Pesci's first leading role since winning the Academy Award for playing Tommy in Goodfellas. It was an attempt to captizilaie on his fame from Goodfellas. Sadly for Pesci and writer/director Howard Franklin the film was a commercial bomb. It only returned about three million of it's fifteen million dollar budget. This is truly a forgotten film as honestly I only saw it for the first time recently.

Sometimes I will watch an obscure movie to see if it is worth covering as a forgotten film. I have seen plenty of unknown films I didn't think were worth being feature. The Public Eye is not one of them. I really think this is a lost gem. It's no undiscovered masterpiece but I think it's worth a watch. There's a lot working for it, not the least of it being the story. It's a good solid noir like story. Maybe a little formulaic but it works.

Pesci is the main reason to see this movie. He really is one of our best actors. Pesci in Scorsese films is one thing. Tommy in Goodfellas and Nicky in Casino are larger than life psychopaths. They highlight how aggressive Pesci could be on film. But this film showcases the more reserved Pesci. This movie would not work at all without him. He knows exactly how to play this guy. Besides Pesci the other reason to see this movie is Howard Franklin. He wrote a solid script, loosely based off real life photographer Arthur "Weegee" Felig. Like Bernzy the guy had a knack for getting the right photo at the right time.

Again this is not some long lost classic. Casablanca it is not. But it is a solid film and comes in at a brisk hour and thirty-nine minutes. Give it a watch.

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