On The Art Of Keeping Your Head Down-Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman’s WUSA

DVD Review

From The Pen Of Sam Lowell

WUSA, starring Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Anthony Perkins, 1970

Sometimes films give a slice of life at a certain period in history and don’t age well like the black and white films from the 1950s that dealt with the Cold War and you could almost feel the frost then (and the menace behind that frost if it defrosted and somebody let the big one go off, the big one then as now be a nuclear weapon or weapons). Now the younger generation, hell, maybe even some of us of the older generation who have forgotten, wonder what all the fuss was about as they deal with the age of up front and on-going wars on terror. Other films like the one under review, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman’s WUSA while clearly of certain period, in this case the later 1960s, have subject matter that could be hot off the current presses (or whatever alternative social media people are tuned into for their information these days). The subject matter here (beyond the question of keeping one’s head down when a struggle is brewing, an eternal and controversial theme) is the relationship between the media represented by the WUSA radio station of the story and various right-wing causes, conspiracies and plots.

Here is the way this one plays out. Rheinhardt, played by Paul Newman, is guy on the drift, just going along to get along, who winds up by the force of his personality getting a job as an announcer at WUSA in New Orleans. That personality, or an aspect of it allowed him to move up the corporate food change even though he disagreed with the right-wing drift of the politics and ownership of the radio station. Along the way, as drifters will do since they play the edges of society rather closely, he meets a heart of gold independent hooker who has been around the block a few times, Geraldine, played by Joanne Woodward, and they eventually get under the sheets before long and thereafter wind up playing house together. (As an aside the chemistry between Woodward and Newman here is palpable unlike some other films they played in together.) Part of “playing house” happened when they rent an apartment in a building which spoke of some 1960s counter-culture madness along the fringes of Bourbon Street but more importantly meet a fellow tenant, Rainey, played by Anthony Perkins who had finally gotten over his Psycho fixations, an idealistic guy who was working some social betterment program for the black community of New Orleans.

As Rainey finds out along the way, finds out the hard way, he is a small cog, even if unintentional on his part, of the owner of WUSA and of his plan to unleash some kind of race riot on the way to attempt to overthrow the government on the backs of the white rednecks and cranks who listen to the words put out by WUSA which is like music to their deeply resentful ears. Sound familiar. Through all of this, or almost all of this, Rheinhardt is going along, troubled a bit maybe, but keeping his head down to keep his job.

Then “judgment day” comes. The owner of WUSA and his pals stage a rally in order to rile up the brethren. Rainey who now is wise to the purposes he was used for decides to take matters in hand and tries to kill the owner during the rally. Pandemonium ensues. Then old head down Rheinhardt got “religion,” a little, decided to rock the boat and break from his keeping his head down world, although in the end he only loses his job and is on the bum again. But not everybody is a survivor. Geraldine is caught up in the melee of the rally holding some dope and is arrested and jailed. In jail, facing who knows what, this delicate world wary flower, commits suicide. Rheinhardt is saddened by the event but you know some guys are organically incapable of not keeping their heads down, at least for long, and he will go on somewhere else. That is an eternal problem. Yeah, this one is a slice of life one with a message for today.