Cinderella Liberty (1973)

Directed by Mark Rydell. Starring James Caan, Marsha Mason, Kirk Calloway, Eli Wallach, Bruno Kirby, Burt Young. [R]

Sentimental story of a sailor (Caan) stuck in Seattle after the naval base loses his records. He spends the night with a pool-playing hooker (Mason) and ends up liking her, and really liking her illegitimate mixed-race son (Calloway). From a novel by Darryl Ponicsan, whose “The Last Detail” (also about sailors on liberty) served as the basis for a movie released just days before this one, but Liberty has much less humor and more conventional archetypes and relationships. The obstacles and issues are a mound of easily-digested (and solved) clichés—even getting trapped by bureaucratic headaches is a means to an end for the sailor to be encouraged to involve himself in the lives of prostitute & progeny—and no one seems willing to honestly confront what’s in front of them. Caan bristles with irritability, but mostly plays the sailor as a sincere goody-two-shoes, and he has a livelier rapport with the kid than the woman; said woman is piloted by the screenplay more than the actress, although when riding that line between world-weary cynic and faded romantic, Mason’s work is effective. Since its dramatic contrivances operate like a pop-up arcade game, with each problem arriving at a quick temporary solution only to get defeated by the cold hand of reality, it’s a discouraging surprise at the very end when it lurches into fantasy for an undeserved optimistic close. Title refers to Caan’s “limbo” situation—he’s given a liberty pass for the day, but he must report back to the base by midnight. Music by John Williams, which includes a couple of pieces with Paul Williams vocals: “Wednesday Special” and “Nice to Be Around”.

49/100