Synanon (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Oct 22, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Richard CrineRelease Date(s)
1965 (August 28, 2024)Studio(s)
Columbia Pictures (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: C+
- Video Grade: B+
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: D-
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free Australian Blu-ray import.]
Synanon was founded in 1958 as a residential drug rehabilitation clinic in Santa Monica, California, that combined group truth-telling sessions with assigned jobs to develop personal responsibility. The organization’s cult-like psychological manipulation and coercive tactics ultimately caused a good deal of controversy. As of 1991, it ceased to exist in the United States. The 1965 film Synanon portrays its founder, Charles “Chuck” Dederich, played by (Edmond O’Brien, D.O.A.), as a self-sacrificing hero and his program as considerably more successful than it turned out to be.
Heroin addict Zankie Albo (Alex Cord, The Brotherhood) wanders the streets of Santa Monica, California, suffering withdrawal but with no money for another fix. Desperate, he dashes into Synanon House and is taken in. After a few days, his withdrawal symptoms subside and he realizes that he’s inadvertently started on a path to recovery.
Zankie meets the other members of Synanon, substance abusers of all kinds. Joaney (Stella Stevens, The Nutty Professor) is close to a year sober. Ben (Chuck Connors, Move Over, Darling) spent time in jail with Zankie and an incident back in jail has created bad blood between them. Betty (Eartha Kitt, Anna Lucasta), is three years sober and has taken on a mentorship role in addition to a job as Chuck’s secretary. Reid (Richard Conte, The Godfather) serves as Chuck’s right hand man.
Several individual stories unfold, with the major focus on Zankie. The residents struggle to remain sober with a strong support team behind them, but the lure of drugs is strong and they count their success in days. The primary conflict is between Zankie and Ben, with Ben doing his best to restrain himself and not let his emotions dictate his behavior. We see how hard it is for him to control himself when he’s provoked verbally and physically by Zankie.
O’Brien is a force to be reckoned with as the totally dedicated Chuck. O’Brien’s imposing physical presence and muscular line delivery emphasize that his Chuck is tough, unflinching, and unsentimental as he metes out justice to those who have broken the program’s rules. Chuck is determined to make Synanon a success. Under pressure from the state and the media, he will do anything necessary for the program to survive.
As Betty, Eartha Kitt delivers a quietly emotional dramatic monologue early in the film but otherwise is sadly underused. She pops up once in a while, mostly behind a typewriter, with a brief line or two when focus is on other characters. It would have been nice to learn more of Betty’s backstory.
The script by Ian Bernard and Lee Pogostin portrays sobriety as the hard-won prize at Synanon. The characters all struggle, sometimes falling off the wagon and resorting to self-destructive behaviors, but Synanon won’t easily give up on them. The world of the residents is strictly limited. Each person has duties to keep them busy, they attend group sessions to talk about their struggles, and they more or less support one another. Protected from the world outside its walls, the residents have hope for a better future.
The controversy over Synanon is barely addressed in the film. Described once as a dangerous, violent cult, it was disbanded in 1991 after several members were convicted of financial misdeeds. The term “Synanon” may have been a portmanteau of “symposium” and “anonymous.” Members were controlled by the “Game,” a supposedly group therapy session used as a therapeutic tool but criticized as a form of breaking down individual will. In the 1970s, more extreme measures were put into place: women were required to shave their heads; married couples were forced to break up and take new partners; men were forced to have vasectomies; and pregnant women were forced to have abortions.
Synanon was filmed at the actual Synanon facility in Santa Monica and offers a view of the area in the mid-1960s, with shots of various Santa Monica locations. For its time, the film is grimly candid. One character injects drugs into his arm. Another turns tricks to feed her habit. And one character, discovered chugging cough syrup, is blackmailed by another resident to share the forbidden substance. The black & white photography gives the film a documentary feel.
Synanon was shot by director of photography Harry Stradling on black & white 35 mm film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Via Vision Entertainment features a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, representing the BD debut of the film. Looking pretty good overall, the print does show a few light scratches and embedded dirt specks. Some of Harry Stradling’s cinematography has a noir quality, which works well for the film’s gritty subject matter.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 LPCM. English SDH subtitles are an available option. Dialogue is clear and distinct. When Zankie first enters Synanon House, his speech is slurred and somewhat garbled. Neal Hefi’s jazz score is a perfect accompaniment to the action, as it suggests the tension under which the residents live on a daily basis. It also is spare and minimal, mirroring the lives of the recovering addicts.
There’s only one extra on the Region-Free Blu-ray release from Imprint Films:
- Theatrical Trailer (2:58)
In 1955, Hollywood produced The Man with the Golden Arm, a picture about a junkie starring Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak. Synanon, made ten years later, lacks stars of that caliber. It’s similarly candid about drug addiction, with graphic scenes that likely shocked audiences when first released, but is undermined by a preachy manner, cliches about drug addicts and the largely uncritical view of Synanon’s methods. That the film fails to get into the program’s controversies diminishes its impact. A featurette on the actual history of Synanon would have been a welcome supplement.
- Dennis Seuling