They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Actor Michael Sarrazin Dies at 70

Michael Sarrazin, the actor best known for his role in the dance marathon epic They Shoot Horses, Don't They? with Jane Fonda -- as well as for turns in The Flim-Flam Man with George C. Scott, For Pete's Sake with Barbra Streisand, The Sweet Ride with longtime girlfriend Jacqueline Bisset, and the TV movie Frankenstein: A True Story -- died in a Montreal hospital at age 70 after a short bout with cancer. In tribute, let's revisit his greatest film scene.

I work at Movieline, so I should be awed and inspired by classic movies continuously, but They Shoot Horses, Don't They is one of the few unbelievable films I've ever seen. While 1969 yielded other flicks that ushered in the artful darkness of the '70s (like the now-dated Midnight Cowboy, which was supposed to star Sarrazin, not Jon Voight, until contractual obligations forced him out), They Shoot Horses, Don't They holds up like no other movie of the time.

If Network predicted the ruthless inhumanity that dominates reality programming and some forms of TV news, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? foreshadowed Network; the Sydney Pollack film's macabre dialogue, spitfire cynicism, and meditation on the spectacle of despair are unflinching and unforgiving. Horses even throws in a deeply depressing sentiment about the human condition's Sisyphean struggle against modern times! Take that, Howard Beale. Sarrazin, who plays Jane Fonda's partner in a hellish, month-long dance marathon, is perfect as the failed director who needs the contest's $1,500 prize to survive. With the possible exception of The China Syndrome, I'd say this is also Jane Fonda's best film.

We can argue the heavy-handedness with which Horses makes its final point, but the throbbing misery of the competition scenes, like the one embedded below with Oscar-winner Gig Young as the horrifying barker, are undeniable. Enjoy, if that's the word.