Alan Arkin

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!

When I was a kid, the Pink Panther films seemed to be regulars on the television. Not quite as ubiquitous as Bond or the Carry Ons, but probably not far behind. As a result I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know of Inspector Clouseau of the Sûreté, a clumsy comedy incompetent with an amusing French parody of an accent. I even have a distinct memory of one of the films being on when I was very young, and Sellars getting attacked by his assistant Cato (Burt Kwok playing a lazy Orientalist stereotype of a martial artist a world away from the characters in Julie’s post last week). Seeing the obvious shock and distress in my face, it was patiently explained to me that Clouseau paid his assistant to attack him at random times, to make sure he was always ready. I seemed to find this incredibly reassuring.

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Each Friday we travel back in time, one year at a time, for a look at some of the cultural goodies that may appear closer than they really are in The Rear-View Mirror. Join us on our weekly journey into the past!

Nobody understands the confidence game better than David Mamet. His movies, most of all his debut House of Games (1989), show you in great detail how his con men entrap, use and manipulate their victims for money, influence, sex, or all of the above. His take on the long con is so simple that he is a playwright first and a moviemaker second; his games only need a stage and a few props. He often enlisted the late Ricky Jay, who was a magician first and an actor second. It’s also proof that more complex things are going on than meet the eye, but the con very often happens in plain sight. The point of any confidence game is this: “It’s called a confidence game. Why? Because you give me your confidence? No. Because I give you mine.” It’s the perpetrator’s choice, and the victim is hopelessly trapped. Some characters know what is happening to them, but can’t do anything about it. Others simply have no clue. There is a cruel purity to such a concept.

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