Forgotten film Chameleon Street sees a 4K restoration, at The Cinematheque starting February 4
Indie find riffs stylishly on the exploits of a Michigan con man
The Cinematheque screens Chameleon Street on February 4, 5, 7, and 9
WENDELL B. HARRIS Jr.’s Chameleon Street won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1990, then promptly fell into oblivion.
Now the breathlessly paced film based on the exploits of Michigan con man Douglas Street is being resurrected in a crisp new 4K restoration—and proving itself a timely look at race and class in America.
Harris writes, directs, and stars as the fast-talking, mellifluously-voiced central con artist, posing as a Harvard-educated surgeon, a lawyer, a Time reporter, and a French exchange scholar (get a load of his accent). Throughout his exploits, his Doug Street provides wry and witty voice-over narration.
What makes this indie achievement important, other than the magnetic and truly chameleon-like Harris, is what it says about this character who’s clearly always the smartest one in the room (never more so than in a priceless scene of a lunch with lawyers). Because of his race and status, Chameleon Street seems to suggest, Street may have nowhere to channel his intelligence other than a series of elaborate con jobs. At the same time, he’s adept at playing white targets who don’t want to be seen as racist or less suave than him.
That makes Chameleon Street much more complex than another Catch Me If You Can or Talented Mr. Ripley. Plus, the flick has low-budget style to burn, and Harris Jr.'s delivery of such classic lines as "I think therefore I scam" are pretty much worth the price of admission.
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