C.C. & Company (1970)

Director: Seymour Robbie

Writer: Roger Smith

Composer: Lenny Stack

Starring: Joe Namath, Ann-Margret, William Smith, Jennifer Billingsely, Mike Battle, Greg Mullavey, Teda Bracci, Don Chastain, Sid Haig, Bruce Glover, Wayne Cochran

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Loving, brawling and bustin' it up

Plot: Motorcycle mechanic C.C. Ryder joins "The Heads," an outlaw biker gang. Fellow gang members menace fashion journalist Ann when her limo breaks down in the desert, but C.C. comes to her rescue. The bikers disrupt a motorcross event tied in with a fashion shoot, but C.C. enters the competition under Ann's admiring eye. His win puts him at odds with Moon, leader of "The Heads." When C.C. leaves with his cut of the purse, the bikers kidnap Ann, and C.C. races Moon to win her freedom.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This middle of the road biker flick might surprise you.  The cast is great.  Joe Namaths Oscar-studded career began in 1970 with this film along with NORWOOD.  He's good.  I mean I'm not going to pretend he's great but he's a natural at this.  He was a famous football player prior to this and it's possible he had a side hobby acting in local Shakespeare troupes but he does a fine job in this picture.  Ann-Margaret is as scrummy as always and she brings an unexpected movie star boost with her ample acting chops (and speaking of ample, you see 'em).  Then there's the always fantastic William Smith who not only brings the guns but he's the whole fucking gun show!

Man, that guy had an amazing physique back then!  Naturally, he's the heavy and as always, he's great at it.  As a side note, I know this is a movie because there's no way Joe Namath would ever win in a fight with William Smith.  Smith was Conan the Barbarian's father for fuck's sake!  The plot is by the numbers but the likability of Namath combined with the bright and sensual personality of Ann-Margret and the badassicity of Smith makes for a reasonably entertaining movie.  Oh, and fans of Sid Haig and Bruce Glover will be sad to know that they're barely in the movie despite being in Smith's motorcycle gang.  It'd make for a fun Saturday night at the drive-in.  I've never heard of director Robbie before and I don't feel ashamed about it.  This is only his first feature and he made two of them.  He did have an amazing forty year career as a TV director with over 80 different shows and hundreds of episodes.  The picture was written by Roger Smith who wasn't known as a writer but as an actor, most notably starring in 77 SUNSET STRIP (1958-1963) and later as the title character in MISTER ROBERTS (1965-1966).