Hail (1972)

Director: Fred Levinson

Writers: Phil Dusenberry, Larry Spiegel

Composer: Trade Martin

Starring: Dan Resin, Richard B. Shull, Dick O'Neill, Joseph Sirola, Pat Ripley, Gary Sandy, Willard Waterman, K Callan, Constance Forslund, Phil Foster

More info: IMDb

Tagline: He was only President of the United States. But he planned to work his way up.

Plot: A presidential advisor discovers that the President has assembled a secret army of vigilantes to suppress dissent and is setting up concentration camps in which to imprison protesters, hippies and other "social undesirables."

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  Nope.

Don't you hate it when you watch a comedy and you don't laugh?  This picture probably looked a lot better on paper.  I get the satire and the attempt at humor but the jokes either don't land because there were only funny ideas or they weren't executed well enough.  Hell, or maybe I'm just not digging it. I think there's some good social commentary going on here but it just didn't work as a comedy.  The selection of the cabinet posts by numbered gumballs in a gumball machine was mildly amusing.  And then there's this one sequence where the military/police kill a bunch of hippies camped out in the woods.  That was a horrific moment which felt like it was there to hammer in the harsh reality of what the President was trying to achieve.  I'll say this much, though, the ending was fantastic.  This was made before the events of Watergate so that gives the film even more weight for what they were aiming for.  The President in this film echoes Nixon.  For that it gets points.  I don't know at what point it was publicly known that Nixon had it in for the hippies and protesters like the President in this film but I'm sure Nixon entertained the idea of locking them up in camps or having them put down.  Or maybe not.  When I popped it in to watch I was hoping for some political humor.  With the way things are going in this country right now I could sure use a laugh.

The Deserter (1971)

AKA: The Devil's Backbone

Director: Burt Kennedy

Writers: Stuart J. Byrne, William H. James, Massimo D'Avak, Clair Huffaker

Composer: Piero Piccioni

Starring: Bekim Fehmiu, Richard Crenna, Chuck Connors, Ricardo Montalban, Ian Bannen, Brandon De Wilde, Slim Pickens, Woody Strode, Albert Salmi, Patrick Wayne, Fausto Tozzi, John Huston

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Deserter and his blood bath brigade -- they drenched the west with terror!

Plot: Army deserter Capt. Viktor Kaleb is offered a pardon and reinstatement in the cavalry if he agrees to lead a special forces group in a raid against an Apache stronghold into Mexico.

My Rating:

Will I watch it again?  No.

Watch this just for the cast alone.  It's a great mix of known actors and it's a hoot seeing them all in one picture.  Huston has such a commanding presence that he owns every scene he's in, and when he's given some badass lines, he delivers them with the conviction of a man who's used to getting what he wants.  I really dig that almost everyone hates Kaleb (Fehmiu), who couldn't care less except that he expects everyone to do their job and to keep away from endangering the group.  The story is OK to a point until you realize that the bad guy, Apache Chief Mangus Durango (Palmara), is nothing more than a reason for these men to go on their mission.  Durango is seen briefly and he doesn't even have any lines.  He's the McGuffin.  The movie is all about Kaleb and his men on their journey.  There are some really neat set pieces where good men die and it's not something that's taken lightly (not always) and some of the deaths have weight.  It's nice to see something so harsh taken seriously by the filmmakers.  Piccioni's score even echoes that by keeping the music grounded in reality.  It's not typical Western music and it's very dramatic and brooding.  The print I saw was a decent widescreen image but it's not close to what you'd see in a proper DVD release.  If I came across one then I'd be inclined to give this one another go in a few years but then there are thousands of movies I've yet to get to.

Beyond Reason (1977)

Director: Telly Savalas

Writer: Telly Savalas

Composer: Robert Randles

Starring: Telly Savalas, Laura Johnson, Diana Muldaur, Marvin Laird, Bob Basso, Priscilla Barnes, Walter Brooke, Barney Phillips, Douglas Dirkson

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  On the fine line of madness.

Plot: A seemingly succesful psychiatrist begins to lose his grip on reality, and embarks on an affair with a patient.

My rating:  5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I think what attracted me to watch this was that it was written, directed and starred Telly Savalas.  I dig the guy and all but the film is quite dull.  It's not until the last half hour or more that it gets interesting enough that I thought it would pay off in a way that would justify the deliberately slow pace of the first hour.  It didn't but it came within striking distance.  Maybe I was hoping for something more radical and off the charts.  Some of the acting is mediocre at best.  Savalas does a good job for the most part.  He'd better.  It's his baby all the way through.  Being how it was made in the 70s I had higher expectations.  

Madigan (1968)

Director: Don Siegel

Writers: Howard Rodman, Abraham Polonsky, Richard Dougherty

Composer: Don Costa

Starring: Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Harry Guardino, James Whitmore, Susan Clark, Michael Dunn, Steve Ihnat, Don Stroud, Sheree North, Warren Stevens, Raymond St. Jacques, Bert Freed, Conrad Bain

More info: IMDb

Tagline: "If Detective Madigan kept his eyes on the killer instead of the broad..."

Plot: In New York City's Spanish Harlem, detectives Madigan and Bonaro are given 72 hours by their superior to capture a hoodlum wanted for homicide in Brooklyn.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This would be a much better picture if it weren't for spending so much time on the home lives of Madigan (Widmark) and Commissioner Russell (Fonda).  My interest in the crime drama aspect came to a screeching halt when both of them are at home trying to work things out with their spouses.  It's downright boring.  I like Fonda but in this picture he plays yet another professional man who is good at what he does but he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and he delivers his lines with such frustration that you wonder why the hell he's still in the job.  I swear I've seen him play that in a dozen films.  The cast does very well but it's Widmark and Guardino (who plays his detective partner, Rocco Bonaro).  The film works best when it is focused on the two detectives and it fails most when it doesn't.  

The Happening (1967)

Director: Elliot Silverstein

Writers: Frank Pierson, James D. Buchanan, Ronald Austin

Composer: Frank De Vol

Starring: Anthony Quinn, George Maharis, Michael Parks, Robert Walker Jr., Martha Hyer, Faye Dunaway, Milton Berle, Oskar Homolka, Jack Kruschen, Clifton James, Eugene Roche, James Randolph Kuhl, Luke Askew

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Most Fantastic $3,000,000 Caper That Ever Happened!

Plot: A few hippies "go with the flow" and end up kidnapping a retired Mafia kingpin.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again?  Nope.

This probably sounded a lot better on paper.  The problem is in the execution.  The comedy is wacky, broad and obnoxious.  The "hippies" are obnoxious and mostly over acted.  I think they were going for zany.  The music certainly echoes that vibe.  Hell, even the car ride back to the swamp shack after the big score has all of that along with some crazy camera angles like you'd see in the '66 BATMAN show.  Quinn comes off the best and he's playing it straight.  It's actually kind of sad when he discovers that he's been living a lie for years where his wife and friends are concerned.  What ruins it is the comedic music and the kids being obnoxious.  There are moments when this picture turns serious and it rarely works because of the forced humor and the mishandled tone of the film.  The story is fine, it's whats on screen that hurts.  This picture could go full on comedy and work or it could work well as a really good crime drama but it fails on both counts.  The only time I laughed was at the The Inspector (Kruschen).  He had that Lee J. Cobb thing going on where he's frustrated and the people around him aren't helping matters.  It was wild seeing a very young Michael Parks and with blonde hair.  I'd say skip this one but there is enough with the cast that it's easy to let your curiosity get the best of you.  The Supremes sing the title song.

Manbeast! Myth or Monster? (1978)

Director: Nicholas Webster

Writer: Nicholas Webster

Composer: William Goldstein

Starring: Peter C. Byrne, Don Hood, Judy Langford

More info: IMDb

Plot: A documentary that explores the existence of Bigfoot, the Yeti and other legendary humanoid-type creatures.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Brought to you from the man behind SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964) comes yet another documentary from the 70s about the legend of Bigfoot/Yeti and the men and women who spend way too much time looking for something that doesn't exist.  OK, so we haven't found any solid evidence so it doesn't exist until someone finds one and that's not going to happen.  Now that doesn't mean that it's not fun to think about.  It would be super cooler than hell if one of them sumbitches turned up.  Growing up in the 70s I'd see these type of documentaries on TV and then in '77 IN SEARCH OF... , the great TV series hosted by Leonard Nimoy, hit the airwaves.  I ate that shit up.  Years later I came to learn that there's a lot of bunk out there and I started using my brain to question what was real and what wasn't.  I still enjoy watching those 70s documentaries on mysteries and supernatural stuff if for nostalgia than anything else.  In some ways this film is well made with lots of forest footage.  Of course they recreate what they think the creatures look like and how they behave along with recreating accounts by those who claim to have either seen or heard these things. The problem is, and this is by no fault of the filmmakers, that some of its effectiveness is lost when you've seen a few of these and you've seen more entertaining ones at that.  This one isn't as exploitationy or outrageous like some so it's more grounded.  If that's how you like your Bigfoot docs then check this one out.  And how about the curves on Bigfoot's squeeze?

The Glass Key (1935)

Director: Frank Tuttle

Writers: Dashiell Hammett, Kathryn Scola, Kubec Galsmon

Composers: John Leipold, Heinz Roemheld, Tom Satterfield

Starring: George Raft, Edward Arnold, Claire Dodd, Rosalind Keith, Charles Richman, Robert Gleckler, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, Ray Milland, Tammany Young, Harry Tyler, Charles C. Wilson, Emma Dunn, Matt McHugh, Pat Moriarity, Mack Gray, Ann Sheridan, George Reed

More info: IMDb

Plot: Ed Beaumont is the personal friend, advisor and bodyguard to Paul Madvig, the political boss of a large city. When a mysterious murder is committed---the son of a Madvig political opponent---Madvig's enemies try to pin the crime on him because he is waging a clean-up campaign they oppose. Ed risks his life and his reputation to find the killer and clear his friend.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not.

This one took me off guard and boy am I glad it did.  I thought for sure I knew who killed Taylor.  Thinking that opened up all kinds of nasty consequences for a couple of the players but I'm pleased it was something different.  I like surprises.  Raft is great as the man who tries to put the pieces together.  His motives seem to change and you're not quite sure where he stands and that's all part of the fun.  He does a fine job but his shoulders look unusually stiff.  Is that his style or was he not all that good of an actor to use his entire body?  Beats me.  He comes across best when he's cheerful.  He's not smiling much in this one, though.  The stunt work is very good, too.  A German shepherd jumps on Raft's back and it's fast and badass.  Later Raft is escaping out of window two or three floors up and falls and it's harrowing.  The last twenty or so minutes are great all the way up to discovering the truth and the final gag which leaves all of the actors smiling and laughing.   Look for future star Ann Sheridan in a small role as a no-nonsense, smart-talkin' nurse.