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Synopsis:
A poor co-ed (June Allyson) falls for her college’s football hero (Peter Lawford), but a scheming, self-absorbed gold digger (Patricia Marshall) is determined to snag Lawford for herself.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• College
• Gold Diggers
• June Allyson Films
• Musicals
• Peter Lawford Films
• Romantic Comedy

Review:
This MGM musical — the first directorial effort of Charles Walters, who went on to helm Easter Parade (1948), The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), Summer Stock (1950), Lili (1953), and High Society (1956) — is the second cinematic adaptation of the similarly-titled 1927 Broadway musical. It’s pure fluff all the way, with a comedically villainous gold digger (Marshall) so in love with herself she intones, “You wonderful creature” while gazing in the mirror:

… and a clueless football star who falls for Allyson while she’s tutoring him in French, invites her to the Prom:

… then promptly reneges on his invitation once Marshall comes prancing back into his life:

Will Allyson forgive Lawson — and should she, really? It matters not a whit, given it’s the songs and dances here that hold front and center:

— though they’re not nearly enough to elevate this silly stock musical to anything other than a mildly nostalgic diversion (one which post-WWII audiences were surely eager to lap up).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Allyson and Lawford performing “The French Lesson”
  
• Vibrant Technicolor cinematography and sets
  
  

Must See?
No; you can definitely skip this one.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Savant Review
• TV Guide Review

Synopsis:
Bette Midler and her three Harlettes — Ula Hedwig, Diva Gray, and Jocelyn Brown — perform musical and comedic routines in Pasadena, California.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Concert Films
• Michael Ritchie Films
• Stand Up Comedy

Review:
Shortly after her Oscar-nominated breakthrough role in The Rose (1979), Bette Midler was filmed (by director Michael Ritchie) performing a live mixture of music and comedy at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. As noted in TCM’s article:

While the film appears to be an entire evening’s performance, it was actually made up of the best segments from four nights of Midler’s engagement at the Civic Auditorium from February 13 – February 16, 1980, captured by ten cameras shooting more than 1.5 million feet of film, and edited together seamlessly over seven months.

Midler’s material is hit-or-miss, and shifts gears quickly. While Midler herself is 110% invested — she knows her audience, and gives everything she’s got — your own enjoyment of the show will depend entirely on how much you appreciate her unique style of raunchy humor and pathos.

It’s not really my cup of tea, but I can see how this would be an invaluable living document for fans of “The Divine Miss M”.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Midler’s obvious joy for her craft
  
• Midler singing “The Rose”
  

Must See?
No, unless you’re a Midler fan. Listed as a Cult Movie in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Roger Ebert Review
• Time Out Capsule Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
Jimi Hendrix performs in Berkeley, California while counter-culture protests occur on the streets.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Concert Films

Review:
This one-time midnight movie features Jimi Hendrix — the highest paid rock musician in the world in 1969 — performing in Berkeley, California four months before his death by overdose at the age of 27. While many viewers have complained about the cinema verite style of this film, arguing that his songs are too chopped up and edited to appreciate in their entirety, I think that’s exactly the point: Hendrix was a cubist musician, a guitarist who could riff on a theme or chord or musical idea until he’d gone as far as he wanted to, then cleanly return to the melody without error — just as the directors and editors here cut across their footage at will while retaining a cohesive whole of sorts.

The film opens with Jimi riding to his venue while an unseen commentator describes him as someone who lives for his music, and feels his audiences deeply.

“He feels things from audiences. Like, one gig in L.A. he just split in the middle of it because the people weren’t receptive. And then a couple of days later, he came back and he did a free thing — got up and jammed all afternoon; it was beautiful.”

Next we’re shown footage of peaceful protesters in Berkeley refusing to pay $3.50 to see Woodstock (1970) — a film, one argues, that they (the people) made.

But the bulk of the short documentary consists of Jimi playing, once even using his teeth (his virtuosity here must be seen to be believed):

In between, we see footage of increasingly violent protests taking place across the city:

… but we return again and again to Jimi himself on stage:

… cross-cut with audience reactions, including these two impossibly-young-seeming front-row fans:

Film fanatics with a particular interest in Hendrix will surely want to check this concert movie out, though others may be content simply to see his iconic performances in Monterey Pop (1968) or Woodstock (1970).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Many close-up shots of Jimi’s inimitable performance style
  

Must See?
No, though it’s certainly worth a look and a listen for its historical relevance. Listed as a Cult Movie in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Spinning Image Review
• Entertainment Weekly Review

Synopsis:
When a hitchhiker (Leon Isaac Kennedy) gets involved with a prostitute (Hazel Spears) who inadvertently sends him to prison, he must deal with a sadistic cellie (Badja Djola). After joining a boxing league in an attempt to earn his release, he is re-assigned to live with an aging prisoner (Floyd Chatman) whose “live and let live” goal is simply to survive.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• African Americans
• Boxing
• Prisoners

Review:
This blaxploitation film by director Jamaa Fanaka is notable as a representative flick within the genre, and for featuring a (relatively) realistic look inside mostly-black prisons of the 1970s. Kennedy’s situation of having no choice to survive other than through boxing echoes many other Hollywood films — most notably From Here to Eternity (1953) — but primarily serves as the excuse to feature seemingly countless bouts in the ring, fully sanctioned by an overweight white guard (Chuck Mitchell) who is mercifully decent towards his charges.

Thankfully, Kennedy is a determined and strong enough protagonist to manage every hurdle coming his way. Also of note is Chatman as a lifetime prisoner:

who is clearly meant to serve as a powerful and viable contrast to Kennedy’s get-out-no-matter-what-it-takes attitude; his character rings very true.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Semi-realistic footage of life inside prison
  
  

Must See?
No; you can skip this one unless you’re curious.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Time Out Capsule Review
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
After an American writer (Tony Musante) in Italy witnesses the attempted murder of a beautiful redhead (Eva Renzi) behind the glass walls of an art gallery, he and his girlfriend (Suzy Kendall) put their own lives at risk while attempting to help a police inspector (Enrico Maria Salerno) figure out who the mysterious serial killer might be.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Amateur Sleuths
• Dario Argento Films
• Horror Films
• Serial Killers

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “tricky and bloody horror-mystery” — very loosely based on the same novel that was turned into Screaming Mimi (1958) — is “stylishly directed by Dario Argento, Italy’s specialist in this kind of material.” (Other Peary-listed titles by Argento include Deep Red [1975], Suspiria [1977], and Inferno [1980].) Peary notes that The Bird With the Crystal Plumage “has some scary moments”, but argues that “perhaps the best scene is half comical, with Musante visiting an eccentric artist whose painting is the key to the mystery”.

Peary points out that the film’s “dubbing hurts” (yes, it does), and that it “should be seen in [a] theater for full effect” — though thanks to Blu-Ray technology, that’s no longer necessary. The storyline offers plenty of atmospherically filmed sequences and twists and turns, with several possible candidates for the murderer. It’s worth a look by giallo fans, though not must-see viewing for all film fanatics.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Vibrant cinematography and sets
  
  
  
• Several tensely filmed sequences
  
  

Must See?
No, though Sargento fans will of course want to check it out.

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Talk Review
• Classic Horror Review
• Roger Ebert’s Review

Synopsis:
After leaving the Air Force, a pilot (Jan-Michael Vincent) marries his sweetheart (Kay Lenz) and the couple buy a big rig — but after going to see a family friend (Slim Pickens) about work, Vincent quickly learns that the entire trucking industry is corrupt.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Corruption
• Dick Miller Films
• Revenge
• Truckers

Review:
Named for the phenomenon experienced by long-haul truckers who enter a state of “highway hypnosis” (also known as “white line fever”), this exploitation flick by writer-director Jonathan Kaplan is a disappointment on every count. After an opening musical photo montage depicting Vincent and Lenz’s happy newlywed life together — including friendship with Lenz’s older brother (Jamie Anderson) (you can tell he’s her older brother from the package below):

… Vincent and Lenz are quickly (within the first five minutes of the movie) spending money they don’t yet have to invest in a long-haul truck.

However, after going to see an old family “friend” (Slim Pickens) for work:

… Vincent is astonished — astonished! — to learn that corruption is rampant in trucking, and in order to get any jobs at all, he must be willing to transport undercover cigarette machines. Our plucky protagonist refuses even to consider this, and thus starts the remainder of his bold but tragic journey, which includes the sudden brandishing of a powerful weapon (is this considered “logical”, given his military past?):

… and an ensuing cat-and-mouse tale between The Bad White Guys in Power and righteous Vincent, helped occasionally by those “on his side” — including an older Black man (Sam Laws):

whose son disapproves of his dad being friendly with a white guy. Laws endures racist slurs hurled at him by The Bad White Guys in Power, who also happen to be sexist pigs.

Meanwhile, Lenz — who hates her factory job but doesn’t have any other training or education — glibly falsifies her resume in an attempt to get a more interesting job:

… and then we see her in a so-sad “family planning clinic” due to becoming pregnant before she and Vincent are ready to be parents. (Clearly they don’t really know the meaning of love — and the clinic doesn’t know that you can’t just cram two shorter words together to make a longer word.)

The drama continues.

(SPOILER ALERT)

After engaging in a bold top-of-truck shootout with henchmen of the Bad White Men in Power:

… Vincent is tricked into hauling a truck full of overripe avocados (worth nothing at his final destination).

He’s justifiably pissed, and the vendetta continues. Eventually he’s framed for the murder of an increasingly unsympathetic Pickens (seen here about to offer his tarty date a box of “European chocolates”):

Within the span of just a few minutes, however, Lenz (still secretly pregnant) testifies on Vincent’s behalf and saves his life.

All of this happens before Lenz gets up the courage to finally tell Vincent she’s pregnant, only to walk immediately into her bedroom and discover Laws brutally murdered on their bed.

After this, the couple is nearly burned alive in a retributive house fire:

which causes Lenz to miscarry, never able to bear children again.

(You’d be forgiven for assuming you’d dropped into a movie-length soap opera by this point. And yes, there are more details I’m not including.)

While there’s clearly a valuable story to be told about the challenges of trucking, the nobility of Standing Up to the Man, and the importance of unionizing, this isn’t it. Given that Kaplan went on to make Over the Edge (1979), Heart Like a Wheel (1983), Project X (1987), and The Accused (1988), his talents and tastes clearly evolved.

Oh, and Dick Miller appears a couple of times, presumably to reassure you that you are indeed in exploitation-film land, despite this film being made for a major studio (Columbia Pictures).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Pretty landscape footage across America
  

Must See?
Oh boy, no. Listed as a Cult Movie in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Roger Ebert Review
• Spinning Image Review
• NY Times Original Review

Synopsis:
When a teenager (Michael Kramer) and his buddy (Matt Dillon) witness an acquaintance (Vincent Spano) shooting the windshield of a car driven by a vengeful cop (Harry Northup), a chain of events is set off in their boring planned community, where there is nothing for kids to do except hang out, take drugs, and engage in petty crime.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Generation Gap
• Juvenile Delinquents
• Teenagers

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “excellent youth film” — a “social drama that’s set in Grenada, a planned community in California” (based on similar real-life occurrences that took place in Foster City) — “has a cult following”. He notes that “director Jonathan Kaplan and writers Charles Haas and Tim Hunter (the director of Tex) are in total sympathy with these teens”, whose “wasteland environment” gives them ample reason to rebel — and he points out that the “filmmakers have no pat answers for the problem of juvenile delinquency in planned communities”, but rather “want to make it clear that such a setting creates the kind of teenagers that made adults want to move away from where they had been.” He adds that the “scenes with the kids are very believable” and “the kids are an interesting lot”, but he wishes “the adults weren’t all one-dimensional” (I agree).

In Cult Movies 3, Peary discusses the film’s production and release history in greater detail, explaining that “after it received excellent reviews in such test markets as Chicago, Cincinnati, and Kansas City, it became almost impossible to see, sparking interest and word-of-mouth.” However, “since it was promoted as a horror(!) film” (see the movie poster above), Warner Brothers “shelved it”, defending “its decision with claims that no one would book a ‘gang picture’ after the heavily publicized incidents of violence at theaters showing The Warriors (1979) and Boulevard Nights (1979).” In addition, the “drug scenes” meant no network television stations were willing to air it, so “its audience would not grow until it turned up on cable more than a year later, began to play in repertory theaters, and became available on cassette.”

Peary goes on to compare Over the Edge to Rebel Without a Cause (1955), noting that while “both films deal with the same subject, Over the Edge is more disheartening, indicating that it has gotten much worse for America’s youth since 1955″. Indeed, “Kaplan’s brutally realistic film” — a “terrifying warning — with no resolution — about what is happening to American’s best resource” — “makes Rebel Without a Cause seem optimistic.” Peary further associates Over the Edge with a handful of other films that are “completely in sympathy with teenagers”, including The Blob (1958), Foxes (1980), The Outsiders (1979), and The Breakfast Club (1986).

Despite the ongoing issue of how to keep teens and pre-teens meaningfully engaged, when watching Over the Edge today one is definitely struck by how time-bound it feels: in the pre-internet era presented here, kids must gather physically somewhere in order to hang out — and as Peary writes, “they remind [one] of rats and other night creatures that come out when people are gone”, gathering “in the dark by the rec center, sitting on the ground or in little improvised hovels”. In “the party scene, their clutching bodies fill up the halls, the basement stairwell, and the basement of a house whose adult owners are away (it’s like an underground tunnel system inhabited by rodents)” — and “they run out of the house en masse as the cops arrive, as rats or roaches would do if the lights went on; they vandalize the school and like scavengers destroy and steal from the cars in the parking lot.” Indeed, while this film may be sympathetic to its teenage protagonists, it’s hard to actually like these characters, who are so damaged by their (privileged but insufficient) upbringing that violence and drugs seem to them to be their only option. Director Kaplan has stated, “I happen to believe these kids are potentially dangerous. A good demagogue comes along and he’s got his troops. And that scares the shit out of me.” Kaplan’s right to take this stance: these kids are dangerous, and one despairs for humanity when watching his depressing film.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Fine performances by the natural young cast
  
• Effective cinematography
  
  
• The eerie civic building set
  

Must See?
Yes, once, for its former cult status.

Categories

• Cult Movie

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Spinning Image Review
• DVD Savant Review
• NY Times Original Review
• Vice Article