Runtime:
93 minutes (IMDb is wrong)
Directed
by: Robert Clouse
Starring:
Rod Taylor, Theodore Bikel, Suzy Kendall, William Smith
From:
Cinema Center Films
Here's
an entry in the file of “Extraordinarily rare films”; this time,
I am not quite sure why it has never been on DVD; heck, even VHS
copies are rare. For most the only clip they have ever seen of it is
of the finale, which is an incredibly brutal fight between the hero
(Taylor) and the bad guy (Smith).
I don't know if it's apocryphal or
not but I have heard several similar but not exactly alike tales on
what happened in this fight; basically, it was a staged fight that
turned legit after things got heated, or so they say. Either way, it
turns into a bloody brawl and it is quite intense. Earlier in the
week a website talked about the clip so I decided to go looking on
YouTube and much to my surprise someone had uploaded a copy of the film; sure, there are hard-coded Dutch subtitles but I am sure this
is the best way for the vast majority to check this out, at least
without paying fifty bucks for a used VHS tape from Amazon!
The
plot: Beach bum Travis McGee (Taylor) is on a boat with a pal when
they see a young lady (Kendall) thrown off a bridge with weights on
here to ensure she would drown. She doesn't want to cooperate so he
and his pal (Bikel) try to find out why she was thrown over. It turns
out... it's not explained in full until far in the movie, but the
young lady (Vangie, short for Evangeline) is involved with a scam
gone bad and getting Terry Bartell (Smith) upset is a bad idea;
besides him being a bleach-blonde bodybuilder, he is quite insane,
especially if you get him upset.
Overall,
I'll say this was good; not awesome, but still good. It was based off
of a book and that was part of a series of books; I've never read any
of them of course so I just have to go on people's word that it was a
relatively faithful adaptation. This is mainly a drama/mystery as
first you get to see Travis and Vangie get to know each other on his
houseboat. Then, something happens and you get the mystery aspect
kicked into overdrive. The movie takes its time but it doesn't mean
it is boring. You don't get violence often but when you do... it is
certainly intense. There's more than one fight scene, I'll put it
that way. There's some hardcore things here; I mean, literally
“digging your own grave” sort of thing. Harsh.
You
also have Jane Russell (no relation) in her last fictional role, in
what was a cameo as a character from the books; yes, even “fan
service” was a thing way back when. It's a shame that this movie is
so hard to find, the only full version available at all is the
version on YouTube with the Dutch subtitles. The other versions are
cut by a few minutes, including parts of the finale fight. If only
this got the release it deserves.
I'll
be back Saturday afternoon.
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