RIP William Smith

Last night I revisited the 1970 movie Darker Than Amber, which featured the late B-movie actor as the lead bad guy. It was something reviewed by me more than 8 years ago, but for several reasons this is a better review than the first one: 

Yesterday afternoon I was saddened when this news was made public. While this stalwart in the B-movie scene made some high profile films and could be seen in various old TV shows, I best remember him in such properties as various blaxploitation pictures, Maniac Cop, or this flick. In the early days of my time here I had up a brief review; this gave me an excuse to revisit a movie that has a famous (or infamous) aspect, and the copy I found on YouTube-which is the only easy way to track this down as it never advanced past the VHS era-this time was notably better than the YouTube copy which was watched in '13.

Based on a series of novels from John D. MacDonald which have only been made into a motion picture twice (the second was an even more obscure effort from the early 80's that is titled after its protagonist, Travis McGee, and hopefully is cool because it stars Sam Elliott) it follows someone who earn money from... the salvage field. He recovers goods that can be described as “ill-gotten”. Unique, along with him living on a houseboat and driving a Rolls Royce from the 30's that was converted into a pickup truck! Here, he was portrayed by Rod Taylor; the case is actually him rescuing a young lady from being drowned by her bodybuilding boyfriend. Of course Smith played the villain-he almost always did... he was great at it between his towering presence, muscular physique, mean-looking face and gravelly voice. Through his look and his actions, he was quite fearsome in Darker than Amber.

Even if it's rather leisurely at times, the movie is still pretty good. In fact, I think higher of it than previously... was it seeing a transfer that wasn't poor? Perhaps; in any case, it was intriguing getting to watch McGee attempt to not only learn more about “Vangie”, but track down Smith and his equally dangerous buddy. Back in '13 I heard that Jane Russell (no relation) and her cameo was actually fan service... yes, they did it even back then. She played the astoundingly named ALABAMA TIGRESS and from what I gathered that was a popular character in the novels. That's why she only has about a minute of screentime. Theodore Bikel as McGee's buddy amused me, especially after hearing what he referred to as “his shark tail”... the main cast were all at least fine.

The violence-when it's seen-is rather potent, but the standout is the fight at the end between Taylor and Smith. It is incredibly brutal and seems realistic... because it was a brawl which actually turned legit after they got carried away, resulting in broken bones for both. Really, at the end Smith was like a bull in a China shop. It seemed like a great way to note his passing, and it was. The South Florida setting, the jazzy music, a hero who can thrown down if he has to, an enchanting lady in Suzy Kendall, and rotten villains-a fun way to spend Friday night, in other words.