Runtime: 98 minutes
Directed by: Peter Yates
Starring: Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch (RIP), Harvey Keitel, Allen Garfield, Larry Hagman
From: 20th Century Fox
RIP Raquel Welch
I realize this perhaps isn’t the most dignified way to pay respects to a famous, talented beauty from the past who passed away hours before I revisited this picture, but it was something viewed way back when, mainly due to its bizarre trio of stars. It was Welch, Harvey Keitel, and… Bill Cosby. When the other Welch movie I saw long ago was MYRA BRECKENRIDGE, it was less problematic to view this-not to mention how bizarrely bad Myra is. From other reviews I understand that this was mentioned in Tarantino’s Cinema Speculation book—which I will eventually read.
What little I recalled beforehand, there was a chance this would have at least one moment which would come across much worse than it did before we heard all those horror stories. I was horrified then that there was scene where a young woman was incapacitated due to drugs and someone tries something awful against her. Even if it was done by a real lout played by Larry Hagman rather than Cosby, it was an uncomfortable reminder.
Understandably, it took a visit deep into the backwaters of the Internet to see a copy of this film, but that’s what I did. In Los Angeles, there are private ambulance services that fight with each other with transporting bodies (alive and dead) to the hospital. Allen Garfield-shock of shocks, playing a real jerk-runs the outfit we follow; three of its employees are Mother (Cosby), Jugs (Welch, clearly) and Speed (Keitel). There are other famous faces in the cast, including Hagman, Dick Butkus and L.Q. Jones.
One thing I didn’t remember: the funky proto-disco theme song heard over the opening credits. One thing I REALLY didn’t remember: Toni Basil in an apartment listening to Peter Frampton’s Show Me the Way as her beau has just OD’ed from heroin. To be honest, I’m sure people in the 70’s did get high on the horse while listening to Frampton Comes Alive!
As for the entire film, it is uneven & the plot is rather loose until the third act. This is a product of the 70’s as along with the dark comedy and humor which hasn’t always aged well, there are serious dramatic moments, performers crying and more than one person dying. Be that as it may, there was enough entertainment, enough laughs, enough 70’s soundtrack to entertain me. Heck, this somehow was directed by Peter Yates.
Nice performances from all three leads help make this a good time, as long as you enjoy this era of motion pictures like I do.
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