THE WORST

[mrsl]

I woke up at around 2:00 a.m. and checked out the Western Channel. At that time of the morning they usually have an old Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, or John Wayne running but last night it was The Hunting Party, 1971, starring Oliver Reed, Candace Bergen and Gene Hackman.

Reed kidnaps Hackman's wifey, and takes off with about 12 close friends. After Hackman finishes playing with some prostitutes and burning one with his cigar, it gets better. He learns about the kidnapping and takes off after Reed and wifey with about 20 of his close friends and relatives. BTW he has this terrific long rifle that can pick off a man at 700 yards (WOW, lets hear it for the rifle, YAYYYYY). The rest of the movie is the chase with more killing, shooting, and screaming than any war movie you've ever seen. This thing turned into one of the worst blood fests I've ever seen. In between we had Bergan and Reed falling in love (perfect example of the Stockholm Syndrome, before it had a name). And Hackman, the most single minded character ever written.

As much as I love Westerns, this movie is enough to make a true fan want to give up his/her lunch. I didn't notice who wrote or directed, but if it wasn't Sam Peckinpah, it was someone who went on probably to work in horror/slasher movies. This is the kind of thing that turns people off to westerns. Westerns are usually good, solid entertainment, with a few exceptions, but this one was a disappointment. I'm sure some would consider it a great movie, but for me it was not. So naturally, I am not recommending it unless you like mean, bloody movies.

Anne

[klondike]

Anne, on a related note, have you ever seen The Deadly Trackers, with Richard Harris?

[ChiO]

Anne wrote:

I didn't notice who wrote or directed, but if it wasn't Sam Peckinpah, it was someone who went on probably to work in horror/slasher movies. This is the kind of thing that turns people off to westerns.

I'm certain you'll be heartened to know that the director, Don Medford, worked primarily in television, directing on several shows such as The Streets of San Francisco, Baretta and...The Rifleman.

[moira finnie]

Anne, the only thing worse than seeing this movie on tv without any warning...is seeing it on a first date! Yes, it happened. No, the relationship did not bloom. The only worse date movie from the same period might have been Deliverance.

It is, I suspect, one of those movies made in the '70s, along with some other doozies from that period, that I tend to believe were made under the influence. And I don't mean just under the influence of the artistic shadow of Sam Peckinpah. Btw, the director of The Hunting Party (1971) was Don Medford, a guy who has a long history in television and one good feature film to his name, The Organization (1971) with Sidney Poitier.

The Hunting Party seems like the kind of movie TCM might like for TCM Underground. Key plot ingredients: Gore, joyless sex, more gore and, oh yes, more dispiriting sex with violence and a longing for literacy on the part of Oliver Reed, (I'm not kidding & I'm not making this up). I guess it's lack of real pleasure makes this a kind of puritanical film, but for pity's sake, can't anyone at least have fun being dissolute?

[Mr. Arkadin]

Anne wrote:

I didn't notice who wrote or directed, but if it wasn't Sam Peckinpah, it was someone who went on probably to work in horror/slasher movies. This is the kind of thing that turns people off to westerns.

I'm certain you'll be heartened to know that the director, Don Medford, worked primarily in television, directing on several shows such as The Streets of San Francisco, Baretta and...The Rifleman.

I believe that mean, bloody, Sam Peckinpah also directed several Rifleman episodes, as well as other popular TV westerns such as Zane Grey Theater and Gunsmoke.

[srowley75]

The only worse date movie from the same period might have been Deliverance.

Hah! My parents went to see Deliverance on a date.

When it came to "date movies," dear old Dad was rather clueless. Mom has recounted going to see Death Wish, True Grit, The Candidate, Dirty Harry....I think the most romantic movie Dad ever took Mom to see was Play Misty for Me. For their anniversary a couple years ago, he took her to Million Dollar Baby.

[moira finnie]

The only worse date movie from the same period might have been Deliverance.

Hah! My parents went to see Deliverance on a date.

When it came to "date movies," dear old Dad was rather clueless. Mom has recounted going to see Death Wish, True Grit, The Candidate, Dirty Harry....I think the most romantic movie Dad ever took Mom to see was Play Misty for Me. For their anniversary a couple years ago, he took her to Million Dollar Baby.

Your parents, particularly your Dad, sound pretty amusing!

Oh, I forgot to mention one other date movie from this same golden age of bad movies: Walking Tall!

Amazingly, the couple who went to see the Buford Pusser story got married and are still going strong. Maybe that's because the distaff side of this union is surprisingly tolerant and sees the humor in just about everything that her mate does. (psst...she's also my sister)

[srowley75]

Oh, I forgot to mention one other date movie from this same golden age of bad movies: Walking Tall!

Ack! That was another one! No joke. I remember Mom talking about going to a drive-in to see it, in fact.

Another one: Tora! Tora! Tora!

I think they saw almost everything Clint Eastwood made in the 70s, even The Beguiled, and even though those films might not necessarily kindle the flames of romance, I don't think Mom found Clint too hard to look at.

But then, I have to wonder what they had to choose from at the theaters in my small town during the 70s. I mean, I'd be surprised indeed if the local theaters in Podunk, Ohio ever played any Glenda Jackson or Vanessa Redgrave costume dramas. And I don't think you could've gotten Dad to a Barbra Streisand film without drugging him.

(Whoops!! Sorry for hijacking. What were we talking about again?)

[moira finnie]

Anne wrote:

I didn't notice who wrote or directed, but if it wasn't Sam Peckinpah, it was someone who went on probably to work in horror/slasher movies. This is the kind of thing that turns people off to westerns.

I'm certain you'll be heartened to know that the director, Don Medford, worked primarily in television, directing on several shows such as The Streets of San Francisco, Baretta and...The Rifleman.

I believe that mean, bloody, Sam Peckinpah also directed several Rifleman episodes, as well as other popular TV westerns such as Zane Grey Theater and Gunsmoke.

This is just one person's observation, but while I like many of Sam Peckinpah's movies very much, I'm particularly fond of his early work as a creative force behind The Westerner and as story editor and director of many of The Rifleman programs. Sometimes I think that his attention to character detail, his understanding of the randomness of fate, and the abiding ties of characters to one another found their finest expression in the tightly constructed and frugal confines of those 30 minute programs.

When he had the "luxury" and responsibility of a bigger budget movie, some of the quieter aspects of his talent seem to have been lost, (and of course, none of this was helped by his antagonistic relations with the studios he worked with making movies).

Unfortunately, his storytelling gift on film, so vibrant in well thought out and nuanced moments of the imperfect but compelling The Deadly Companions, Ride the High Country, Junior Bonner, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, The Wild Bunch and the nearly forgotten but very well done war story, Cross of Iron, was eventually lost, imo, as his personal demons overwhelmed his talent and self-discipline. As a man and an artist he seemed to go off the deep end.

Don Medford really was never in the same league as Peckinpah at all, though he sure tried to ape the more obvious aspects of the better film maker's later movies in The Hunting Party.

[movieman1957]

My parents having grown up in East Tennessee I spent many a summer vacation down there visiting family. We were there when the Walking Tall craze hit. And it was.

People were going multiple times. It was all anyone talked about from a movie perspective. Maybe being a sort of more blunt version of Dirty Harry was part of its appeal.

So, there were plenty of dates to that movie.

[mrsl]

Although I concur that Walking Tall is not the best choice for a first date, I do like the idea of getting rid of the bad guys one way or another, and those darned 5 words always get me "based on a true story". Buford must have been a thing to behold with his 'big stick'.

I only mentioned Peckinpah as a comparative director of unnecessary violence. I myself pointed out that he directed many of the first year of the Rifleman, but as Moira stated, his parameters were under tight scrutiny by the TV morality league. Also, Moira beat me to commenting on his character studies, and story telling, but this Don Medford was definitely not even a minor Sam Peckinpah. I did look up his filmography and found most of his career was spent in TV which was probably a good thing.

Anne