Tagarchief: FilmDungeon

Roadracers

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Arthur Swerdloff
Written by: Stanley Kallis, Edward J. Lasko
Cast: Joel Lawrence, Marian Collier, Skip Ward, Sally Fraser

Year / Country: 1959, USA
Running Time: 73 mins.

Roadracers is not to be confused with Robert Rodriquez’ 1994 TV-movie of the same name. Interesting detail about that film is that it was part of the Rebel Highway series that took the titles of 1950’s-era B-movies and was produced by Lou Arkoff, son of Samuel Z. Arkoff, the producer of this movie, and according to IMDb 138 other B-movies.

The story revolves around Rob Wilson, a young racer who was involved in a lethal accident years ago and recently started driving again. His father, a racing fanatic, wants him to be the best racer on the track. But Rob realizes he doesn’t like racing at all and breaks with his father. He goes to Europe where he continues his racing career, while his father takes Rob’s former competitor as his apprentice. Rob returns to the States to challenge his father in one last race: the Grand Prix.

Many Arkoff movies were shot in a couple of days and this appears to be one of them. A simple plot, lots of stock footage and some notable editing problems expose it for a B-movie pur sang. The upsides are some impressive black and white visuals and a couple of cool songs on the soundtrack. Unfortunately, despite its pleasant speed, Roadracers is a quite boring flick at the end of the day.

Rating:

Biography: Arthur Swerdloff (1921, Baltimore – 2008, Los Angeles) has directed a number of educational documentaries, mostly revolving around social themes. His only effort as feature director is Roadracers.

Filmography: Show ‘Em the Road (1954, short doc), Gang Boy (1954, short), Age 13 (1955, short), Roadracers (1959), What’s the Big Hurry (1977, short doc / co-dir)20

Smokey and the Bandit Part 3

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Dick Lowry
Written by: Stuart Birnbaum, David Dashey
Cast: Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Paul Williams, Pat McCormick

Year / Country: 1983, USA
Running Time: 81 mins.

Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 lives up to the Hollywood law of always making sequels to box office hits, but fails to make it bigger and better. The movie starts with a recap of the first two films with references to Star Wars and Patton thrown in. After that, the usual plot unfolds about Big and Little Enos, offering a fat reward for the transportation of a large stuffed shark from Florida to Texas.

Burt Reynolds doesn’t return as the Bandit (except in a small cameo at the end), so Snowman (Jerry Reed) decides to play the Bandit instead. Both him, and Sheriff Buford T. Justice aka Smokey (Gleason) accept the Enos’ challenge. Buford even bets his badge against the 250.000 dollars reward money. The Bandit, and the girl Dusty he picked up, outperform Smokey and his dim-witted son Junior in a cross-country race filled with the usual obstacles.

A logical disappointment to fans when it came out, due to the absence of Reynolds and the questionable necessity of another sequel. It contains the usual car stunts and funny dialogues, but both to a lesser extent. This can probably be explained by the non-involvement of original director and stunt professional Hal Needham and the re-dubbing of Gleason’s originally crude dialogues. A crying shame, because those could have made the film much more enjoyable. Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 became a box office flop. Not entirely without reason, I must conclude after eighty wasted minutes. Far from recommended.

Rating:

Biography: Dick Lowry (1944, Oklahoma) started his movie career in the seventies with directing episodes of TV-series Barnaby Jones. He would spend most of his career making TV films and mini-series, including western series The Gambler, starring Kenny Rogers. He also made a TV movie of Alf, the famous furry alien who lives in a garage after crashing down. Lowry also directed Tom Selleck in Last Stand at Saber River, adopted from the novel by Elmore Leonard. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.

Filmography (a selection): Barnaby Jones (1973, TV episodes), The Draught (1975), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV episodes), Kenny Rogers as The gambler (1980, TV), The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980, TV), Missing Children: A Mother’s Story (1982, TV), Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983), Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983, TV), Murders with Mirrors (1985, TV), Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (1987, TV), Case Closed (1988, TV), Miracle Landing (1990, TV), The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991, TV), Skin (1992, short), Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, the Last Chapter (1992, TV), One More Mountain (1994, TV), Texas Justice (1995, TV), Smoke Jumpers (1996, TV), Project: ALF (1996, TV), Mr. Murder (1998, TV), Atomic Train (1999, TV), Attila (2001, TV), NYPD Blue (2001, TV episode), Silver Bells (2005, TV)

Deathsport

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Allan Arkush, Nicholas Niciphor
Written by: Frances Doel, Nicholas Niciphor, Donald Stewart
Cast: David Carradine, Claudia Jennings, Richard Lynch, William Smithers

Year / Country: 1978, USA
Running Time: 83 mins.

A Roger Corman produced B-movie about a post-apocalyptic world in which evil statesmen organize lethal sporting events. David Carradine, who starred three years earlier in the similar Corman B-film Death Race 2000, plays Kaz Oshay, a so called Range Guide. He and his fellow warriors have to survive in the barren wastelands between mutant cannibals and laser equipped Dirt bikes called ‘Death Machines’.

Kaz Oshay and the female Range Guide Deneer get abducted by statesmen, who take them to the city of Helix. This city is ruled by Lord Zirpola, whose brain is decaying from long term exposure to radiation, caused by the Neutron Wars. He and his evil henchman Ankar Moor submit Oshay and Deneer to torture and eventually Death Sport. They manage to escape and set out to rescue Deneer’s daughter who has been kidnapped by mutants. They are pursued by Moor and his legion of Death Machines. Deneer and Oshay, son of the greatest Range Guide, offer them plenty of resistance.

This movie’s low budget is exposed by the low production value and often hilarious sound effects. Still, it is not completely awful. There is plenty of campy, B-movie fun and the presence of former Playboy Playmate Claudia Jennings helps the visual enjoyment. The synthesized musical score and sometimes very bad special effects get annoying occasionally, but the overall reasonable performances and screenplay save this from being a complete stinker.

Rating:

Biography: Allan Arkush (1948, New Jersey) started his film career by working in the trailer department of Roger Corman’s New World Pictures. He debuted with Hollywood Boulevard as editor and co-director (with Joe Dante). His first solo effort as director was Rock ‘N’ Roll High School featuring the Ramones. After several other (TV)films he turned more to television series, such as the successful NBC show Heroes.

Biography: Nicholas Niciphor is mostly known as writer of several TV shows and movies. He has worked in both Germany and the USA. Deathsport is his only credit as (co-)director.

Filmography Allan Arkush (a selection): Hollywood Boulevard (1976, co-dir), Deathsport (1978, co-dir), Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979), Heartbeeps (1981), Get Crazy (1983), Fame (1984-86, TV episodes), Caddyshack II (1988), I’ll Fly Away (1992/93, TV episodes), Shake, Rattle and Rock! (1994, TV), Desert Breeze (1996, TV), Elvis Meets Nixon (1997, TV), Ally McBeal (1998/99, TV episodes), Prince Charming (2001, TV), Crossing Jordan (2001-07, TV episodes), Heroes (2006-2010, TV episodes), Minority Report (2015, TV episodes)

Filmography Nicholas Niciphor: Deathsport (1978, co-dir)

Smokey and the Bandit II

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Hal Needham
Written by: Michael Kane, Jerry Belson, Brock Yates
Cast: Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, Jackie Gleason, Sally Field

Year / Country: 1980, USA
Running Time: 96 mins.

After the box-office smash hit Smokey and the Bandit, director and stunt expert Hal Needham got a much higher budget to create the next instalment. The result is another silly trucking comedy, once again featuring Burt Reynolds as the cowboyish trucker Bandit and Jackie Gleason as the clownish law enforcer Smokey. Sally Field also returns as Bandit’s love interest Carrie and Jerry Reed is back as his partner Snowman. The only real new addition to the cast is the annoying Dom DeLuise.

The makers didn’t bother to come up with a new plot. Bandit and Snowman have to move a package from Miami to Texas. For this job they get 400.000 dollars. Carrie, like in the first movie, wants to marry Smokey’s son, but leaves the ceremony at the last minute to join Bandit and Snowman on their trip. The package turns out to be an elephant and Smokey once again initiates a major pursuit. When the travelling makes the elephant ill, it places our heroes in an ethical dilemma.

The lack of an original screenplay is compensated with lots of humour (the love/hate type) and impressive stunt work. Needham really shows his craftsmanship as a talented stunt coordinator. We get to see a collapsing rollercoaster, many car stunts and a spectacular police chase towards the end. The density of ‘innocent’ jokes is high, with some better than others. For those who like this sort of thing, Smokey and the Bandit II is a likable film with notable chemistry between the leads. About as cheery as the country songs on the soundtrack.

Rating:

Biography: Hal Needham (1931, Memphis, Tennessee) served in the Korean war before becoming a stuntman. His break came in 1957 with TV western Have Gun – Will Travel as a stunt double for Richard Boone. In the sixties he became a top stuntman working on western hit movies such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, How the West Was Won and Donovan’s Reef. In his long career, Needham also worked on many TV-shows including Gunsmoke, Rawhide and Black Saddle. He was also stunt double for Clint Walker, Burt Reynolds and others. In the seventies he became stunt coordinator on several Burt Reynolds films including White Lightning, The Longest Yard and Gator. He made his debut as a director in 1977 with Smokey and the Bandit. It became a massive hit. Throughout the next two decades he made many follow-ups and similar films usually starring Reynolds. In the nineties, his work consisted mostly of TV projects including four Bandit TV films.

Filmography: Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), The Villain (1979), Death Car on the Freeway (1979, TV), Stunts Unlimited (1980, TV), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), The Stockers (1981, TV), The Stockers (1981, TV), Megaforce (1982), Stroker Ace (1983), Cannonball Run II (1984), Rad (1986), Body Slam (1986), B.L. Stryker (1990, TV episode), Bandit: Bandit Goes Country (1994, TV), Bandit: Bandit Bandit (1994, TV), Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit (1994, TV), Bandit: Bandit’s Silver Angel (1994, TV), Street Luge (1996), Hard Time: Hostage Hotel (1999, TV)