JACK STARRETT DIRECTS JIM BROWN VS RIP TORN IN 'SLAUGHTER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYnH7WtGUXz-HImPWCfsCGwX9Zxag9ath0XkbdOh0KYY0xYNftucwiAdSSUR-9bji6lMCs_tzP93cAtx1d_32_nQsuVru1iFaRX7elpUBcxxzjdtP_Btr8AWSdPaeOw9FI9WPGdWxfbuOiaJkqRkct-Sp-ywRI0p4gZjoSIoGQYcfkiBaCO4IcBHG0fGi/s2679/1111%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="2679" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYnH7WtGUXz-HImPWCfsCGwX9Zxag9ath0XkbdOh0KYY0xYNftucwiAdSSUR-9bji6lMCs_tzP93cAtx1d_32_nQsuVru1iFaRX7elpUBcxxzjdtP_Btr8AWSdPaeOw9FI9WPGdWxfbuOiaJkqRkct-Sp-ywRI0p4gZjoSIoGQYcfkiBaCO4IcBHG0fGi/s16000/1111%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SLAUGHTER Director: Jack Starrett Year: 1972 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the time Rip Torn as a mobster's main hit-man kills the very boss who hired him to kill Jim Brown's titular black tough guy SLAUGHTER... seeking revenge for his father's mob-ordered death... the 1972 anything-goes/gun-blasting extravaganza is only halfway through...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And has already featured some worthwhile actors including Cameron Mitchell and sidekick's sidekick Don Gordon, right at home in a b-movie that passes for mainstream... like something from the Bond franchise as Jim Brown, wearing a dapper tuxedo, walks coolly into the antagonist's crooked casino, winning money and even landing a sexy moll, who at least three of the uncompromisingly racist mafiosos are after...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, blaxploitation, cameron mitchell, jack starrett, jim brown, mafia, marlene clark, revenge, rip torn, robert phillips, seventies, stella stevens

JACK STARRETT DIRECTS JIM BROWN VS RIP TORN IN 'SLAUGHTER'

Title: SLAUGHTER Director: Jack Starrett Year: 1972 Rating: ****1/2 By the time Rip Torn as a mobster's main hit-man kills the very boss...

FREDERIC FORREST AND STEACH KEACH ARE 'THE DION BROTHERS'

<p><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfj22cRCTIPe7Ti8pAW5k6sxJKVx34aVUSsH_rCIZgWA71T_Pm-qSZ9A1VEykR6E7sZVkBM194XsaK2lL8BpGdSwlXQwoNJni4g3vw341icCYW4FOcEAqBvbV4JjUWnejf7_uUoDB3JUFba68LdAXRZ9VYEiaoiucNLyc3vYYZmbXYT8GmZuajdEb8Iec/s1386/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-24%20at%208.47.00%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="1386" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfj22cRCTIPe7Ti8pAW5k6sxJKVx34aVUSsH_rCIZgWA71T_Pm-qSZ9A1VEykR6E7sZVkBM194XsaK2lL8BpGdSwlXQwoNJni4g3vw341icCYW4FOcEAqBvbV4JjUWnejf7_uUoDB3JUFba68LdAXRZ9VYEiaoiucNLyc3vYYZmbXYT8GmZuajdEb8Iec/w400-h314/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-24%20at%208.47.00%20PM.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Dion Brothers Year: 1974 </u><u><span>Rating:</span> ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p> THE DION BROTHERS, originally titled THE GRAVY TRAIN, if taken as a serious crime film, seems kinda bad at first; even, at times, embarrassing. Terrence Malick and co-writer Bill Kerby's script is riddled with cliches, and the characters banter the words like a mediocre Las Vegas standup act... </p><p>But when you realize it's a comedy/action team-up, it's apparent they knew what they were doing: creating a fun, and sporadically gritty, heist flick...</p><p>Frederic Forrest and Stacy Keach are blue collar brothers from West Virginia. Keach has moved to Washington DC and is a con-man in the Insurance Industry i.e. a guy who wants to get rich quick. Forrest is an ex-convict working in a coal mine who joins Keach and some other slackers (including Denny Miller and Robert Romanus) to rob an armored truck, which, like all heist films, doesn't go as planned, so the last half consists of the siblings, a cross between Laurel/Hardy and Dillinger/Nelson, escaping police and mob assassins as the two leads, both terrific actors, get better as the film itself improves during the third act: when the situation gets more and more desperate. And tough guy actor/director Jack Starrett guides the few actions scenes nicely, resulting in a terrific old-school shootout reminiscent of the classic gangster movies: where crime doesn't pay.</p><p></p>

action, buddy, comedy, crime, frederic forrest, gangster, heist, jack starrett, neo noir, seventies, stacy keach, terrence malick

FREDERIC FORREST AND STEACH KEACH ARE 'THE DION BROTHERS'

Title: The Dion Brothers Year: 1974  Rating: *** THE DION BROTHERS, originally titled THE GRAVY TRAIN, if taken as a serious crime film, s...

TOM LAUGHLIN'S FIRST & BEST BILLY JACK 'THE BORN LOSERS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf9LFeOhzkYP0DetEgg6e8HQRi4F0yeYYAT2oEsDUcyonOvQRx2QlDh0am46e3DlgN0DsXiDBej7ofOJfYSk0lp21lSv_wASByWXyHlJbf32b1TLoJZPhC7ytsZ5WbumCnRvuyD1hRx4MF/s1600/46436808_602809760148204_1085677585360224256_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="960" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf9LFeOhzkYP0DetEgg6e8HQRi4F0yeYYAT2oEsDUcyonOvQRx2QlDh0am46e3DlgN0DsXiDBej7ofOJfYSk0lp21lSv_wASByWXyHlJbf32b1TLoJZPhC7ytsZ5WbumCnRvuyD1hRx4MF/s400/46436808_602809760148204_1085677585360224256_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Elizabeth James and Tom Laughlin on equal ground YEAR: 1967</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> THE BORN LOSERS wasn't supposed to happen but thank God it did since BILLY JACK is one of the most embarrassing counter-culture action flicks ever made...<br> <br> Tom Laughlin in the title role as a part Indian do-gooder who defends a ridiculously "progressive" high school full of teens and preteens, singing corny protest songs off-key with beyond-novice acting disabilities, and a dated, obvious push for an older guy trying way too hard to relate to that era's flaky and spacey youth: So it's much better, more universal and exploitation-entertaining that he defend three older, legally sexy college coeds who get raped by a gang of scruffy bikers while Billy Jack is, for most of THE BORN LOSERS, a quiet, ambiguous sort of Lonely Man character, taking his time to defend not only the girls, but himself...<br>

action, biker, bob tessier, counter-culture, elizabeth james, exploitation, jack starrett, jeff cooper, jeremy slate, kung fu, sixties, tom laughlin, william wellman

TOM LAUGHLIN'S FIRST & BEST BILLY JACK 'THE BORN LOSERS'

Elizabeth James and Tom Laughlin on equal ground YEAR: 1967 THE BORN LOSERS wasn't supposed to happen but thank God it did since BIL...

JACK NICHOLSON & ADAM ROARKE IN 'HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS'

<span style="font-weight: bold;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIeKodolQHUIbjGexnEQWOadzLa-WhVM6gY9i8cqm3YYr_M7QrYX-s9rblAutL4zpDiOmn9qYfWs0uXdesD3NclgSBv9Rubrkz4AZmZmZQtit7m8ooWt8aENDiBHKaeD9xKCOrxUR27v6QMhWR1DQCxk6AgiUQtgQMsOn7nvlcVpOpIxr-FPIfHc9jJYnJ/s616/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-13%20at%2012.49.35%20AM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="382" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIeKodolQHUIbjGexnEQWOadzLa-WhVM6gY9i8cqm3YYr_M7QrYX-s9rblAutL4zpDiOmn9qYfWs0uXdesD3NclgSBv9Rubrkz4AZmZmZQtit7m8ooWt8aENDiBHKaeD9xKCOrxUR27v6QMhWR1DQCxk6AgiUQtgQMsOn7nvlcVpOpIxr-FPIfHc9jJYnJ/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-13%20at%2012.49.35%20AM.png" width="198" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><u>1967 <span>rating: </span>***1/2</u></i></td></tr></tbody></table></span>A young pre-EASY RIDER Jack Nicholson delivers a terrifically subtle performance as a passive gas station attendant joining ranks with the Hell's Angels, but the real credit goes to Adam Roarke, a cult actor who appeared in other underdog classics such as FROGS and DIRTY LARRY CRAZY MARY, and how natural he is on screen. While he's not big and burly, his slowburn, devil-may-care attitude is just right here: a wily cockiness making him the perfect centerpiece of a biker movie that delivers much more (thanks to director Richard Rush and cinematographer Laslo Kovacs) than you'd expect from the usually vapid genre. After a beautifully shot opening credit sequence involving the hogs cruising down the open highway, and then barraging into a small town, the real story develops through Nicholson's character getting more involved with the nefarious rollers. A developing romance between Jack and free-loving Sabrina Scharf adds a legitimate love story that doesn't slow down the pace. And the fact she still digs Roarke, no matter how many other chicks he enjoys on the side, makes our vulnerable protagonist realize how the biker life might not be for him. This is the epitome of a low-budget drive-in flick with everything: including some pretty risque scenes (and situations) for the time which, although was quite normal in the biker culture, still had a few years to catch up on screen.

adam roarke, biker, exploitation, jack nicholson, jack starrett, richard rush, sixties

JACK NICHOLSON & ADAM ROARKE IN 'HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS'

1967 rating: ***1/2 A young pre-EASY RIDER Jack Nicholson delivers a terrifically subtle performance as a passive gas station attendant join...