Not to be confused with Cruising, the 1980 film in which Al Pacino infiltrates (or should I say "penetrates?") the New York gay leather scene.
In Hustling Lee Remick stars as an investigative reporter, with Jill Clayburgh as a prostitute giving her the rundown on what it means to work the streets of New York. It's something of a reaction to the Blaxploitation films of the time, but it stands on its own legs and both Remick and Clayburgh are convincing in their respective roles. It was a TV movie, so of course it pulls some punches, but I enjoyed it.
It's a little too slow in parts, and a little too convoluted for its own good, but man that car chase is awesome. Roy Scheider stars as a cop who's a little too chummy with one of his informants, and his supporting cast is rock solid all the way down the line.
Scheider might not have been one of the top stars of the 70s, but he was definitely one of that decade's best actors. He was also very good at picking the right script and pairing himself with the right director. The Seven-Ups director Philip D'Antoni only directed one movie, but what he left us with is a meticulously crafted work of 70s film noir.
Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Dudley Moore in the same movie? With sounds by... Barry Manilow? Who knew? I sure didn't!
It's actually pretty good, but I get why I'd never heard of this modestly successful sendup of Hitchcock before. To some extent the late 70s was a twilight time before the advent of VHS and cable TV, and Foul Play was just another comedy from that time that fell through the cracks. Not ubiquitous enough to get played endlessly on HBO, Showtime or Cinemax, and not memorable enough for a second life via VHS.
Maybe not Quite Good, but Interesting
A good movie with some interesting approaches to the Mafia genre, even if star Peter Boyle is occasionally outshined by the supporting players. Martin Scorsese was originally slated as assistant director to Carlo Lizzani, and Peter Boyle was a replacement for Robert De Niro, who was relatively unknown at the time. As it is Crazy Joe is an intriguing film, and it's fun to think about what it might have been if Scorsese and De Niro had been onboard.
Fun Fact: This was Henry Winkler's first movie. Crazy Joe was released the same year as The Lords of Flatbush, in which he appeared alongside Sylvester Stallone, and also the same year as Happy Days' TV debut. 1974 was a big year for Henry Winkler.
Skullduggery starts out as a fairly derivative jungle adventure, takes a left turn at the discovery of a new, human-like species living in New Guinea, and ends as a courtroom drama that will leave most viewers scratching their heads. It's all over the map in the way many late 60s movies were all over the map, and if it doesn't always succeed in dramatic terms it's at least more interesting than most of the other movies discussed here.
Burt Reynolds starred in this prior to Deliverance. He wasn't yet a movie star, but he was well on his way.
Fun Fact 1: William Marshal, who'd go on to play the lead in Blacula, appears in this movie as the Attorney General.
Fun Fact 2: Reynolds turned down the lead in Robert Altman's hit M*A*S*H to do this film.
I wouldn't put it up there with Vanishing Point, Two Lane Blacktop or Smokey and the Bandit, but as "70s car chase movies" go this one is a standout. If you're the kind of person who likes classic car shows you'll find plenty to admire in Gone in 60 Seconds.
Like Zero to Sixty (below) this one details the exploits of a group of car thieves. The stunt driving is the highlight of the movie, but this film's more experimental aspects also make it worth watching. H.B. Halicki, the writer, director, producer and star of Gone in 60 Seconds, died in 1989 making Gone in 60 Seconds 2.
They remade this movie in 2000 with Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie. I haven't seen the remake, but as I understand it it's a far cry from the original.
"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!"
Yep, Maureen "Marcia" McCormick is in this one, playing a far sexier character, though it's John Saxon who stars in this story of Southern bootleggers. For all his dialogue he doesn't actually do much until the end of the movie.
It's actually not bad. Anyone who enjoys Southern-fried Exploitation will enjoy this one too.
Burt Reynolds stars as hardboiled detective and ladies' man Shamus McCoy. There are some VERY politically incorrect moments in this movie, but hey, it was the early 70s and they were either processing free love or liberating themselves from "hangups."
For me the real star of this movie is Jerry Goldsmith's score. It adds a lot to key scenes in the film.
UK horror anthology based on the Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror comics. It's not particularly memorable, and not nearly as good as the 80s American version, but I did enjoy the second segment a lot.
Soon-to-be Bond girl Corinne Clery and Franco Nero star as a couple who cross paths with a deranged fugitive. Clery is stunningly beautiful throughout, and Nero is good as her husband, but you'll have to overlook a few plot holes in this otherwise enjoyable movie. The way that the truck explodes, for example, or the fact that the rifles were in the camper the whole time, or...
Solidly OK
Not be be confused with A Tatered Web, which involved potatoes suspended from spiderwebs. Huh?
In this TV movie Lloyd Bridges (father of Jeff and Beau) plays a detective trying to cover up his own crime. It includes a couple WTF moments, but the script was very concisely written. Amp up the sex, maybe go into the detective and his daughter's backstory a bit more, and this same script could make for a good feature film.
Not Good
A killer alien roams the streets of Los Angeles, and only a writer, a reporter, a cop and a psychic can bring it to justice. William Devane does his best with a clunky script, but this movie doesn't have much to recommend it.
The Exact Moment This Movie Starts Going Downhill: George Kennedy asking the man's wife to answer the door. He KNOWS what they did to two other families already, and even given his desire for revenge he should know that this isn't a good idea.
In The "Human" Factor an American computer scientist living in Italy searches for several "terrorists" in the wake of a personal tragedy. The opening is brilliant, but the film quickly loses steam thereafter. It's a shame, really, because George Kennedy was a better actor than he was often given credit for being. His performance is, to some extent, wasted on this movie.
A very withdrawn photographer and a very aggressive woman fall in love in this blackest of black comedies. If you're the kind of person able to chuckle over Dr. Strangelove you might like it, but those finding it a little too verbose, a little too drawn out, and a little too obscure will get no arguments from me.
For what it's worth Elliot Gould and Marcia Rodd are terrific in their respective roles, and Donald Sutherland offers another breakout performance as "the Reverend" who marries the two. The opening credits claim that this was Sutherland's debut, but he'd appeared in several films beforehand, not least of them M*A*S*H, mentioned in conjunction with Shamus above.
Fun Fact: This was Alan Arkin's first directorial effort. He wasn't entirely happy with the end result.
Pretty Bad
Several park rangers contend with a hungry grizzly bear. As Jaws ripoffs go this is one of the most blatant, right down to the hat the naturalist wears and the oddly familiar scary story told in the dark.
Fan Theory: The Blob, the Thing and the rich people from Society are all examples of the same organism, just at different stages in its life cycle.
This film is OK if predictable. The Blob shows up once again in small town America, and after that point local residents either become food or learn how to fight it. This movie features many faces recognizable from subsequent TV shows and films, though none of them were well known at the time of filming. Funnily enough Larry Hagman ("J.R." from Dallas) directed this one, and he also appears in it as a hobo around the halfway mark.
Warning for Cat Lovers: The Blob's first victim is a kitten.
Abysmal
Smokey and the Bandit-adjacent comedy about a group of car thieves. It's strictly sitcom-level humor, even if it was kind of fun to see Lyle Waggoner ("Steve Trevor" in the Wonder Woman TV show) as a gay bartender.
Teenage heartthrob Robby Benson plays the most unconvincing Chicano gang member ever. For what it's worth Benson is Jewish on both sides of his family, and he won "Worst Fake Accent: Male" in the Stinker Awards for this very movie.
Pepe Serna, who plays "Cesar" in this film should have played the lead. He's a MUCH better actor than Robby Benson. Those casting the movie probably thought he wasn't enough of a name, and that he'd have had a harder time passing for a high school student.
Even so, which is worse, Robby Benson trying to pass for Chicano or Pepe Serna, then 35 years of age, trying to pass for a teenager?
Embarrassing
Yes friends, there is indeed a movie called Scorchy and yes, it's as dumb as you think it is.
Connie Stevens, mother of Carrie Fisher, stars as "Scorchy," some kind of detective (?) out to catch heroin dealers operating out of Seattle. This is one of those movies where the protagonist is really the antagonist, in that Scorchy's actions do little aside from giving the bad guys opportunities to escape and wreak further havoc upon both themselves and others. Nothing quite says "I have a substance abuse problem" than an actress of Stevens' caliber doing a movie like Scorchy. Did she even bother to read the script beforehand? Was she sober enough to do so?
I enjoyed the shots of my hometown, Seattle, in the mid 70s. The Monorail, the Seattle Center, the Seattle Waterfront -- pretty much all of Seattle's landmarks are on display. The trip down memory lane was fun, but aside from the scenery Scorchy is a terrible movie.
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