Cheerful knock off of The Dirty Dozen which would have benefited from stronger handling. I wanted to like this better than I did - it has a cute pedigree, being co written by John Milius and Willard Hyuck, based on a story by Larry Gordon; the cast includes Fabian; I like guys on a mission films; I enjoy Christopher George as an action hero - he's a good solid tough guy; Ralph Meeker has gone to seed but he adds gravitas as the villain. There's also Cliff Osmond, who was briefly a favourite of Billy Wilder, as Meeker's sidekick.
There are some good ideas - one of the convicts (Ross Hagen who has the second best role after George even though his billing isn't the best) is a former moonshine driver, whose ex (Leslie Parrish) is Meeker's mistress. Several agents investigating Meeker have gone missing. There is state wide corruption. Some of the other prisoners have some character to play - Larry Bishop is a pacifist, Fabian is a drunk. There's an action scene every ten minutes - a bar room brawl, a driving training sequence, a shoot out.
But most of these ideas aren't followed through - we never find out who the traitor is, or meet any of the missing agents. I wish the subplots had been stronger. More people should have died.
Most crucially the action isn't very well done. I'm not familiar with Burt Topper's work but he lacks flair. Scenes don't have build, and/or suspense and excitement. There's also this jarring theme music that plays relentlessly through the film.
Fabian's role is surprisingly small for someone second billed - I would've thought they might have given him Hagen's part. Maybe he didn't seem Southern enough. Or they just didn't want to use him in it. He has a bit of acting to do, being a drunk who sneaks away to run around with women but redeems himself.
It's not offensive. It's just one of those films which you wish you could call a "hidden gem" or a "cult fave" instead of what it is, a bland knock off.
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