Thursday, May 28, 2020

Movie review - "Kitty and the Bagman" (1981) **

A confused movie. For a time it seems that Tony Buckley and Don Crombie are trying to remake Caddie with Liddy Clark as a classy gal who is betrayed by a low life bloke (here David Bradshaw) starts to slum it in bars, hanging with a low rent barmaid (here Collette Mann), and falls or for a spiv (some guy in a moustache). She winds up in a rivalry with Val Lehman and this just should have been Tilly Devine vs Kate Leigh. That would've been fun - no need to change names when the characters are dead.

But the film goes on detours - there's too much Bagman, not enough Val Lehman. They take time out for this train robbery.

It looks great. The actors are fine - Libby Clark never became a star but she's got spirit and life. It's not her fault the movie doesn't work. It's the fault of the filmmakers who veer away from the exciting conflict.

This is classic 10BA in many ways. Filmmakers with solid track records. Plenty of cast. Decent premise - it must have sounded terrific in the brochure. Muddled execution. They should have called in Joan Long to write the script - or some other competent woman. It's a film about a woman it needed more women in the key creative team.
 
This isn't one of those movies where you go "this should never have been made". This had an excellent reason to be made. It was just poorly made.

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