Movie review - "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (1976) ***

 Okay, so... am still processing... it's long, felt long, has a story but you have to pay attention, which is fine, kind of ends, Nic Roeg is a bit of a dirty perv with that useless subplot of Rip Torn having sex with nubile 18 year old students who are naked and one of them talks to Torn's unerect penis (we get a bit of Bowie's too), and then Claudie Jennings turns up in it as Bernie Casey's wife and she'd nude too. 

David Bowie is perfect, so entertaining and compelling, Candy Clark is lovely (Roeg shoots her body from all angles of course but it's an excellent performance), Torn is good, Buck Henry effective. The most positive depiction of a gay relationship in movies til that time? (Henry and his partner - supportive, loving, long term).

I'm not sure how Bowie got a hold of a British passport but most of it is believable enough though in today's world big business would surely trump the CIA. Very moving with the family back home and the experiments. Anti climactic ending. Varying make up - superb to dodgy.

Movie review - "Fast Company" (1979) **

 David Cronenberg does a car film - which is fine but this is dull. Made conscientiously. Nicely shot. Bland rock soundtrack from some guy who is like Springsteen lite. William Smith seems like a genuine racer.

Claudia Jennings in her last role is wasted as Smith's girlfriend. I just didn't care. Maybe if Jennings had played the lead.

There's a scene where some guy is in bed with two topless women that feels like an eleventh hour addition to jazz it up. It's too polite.

Movie review - "Truck Stop Women" (1974) **1/2

 Pretty good exploitation from Mark Lester, with Claudia Jennings in the lead as a woman who runs a prostitution ring with her mother that services truckers. Claudia has a bust up with her maw just as the mafia move in. That's a solid idea, based on familial conflict.

You've got hookers, bars, Jennings, mafia, nudity, some smashing trucks. Lieux Dressler is the lead - I was unfamiliar with her and the other actors. She's fine - I maybe wish there was a proper star. Jennings is great.

The story never quite clicks into gear.  The momenum doesn't rise. But there's always something happening.

Claudia Jennings in "Lenny"

 Claudia Jennings was amibitious enough to try theatre - bc it was the seventies the part she could get was playing the stripper wife in the play Lenny. (Valerie Perinne played it in the film).

Because it was the seventies she did it in San Francisco at a theatre restaurant called Bimbo's and Francis Ford Coppola came to see it. Here's a photo.

Movie review - "The Single Girls" (1973) **

Great idea for an exploitation film - bunch of people attending sex therapy (I think) on a resort have to deal with a killer. There's not a lot of sex though.

There are some interesting characters. Varying acting ability. Claudia Jennings is one of the girls.

Sidebar: the copy of the film I saw was called Bloody Friday and seemed to have new music added. Nudity was blurred out. 

This doesn't work but there's always something happening and I like Jennings. And the film's oddness.

Movie review - "Gator Bait" (1973) **1/2

 A vehicle for Claudia Jennings who had a great outdoorsy look with that long hair and limbs. She's a poacher in the Louisiana swaps who runs afoul of some corrupt cops and dogy Cajuns.

Location filming helps immensely. The plot is simple - chase Jennings- but perhaps too simple when another twist or two would be good. Ditto it's a little tame in the sex and violence department aside some the rape threats. Some consensual sex in there somewhere would've been good.

I liked the music. Some of the supporting characters were well acted. Others not so much.

Movie review - "Moonshine County Express" (1976) ***

 I really liked this. A little more buttoned up that other New World films - there's not much nudity or sex for instance - but director Gus Trinikos has tried to make a good movie, and he's succeeded. Action moves along at a fast clip, there's some really good actors, spectacular women.

John Saxon is the nominal star - he's a little old but brings B level gravitas. however the lead role is really Susan Howard, who looked vaguely familiar - she was on Dallas and has a Dallas vibe but there's nothing wrong with that. She's beautiful, strong and can act, believably physical.

It's a three girls movie in a way -the story of three sisters whose pa (Jeff Corey) is killed by baddies, forcing the gals to sell moonshine. Claudie Jennings is perfect as Howard's sister - I wish she'd had more of a subplot. Still he's got more screentime than Maureen McCormick, old Marcia Brady herself, who is the youngest sister and just sort of hangs out. She really needed to be killed for the third act. Maybe that was a the plan but they couldn't bring themselves to do it. Be killed or turn traitor or something.

Candice Rialson has a small role as a cheerful trashy girl who pops up in some scenes. She's typically lively more so than McCormick I wish they'd swapped roles.

Cast is tops for New World. William Conrad is a villain, Saxon, Howard, Jennings, Rialson. Strong atmosphere. Pacey cars stuff.

Maureen McCormick writes entertainingly about the shoot - doing coke with Claudia who became a mate, Claudia shagging Gary Graver who impressed them working with Orson Welles.

Movie review - "Unholy Rollers" (1972) **1/2 (re-watching)

 AIP's unsuccessful attempt to cash in on Kansas City Bomber - unsuccessful because it came out late. Also it lacks a really cohesive story - it's a collection of incidents and moments. Why didn't they just do the build up to the big game?

Anyway some of those incidents are memorable like Claudia Jennings confronting spectators while naked in a bar and Jennings doing a strip scene in the roller derby with a guy she's too hot for.

Roberta Collins is in this though her part isn't very big. She seems like an athlete as does Jennings who looks spectacular. I think her voice is dubbed. I could be wrong.

Some fun stuff here. A potentially really good movie with a bit of heart and sexiness. I think they couldn't quite crack the script or the male interest.

Movie review - "Group Marriage" (1973) **1/2 (re-watching)

 Cheerful sex comedy from Stephanie Rothman has the same basic problem of Terminal Island - too many characters, too much going on that doesn't tie in to a central theme - but also many of the benefits - a positive nature, plenty of forward momentum, an attractive cast.

The film is at its best in embracing of sex and colour and movement. Maybe it would have been better had it focused on just the girls. Or turned more serious. I think The Student Nurses works well because it goesdserious and while I know Rothman wanted to make a comedy a bit more seriousness like the house being trashed sequence would have worked. Or even more serious sex like when Jennings does it with Zac Taylor.

I actually like the Zach Taylor-Claudia Jennings subplot - he's upset she's representing his ex wife - because it's serious. The film could have dug into that more. Maybe met the ex wife.

The f- gay slur word is used but the two gay characters are depicted positively.

Best actors are Claudia Jennings and Solomon Sutrges. Jennings' has star factor. Aimee Eccles is cute. The women are stunning - well, Eccles more girl next door but extremely likeable (I love how she's the driving force), and Jennings and Victoria Vetri are goddesses. Zach Taylor is handsome and Sturges charismatic. The guy who plays the parole offier

There are too many subplots though. One about a prisoner who is a client of the probationary officer feels extraneous. Like if you want that make him one of the group marriage. Or could have been a she (could conflict with the lawyer then). Or actually just dropped it.Claudia Jennings could have easily handled a social welfare subplot.

Actually just thinking about the film I feel it might have been stronger had Rothman dug into the archetypes of the leads more. Aimee Eccles the funny one, Vetri the sexy free spirit, Jennings the political one. It's kind of there but could have been more. That screen time devoted to the parole officer could have been devoted to Vetri struggling with the constraints of the group, Eccles' sexual shenanigans and Jennings' political activity. Making it more of a three girl films could have given it more focus.

Movie review - "The Great Texas Dynamite Chase" (1976) **1/2 (re-watching)

 I'm on a New World kick at the moment and this, despite its terrific concerpt and star (Claudia Jennings) does not hold up as well as the others - I think because the filmmakers weren't super in to the material. Maybe I'm being unfair - both producer and director went on to have strong careers but this lacks energy and verve of Big Bad Mama or Death Race 2000. 

It does have some bright moments - Jennings looks spectacular and has a sexy love scene. Actually all the love/sex scenes work - Michael Pressman's slowish pace works better there. The death of one of the lovers works.

I got the two leads confused at times and also the male leads.

Movie review - "Deathsport" (1978) ** (re-watching)

 David Carradine, who hated the end movie, said the original script was great, but is that the case or just something that pepole say? It's very confusing - I can imagine it always was. It's in the future where there are city states and mutants and sort of jedi warriors.

I don't know why they just didn't make it like Ancient Rome, with rich people and poor people enlisted to entertain. That's simple and works. This is meant to be a competiton to entertain the masses but we never get the sense - they're driving in the desert. Who's watching? Is it on TV?

 What happens when the head dude dies? What's the stuf with Carradines novel? What job does Carradine have? Where are the mutants?

David Carradine is in great shape and ideal for this. Claudia Jennings is ideal action heroine with that splendid built. I

Corman insisted on nude scenes and they do liven things up I just wish they hadn't been torture-y scenes. Jennings and Carradine have pleasant chemsitry and you believe the characters would go for each other.

Some motorbike stuff isn't bad. I liked the duel between Carradine and Lynch,.

Good on Allan Arkush for trying to fix it. But I think what he needed to do was to clarify the story. That may have been impossible.

Charles Griffith wrote an unsued script. They couldn't use it?

The Cinema of Candice Rialson

For a few years in the mid 1970s, Candice Rialson was one of the most popular actors working in exploitation films. She was pretty, bright and vivacious, with an extremely likable screen presence and genuine flair for comedy. Her career fell victim to prejudice and her own lack of enthusiasm, but she nonetheless left behind a decent body of work, as well as inspiring the Bridget Fonda character in Jackie Brown (1997).

Rialson was born in 1951 in Santa Monica California, and grew up in Orange County. At eighteen she was crowned Miss Hermosa Beach, which led to a bit part in The Gay Deceivers (1969) and sparked her interest in an acting career. A lot of attractive girls want to be actors, especially in California, but Rialson, with her blonde hair, healthy build and peachy complexion, had an all-American look particularly perfect for the times (it was - or at least, was soon to be - the era of Farrah Fawcett Majors) and she received an offer to star in a low budget film called Pets (1973).

Rialson plays a hitchhiker who has a series of adventures: escaping from her controlling brother, being rescued by a black man, then kidnapping a sleazy married guy with a black girl she meets, picked up by a female artist (played by former Elvis Presley co-star Joan Blackman) for whom she poses and then makes love, and going to live with an artist who keeps her captive in his basement as a ‘pet’.  It’s an exploitation film but one with ambition - there are some interesting shot compositions, it attempts to tackle an odd sort of theme (it was based on a series of one act plays and each section deals with people trying to imprison Rialson), and there’s a few moments which genuinely surprise you (like where the black girl throws a dog off a cliff). The main reason to watch it is Rialson who has to carry the whole movie on her shoulders and is very impressive. It's an action-packed part: she seduces two men – her abductee (an older guy) and a burglar - and is seduced by a woman; she's very natural on screen, comfortable with her body, believable in the role and sexy as hell, although she doesn’t get to show off her comic ability, so effective in later films.

Rialson went on to be cast in episodes of TV series like Adam's Rib and Shaft and TV movies like The Girl on the Late Late Show (1974). Producer Julie Corman of New World Pictures then offered her the lead in Candy Stripe Nurses (1974). This was a "three girls" movie, a melodramatic subgenre which typically focused on the adventures of three female friends, mostly romantic, in some exciting profession. Three girl pictures had been around since the 1920s - notable examples include Our Dancing Daughters (1928), Three on a Match (1932), The Best of Everything (1959) and Valley of the Dolls (1967)  - but New World had given them a new lease of life with The Student Nurses (1971). This film, directed by Stephanie Rothman, took the formula and added more nudity, comedy and social  comment; it was a huge commercial success and led to New World making four more 'nurse' adventures (Private Duty Nurses, Night Call Nurses, The Young Nurses, Candy Stripe Nurses), two films about teachers (The Student Teachers, Summer School Teachers), and one each about flight attendants (Fly Me), models (Cover Girls) and actresses (Hollywood Boulevard) (Fly Me and Cover Girls were pick ups, the others were done in house). Jon Davison, producer of The Student Teachers and Hollywood Boulevard, said the formula was to take three professional women, give each of them their own story and mix in sex, humour and some social issues from a liberal perspective; Jonathan Kaplan, director of Night Call Nurses, said Roger Corman would insist on frontal nudity from waist up, full nudity from behind, and no pubic hair.  You could argue that other female-driven pictures at New World from this time were, in a way, also three girls movies, such as women-in-prison stories  (The Big Doll House, The Big Bird Cage, Women in Cages, The Hot Box, Caged Heat, Black Mama White Mama, The Arena) and women-turned-gangster tales (Big Bad Mama, Crazy Mama).

Candy Stripe Nurses was the fifth and final New World nurse picture. It was written and directed by Allan Holleb who later told Ari Bass the studio "wanted a little social consciousness, a little romance, a little comedy and a little sex. Another requirement was they wanted a sex clinic." The movie is bright, breezy fun, albeit with the inherit dodginess of 70s "tits feminism" exploitation filmmaking. The plot is typical of the genre: the three girls are candy stripe nurses at the same hospital; the sexpot blonde  (Rialson) tries to seduce a famous rock singer (the sexy comic plot), the uptight brunette (Robin Mattson) falls for a college basketball player who is being given speed by his coach (the kinky/medical issues plot), and the ethnic (Maria Rojo) tries to prove the innocence of a supposed armed robber (the political plot).

Rialson is vivacious and cheerful, delivering comic lines with aplomb and seeming almost wholesome as she constantly takes her clothes and off hops into bed with various men - she makes nudity and sex appear like natural, clean fun, never sleazy; you only wish she had a better storyline. Mattson also gives good value, and her romance with the jock is one of the best in the series; their seduction scenes in the gym are downright hot, because they're both clearly into it, and their characters have great inherent conflict (she's an uptown girl who wants to be a doctor, he's a sporty moron). However Rojo seem a bit too uncomfortably young for this sort of thing (although am I right in thinking that her sex scene was a dream sequence?). It doesn't help that she has to do her plot without the other girls whereas Rialson and Mattson get to be friends with one another; there is no sense of camaraderie between the three of them - it's like two movies, one with Rialson and Mattson, and Rojo off in her own storyline. I would count this as third best in the nurses series, after The Student Nurses  and Night Call Nurses. It's clunky but has an enjoyable theme song and  plenty of high spirits; Dick Miller, who was in a lot of these movies, has a small role as a heckler at a basketball game. 

Rialson went into another exploitation film, Mama's Dirty Girls (1974), made for the short-lived Premier Releasing Company. This follows the Big Bad Mama (1974) template  – a tough woman and her daughters use sex appeal to get what they want from men  - with Oscar winner Gloria Grahame in the lead and Rialson as one of her offspring; it’s a more evil character than the former Miss Hermosa Beach normally played, but she’s quite good as a sort of Lolita-esque tease, who delights in tormenting chubby men. There are two other daughters, all of whom show a lot of flesh, including an utterly gratuitous shot of Candice staring at herself in the mirror to open the film. The acting is fine and it’s a great concept – the girls look for men to seduce and kill – but the movie is never as much fun as you want it to be. They didn’t quite get the story right – the pace is too slow, unlike Big Bad Mama where there’s lots of action, here it’s mostly hanging around houses, and there’s no driving narrative. Also, who wants to watch a three girls film where the guys triumph?

Rialson had small parts in an episode of Maude and the TV movie Guilty or Innocent (1975) as well as the Clint Eastwood action flick The Eiger Sanction (1975); these were prestigious projects but her roles weren't great  - for instance in Eiger she was simply billed as "art student", and had just the one scene, throwing herself at Eastwood.

Rialson had a far better opportunity back at New World in Summer School Teachers (1975). It's one of the best of the studio's three girls movies, if not the best - and a lot of this is due to Rialson, playing a PE teacher who wants female students to play football and comes up against a sexist male coach (Dick Miller again). The other girls are Rhonda Leigh Fleming, who has an affair with a student, and Pat Anderson (veteran of Fly Me and Cover Girls), an art student who gets involved with another teacher and has a debate on pornography.

It’s high boisterious and amusing, a bit wonky in places (make that very wonky - in one scene you can see the boom in shot) but it flies along, with a lot of social comment (corruption, women sport, opportunity for women, etc) and a hilarious near-anarchic football game at the climax. It helps that the writer-director was a woman, Barbara Peeters, so the film feels like a screwball comedy rather than something sleazy. There is nudity – Rialson seduces a nerd teacher by a lake (and falls in), there's a more stylised sex scene involving Fleming which involves strobe lighting and ice cubes on the nipples (there's always a stylised sex scene in these pictures - there was an LSD one in The Student Nurses and a trippy one in Candy Stripe Nurses), and Anderson is frequently photographed with nothing on. But the women are confident and in control: they do most of the seducing,  they stick up for each other and the sisterhood, and the messages are mostly positive – girls should be able to do whatever boys can do, physical fitness is good, corruption is bad. This is the best character Rialson ever played – she’s spunky, full of energy, fights for girl sports, encourages her overweight neighbour to exercise, seduces the nerdy teacher because she likes him (Peeters isn’t afraid to show Rialson’s gut in this love scene), and she loves her rowdy dumb brothers. Good fun - and much better than New World's other 'three teachers' entry, The Student Teachers.

Rialson tried to break into studio films again, and was cast in one scene in Silent Movie (1976) as a nurse slapping Marty Feldman... but it was re-shot with another actress.  She was briefly in Logan's Run (1976).

New World came to the rescue a third time with Hollywood Boulevard (1976), a three girls movie about actresses, which was the debut directorial effort for the studio's in-house trailer editors, Joe Dante and Alan Arkush.The opening minutes of this features some sky diving stock footage, bare breasts and move in-jokes, pretty much setting the tone for the rest of the film, famously made as a bet by producer Jon Davidson who told Roger Corman he could shoot the cheapest film ever for New World. This was accomplished by incorporating footage from previous New World/Corman films: sky diving (Private Duty Nurses), car chases (Caged Heat, Crazy Mama), a period car crash (Big Bad Mama), roller derby (Unholy Rollers), Philippine action films (The Hot Box, Women in Cages, The Big Doll House), The Terror (they see it at the drive in), a futuristic car chase (Death Race 2000).

The film revolves around three girls trying to make it in Hollywood as actresses - Rialson, Rita Grey, and Tara Strohmeier, with Rialson having the biggest part. They are confronted by lecherous men and a mysterious killer - although the murder plot gets forgotten for great slabs of time. The picture has tremendous energy, a breezy tone, a  love of movies (film buffs will love the in-jokes) and an amazing support cast including Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel and Dick Miller. Rialson is incredibly charming and a perfect leading lady;  apparently Roger Corman wanted Roberta Collins (The Big Doll House, Death Race 2000) but the directors held out for Rialson – I'm a Collins fan but it was the right decision because Rialson brings not just looks and comic timing, but also a plucky underdog persona that is immensely appealing.

The film does suffer from some New World requirements of the time. There’s a scene where Rialson plays a rape victim which starts off funny but then becomes unfunny because she gets her top ripped off and is really traumatised by it. Later on Rialson watches the scene on screen while at a drive in, then is almost genuinely raped by the projectionist. These sequences feel out of place in an otherwise cheerful movie.

Of all the seventies exploitation starlets, I feel Rialson had the best chance of breaking through to mainstream stardom, or at least fame - she was attractive but not threateningly so, affable, skilled at comedy and drama, with a first-rate on-set attitude (none of her collaborators seem to have a bad word to say about her); you could easily see Rialson as, say a Charlie's Angel, or one of the kids in Eight is Enough, or as the star of an Aaron Spelling TV movie. But she never got the chance. In fact out of all the New World female leads, only one, Pam Grier, got the lead in a studio feature, and that was decades later, with Jackie Brown. Rialson, Roberta Collins, Pat Anderson, Claudia Jennings, Rainbeaux Smith... they all struggled to break through to the next level, leading one to conclude they were simply discriminated against in Hollywood.

So Rialson followed Hollywood Boulevard with the lead in a low budget comedy musical fantasy for AIP, Chatterbox (1977), the movie which Arkush and Dante suggest killed her career because she plays a woman with a talking vagina. There are actually worse concepts for a comedy, and with really smart handling this could have been worth watching – maybe even been quite feminist. But as used here the film is far too depressing: Candice’s character clearly doesn’t like her talking vagina, who creates nothing but trouble for her. She really goes through the wringer (Candice, not the vagina) over the running time– a lesbian tries to rape her, she’s put naked on a board in front of a room of scientists while her vagina sings (and she’s clearly not having a good time), she’s forced to perform a big song and dance number where her clothes get ripped off, her love interest is an insecure drip (are we meant to be glad she gets with him in the end?); if I’m not mistaken she’s also gangbanged. So although there’s plenty of nudity, it’s not that fun; this is in contrast to films like Summer School Teachers where her character was in control and the undressing came about due to her character’s decisions. It should be said, Rialson is very engaging in the picture, as usual; she’s a great trooper, giving 110% and manages to take the sleaze out of everything her character does (and still be sexy). There’s something actually quite moving watching her try so hard in a role that is killing her career in with every minute of screen time.

It was her last lead. 'Three girls' movies were out and male leads back in; she was shunted down the cast list for some B flicks, Moonshine County Express (1977) (co-starring Claudia Jennings, another 70s exploitation favourite), and Stunts (1978), and guest starred on Fantasy Island. Her last appearance was in Winter Kills (1979), a major feature, but she is billed as "second blonde girl" and mostly just rubs  John Huston's crotch.

Rialson had had enough and retired from acting - and why wouldn't you, if after six years of work, including several leads, the best studio gig you could get was "second blonde girl"? She married, moved to Studio City and had one child. She refused an offer to come out of retirement for Hollywood Boulevard II (1989) and died of liver disease on March 31, 2006 in Palmdale California, only 54 years old.

It's a shame Candice Rialson didn't get more chances, but she did leave behind a decent legacy - Hollywood Boulevard has become a cult favourite and Summer School Teachers deserves to. In the pantheon of 70s exploitation goddesses, which includes names like Pam Grier, Margaret Markov and Roberta Collins, Rialson occupies an honoured place.

Main source:
Bass, Ari. "In Search of the Drive In Diva - Candice Rialson, New World's Legendary B Movie Goddess Steamed Up". Femme Fatale. Vol. 2 no. 2.
Trailers from Hell entries on The Student Teachers, Candy Stripe Nurses, Night Call Nurses , Chatterbox

Movie review – “Group Marriage” (1973) **1/2

The success of Student Nurses led Stephanie Rothman and hubby Charles Swartz to set up their own shingle at Dimension Pictures, for whom Rothman made one well-known film, Terminal Island, and two lesser known ones, this and Working Girls.

This is closer to Terminal Island than her three girls film as it is about couples rather than girls (it’s a “three couples” film, really.) It focuses around some working girls in LA – Chris is having some relationship troubles with her mechanic de facto Xander; she jooks up with a parole officer Dave and winds up sleeping with him even though she loves Xander (“just because I love you doesn’t mean I can’t like him””). Dave has a pretty partner Jan – who hooks up with Xander. Xander and Jan go to bed with Dave and Chris – but they watch TV before going to bed. (The scene is played for laughs but is actually quite hot.)

They all go to the beach where Jan hooks up with a lifeguard Phil (Rothman always makes sure men are exploited as much as women). The boys are out for a jog when they run into a sexy jogger, lawyer Elaine (Claudia Jennings – alright!) who they ask to join their “group marriage”. Elaine agrees and she and Phil have a tender love scene. Later on there are troubles – the media get wind of the six of them leading together, they are car bombed, there’s a weird plot with a Hispanic parolee that doesn’t go anywhere, and Jan finds she wants to have sex outside the group.

There are gay caricatures (their neighbours) and when a bisexual man tries to join the group the men kick him out. The other set comedy scene results where Phil puts an ad in the paper for a sixth person to join and a bunch of wacky types walk up. However the gay couple are still friends of the lead six.

It's an interesting exploitation film, with typical Rothman good humour and intriguing sexual politics. Some of the acting is iffy, and the ease with which people join the group kind of dilutes its dramatic impact, but the women are very good looking, and frequently walk around in skimpy clothes and bikinis. One cute scene has Chris watch Attack of the 50 Foot Woman in bed – a homage to another quasi-feminist film?

Movie review – “Unholy Rollers” (1972) **1/2

An early starring role for 70s cult fave Claudia Jennings, an attractive, leggy red head who enlivened several drive in classics before dying in a car crash. Here she plays a cannery worker who quits her job to become a roller derby star – but she gets a big head and won’t fit into the team (years before Top Gun). Only her team do celebrate her first game by ripping off her clothes which is a bit off. Also off is Jennings’ Wayne Newtown-look-a-like love interest, who is going out with one of her teammates, and roughs Jennings up.

There are some great scenes – Jennings strutting around defiantly while topless in a bar; the full-blooded sport sequences (like the finale with Jennings skating outside the rink), Jennings doing a strip in a roller derby rink late at night (with a little more attention this could have been a classic). Jennings is tough and fearless, loyal and supportive to her best friend (a stripper with a thief boyfriend).

However the filmmakers never seem to focus on the drama i.e. the conflicts within Jennings’ character. She never really gets a chance to interact with anyone or show why the way she is – they set up characters (best friend, mother, false love interest, rival) and never really develop them or do anything interesting with them. In particular, Roberta Collins is shamefully wasted, and there are too many repetitive scenes of Jennings’ teammates thumping her.

As a web reviewer of this pointed out, the film manages both to be accidentally funny (crummy acting, over the top scenes) and intentionally funny (bright satire of the roller derby industry). 

Martin Scorsese was “supervising editor”.

Movie review - "Deathsport" (1978) **

A follow up to Death Race 2000 (1975) (Cannonball (1976) was an earlier follow up) - although David Carradine once more plays a warrior of the future engaged in a deadly game on wheels, it isn't as good. The main thing is a total absence of humour - the film is played totally straight. The setting is 1000 years into the future, with the world divided into city states. One of the city states kidnaps some "rangers" (free spirited types who live outside the cities) in order to be killed in Death sport, a games used to kill people; the leader of the city state wants to show off his new deadly motorcycles.

It is a bit confusing, with some ripe dialogue. The first 30 minutes are convoluted. But once the film settles down into people on motorcycles trying to kill Carradine and his friends (including Claudia Jennings, who looks great in some of the outfits), it is fine, albeit hurt by the low budget.

Clearly influenced by Star Wars with its swords, swooping sound effects, a villain who was once a goody but turned evil to serve an evil lord, sand-people type creatures; Carradine wears a loin cloth a lot of the time but he and Jennings actually pass believably for warriors. Richard Lynch is a strong opponent. 

 

There is some gratuitous nudity, unfortunately mostly in torture scenes (Jennings appears in one - it seems like a 70s disco where you go nude only get electrocuted; this was her penultimate film). 

 

The choppy nature of the film is partly explained by the fact that two directors are credited - Allan Arkush apparently took over when original director, writer Nicholas Niciphor, wasn't producing the goods. Produced by Roger Corman.

Movie review - "The Great Texas Dynamite Chase" (1976) ** ½

An example par excellance of 70s New World “tits feminism” – an exploitation movie with strong female characters who frequently take their clothes off. The women in this case are Claudia Jennings and Jocelyn Jones. Jennings is an escaped prisoner who robs a bank using dynamite to save the family farm; Jones is a bank teller who helps her in Jennings’ initial robbery. The two decide to team up to rob banks; Johnny Crawford plays a love interest for Jones. Most of the action is jokey and tongue in cheek until it gets serious towards the end with some deaths.

The script is episodic, (one bank, then another bank) – Danny Peary in his book on cult movies correctly pointed out the film really needs someone chasing the girls instead of just random cops. 

The two leads dress in skimpy shorts and tight tops and are very sexy and often nude, particularly Jennings, who has a hot love scene with her own love interest. (NB if you want to know the reason why this film appeared in a book on cult movies it is mainly because this is the best known performance from Jennings, a kind of Queen of the Drive Ins in the 1970s who died in a car crash in 1979 and became a cult figure).

Totally unpretentious and bright enough; the final shot of the two girls galloping off into the sunset is genuinely rousing. Interesting for similarities to Thelma and Louise – the men in the film are either lecherous morons or dumb helpful studs. One thing – the two are shown to rob banks with dynamite. The thing with dynamite though – unlike a gun, if you use it isn’t the robber going to blow up as well?