For all his faults, JAN MICHAEL VINCENT certainly made some great movies in the seventies (be it, THE BIG Wednesday, HOOPER, THE MECHANIC, VIGILANTE FORCE) including this (little seen) gem. VINCENT plays Buster, a tough, high-school loner, who against the wishes of his (childish, rather ugly) friends, dates the local good-time girl (of whom, most of busters friends have been casually 'involved' with) But these two opposites find love, but as in all classic love tales, their romance is doomed. To give anything else away, would ruin this highly original period piece(set in 1948.) Needless to say, it does continue the ever growing trend of seventies movies, and features a downbeat ending. Long after the viewer shakes off initial images of sexist, drunken teens, several scenes of true beauty, shine through this great movie. The period details are spot-on, and there's not one bad performance (look out for a young ROBERT ENGLUND) but as with most other JMV movies, Hollywood soon moved onto bigger (although, not always better) actors, and he soon became a tragic casualty of cinema. He certainly had the 'look' (predating the 'tom cruise' boyish-good looks) but unfortunately ended up, in bad TV movies or low budget dreck (ENEMY TERRITORY aside) Too bad, because he had the makings of another JAMES DEAN (and gives a similar performance in this movie) Hunt this movie out (if you can, it's quite rare) but you'll be glad you did. Another notable aspect, is the fine (and rather haunting) musical score, including the main theme (sung by HOYT AXTON) which never fails to bring a lump in my throat, and made all the more lyrical, by the movies tragic (yet strangely, touching) ending.
A fine unseen gem, and well worth hunting down piece of 70's obscure 10 out of 10
A fine unseen gem, and well worth hunting down piece of 70's obscure 10 out of 10