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First, a little personal reminiscence. When Judy and I moved to Brownwood, Texas, for my first teaching gig after grad school, it was quite a culture shock to go from a place like Austin, with lots of movie theaters, to a place that had only one. This explains how we came to see The Legend of Boggy Creek, but that's another story. Not too long after our move, a new duplex theater opened at a little shopping center, and $ was the first film show in one half of the duplex. We were looking forward to the movie, but we didn't see it. The theater flooded. A problem with the air-conditioning, I believe.
That struck me as an interesting coincidence because it was the second time I'd been to opening night when the theater flooded. The first was many years before, when the new theater in my hometown had opened. The a/c was the problem then, too.
And at yet another time I was in a theater that flooded. It was a fairly new one, though I don't believe this was opening night. It was my freshman year in college, and the student union theater flooded because of flash flooding all over the city. What is it with me and flooding in theaters, anyway?
Now to our regularly scheduled feature. You can see the problem with this movie immediately, right? Who names a movie $? Maybe back in the early '70s when this movie came out, the studio thought that a movie starring Goldie Hawn and Warren Beatty didn't even need a title to be a hit. They were wrong, though.
Not that Beatty and Hawn (both with wonderful '70s haircuts) aren't a delight. They are, and so are Scott Brady and Gert Frobe (with lots of little Goldfinger in-jokes). The plot's not bad. It's a caper, with Beatty stealing from criminals, aided by Hawn's hooker with a heart of gold. Naturally the crooks aren't happy, and complications ensue. The film's finale is one really long chase scene, followed by a double twist. Or is it a triple twist? I don't remember.
This is one of those movies that didn't do well at the time, or at least not nearly as well as expected. But it's fun and worth a look if you need some lighthearted entertainment, as who doesn't now and then?
11 comments:
Note to self: never go to the movies with Crider.
;)
Jeff
festThe fates are simply attempting to dampen your enthusiasm, as if THE CREATURE FROM BOGGY CREEK couldn't do that on its own.
I've seen this film, probably on THE CBS LATE MOVIE or the like, sometime in the 1970s, and don't remember a single thing about it, other than that fact....other than I think I enjoyed it.
Meanwhile, Blogger is acting up in your word recognition, if not everyone's, for comments...with luck, that will pass quickly.
A friend of mine was working as an usher in a theater where this played, and he wound up knowing most of the dialogue by heart. (He was also in love with Goldie Hawn, but that's another story.) I have no memory of ever seeing this one myself. Richard Brooks isn't the first person I'd think of to write and direct a lighthearted caper film.
Loved Goldie Hawn, Gert Frobe, and especially Warren Beatty in this. But I thought the movie wasn't near as clever as IT seemed to think it was.
It's certainly worth a look though...
Another in a line of 1970s caper films with hip male lead and beautiful blonde female sidekick who, because they are so hip and beautiful, decide to stick it to the man with a massive heist. I actually liked Charles Grodin and Candace Bergen doing the same schtick better in "11 Harrowhouse."
Worth a look, or listen, for the theme song alone. "Money Is," written by Quincy Jones and sung by Little Richard. Thanks for remembering this one, Bill.
I agree, Ben, and I should've mentioned that theme song!
I've been in a few theaters I THOUGHT might flood, after drinking the big Coke and attempting to hold it till the end! lol
More of a danger now than it used to be (for some of us).
Haven't seen this since the early 1980s, but I remember I liked it. The Hamburg locations looked pretty cool, IIRC.
Oh, and according to IMDB there is some "frozen lake scene" filmed in Sweden. I have absolutely no recollection of any frozen lake scene.
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