The Candidate (1972)

Robert Redford stars as Bill McKay, an idealistic young lawyer who is talked into running for the U.S. senate. As the campaign wears on he slowly becomes a politician, having to compromise his integrity in order to win. Not a surprising tale but told very well. The über handsome Redford plays the part note-perfect and despite his slide into the quagmire of politics I'd still vote for Bill McKay at the end of the movie. There are many humorous moments, but they are wryly done and not overly obvious. Peter Boyle plays the campaign manager and is outstanding as always. Directed by Michael Ritchie (Bad News Bears, Semi-Tough).

I saw a bunch of Robert Redford movies in the 1970s. He was a huge star and seemed to be in a new movie every few months. In fact he made 12 movies during that decade and 3 of them were in 1972. I probably saw this one several years later, the subject matter not being enticing to a 12 year old. The other two from '72, "The Hot Rock" and "Jeremiah Johnson" (can't wait to watch that one again) would have been more my speed and I do remember seeing both of those in the theater when they came out.

As far as political films go this one has aged well and I think it's one of the better ones out there. It is quite cynical and you can't help but think that nearly 40 years later politics has not changed at all (and has probably gotten a lot worse).

At Earth's Core (1976)

The poster is better than the movie.

I missed this one when it came out in 1976 and I don't remember hearing about it. It's super cheesy with hilarious special effects and pretty bad acting. This was long before the omnipresent use of cgi of course, so you have to give them credit for going all out with the monster costumes. Based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs story and directed by Kevin Connor, it stars Doug McClure and Peter Cushing as scientists who accidentally drill through the earth's crust in their Iron Mole and end up in an enormous cavern filled with bizarre prehistoric creatures. The Mole was pretty cool and looked kind of steampunkish.

The Iron Mole getting ready to launch.

The sets are actually pretty nice and there are some totally awesome giant mushrooms. The scientists soon get captured by pig-snouted minions who are telepathically controlled by evil reptile-birds. They have enslaved humans and McClure and Cushing will eventually have to fight them to free the slaves and themselves. There are plenty of action scenes as McClure must battle many strange underground beasts as well as jealous slaves. And there's lots of fire too as they are after all "At the Earth's Core". And last but not least there is a very attractive slave princess played by Caroline Munro, who is easily the best thing about this movie (besides the mushrooms).

Awesome mushrooms.

Doug McClure shows off his biceps to Caroline Munro.

The Blue Hammer by Ross Macdonald (1976) - a steady pulse

This was the last Lew Archer novel by Ross Macdonald. Published in 1976 it takes place in California with a little jaunt over to Arizona. Private detective Archer is hired to recover a stolen painting and return it to its rightful owners. Sounds simple enough but the case soon turns deadly. What follows is a  complicated and rather confusing crime drama which will involve four murders, fratricide, thievery, blackmail, a cult (in a very minor role to be sure), kidnapping, stolen identities and generally bad behavior by many individuals. Lew has a tough time trying to piece it all together and to complicate things further he falls for a dame.

 

Macdonald (real name Kenneth Millar, 1915-1983) is an excellent writer and he holds this twisting plot together brilliantly. Written in the first person, Archer is quite likeable, a tough guy but very human, hardboiled but compassionate. He's getting older and ruminates a lot. There is actually very little violence (the murders all take place away from Archer) and Lew spends more time trying to stop fights than start them. The cast of characters is quite colorful and all are well drawn. While it is a little hard to keep track of everybody, and their relationship to each other, Macdonald (via Archer) manages, after a few more twists, to lay it all out for you in the end.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Absolutely one of my favorite movies of the 1970s. I saw this when it first came out in 1974. I thought it was terribly exciting then and I still find it quite gripping.  Directed by Joseph Sargent with the great cast of Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam and Hector Elizondo. Filled with gritty tension and smart dialogue, I think this is one the best crime dramas of all time. Robert Shaw leads a group of mustachioed men who hijack a New York City subway train and hold the passengers hostage. The facial hair is a disguise and they all go by a color for a name (Mr. Blue, Mr. Green etc. Tarantino paid homage to that in Reservoir Dogs).  Walter Matthau is on the other side as the head of security negotiating with the hijackers. You do get a little humor on that side, especially with some of the supporting actors like Lee Wallace as The Mayor. It's all serious business in the subway train however as Shaw and Elizondo are especially uncompromising and menacing. The pacing is perfect with scenes going back and forth between the bad guys and the good guys. The soundtrack, composed and conducted by David Shire, is also excellent.

 

I saw the 2009 remake of this not too long ago and it was predictably bad. Tony Scott's over-the-top directing and John Tavolta's over-the-top acting pretty much kill the story. Everything is turned up to eleven and all the subtle menace is lost. As for the cast, the rest of the bad guys were pretty unremarkable. The good guys were better, with Denzel Washington, John Turturro and James Gandolfini all quite likeable. I saw this just a few months ago and I don't remember much else. It just didn't make an impression on me. Overall another pointless remake not worth watching except to compare to the original to see how much better that one was.

I remember when we were young and things used to be so pretty: The Vibrators - Pure Mania (1977)

Pure Mania, the Lp debut of The Vibrators, is one the great British punk albums from the greatest year of classic punk albums, 1977. This one got a lot of play in our household and sits right up there with debut albums by the likes of The Clash, Wire, The Adverts and The Stranglers. Like a lot of the early punk rock, it's basically high energy rock & roll with a snotty attitude and a sneaky sense of humor. Quite memorably tuneful and a bit wild, songs like "Into the Future", "Baby Baby", "Whips and Furs" and "Sweet Sweet Heart" encourage an ongoing affection some 34 years after it's release. Great album cover too.

The World Inside by Robert Silverberg (1971) - vertical living in 2381

1971 Doubleday, artwork by James Starrett

1972 paperback edition, artwork uncredited

Robert Silverberg's The World Inside, set in 2381. I thought I had read this one before, but it was completely unfamiliar, so it was a new one for me (unless my memory has gotten really bad). The world's population stands at 75 billion and counting. Almost everyone is living in giant skyscrapers called urbmons (short for urban monads). The problem of overpopulation has been solved by vertical living, leaving a lot more room on the planet for the agriculture which is needed to feed the ever growing populace. In fact procreation is vigorously encouraged and deemed "blessworthy" by society as a whole. It's all very efficient and everybody gets along quite well in these crowded towers, except for the occasional "flippo" who is unceremoniously sent down the chute to feed the generators. Everything is recycled of course.

The author does an excellent job of describing the culture and environment, including class hierarchy and sexual mores (he spends a lot of time on sexual mores), told through several scenes which are more or less a series of linked short stories. Towards the end the focus turns to characters who are unhappy and don't fit well into the urbmon scheme, characters for whom we would naturally feel more sympathy. The book is always interesting and moves along at a quick pace. An altogether excellent work of speculative fiction from the early 1970s.

The Andromeda Strain (1971) - alien microorganism meets minimalist design

   Classic science fiction thriller directed by Robert Wise and based on the novel by Michael Crichton (which I've not read). The first time I saw this I found it quite frightening and tension filled. I've seen it a few times since the 1970s (once every 10 years or so) and it gets a little less frightening each time. There are still some rather chilling moments though. My favorite scene is when they are scanning the satellite for the source of the contamination. I still find it wonderfully spooky, but in a nice subtle way.

   Starring Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson and Kate Reid, who are all fine.  It's a slow moving film, with lots of detail concerning the underground facility. What I was particularly drawn to this most recent of viewings was the design of the facility. The sets are really nice and use a minimum of bells and whistles. In fact it's downright spare, at times reminding me of minimalist art.

Levels are color coded.

On the way to be decontaminated. Compare the minimal design to that below.

Installation by minimalist artist John McCracken

   Overall a cool looking movie with some chilling scenes, decent acting, and excellent direction and set design. I'll probably watch it again in another 10 years. Good stuff.

Fun Fusion: The Billy Cobham - George Duke Band "Live" On Tour In Europe (1976)

Billy Cobham (drums), George Duke (keyboards), John Scofield (guitar), Al Johnson (bass)
A classic of the fusion genre. Great musicians, very funky high energy stuff played with a sense of humor often lacking in the genre. John Scofield is especially brilliant on guitar but everyone plays their butts off. Great album cover artwork by Cal Schenkel who did covers for Frank Zappa. I remember being quite fond of this album and the excellent artwork way back when. It has stood the test of time quite well. George duke offers some nice thoughts on the album here.

The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974)

I remember seeing both of these movies in the theaters upon their original release. I would have been in my early teens and I thought they were quite exciting and very funny. Re-watching them again over 35 years later I'm happy to say that my original impression hasn't changed significantly. The cast is quite good, with Michael York, Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway, Charlton Heston (in a cameo) and Richard Chamberlain. Shot in Spain and directed by Richard Lester. Set designs and costumes are excellent.

Michael York (D'Artagnan) comforts Raquel Welch (Constance)

Originally shot as one movie, thee producers decided to break it into two movies when they saw how much film they had (resulting in a lawsuit). The first movie has more of a comic feel to it. Lots of pratfalls and silly goings-on. Can be rather tiresome, although when I was a much younger I thought it hilarious. It becomes more serious as the plot unfolds. The second movie has more weight to it and the funny business is less, making it the stronger of the two movies.

Note should also be made of the brawling swordplay, which is choreographed wonderfully. Faye Dunaway is also especially delicious as the evil Milady de Winter. Oliver Reed is at his most likeable. Altogether a superior movie version of the Dumas novel (which I confess I've never read and only have other movie versions to compare this to), I found it quite enjoyable and rewarding to watch again.

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick (1974)

I first discovered my favorite Science Fiction writer in 1973 or '74, just around the time this novel was first published. Dick only published a handful of novels in the '70s, after having been quite prolific in the 1960s. This is one of his most excellent books, featuring many of his trademark themes: paranoia, drugs, an unstable reality, flying cars, Jungian philosophy, etc. Jason Taverner, a very famous television personality wakes up (after have been bitten by a sponge creature) to find that no one knows who he is, that he in fact does not seem to have existed in the world he has woken up to. Nothing goes too well after that. There are several encounters with dubious individuals, including the policeman of the title. Finally, his past starts slipping back into the world after he ingests some drugs. Of course it doesn't end there. It's all quite brilliant in that Philip K. Dick way. My only criticism would be the epilogue, which I felt was not needed and diminished the impact of the last chapter. But it's just a quibble. Overall an outstanding novel.

Several excellent paperback editions were published by DAW. I'm referring to the artwork of course. My favorite is the first from 1975, but I quite enjoy them all. Art by Hans Ulrich & Ute Osterwalder (top, 1975), Larry Kresek (middle, 1976) and Oliviero Berni (bottom, 1981).