Widersteh, wenn du kannst

I really love this movie -I saw it after Parks' series 'Then Came Bronson' which started when I was just seven years old. I honestly don't know how I remember the show.

I have done some research on 'Bus Riley...' and found that the movie was significantly changed by Universal; I don't know whether it was done during shooting or after the bulk of shooting was complete but a great deal of the original story was cut with new scenes filmed to 'push' Ann Margret as a Universal Studios talent. (William) Inge's original script had Judy (Janet Margolin, an absolutely lovely woman) as Bus' girlfriend. He came back to a job at the garage -with James Doohan playing a larger role and was not satisfied, unfulfilled and fell into the relationship with Ann Margret. Michael Parks, Janet Margolin and James Doohan had diminished roles as a result of the forced changes to the movie.

I cannot substantiate this version of events but have seen enough references to it to lend credence to the story -I believe it is why the AM character seems to make no sense at times.

Now, having said that, I still love this movie. I find Michael Parks to be an actor of rare talent and I believe he may have been blacklisted for being difficult to work with. I do think he is a better actor than James Dean, whom he was frequently compared to.

I have watched this classic and contemporary film at least three (3) times over the past fifty-two (52) years. I will most certainly watch it again when the Criterion Collection eventually come to realize how important this film is to the North American culture of the second half of the last century. I am quite sure the Criterion Collection will eventually release this beautiful contemporary film on an extended Blu Ray format fully restored with extras that will include historical interviews with Director Harvey Hart and many of the key actors in this Peyton Place kind of small town atmosphere.

Michael Parks and his chiseled good looks plays the returning home from over seas navy seaman Bus Riley. Bus displays his own unique moody yet still charming persona that emulated the likes of James Dean and a younger Marlon Brando. Bus Riley's solemn temperament matched wildly and sexually against the 24 year old married vixen Laurel played by Ann-Margret. Director Harvey Hart brings to the screen the warmth and loving charm of the three (3) family members who Bus Riley lives with who are his mother played by Jocelyn Brando (the older sister of Marlon Brando), and his two sisters the younger Gussie, (played so lovingly and filled with innocence by Kim Darby) who is filled with life and yet still empty of any jealousy towards either brother Bus or older sister Paula, played by the attractive Mimsy Farmer.

There are many lonely ladies in this Peyton Place sort of town, one of which happens to be the divorced mother of Judy who who lays around on her couch watching romantic movies, and drinking herself into a state of stupor. Then one day the young and rather naive Bus Riley knocks on her door to sell her one of his new "top secret atomic" vacuum cleaner which he quickly gets her to sign a contract for in exchange for providing her a handsome young shoulder to cry on. But Bus does have a conscience and when he discovers that this lonely lady is Judy's mother who is her mothers sole caregiver and housekeeper and he recognizes Judy as his own sister Gussie's best friend, he quickly finds a way to dissolve the just signed contract and save Judy's drunkard mother from going further into debt.

The film is about young love, old love, personal financial gain, parental disdain, deception, heart break, the sexual revolution, it even touches on homosexuality which was a taboo topic in 1965. The Riley family has its own share of despair as we wonder why Bus's father is not in the picture, nor present in the household. Bus just returning from a three (3) year overseas tour serving in the U.S. Navy appears to have left abruptly after breaking up with his younger seventeen (17) year old virginal girlfriend Laurel, only to discover upon his return home to find out she has married a very wealthy but much older man.

There are many good actors in this film and multiple story lines. I believe that Ann-Margret's and Michael Park's performances were worthy of at least an Academy Award nomination for best actress and best actor respectively. This film moves along seamlessly from the opening scene to the last scene where the Riley's kitchen door closes behind us, the audience. It is a film filled with regrets, but more importantly it is also a film filled with compassion, awakenings, second chances and redemption.

I love this picture and therefore I give Bus Riley's Back In Town a perfect 10/10 rating. I trust the Criterion Collection has this beautifully directed and acted 1965 film on their short list for a new restored release before the end of this quarter century.

This is the kind of film where the title says all. Michael Parks who was attempting to be a 60s version of James Dean is back from Uncle Sam's Navy and looking to settle down. Jobs like mortician and vacuum cleaner salesman don't quite work out, but he's got a pair of women in tow.

Janet Margolin is the daughter of a friend of Parks's mom and she's a sweet innocent thing. But his former girlfriend Ann-Margret has up and married money rather than wait for Parks. Still her older husband is away all the time and Ann-Margret has an itch that needs scratching which Parks is only happy to oblige.

The main reason to see Bus Riley's Back In Town is for Ann-Margret. She really sizzles in the part of the sex hungry man trap. Despite some less than stellar reviews, folks plunked down their money to see her.

She's still worth seeing.

Unless you love small-town soap opera or are a big fan of Ann-Margret, the only reason to recommend this film is to see Michael Parks emulate James Dean. Perhaps Parks isn't quite as intense or as fidgety as Dean, but the facial expressions, mannerisms, stance, etc. are all spot-on for this Dean fan. I had never really noticed Parks in anything before seeing this, and I haven't seen someone play James Dean this well since James Franco in the TNT "James Dean" (2001) biopic.

Kim Darby, somehow looking older than she did in "Star Trek" or "True Grit" plays a high school version of Barbara Bel Geddes' Midge from "Vertigo."

It's amazing that Ann-Margret had any friends left in Hollywood after she was put in the forefront of "State Fair", then the producers of "Bye Bye Birdie" geared that film around her then in this film, she was given top-billing and the story was re-structured to bring out her character more than was intended or necessary! It's not to say that she didn't do a good job on these movies, it's just that more than a few people involved got their feathers ruffled along the way and she seems to be none the worse for wear from it herself! Here, it was the author of the piece (William Inge) who tried to disassociate himself from the film when the producers decided to steer the production her way. The story is supposed to be about the title character (Parks) and the events that befall him when he comes home from a three year stint in the U.S. Navy. He has trouble finding his way and interacts with various locals and family members as he searches for purpose and the security of a bright future. Standing in the way of this is old flame Margret who, when he shipped out after a break up with her, married a wealthy older man. Parks and Margret have a great push-pull, moth-to-a-flame chemistry with Parks desperately trying to avoid what he knows will be his undoing. Fans of Margret will be doing backflips when watching this film as she purrs and slithers around in her Jean Louis dresses and tosses her lionesse mane of red hair. Her character makes little or no sense half the time (partly because it has been unduly featured as a starring part when it is actually just a plot device), but her followers won't care when she's writhing around and whispering romantic dialogue in lighting that would make Lucille Ball jealous. Parks can't quite shake the James Dean label entirely and the way he acts and looks sometimes, maybe he wasn't even trying, but he does give a thoughtful, often empathetic performance. The whole film is dotted with great character actors giving little doses of themselves. Sometimes, they get short shrift or their scenes don't add up to much, but their presence is enjoyable nonetheless. Brando gets one of her better roles as Parks' worried mother. The lovely Farmer plays his tarty, blonde sister while Darby does a fantastic job as his adoring younger sister. Her performance provides the film with a great deal of heart and realism. Other enjoyable work is done by Somers (she did something before "Match Game"?!) as a fussy boarder, Martin as a slovenly neighbor, Dexter as a slick salesman, Pearce as a dotty housewife and Griffies as a cantankerous mortician. Less showy, but just as good is Margolin as Darby's troubled friend. If the parts don't all add up to a brilliant whole, at least the film is pretty to look at and mostly entertaining. The characters are interesting enough to hold the viewers attention for the bulk of the time. Amusingly, the one hot pub in town (purportedly a straight bar) plays only Petula Clark songs until Margret slips a nickel in the juke box for one of her slinky come-ons. There's also a rather forward (for its time) scene of an older man attempting to make Parks his live-in "buddy". It would be interesting to see how the film played with Inge's perspective kept intact. As is, it's still a more than passable piece of entertainment.