Poor Pretty Eddie

One of the most deeply disturbing films of the early 70s, bar none, POOR PRETTY EDDIE is also, at times, morbidly comical as well. A murky, surreal tale centering on a black superstarlet singer(Leslie Uggams) who becomes stranded alone in a small, backward Southern town. She takes a room in a tumbledown lodge run by Shelley Winters and "Eddie", her handsome "kept" boy. Eddie becomes discordantly smitten with Uggams, rapes her, beats her, and vows his undying love to her as a distraught Ms. Winters looks on.

Flush with heterodox characters and nightmarish imagery, POOR PRETTY EDDIE is a mind-bending, jaw-dropping, head-scratching freak-on-wheels which is equal parts effective and defective.

6.5/10...file under "uncategorizable".

Just found this on DVD today, in a much better transfer than the old VHS versions. Let's face it, the film would be even more obscure, had the producers not had the vision to cast Shelley as Bertha, the faded beauty who "used to be an entertainer", but now owns a run down inn that is way off the beaten path. She's also an alcoholic plagued with loneliness and insecurity, which is somewhat relieved by Eddie, a good looking but psychotic stud about 25 years younger, with whom she maintains a desperate sexual and emotional relationship.

There is some debate about Shelley's acting, that her character is really just Shelley playing herself. That is an insult to the actress, who like any talented actor draws emotion from her own experiences. This is a tour-de-force performance, particularly when she explains to Leslie Uggams (in a very one-dimensional performance) that Eddie is all the man she's got, and at her age, there won't be any others. It's a heartbreaking scene that leaves no doubt about Miss Winters acting abilities. The crazy plot reminds me of HG Lewis' "2000 Maniacs". Slim Whitman has some choice lines. Entertaining in a "Bad Movie We Love" kind of way, this trashy treasure is worth seeking out.

One of the great undiscovered jewels of Truly Bad Cinema! It's almost useless to try to write a commentary on this, because this film is indescribable. Leslie Uggams (whose acting consists of exactly two expressions, defensive and shrieking) plays a famous singer adrift in a redneck landscape that's like the love child of Franz Kafka and HEE-HAW; she's up against a horny young Elvis wannabee, Shelley Winters (surprise - she's drunk through most of the film!), Slim Pickens, Dub Taylor, Ted Cassidy, and a DELIVERANCE kid with a slingshot. What else can you say about a film that includes one of the most memorable montage sequences in film history: Uggams' rape is intercut with Cassidy and his friends watching dogs goin' at it, while a lilting country tune plays over the soundtrack. Or how about the scene in which Slim Pickens (as the Sheriff!) interrogates poor Leslie about her rape while begging her to "suck on one'a these tomatoes"?

This film screams (like poor Leslie) for a DVD release. Listen up, you distribs out there - this is the great lost cult film of the 70s, just lying around like some petrified critter waiting to be put on display. Pull out that jug of moonshine and enjoy!

I bought this film from a car boot sale in Finland (Yes, this wonderful film was apparently released in Finland as a rental in the early eighties.) mainly because of its cover that suggested that it would be a blaxploitation film. That it was not. Instead it proved to be a genuinely stylish piece of cinema with some upsetting (exploitation) scenes not unlike Texas Chainsaw or The Last House on the Left. Probably, though it was not violent enough to compete with them or sick enough to challenge Pink Flamingos. So it was never recognized and quickly forgotten. Anyhow, the thing that surprised me the most was that this film looked stunningly good. The compositions were beautiful as was the lightning. The story was fast paced and had enough twists to keep me interested till the end.

Sadly, however, there is one big minus to this film; it seems to me, that the filmmaker(s) were a bit too conscious with the "shocking" content of their script. Whenever an event with shock value occurs it is highlighted in the worst "look, we dare show this"- manner.

All in all a very enjoyable piece of trash with a difference- competence in filmmaking!

P.S. If you still have doubts after reading this I must say that any film that has both Shelley Winters and Slim Pickens cannot be nothing but good!

An obscure treat! This flick deserves to be a new cult classic. It is rich in tawdry sick sexuality and over the top performances. Shelley Winters gives a tour-de-force as the faded burlesque beauty surrounded by a court of simpletons who indulge her fantasies and create a bizarre, Fellini-esque world of sad rejects. The twisted plot ostensibly centers around Leslie Uggams' hellish enslavement at a backcountry inn that makes the woods of "Deliverance" seem tame. But the real story is between Shelley and her men. This movie is fabulously tasteless!