Jennifer on My Mind

Upper class Jew Michael Brandon meets upper class WASP Tippy Walker while both are touring Venice in this sloppy, sentimental movie written by Eric Segal.

Segal is, of course, remembered for writing LOVE STORY, the story about the problems of being rich and in love at Yale; it was turned into a movie that was the TITANIC of the era. I was not impressed by its rich kitsch schmaltz, but it had Arthur Hiller directing, and Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw in the leads, and Ray Milland in a supporting role, so at least the studio spent the money for a first class production. In this one, although parts of it are shot in Venice - the one in Italy - the cinematography by Peter Laszlo never bothers to show us any vistas.

Kim Hunter was cut out of the final print, lest it be too arty. At least you have Barry Bostwick in his screen debut as 'Nanki'.

Erich Segal's screenwriting career never really took off after his big success with 1970's "Love Story" for reasons that might be neatly summed here: he's terribly fond of impulsive decisions that change lives forever, montages that substitute for substance, pretentious dialogue dotted with high-brow references ("She didn't even say goodbye. She was gone, like the mermaid Ondine"), and grown-up young people acting like children (which plays into the sudden impulse factor). Segal's adaptation of Roger L. Simon's novel "Heir", directed by Noel Black and starring Michael Brandon and Tippy Walker, begins with vintage photographs of immigrants arriving in America while Brandon tells us in voiceover about his family's money vis-à-vis his girlfriend's. Aside from the fact both kids are well-supported, it's like a "Love Story" redux. We even get another tragic death--this time by way of drugs (for that trendy touch). Brandon and Walker sight-see in Italy, leap with abandon into the Canal from a gondola, then separate; he tracks her down back in the US, following her into the swimming pool fully-clothed. The movie isn't even 30 minutes old and it's already reviving itself! Watch for a scruffy Robert De Niro (billed without a space in his surname) as a gypsy cab driver. * from ****

Jennifer on My Mind (1971)

BOMB (out of 4)

Rich boy Marcus (Michael Brandon) meets rich hippie chick Jennifer (Tippy Walker) on a trip in Italy and follows her back to America where she's constantly wanting him to get her weed. We're told all of this in flashbacks because in the current time Jennifer has died and Marcus is trying to figure out a way to get rid of her body. When then go back to the flashbacks to see Jennifer dump, disrespect and humiliate Marcus at every chance she gets. United Artist was apparently so embarrassed by this movie that the ended up cutting out fifteen-minutes worth of additional footage including some of Kim Hunter. It's also clear that the studio was embarrassed by this thing because for nearly forty-years it was impossible to see as it never had a VHS, Laserdisc or DVD release but thankfully MGM finally put it on Netflix just so people can see that the film's horrid reputation was deserved. I'm really not sure where to start on this thing because every single second is a complete disaster and for the life of me I can't understand what they were trying to do with this thing. The screenplay is without question one of the worst I've ever had the misfortune of seeing because the thing jumps around so much that you have to wonder why. Even stranger is why on Earth they have Marcus head over heels with this girl when there's never a single reason for him to care about her. They really don't have any relationship outside her treating him bad and the screenplay never makes it clear why he keeps going after her. The screenplay also doesn't know if it wants to be a comedy or drama because one second drugs are cool and then the next they're bad. One second you have some sort of fake love story trying to be told and then you get comedy adventures of Marcus trying to get rid of the body. One of these adventures includes him being attacked by Hells' Angels and another has a group of rednecks running him off the road. Brandon seems lost for the majority of the running time and Walker doesn't do much better. Her heroin fit towards the end of the movie is extremely poor and almost seems like an outtake from some of those drug movies of the 30s. I had been wanting to watch this movie for a good two decades now because of Robert DeNiro playing a Gypsy taxi driver. He's only in the film for a few minutes but there's no doubt that his steals the film and actually delivers a rather funny performance. Barry Bostwick and Jeff Conaway have small roles as well. JENNIFER ON MY MIND is without question one of the worst films of the decade but at the same time it's almost a must-see just for how bad it is. Fans of DeNiro will certainly want to see his pre-Scorsese trip in the taxi as it's the only thing that saves this from being one of the worst of all time.

So overwritten and tryhard and lame. Some loser falls for an ugly Joni Mitchell/Sleestak looking chick for some reason and makes a fool out of himself for 2 hours. Even DeNiro can't save this trash as a crazy cabbie. Must've been written while on acid

From the writer of LOVE STORY comes another somber slice of downbeat romance as a man looking for love gets mixed up with a selfish and free-spirited blond hippy-chick junkie. It starts with her already dead and we look back on how they met and her mental decline to the inevitable overdose on heroin. The guy hides her body in his piano and then his car trunk until he can figure out a way to get rid of it. There's potential here for some dark humor but it's never really exploited as the film stays on its tragic trajectory to an ending that at least does bring closure to the story. The film has a slow deliberate pace which makes this film really boring because who cares about these people, especially the girl. The best part was an early appearance by Robert De Niro as a high-strung gypsy taxi driver which is about as far removed from Travis Bickle as you can get. See it if you love obscure counterculture cinema of the late 60s/early 70s.