The Rainbow Boys

Dave's not here man...

Well it's a movie, a Canadian road adventure movie. Not too sure what else I could say about this movie to to use up all my IMDB characters for a full review.

First off I put it on to see some early film work from SCTV alum Dave Thomas but no matter how hard I looked I couldn't see him in any shot.

We have 3 main leads with 5 other supporting actors, 1-store clerk, 1-accident victim, and 3 native Canadians. I don't even think there was any animals to help bring to life the backgrounds.

It's mainly shot on logging roads, starts with a river shot, a shot on the highway, a sceen in a general store, then back on the road. We get to see inside a home for a bit then we end off at a little shack adjesent to a mine. Really seems like they were all the free spots to film that wouldn't cost them any money or more likely where Canada told them they could film.

But really, where's Dave man??

I was hoping for at least a decent size role which would have made it maybe funny.

Ralph Logan (Donald Pleasence) is a small time gold paner. Gladys (Kate Reid) is his reluctant friend. Mazella (Don Calfa) has a book of lost mines. Logan claims that he inherited a lost gold mine from his father. The trio sets off to find the remote mine.

This is a little Canadian indie with some government help. The three leads are very interesting veteran actors. Every horror fans know Donald Pleasence. It's interesting just for these performers. This seems to be trying for quirky comedy although it's hit and miss. Logan and Mazella can be annoying until you get used to them. This just doesn't have enough meat on the bone. The story is thin and there aren't many actual jokes. The 70's had a lot of rambling experimental flicks. They do have a righteous trike.

It is my own but very devoted intention to watch every single movie Donald Pleasance ever starred in. He's not just a personal favorite actor mine, he truly was one of the greatest and most versatile actors who ever lived. And he definitely was one of the hardest-working men in show business, because with more than 250 titles on his repertoire - some of which nearly untraceable - is this little mission of mine practically impossible.

With a career as Pleasance's, you secretly hope to occasionally stumble upon a largely undiscovered but awesome gem, like "Wake in Fright" or "The Race for Yankee Zephyr". I strongly hoped for this to be the case with "Logan", but alas, it's tremendously obscure for a good reason. In this early 70s comedy/adventure about a trio of vagrants in search of an inherited but hidden gold mine, only Pleasance's performance and the astounding British-Columbia filming locations are worth mentioning.

"Logan" (official title: "The Rainbow Boys") is too talkative, not very funny when it tries to be, and the slapstick-like soundtrack is incredibly annoying. Even a terrific Donald Pleasance cannot compensate for the subpar performances of his two fellow leads, and even the breath-taking scenery of the great outdoors eventually doesn't suffice, neither.

This film is a must see for fans of the three stars, Donald Pleasence, Kate Reid and Don Calfa. The viewer needs to avoid getting caught up some of the "low budget" production foibles that lend an amateurish feel to parts of this film. The authenticity of the British Columbia west during the 60's and 70's is spot on. The heat of the opening scene with the insects and birds competing with the river's burble is a refreshing dose of actual sound compared with the current crop of movies filmed out west whose creators can't resist adding in the screech of an eagle or the call of a loon whenever a vista comes upon the screen. Kate Reid, plump and middle aged as Gladys, an unlikely love interest or at least a winter bed warmer and companion of the endearing prospector Logan played by Pleasence. The two are locals of the spectacular Fraser Canyon in BC and the movie builds around the accidental meeting of Logan and Mazella played by Don Calfa. Logan pays for some groceries with gold dust and Mazella happens to notice, his interest piqued, the two cross paths again outside when Mazella smashes into a local Indian's car and Logan reluctantly offers a helping hand defending Mazella and taking him off to get patched up by Gladys. A simple genuine bond is immediately established at the kitchen table between the three and a plan is hatched to attempt to rediscover Logan's father's old gold mine. Notable hilarious dialog at a stop at a cabin on the way has Logan and Mazella lost in male conversation about the most trivial of detail regarding hobbies and long nights in the bush and crushing gold bearing ore,"it is a lot of work" that it cannot help but get the tight-asses laughing. Logans constant reminiscences about his father and his need to defend his honor to Gladys lends pathos that can't help but warm the heart of even the worst cynic. Calfa, Reid and Pleasence are a pleasure to watch. This is their film along with the wilderness back drop, and it should be enjoyed for all its personality and not scrutinized to heavily for production shortcomings. Films with this kind of innocence and brilliant character portrayal should be dragged back from obscurity.

Some comments on this movie are unfair, I think. It's just a goofy little comedy, nothing more. Is it perfect? Nope. But there are many moments of pleasure, one being Donald Pleasence's eccentric performance. "Bastards!" I remember seeing this on TV many times as a kid, so that's probably why I have a fondness for this. I was lucky enough to find a VHS copy on Ebay. Too bad it's not on DVD, even a cheap two-for edition.

Also good is Don Calfa, as a really out of it, seriously goofy New Yorker who is lured to British Columbia on vague dreams of striking it rich. Kate Reid holds it together as a grumpy though sane woman, in stark contrast to Donald Pleasence's barely in control character and Don Calfa's airhead one.

All in all, I'd recommend it if you can find a cheap copy on video, or if it's on TV one late night...