The Stepmother

Awesome. I did a double take when I first saw him in this quirky little independent ditty from the early 70s. Just out of curiosity I looked at when he started work on MASH, and it was the same year. That explains his appearance, as I don't believe he would do this after international stardom, but I don't know if all the research in the world wide web could fully explain the movie.

It's really a movie in two parts: the first half(ish) is story of a husband with a temper and jealous streak and throughout the second half the title of the movie is explored a little more and fleshed out (pun intended). Typical incoherent, excuse for a young filmmaker to get his name out by throwing in gratuitous walking-out-of-bed or to-and-from- the-bathroom-shot drive-in cinema with a director that never graduated from the genre in his short (directorial) career. There are moments of interesting story or character development, and the title song was amazingly nominated for an Oscar, but overall this is only worth watching for someone with an interest in films from the 1970s.

Architect Frank Delgado returns to his home in Mexico. His wealthy client Alan Richmond forces himself on his wife Margo. Frank runs into Alan on his driveway. Suspecting them having an affair, Frank kills Alan and buries his body. He escapes without being seen by a fighting couple. The police investigates Alan's strangulation death but also the young Mexican woman. Dick Hill arrives with company to talk his business partner Frank into going to a beach house which belongs to Alan.

This movie starts off well with a murder. However the tension that is build up by the opening is lost as the movie struggles through a slow boring slough. This is possibly the worst looking movie I've ever seen that is nominated for an Oscar. Alejandro Rey is a pretty awful actor. The movie has a few good actors and Larry Linville could have been an interesting lead. The staging is very static and the bad direction drains away all of the tension.

In THE STEPMOTHER, Frank (Alejandro Rey) catches his wife Margo (Katherine Justice) having sex with another man, leading to Frank's putting an end to loverboy. After disposing of the body, Frank scowls and frowns a lot while the police investigate.

Meanwhile, a carload of hipsters arrive, led by Dick (Larry Linville!). Frank continues his grimacing amidst the frolicking hepcats.

Uh oh!

Frank sees Margo and Dick together! Luckily, it's all just a misunderstanding. Unluckily, Frank is too jealous and enraged to care. Sorry, Dick! Hmmm, why is Frank taking you to the roof of a tall building?

Eeeeaagh!

THE STEPMOTHER is another drive-in ready movie from Crown International Pictures. It's perfect for its time, complete with senseless violence, ample female nudity, 1970's ambiance, and serious groov-i-tude. In addition, how could anyone not like a movie with a character called "The Goof" in it?

How, indeed...

I profoundly enjoyed this film. There are some glaring errors in cinematography and blocking and editing, and there is often a feeling of ineptness. The plot itself is pure melodrama and violence.

The strength of the performances is what intrigues me. When you have a one shot of an actor delivering several lines, it's almost always done with gusto. These actors are throwing themselves into these pitiful roles. They are doing solid hard work here.

just know that all of the criticisms are correct. The film really seems as if it was made with no professional input. But the actors are phenomenal.

I wasn't expecting much, but it was better than what I was expecting. Mainly just wanted to see Katherine Justice nude after seeing her on Barnaby Jones, Cannon, and Mannix. She was also in Prescription Murder, the Columbo pilot movie. Having John Anderson in it was a plus. It was more intriguing than what I thought it would've been. Is it a must see? No, but I liked it just fine.