La ballata dei tre killers

I have seen Dick Clark in a couple of films before and once on the farewell episode of the Perry Mason series and he did turn in some creditable performances. Killers Three was produced, partially written and he was one of the three killers. Set in post World War II North Carolina this is about Clark, Robert Walker, Jr., and Diane Varsi who go Bonnie and Clyde and become notorious fugitives.

Walker is making a good living supporting Varsi and her child which isn't his, but whom he has adopted. A visit from war buddy Clark changes everything as Clark convinces him to rob a known bootlegger when he learns where the bootlegger hides his money.

Everything goes wrong with this genius plan they cook up and they're on the run. Given the parameters of this kind of film you know it won't end up good.

Clark is absolutely laughable as a killer, Walker and Varsi both sleep walk through the film. Merle Haggard acts in the film as a local sheriff, but on the plus side does several songs for the soundtrack. His fans might like Killers Three for that.

But everyone else, stay away from this badly distilled moonshine.

This movie has more going for it than a B grade script and a bunch of B grade actors. It's got swamps and hillbilly types who look like they came straight to the set without stopping off first at make-up. Diane Varsi is an X-rated, truly titillating Daisy Mae type who holds nothing back from the camera, or from Robert Walker Jr. The scenes of violence are almost accidentally realistic and moving. It's as if the director, writer, and cast were drinking with Sam Peckinpah and Robert Aldrich every day after filming. As the movie progresses, and the plot spins out, the characters seem to all gather a mix of momentum and resignation which effectively adds to the miasmic, depressive swamp-like feeling of the movie.

Some movies are just bad. This movie is bad, and it's good, and it's so bad it's often good. Like Dick Clark on acid (or moonshine)!

This is one of my all time favorite movies. even though it is a Bonnie and Clyde type movie it has a lot of humor in it. Also I love the music! Tony York does a great job as the little boy, Tony. Watch his face when he says "We going to California now?" Priceless. Dick Clark does a great job too as do all of the actors. I have watched this about 6 times and I will watch it again. I think this is one of the few movies that Dick Clark acted in. He also co-wrote this movie. It is kind of a black comedy. This film might make you laugh as well as cry. Give it a try. You won't be sorry. I have this on tape but don't have the DVD yet.

In this exploitation flick, Johnny (Robert Walker, Jr.) is a driver for a backwoods moonshine boss, constantly outrunning a pair of inept Feds. Hi Army buddy, Roger (Dick Clark) comes to visit Johnny, wife Carol (Diane Varsi), and their son Tony. The first half of the film is slow-moving and dull, but once Johnny hatches a far-fetched robbery plan that backfires miserably, all four are on the run and the movie picks up somewhat. In the spirit of BONNIE AND CLYDE, which was released the previous year, KILLERS THREE attempts to draw a sympathetic picture of Johnny, Carol, and Roger as they successfully evade the authorities through the underbrush of North Carolina. In the final ten minutes, the movie succeeds on this score, only because in the shadow of overwhelming fire power provided by the Feds and the cops, the running criminals seem almost brave as they fight on. On reflection, though, it is only dumb luck and a contrived script that keeps them going. The stupidity of their crimes and continued killings works against the fragile sympathy evoked here and there during the course of this crude movie. You can tell this film was tailor-made for drive-in showings -- Merle Haggard's repetitive Greek-chorus balladeering reiterates all plot points two, three, maybe four times; when the talk-talk-talk gets too cooked, the makers throw in a car chase. You get the idea.

Walker and Clark fare well despite the ludicrous things their characters are called upon to do; sadly, Varsi sleepwalks through the complex role of Carol, although she does have a surprising nude scene.

This film was shot in Randolph County in central North Carolina in 1968 when a film crew in the state was a rare thing. The locations were the municipalities of Liberty and Ramseur and the surrounding rural countryside. It is not a particularly good movie. It did have Merle Haggard and it brought life to the hinterlands for a few minutes.

The plot is standard shootemup. The cinematography is that fuzzy stuff that came out of the late sixties and early seventies. The local folks were thrilled to be a part of the enterprise.

If viewers have difficulty finding a copy of this film, a record copy is available in Asheboro, NC.

Actors not credited include Ben Jones, Mimi Pravda, Tommy Hull, Bill Nunnery.