All'ultimo secondo

When recently released convict Peter Fonda shoots James T. Callahan for stealing his song, Susan St. James sees a chance to make a buck. No one will pay her a dime, so she teams up with Fonda to go on a crime-publicity spree.

It's a very 1970s movie, with Fonda playing his counter-culture shtick to the hilt. There are lots of banjos in the score, corrupt sheriffs up for re-election, as well as the usual Football nationalism that made up the movies' post-1960s ideas of Texas. Fonda May have begun his career in beach movies and being a young doctor, but after EASY RIDER, Fonda had a star persona he didn't shake until the 1990s.

This is definitely a drive-in flick, and I saw it at the drive-in here in Houston in the late 70's.

I've been listening to the soundtrack of "The Harder They Come" and it occurred to me that there are similarities in this drive-flick and the reggae cult classic. The heroes are on the run, and are recording artists (talented in Jimmy Cliff's case, supposedly "talented" in Fonda's case).

Well, I had my say.

Unambitious, unassuming gem from the undervalued pile of movies over at Warner Bros. Director Richard T. Heffron and talented screenwriter B.W.L. Norton concoct an easy-going scenario full of rascally characters and lively action in tale of a luckless musician, recently paroled yet back in trouble after assaulting a country-western singer who stole his song. In the lead, Peter Fonda isn't his usual hole-in-the-screen self (Heffron helps him loosen up and be a bit more likable), while Susan Saint James is very fresh and funny as a music business insider who turns the convict into an anti-hero. Scruffy, charming picture was probably the perfect drive-in entry; it should play even better on the tube. *** from ****

This is a little-seen movie, which is too bad. It may not be great, but it's worth showing now and then. CMT should show it. Maybe they do. Outlaw Blues is a good title for this movie. Austin, Texas, is the Texas Nashville, and was a stomping grounds of Waylon and Willie, who were on the 1976 album Wanted!: The Outlaws. I never saw the beginning of the movie, but it seems that Bobby Ogden is released from prison, a country music star (Garland Dupree, I guess) steals a song that Bobby wrote and makes it a hit without compensation, and Tina Waters becomes Bobby's manager. Ogden and Waters seek vengeance. It seems they were being chased, and they rode a motorcycle through a wedding reception. And a truck carrying watermelons swerves and dumps watermelons on the street. Bobby is a wanted man. He is to record an album, so he and Waters record it in a Purina Feeds store. But someone tells the cops, and they have to break away in a feed truck. Then they're in a Glastron boat (Glastron boats were made in Austin, Texas) on a lake heading for a dam. Will Bobby get killed here? Will he and Waters sneak off to Mexico? Will Bobby go back to prison? Will his album be a success?

Everybody likes singing troubadour prisoner Bobby Ogden (Peter Fonda). When performer Garland Dupree (James T. Callahan) comes to sing in the prison, Bobby is invited to sing his song. Soon after, Garland had stolen the song and it becomes a big hit. Bobby is released from prison and confronts Garland. Garland is accidentally shot with the police chief's gun. Bobby goes on the run. A film crew captures the incident. Backup singer Tina Waters (Susan Saint James) happens to have proof of Garland stealing the song.

It's terribly convenient for Bobby to be hiding out in Tina's boathouse. It needs to somehow figure out that part of the plot. A little rearranging could make it make more sense. Peter Fonda is pretty good and the chemistry with Susan Saint James is great. I really love the record store scene. It follows that up with the solid country bar scene. Instead of the simple fugitive chase action, it does run into a muddle. It needs to end in a different way. Nevertheless, it's a fun little movie.