Pigeon d'argile

Low-budget thriller features Tom Stern as Vietnam war hero, of late a hippy in L.A. He's set up as the bait by cop Telly Savalas to lure drug lord Robert Vaughn into a trap. Amateurishly directed, despite a talented cast- including Burgess Meredith, John Marley, Ivan Dixon and a (wisely)unbilled Peter Lawford. Director Stern manages to make all of these thespians appear at their worst. The script features endless "hip" dialogue that has dated badly and the production values have all the merit of a porno film. Only the finale staged in the Hollywood Bowl has even a modicum of style and suspense. Vaughn, whose character inexplicably wears a variety of goofy hats, was allegedly paid the (then) sizable sum of $500,000 for his role. This probably exhausted the remaining production budget. There are endless, poorly edited sequences involving dune buggy chases, though the audience might be stirred from their slumber by the frequent nudity. Not out on video in the U.S, but available in the U.K. as "Trip to Kill"

This is a throwback to the psychedelic films of the 1960s and early 1970s. Tom Stern gives his best on screen performance as a disillusioned war hero who drops out and becomes a peace loving hippie who digs go-go dancers and hippie runaways. Robert Vaughn has a bizarre role as a big time drug dealer who wears a series of weird hats and hangs out with parrots. Lots of nudity and bloody violence. Some cameo performances by Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith, Telly Savalos, and Ivan Dixon makes this an entertaining enough throwback film.

Even when you consider the low point Metro Goldwyn Mayer was finding itself in the 1970s, it's really puzzling why they decided picking up this movie was worth their time. As it turns out, they didn't give it much of a theatrical release. Seeing the movie, it's easy to figure out why MGM eventually realized there wasn't much of a potential audience for it. It's not entirely bad. The acting is pretty competent for the most part, though Robert Vaughn does overact for most of his scenes. And there's an interesting and tuneful soft rock soundtrack by some prominent musicians like Arlo Guthrie. But the movie is a big bore. It takes about half of the running time for the movie to set everything up, and once everything is set up, the movie doesn't pick up much more speed. Only some bouts of graphic violence and bloodshed (and graphic nudity) will prevent viewers from falling asleep, though I think most viewers once the movie reaches the ending will feel that having a nap would have been a more productive use of their time.

This would be action film is so slow it almost put you to sleep. I can't figure out why MGM picked this film up for release? There are some good moments and if Stern edited a good 10 minutes of this film, it would run very smoothly. Stern plays a vietnam vet who is used by a DEA agent (savalas) to be a clay pigeon for drug kingpin (Vaughn). There is Kris Kristofferson, Arlo Guthrie songs, Doon-Buggie chase, Meredith acting like a hippie, Lawford uncredited, and I don't want to give away the ending, but it's lame. Not recommended.