La grande traque

What I will remind of this movie won't be the runaway sister - or daughter - scheme, already been used many times before and since. No, what I will remind is the fantastic, incredible, outstanding elevator shaft gunfight, duel. Maybe the only one in the movie history, with two elevators are in action and cross inside the shaft.... It is a UNIQUE scene. I have seen thousands thousands of films in my life and only this one provided me this sequence. Even in a DIE HARD like action flick, an action film taking place in a building, did not offer us such this element. For the rest, it is an atmosphere productiuon, with typical country music score nearly all long the movie. Nothing special besides this, except a downbeat and unpredictable element near the end, but not IN the end.

Robert Mitchums' eldest son James shows off that trademark Mitchum cool in this mostly routinely written but capably directed little B movie. Whatever it may lack in nuance it makes up for with a pretty solid fun factor. There *is* one sequence that does stand out, and that's a climactic bit of action involving elevators. Otherwise, this is reasonably engaging stuff, written by Paul F. Edwards (based on a story by Ivan Nagy), and directed by Richard T. Heffron ("Futureworld").

Mitchum is good in a low key portrayal of Montana rancher Jim Calhoun, who travels to L.A. in search of his kid sister Betsy (lovely and appealing Karen Lamm ("The Unseen")), who's run away. Soon after she arrived in the city, some lowlifes took advantage of her, and she gets mixed up in a world of prostitution and drugs. At first, Jim is forced to deal with one useless person after another who either can't or won't help. But he does get assistance from Chucho (Erik Estrada), who was one of the young punks that targeted her, but experienced a change of heart. And social worker Lynn (Cathy Lee Crosby) also helps out.

One good thing about "Trackdown" is that it does move forward quite well, maintaining viewer interest consistently. It's got fine cinematography (by Gene Polito) and a nice music score (by Charles Bernstein) going for it. A decent supporting cast also helps matters; young and beautiful Anne Archer is delightful as Barbara, a call girl who shows sympathy towards Betsy, and Vince Cannon is appropriately scummy as nasty mafioso Johnny Dee. The late, great Ray Sharkey plays the small role of Flash and Tony Burton ("Assault on Precinct 13" '76, the "Rocky" series) can be seen as a transvestite.

The character of Jim is worth rooting for, and the story leads towards a final confrontation that packs a good visceral punch. Fans of the action genre will likely see this as an effective diversion.

Seven out of 10.

Trackdown is another of those well made flicks of the Seventies. The film, though dry in parts, pulls you in with a story, with not such a happy ending, tragic and shocking. The film with it's good intentions, does turn nasty, yet is violently effective, one could say. It's not what you foresee in the early part of this film, especially if judging it, against the country song in the opening. The scenario here has been done, many times, but the nasty turn of incident here, ups the film's merit. We have a bored, young and beautiful girl, (Karen Lamm, who in real life, died quite young, I believe) who's 'spose to be 17. She sets out for Hollywood, leaving her farm and Mumsie behind, who we never see, where we apparently learn from the small informing dialogue, things aren't quite particularly great between the two. Big ox of a brother (Jim Mitcham- Yes Robert's son) returns and sets out to save her. Lamm quickly ends up in a slick sex slavery operation as a high priced call girl, run by a notorious older pimp, Johnny D, who fronts a topless dancer and entertainment agency. An older woman, also in the rackets, and is obviously doing Jonhny D (a younger Ann Archer, at her sexiest) befriends her, while stubborn and determined Mitchum, kicks down doors, and causes a ruckus, trying to find Sis, almost passing her in one scene. What are the chances? He teams up with a young hustler (Chip's Erik Estrada) who was bedding her, while also working with a pretty social worker (Cathy Lee Crosby) who tells the stubborn headed Mitchum, in a heated moment, "The kids run away, cause the parents are such idiots". Mitchum, who's never really been to Hollywood before, as we can gather, later tells Crosby "I've been a hunter all my life. A hunter survives on instinct, and right now my instinct's telling me, it's not good". He couldn't be more right. Sadly, the last thirty minutes of Trackdown is the strongest, starting with that one brutal scene in the bedroom, and in how Mitchum and company use their smarts to gain revenge. Mitchum's character, a man with a plan, you do root for, but too you can't help get angry at him, to how he's ended up in this position, as you don't believe for two secs, he wants to take a step back, and think how this could of been prevented. In this secret context, Mitchum's character is used as an illustration. We need to focus on the problem, for every runaway, so we can prevent kids taking off, with some not so happy fates ensuing. Trackdown isn't the best movie of this kind, but it's a well worth insight into how these sort of things go down, and how the these scumbags operate in a not half bad movie, considering it's era. Trying to Trackdown Trackdown on VHS, etc, well all I can say, is, I wish the best of luck. See what little of Mitchum's face muscles move, or is it, a play down on his character. You decide.

James Mitchum plays a Montana rancher who goes to the big city to find his runaway sister, who's fallen into the seedy LA underworld. He then takes his down-home style of justice to the big city sleaze peddlers! Mitchum is helped by a local who encountered his sister, Chucho (Erik Estrada), and a local social worker (Cathy Lee Crosby), but it's the evil pimp and sleazy madam, Anne Archer (in what was her breakout role), who Mitchum needs to face down himself. TRACKDOWN's plot is remarkably similar to Paul Schrader's HARDCORE (which came out three years later), where George C. Scott looks for his missing daughter, tracking her down to LA, going down a rabbit hole of the illicit subculture of pornography and snuff films. TRACKDOWN is not as erudite or as disturbing as HARDCORE, but it does deliver the DEATH WISH-like payback you wish Scott was allowed to dish out, and at the same time, does not shy away from the ugliness of prostitution. At the same time, the film might have been stronger if it had a director with more panache, say a J. Lee Thompson or Don Siegel, though TV director Richard T. Heffron does an adequate job. Interestingly, the film is based on a story by Ivan Nagy, who would later become famous as the ex-boyfriend of Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, whose Anne Archer's character seems eerily similar to. Nagy's firsthand knowledge of the prostitution racket and sex trafficking likely gave the film its uncomfortable realism. Overall, while TRACKDOWN is certainly not high art, it does deliver the exploitation film goods and a gritty realism that I wasn't expecting.

AI CAPSUL REVIEW: Trackdown is a gritty, exploitation-flavored take on Hardcore, with James Mitchum dishing out cowboy justice in the sleazy underbelly of 1970s L. A. While rough around the edges, it delivers raw thrills and unexpected realism, bolstered by early performances from Erik Estrada and Anne Archer.

I like Trackdown, it's the typical B-movie with bad acting, especially the main character, who has no feelings at all, not even when he saw his sister's corpse in the morgue, some nudity, bullets and blows. Typical of the exploitation of the 70s and 80s, Hollywood Boulevard is used as the epicentre of crime, the characters are looking for luck and who to take advantage of, like that duo in Midnight Cowboy 1969. What I must say, and it's a shame, is that Trackdown lacks a soundtrack to support it firmly, normally this kind of films are supported by songs or musical genres that are in vogue at the time of filming, which gives them a certain air of interest apart from some poor cinematography or script. In short, the 70s are well reflected here cinematically, and it's good for a Sunday afternoon.