Let's Go To the Movies #6 Friday 2 June 1972

 

Over at the Colonial on Woodward Ave (in the exact spot where Little Caesars Arena now stands) is the Filipino produced THE HOT BOX (Their guns are hot and their bodies are hard!) with Margaret Markov leading a group of escaped female prisoners/revolutionaries. 

Also on the bill is Lee Frost's CHAIN GANG WOMEN (which is mostly chain gang men) , Dario Argento's THE CAT-O'- NINE TAILS and the complete unknown to me CUE MASTER (pool tableploitation ??) 

An interesting combination of a blaxploitation/heist film with some film noir elements, COOL BREEZE is playing several downtown theatres and drive-ins. Another one that really needs a nice Blu-ray release.

FRITZ THE CAT, complete with a Judith Crist quote ("Fritz The Cat is a Ball For the Open Mind!") is still playing a few theatres after its April premier. 

Held over for its second week is THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY. Starring Shirley MacLaine, this interesting & creepy  NYC based voodoo possession has finally gotten some Blu-ray love the past few years. 

Another MIA on Blu-ray, THE LONERS has Dean Stockwell leading a trio on a vicious crime spree and is trying to hitch on the the "new Hollywood" bandwagon from the previous decade with its shout outs to BONNIE AND CLYDE and EASY RIDER. 

"Fun & Thrills At the Drive-Ins Tonite!" with the double feature of the classic THEY CALL ME TRINITY along with the Joe Namath/Ann Margaret biker flick C.C. AND COMPANY which got some interest with its appearance in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD courtesy of Margot Robbie's theatre visit. 

A pretty great triple feature with a couple of Eddie Romero directed Filipino horror classics including TWILIGHT PEOPLE (a homage to The Island of Doctor Moreau) and BRIDES OF BLOOD (sadly most likely without the "oath of green blood"). THE BLOOD FIEND is a retitling of 1967's THEATRE OF BLOOD starring Christopher Lee.

The world premiere of TOP OF THE HEAP is playing downtown at the Fox. Written, produced,  directed by and starring Christopher St. John, it recently received a new 4K restoration so hopefully a new physical release is coming. St. John had appeared in SHAFT and used his salary from that to finance this amazing film. 

A couple of major studio releases playing around are Peter Bogdanovich's wonderful screwball comedy WHAT'S UP DOC? and a jut-jawed Chuck Heston saving the day (plus a gaggle of TV stars and former Hollywood sort-of A-listers) in SKYJACKED. 

RUN ANGEL RUN 1969

 "He Squealed On His Gang...And The Word Was Out...WASTE HIM!"

 RUN ANGEL RUN from 1969 is notable for having several "firsts" attached to it. It was the first biker film that William Smith (THE LOSERS 1970) appeared in and in which would be a genre that he in the coming decade he would become synonymous with. It also marked the acting debut of blog favorite Margaret Markov (BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA 1973)

and most importantly was the directorial debut of the great Jack Starrett (RACE WITH THE DEVIL 1975) who would go on to helm a string of drive-in classics along with being a vastly underrated actor (check him out as the evil deputy in FIRST BLOOD).

Produced by Joe Solomon (WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS & ANGELS FROM HELL and who specialized in these) and Paul Rapp SCREAM FREE & THE STUDENT NURSES) it was released during the pivotal year of 1969 for biker films that also included the classics THE CYCLE SAVAGES, FIVE THE HARD WAY, HELL'S BELLES, HELL'S ANGELS '69, NAKED ANGELS, SATAN'S SADISTS, and of course EASY RIDER. All of which would lead to an explosion of choppers, iron crosses, and sleaziness which burst on the screen the following year. Although an exploitation genre film at its core (including a couple of brutal offscreen rapes) there is a surprisingly rather tender love story in RUN ANGEL RUN that makes this film a bit of an outlier.   

Angel (William Smith) has incurred the wrath of his fellow outlaw cycle gang members as he has sold a tell-all story about the biker lifestyle to a major weekly news magazine (titled "Like") for the sum of $10,000.  Unfortunately, Big Bill Smith did not seem to think this one through too carefully as not only does he have to wait two weeks to collect his payment but in addition, he must drive from his home base of L.A. up to San Francisco to retrieve it. Adding to his problems he is thrown in jail and upon having bail posted by his girlfriend, Laurie (Jack Starrett's daughter Valerie Starrett) he learns surprisingly (to him at least -somewhat oddly it would seem) that he is the subject of a massive manhunt by the biker community. All of whom are angrily clutching the magazine while snarling vengeance.

Heading off on his chopper with Laurie he is immediately sent upon by a gang of bikers who pursue him to a railroad yard where Starrett stages an excellent chase sequence involving a moving train that climaxes with Laurie jumping into an open boxcar (probably courtesy of stunt woman Randee Lynn Jensen) and Angel jumping his bike on a flatcar which is helped by some quick editing and changeover from a chopper to a motocross bike for the jump. The sequence also has some multi-screen editing and is a precursor to what a great director Starrett was and his feel for staging terrific action sequences. 

After tangling with some hobo-rapists Angel and Laurie take to the backroads and finding themselves in a small, isolated town they set up home in an abandoned house and attempt a kind of domestic tranquility (which is shaky at best) as Angel gets a job with local sheep rancher Dan Felton (Don Kemp THE GIRLS FROM THUNDER STRIP) where he initially seems eager to settle down. He bonds with Felton after repairing the rancher's antique motorcycle and begins to learn the intricacies of sheep farming including "sheep dipping"(??). Things turn dark when Angel's old gang tracks him down and begin their brutal revenge which tragically involves Felton's teenage daughter Meg (Margaret Markov).

Made for under $100,000 and shot in 13 days it went on to gross 13 million at the box office putting it directly behind A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN and just ahead of THE WILD BUNCH making it one of the most successful films of the outlaw biker drive-in genre. Starrett gets the most out of the film's meager budget and it does get bogged down for short periods of time with some of the mundane plot elements there's slow-building tension as Angel's old gang tracks him down. Although the scenario of the biker wanting to quit and go straight would be used later (such as 1970's ANGEL UNCHAINED), RUN ANGEL RUN is deservedly considered one of the best among the golden period of biker films. 

Thanks to an engaging script and the presence of William Smith who even in this early big screen appearance has a gravitas that comes bursting through. Although seeming eager to settle down with Laurie ("the straight life") he slowly begins to get frustrated only coming to life slowly with the restoration of Felton's antique motorcycle and later during the film's violent climax.

Markov who although in a small early role here shows the beginnings of her later cult status as an actress in the coming decade who is not only a beautiful face on the screen (she is one of those actresses that the camera seems to love) but bringing a wonderful presence to her film roles. After her marriage to actor and later producer Mark Damon she would drop out of sight but in the past several years has turned up in several DVD extras and documentaries. 

The screenplay was written by Jerome Wish (his other two credits are THE GAY DECEIVERS and ANGELS FROM HELL) and a V.A. Furlong. As this is the pseudonym-sounding V.A.'s only screen credit I'm wondering if it could actually be Jack Starrett? The busy Stu Phillips (BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, THE CURIOUS FEMALE, FOLLOW ME, and a truckload of other credits) supplies the score with the catchy & melodic (and a bit out of place) title theme by country superstar Tammy Wynette with some additional songs by The Windows.   

The full-frame DVD from Media Blasters is taken from a VHS master and features a Joe Bob Briggs commentary.

Happy Birthday Margaret Markov !! BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA 1973

Shackled together Margaret and Pam kick and claw their way

thru the Filipino jungles in this sweaty 70's drive-in classic !

"Chicks in chains...on the lam from a prison hell - 

manacled together by hate and the strange ideas 

a woman gets after 1000 nights without a man !!"

"Nothing behind but prison bars....Nothing ahead but trouble !"

    Featuring two of the most beautiful women ever to flicker across a drive-in screen and one of the true highlights of the Filipino exploitation genre this low budget homage to Stanley Kramer's 1958 classic THE DEFIANT ONES was directed by the ubiquitous Eddie Romero and produced by John Ashley who was both behind many films from the "wild east". Released by A.I.P., who were venturing into Roger Corman's New World milieu, it was based upon a story by Jonathan (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) Demme who would later work for New World as a writer and/or director on ANGELS HARD AS THEY COME (1971), THE HOT BOX (1972 - also with Margaret), CAGED HEAT (1974), CRAZY MAMA (1975) and FIGHTING MAD (1975).
    Most often lumped in with the blacksploitation genre (MGM released it on DVD as part of their "Soul Cinema" line), BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA is more closely aligned with the woman in prison (WIP) flicks that New World was cranking out at the time. Starring both Margaret and Pam Grier as a pair of mismatched inmates who find themselves shackled together and on the run through the usual nameless New World-type tropical hellhole (i.e. The Philippines). All the while they're being perused by various pimps, drug dealers and revolutionaries along with other assorted bad-asses including grungy rapists and a sadistic prison matron played by the wonderful Lynn Borden from FROGS and DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY.
    Clocking in at 87 minutes and containing what would seem to be a much too convoluted plot BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA literally packs every woman behind bars cliche into its first 20 minutes of running time and sets up a large cast of intertwined characters and their minions (which after a while you just give up trying to sort out).

    Opening with a pair of new inmates at women's prison (or as its called here "Women's Rehabilitation Center") we're introduced to Karen Brent (Margaret) a political prisoner who's closely aligned with a ragtag group of militants looking to overthrow the government and Lee Daniels (Pam) a prostitute and drug runner for big-time baddie Vic Ching (the ever-present Vic Diaz). Sent immediately to the showers (!!), the prisoners are overseen by Matron Densmore (Lynn Borden) who enjoys inviting the girls up to her office for some sexual favors and spying on them through a peephole as they wash down.
   Lee wants nothing to do with her, but Karen cozies up to her, which causes a rift between the two inmates which later cumulates in a fight during mealtime. The two are manacled together and thrown in the hotbox and later while being transferred to a maximum-security prison an attack by some of Karen's brothers in arms allows the pair to escape, Unfortunately, they become separated from the rebels during the battle and still manacled together attempt their escape cross country.

   Immediately finding themselves at odds on their destination with Karen wanting to go to a prearranged meeting with some gun runners to purchase arms for the revolution while Lee has designs on heading to a boat where she has $40,000 waiting for her that she absconded from Vic. They stop long enough for a most excellent catfight and later appropriate some nun outfits as a disguise while along the way coming across a veritable who's who list of Filipino character actors.
   The police captain perusing them (Eddie Garcia from The Blood Island movies) hires local bandit and fashion nightmare Ruben (a typically deranged Sid Haig from THE BIG DOLLHOUSE - whose look here ranges from psychedelic pimp to urban cowboy) to capture the pair. Garcia is more interested in Karen for her rebel connections while at the same time you have rotund pimp/drug dealer (and nude massage & pedicure fetish fan) Vic Diaz chasing Lee for the theft of his money and thirdly there's the rebel leader tracking the duo and hoping to catch up with Karen.

     One of the more entertaining entries in the Filipino exploitation genre BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA delivers what you'd expect with gusto serving up heaps of nudity and a satisfyingly bloody and downbeat ending. Margaret and Pam have wonderful chemistry together and watching them run up & down hills, roll around in the dirt while kicking & clawing, beating the crap out of and/or killing various lowlifes and authority figures is a highlight of 70's drive-in cinema (and what better way to celebrate Margaret's birthday !)

     Born in 1948 in Stockton, Ca. Margaret Markov with her long blonde hair and legs that seem to go on forever was a striking figure in 70's exploitation cinema. She appeared in only a handful of films and few TV appearances but made a lasting impression in all of her roles.
     Along with BLACK MAMA WHITE MAMA, she also appeared in the Filipino lensed THE HOT BOX along with the quirky PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW, the biker flick RUN ANGEL RUN (1969) and New World's WIP motif transferred to ancient Rome THE ARENA from 1974 (with Rosalba Neri and Pam Grier !!).
    On the set of THE ARENA she met producer Mark Damon (THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT) and they were later married (and remain so to this day). Her last acting appearance was a small part in an episode of DAYS OF OUR LIVES in 1997. She showed up in interview footage in the documentary MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED where she now sports short hair (and still looks very beautiful).