Cisco Pike

I recall loving this film when I saw it upon release in 1972. It seemed to capture something of the moment that so few films did and I fell in love with the songs of Kris Kristofferson. Recently picking up an Italian poster for the film encouraged me to revisit it. Actually, hard to find but I found I had a DVD. The film is fine, Kristofferson is great as is Karen Black, for most of her performance. Indeed, she is great at first but seems to fade a little in the final scenes. Viva is okay but perhaps a little old in the role, seeing her now alongside the kitten like Joy Bang. There are not a lot of songs here and the central story regarding the drug dealing sets ones eyes rolling at the thought but the dialogue, the cinematography and colourful and evocative creation of the freewheeling lifestyles remains attractive and compelling. One slight item of curiosity is that IMDb suggests there is talk of a threesome but no nudity, whereas quite clearly we see Kristofferson with Viva and Bang in a brief topless frolic. It is blink and you miss it stuff, so whether it was intended to be cut out, I don't know and can't remember whether or not it was in in the cinema release!