Electra Glide in Blue
Electra Glide in Blue | |
---|---|
Elisha Cook | |
Cinematography | Conrad Hall |
Edited by | Jim Benson Gerald R. Greenberg John F. Link |
Music by | James William Guercio |
Production company | Guercio-Hitzig |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 114 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1.6 million (US/Canada rentals)[1] |
Electra Glide in Blue is a 1973 American
Plot
John Wintergreen is a motorcycle cop who patrols the rural Arizona highways with his partner Zipper. Wintergreen is an experienced patrolman looking to be transferred to the Homicide unit. When he is informed by Crazy Willie of an apparent suicide-by-shotgun, Wintergreen believes the case is actually a murder as the victim has shot himself in the chest rather than the head, which is more usual. Detective Harve Poole agrees it is a homicide, after a
Wintergreen gets his wish, but his joy is short-lived. He begins increasingly to identify with the hippies whom the other officers, including Detective Poole, are endlessly harassing. The final straw comes when Poole discovers that Wintergreen has been sleeping with his girlfriend, Jolene. The hostile workplace politics cause him to be quickly demoted back to traffic enforcement.
While demoted, Wintergreen solves the murder. The killer is Willie, who confesses while Wintergreen goads him into talking about it. Wintergreen supposes Willie did it because he was jealous of the old man he killed, who frequently had young people over to his house to buy drugs. Shortly after, it is discovered that Zipper stole the $5,000, which he used to buy a fully dressed
Wintergreen, now alone and back on his old beat, runs into a hippie that Zipper was needlessly harassing earlier on a previous stop. Recognizing him, Wintergreen lets him off with a warning, but the hippie forgets his driver's license, and Wintergreen drives up behind his van to return it to him. The hippie's passenger points a shotgun out of the back window and shoots Wintergreen, killing him.
Cast
- Robert Blake as Officer John Wintergreen
- Billy "Green" Bushas Officer Zipper Davis
- Mitchell Ryan as Det. Harvey Poole
- Jeannine Riley as Jolene
- Elisha Cook as Willie
- Royal Dano as Coroner
- Hawk Wolinski as VW Bus Driver
- Peter Cetera as Bob Zemko
- Terry Kath as Killer
- Lee Loughnane as Pig Man
- Walter Parazaider as Loose Lips
- Joe Samsil as Sgt. Ryker
- Jason Clark as L.A. Detective
- Michael Butler as Truck Driver
- Susan Forristal as Ice Cream Girl
- Nick Nolte[4] as Hippie (uncredited)
Production
This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2015) |
First-time director James William Guercio took a
Prior to production an LAPD Motor Officer (Gerald L. Ray) was hired to teach Blake how to properly ride a Police Motorcycle. They spent more than a month riding replicas of Police Motorcycles around the Van Nuys area. Production was several days behind schedule due to Guercio's inexperience as a director. In Blake's 2012 autobiography Tales From a Rascal, he refers to this film as being a very tough shoot and that he essentially co-directed the picture with Hall while Guercio "stood around".[6]
Guercio was best known as the producer of the rock band
Blake complained about production woes and lamented his $20,000 fee for a starring role which caught the attention of television executives and led to the police drama series Baretta, for which he is most known.[8]
Release
Home media
Electra Glide in Blue was released on DVD by
Reception
The film received a review in The New York Times, which described it as "portentous" but portraying "very ordinary or very embarrassing things: a crudely staged bike chase, or the confessions of a demoralized bar girl in what looks and sounds like a second-year acting exercise in drama school."[2]
The film was entered into the
In 2012, Time magazine called Electra Glide in Blue "A neglected cult-classic that could have only come from (or have been made in) the early '70s" and said: "It's a quirky but unforgettable movie—part character study, part examination of an emerging youth culture—featuring some outstanding camerawork from future Oscar-winning cinematographer Conrad Hall."[3] The film has a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 14 reviews.
References
- ^ "UA In '74". Variety. January 15, 1975. p. 3.
- ^ a b c Greenspun, Roger (August 20, 1973). "Electra Glide in Blue (1973) Screen: Guercio's 'Electra Glide in Blue' Arrives: Director Makes Debut With a Mystery The Cast Police Officer Tracks Recluse's Killer". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Kim, Wook (February 16, 2012). "Top 10 Memorable Movie Motorcycles, Electra Glide in Blue". Time.
- ^ All Movie Guide. Archived from the originalon 2014-04-07.
- ISBN 9781423605874.
- ISBN 978-0615591940.
- ^ All Movie Guide. 2016. Archived from the originalon 2016-03-08.
- ^ "Video". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
- ^ Landy, Tom (March 13, 2013). "Home News 'Electra Glide in Blue' Dated for Blu-ray 'Electra Glide in Blue' Dated for Blu-ray". High-Def Digest.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Electra Glide in Blue". Festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-22. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
- ^ "Biography Robert Blake". Golden Globe Awards. Archived from the original on 2015-07-13.