B-MOVIE OF THE MONTH - KLONDIKE FEVER (1979)

Canadian director Peter Carter was best known for the B-movie masterpiece Rituals, which, many movie lovers think beat Deliverance at its own game. He died sadly at 49 of a sudden heart attack but not before leaving us with a few other gems like Highpoint with Richard Harris and this sorely overlooked Western drama. Klondike Fever tells the story of Jack London (Jeff East) and his partner (Robin Gammel) as they journey to stake their claim and hopefully take home their weight in gold. It's adventurous, epic in scope with a huge cast and suitable for the whole darn family. Of particular note is Robin Gammel, excellent and funny, Gordon Pinsent who kills it as the crafty "Swiftwater" and an '80's actress who I never tire of mentioning, the lovely Lisa Langlois. It's super cornball along the way and sometimes feels like an afternoon children's special but this is a great film and surprisingly it won a bunch of Genie awards to back that up. Klondike Fever, playing above and on Tubi which recently uploaded a much nicer version than the VHS transfer that they used to have. 2.75 stars/2.75

Thursday, August 29, 2024

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON NEEDS TO SELL A BUNCH OF DOPE OR HIS PAROLE OFFICER GENE HACKMAN WILL PUT HIM BACK IN KRIS' FIRST FILM "CISCO PIKE" (1972)

 

I once came so close to meeting Kris Kristofferson that I was literally in the man's driveway. It was the late 70's and a buddy of mine at Hollywood High School, he played sax and I still know him. He and his family knew both Kris and Charlie Bronson and my friend and I were out in Malibu on a Friday night. My friend turned to me and said, "look, I'm not going to promise anything, but we're real close to Kris' house and let's stop by and maybe I can get you in. I had a lot of celebrity actor's kids as friends so I'd been thru this scenario before, no sweat. 

Unfortunately, after sitting in the car for an hour, my friend reemerged and said there was too much going on in the house and it wasn't a good time ;-(. Lol, luck of the draw but I always remember that moment, sitting in that driveway, when I see him onscreen. 

Now, this same saxophone playing buddy of mine once said to me that Kris was a great guy but "couldn't act his way out of a paper bag." I remember saying he deserved more credit than that though I agreed Kristofferson wasn't likely to be winning a Best Actor nomination real soon. (Funny enough, he did garner a Golden Globe for A Star Is Born, a movie listed on a lot of "worst film ever made" lists.)



I say all this because I was shocked and surprised seeing his first outing here in Cisco Pike. He's quite good, looks like he's had the chops from the beginning. He plays a songwriter here, he's bribed by his probation officer (an early Gene Hackman) to sell a bunch of dope from the evidence room and make a certain amount by Monday morning. That's basically the plot in a nutshell, there are some cool support performances, in particular, a stunningly gorgeous Karen Black and good ole Harry Dean Stanton. If you watch closely you'll see a couple of cool shots of Kris and Harry actually onstage together during a montage. 

And best of all, one of those "real" 70's movies we talked about recently. This would make a great double feature with Daryl Duke's Payday. 

Cisko Pike currently streams on Tubi, Roku & your Amazon Prime subscription. Thumbs way up.

 3.75 stars/5

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B-MOVIE GAZETTE RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars - Only awarded to the precious few.
4 Stars - Excellent, see by all means.
3 Stars - Very Good, you should like.
2 Stars - Fair, like a frozen dinner.
1 Star - Poor, like a spoiled dinner.

ALL B-MOVIES, DRIVE-IN MOVIES AND TV MOVIES HAVE A MAX AWARD OF 2.75 STARS.