# Forgotten movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 2, 2024, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476 "2024-01-02T02:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/61 "2024-01-02T21:07:55Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > that’s in the wind these days, as is _Motorama_, which was written by Joseph Minion of _After Hours_ fame, and has a solid indie cast (Garrett Morris, Mary Woronov, Robert Picardo, Jack Nance, cameo by Drew Barrymore in her wilderness years). Available on Amazon Prime and the Roku Channel. (For those who don’t know [justwatch.com](http://justwatch.com) and [reelgood.com](http://reelgood.com) will tell you if a movie is available on a streaming channel) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/62 "2024-01-02T21:09:47Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > **Hell In The Pacific** (1968) > Another of my top ten. During WW2 a US Navy pilot and a Japanese Navy pilot find themselves stranded together on an otherwise uninhabited Pacific island. Only two actors in the entire film: Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune, both of whom coincidentally were veterans of the war in the Pacific. I learned of this one by reading that it was the basis for _Enemy Mine_. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/63 "2024-01-02T21:10:16Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Speaking of Dick van Dyke, and the recently departed Norman Lear, does anyone recall **Cold Turkey**? van Dyke starred and Norman Lear (pre-All in the Family) produced. It also featured Edward Everett Horton (in his last role) and Bob Newhart. Great dark satire. II remember that movie. I saw it at a drive-in theatre back in about 1970 or so. Funny as hell, and I’ve seen it once or twice since on TCM, but that’s pretty much the only place that airs it nowadays, and then rarely. I suspect that it is one of those that didn’t take advantage of the home video market, and was never released on any format. Thinking about drive-in theatres, does anybody remember **Drive-In** , from about 1976? All about the goings-on at a small-town Texas drive-in theatre on a summer night. It’s apparent that very few of the audience are there to watch the movie; they are there because it’s where everybody else is. Lots of pranks, guys trying to get girls, a local gang that seems to be about as tough as kittens (at one point, the leader is shown in the back of his shaggin’ wagon, crying at a soap opera on TV), and a lot more. Just as funny is the film that the theatre is showing: “Disaster '76,” and while we only catch glimpses of it in the background, the glimpses we do get always show a ship sinking, or a tall building burning, or an aircraft in trouble, or an earthquake, or some other disaster. Pokes fun well at the disaster movies that were popular at the time. Anybody remember **Drive-In**? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/64 "2024-01-02T21:15:55Z")
Here’s one that I like that has been probably mostly forgotten: _Freebie and the Bean_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tWhm_wBKK-0/maxresdefault.jpg "Freebie and the Bean (1974) Official Trailer - Alan Arkin, James Caan Movie HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWhm_wBKK-0) I learned about the existence this one from a very brief mention in another excellent and very poorly known movie, _The Specials_. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1wMvv924Gks/hqdefault.jpg "The Specials trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMvv924Gks) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/65 "2024-01-02T21:51:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I saw these as a kid, then asked my parents what happened to the movie _Hercules Chained_. The same thing that happened to _Brideshead_. > [@veryfrank](#): > > Some of it is also rights issues: occasionally the ownership of a movie comes down to one guy (the Stones’ concert movie _C#&$Sucker Blues_), or it’s owned by a corporation that goes under or doesn’t give a crap (_Spinal Tap_ was owned by a cosmetics conglomerate for a long time, if memory serves). Some film society was planning a William Friedkin retrospective several years ago and wanted to show _Sorcerer_. No one knew who owned the rights to it. I don’t mean that it was hard to find out; literally no one knew who owned it. I believe it eventually got sorted out. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/66 "2024-01-02T22:00:02Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > One vote for the **[Flim Flam Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flim-Flam_Man)**. > > Starred George C Scott who played a conman in the rural south. I really liked that film, but I cant find it anywhere for a reasonable price. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I saw a bit of **ffolkes** on TV some years ago and would like to see it again. I don’t think it’s forgotten, but pretty obscue for a Roger Moore film. Nicely understated, IMHO. The _Russians are Coming the Russians are Coming!_ kinda made fun of the cold war, and had a nice Title sequence. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/67 "2024-01-02T22:10:13Z")
I thought that one had Ron Howard in it too … i liked the end tho where they take the huge wave after the beach is closed to remember their friend who died in Vietnam and the exchange between the lifeguard/cop who understood and someone on the beach asking if they were going to get arrested ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/68 "2024-01-02T22:10:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The _Russians are Coming the Russians are Coming!_ It seems they show this on TCM every year or two. I’ve liked this movie ever since I saw it on TV when I was a kid. Strangely, I don’t have it on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/69 "2024-01-02T22:13:16Z")
you know a lot of these movies disappeared when hollywood and the cable channels finally decided they didn’t hate each other … and hbo ect became serious about making their own stuff ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/70 "2024-01-02T22:48:06Z")
I saw “Top Secret” in the theater. The one scene I remember is one that had the first part in a TV ad; A soldier parks his plane in a handicapped spot, and a uniformed man in a wheelchair comes out of nowhere and starts yelling at him. “Young Doctors In Love” was an “Airplane”-esque parody that came out a couple years later. Some people thought it was hilarious; I didn’t. YMMV, of course. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/71 "2024-01-02T23:00:18Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Available on Amazon Prime and the Roku Channel. Thanks for that, I just confirmed I can see it here. That’s not always a given, I don’t have a VPN and [justwatch.com](http://justwatch.com) has led me wrong before. I can’t find anyplace here that streams _Forever Knight_ for free; [justwatch.com](http://justwatch.com) isn’t showing anything for it. Hilariously, _Motorama_ is I guess classified as a comedy, and Prime gave me a “customers also watched” list. Wedged between _Summer School_ (not the Mark Harmon movie) and _Porky’s Revenge_ is Abel Ferrara’s _The Blackout_. Because everyone knows that Abel routinely teamed up with Dennis Hopper and Beatrice Dalle for teensploitation T&A comedies, right? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/72 "2024-01-02T23:01:23Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > High Road to China: early 80s film with Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong. (I do believe I got to see Ms Armstrong’s bare bottom.) I don’t remember that. You might be remembering _Lassiter_, another early 80s Tom Selleck film in which we got to see Jane Seymour’s bare bottom. My nominees for this thread: An Australian comedy called _Children of the Revolution_. A couple of French costume dramas: _Ridicule_ and _Queen Margot_, which apparently are quite well-known in the French-speaking world, but virtually unknown in the English-speaking world. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/73 "2024-01-02T23:03:18Z")
I remember when “The Music Man” could not be screened, or even performed live, for some years in the 1990s because there was a big lawsuit going on regarding Meredith Willson’s estate. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/74 "2024-01-02T23:20:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Cardigan](#): > > > > One vote for the **[Flim Flam Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flim-Flam_Man)**. > > > > Starred George C Scott who played a conman in the rural south. > > I really liked that film, but I cant find it anywhere for a reasonable price. I watched it a few years ago on TCM I beleive… I was struck by how…terrible Scott’s make up was… it was like theatrical old man makeup not movie makeup. I also think about this movie because wrestling legend Jim Cornette had a funny story on his podcast about how a relative of his was in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/75 "2024-01-02T23:33:20Z")
I don’t know how forgotten it may be, but I will always watch **The Oxbow Incident** if it’s on. A very noir western with Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Harry Morgan and an actress named Jane Darwell (Ma Joad in Grapes of Wrath). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/76 "2024-01-02T23:34:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > That reminded me of [Bank Shot](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071194/) (1974) starring George C. Scott as Walter **Ballantine**. Adapted from a novel by Donald Westlake. He’s unquestionably one of the masters of the modern mystery and he’s the progenitor of a million forgotten movies. He wrote the Parker novels under the name Richard Stark and those started well, with _Point Blank_. Parker was as gritty as a spaghetti western so he was born to make the transition. When writing as Westlake, he deliberately did light, funny caper comedies. Nobody got the humor right. Who remembers _The Busy Body_, _Hot Stuff_, _The Twin_, _Two Much_, or _The Gods Must Be Daring_? _The Hot Rock_, the first of his Dortmunder novels - a comic Parker - got good reviews but it’s a lightweight movie. Still better than other Dortmunder adaptations like _Jimmy the Kid_ (twice), _Why Me_, _What’s the Worst That Could Happen?_ and _Hot Stuff_. I’m fairly sure Westlake refused to write screenplays for his books, although he did so for others. I’m also sure he could have done better than these mediocrities. Why is a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/77 "2024-01-02T23:41:13Z")
I saw _Bank Shot_ many years ago and don’t recall it as being especially good or bad. Intended as a sequel to _The Hot Rock_ (1972) – which I remember even less of - it might be marginally more entertaining. I sat through _Undercovers Hero_ once, barely, on cable, perhaps not long after it came out. A silly-ass Brit sex comedy often ranked as Peter Sellers’ worst film, it was tortuous viewing and virtually devoid of comedy and sex, IIRC. Among forgotten flicks I’ve enjoyed: _Kongo_ (1932) – Lurid, jungle-based tale of revenge. One of the most politically incorrect films ever released by a major studio, this mind-blowing remake of _West of Zanzibar_ (1928) has it all: sex, drugs, degradation, racial stereotyping, denigration of religion, human sacrifice, leeches, cool African demon masks and more! _The President Vanishes_ (1934) – As trouble brews overseas, rapacious business leaders want to get the U.S. into another war to boost profits…but POTUS disappears thwarting their plans! Fascinating yet rarely screened presidential fantasy thrilla’ features over-the-top montages (by [Slavko Vorkapich - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavko_Vorkapich)), a ridiculous climax and a final in-your-face appeal for isolationism. _Strange Cargo_ (1940) – Unique Devil’s Island escape flick with hard-bitten con Clark Gable, sultry “saloon girl” Joan Crawford, Peter Lorre as “M’sieu Pig,” Ian Hunter as a metaphysical conceit and (most of) the half-dozen great character actors in supporting roles finding “enlightenment” before dying. Condemned in its time by the Catholic Legion of Decency, practically a sure sign of quality entertainment. _Canyon Passage_ (1946) – Called (hyperbolically) by one French critic, “the most beautiful homosexual melodrama ever filmed,” this unusual Western set in the 1850s was gorgeously shot in phantasmagoric Technicolor on location in lush Oregon forests at the height of the color season. More ensemble piece than any one character’s story, it focuses on pioneers building their community amid numerous challenges and a surprising variety of sexual tensions. _Un Revenant_ (1946) - Thought dead, ballet producer “Jean-Jacques Sauvage” (Louis Jouvet) returns to seek an elaborate revenge on the family who ruined him. Don’t think this ever had a U.S. release, so…perhaps not so much “forgotten” as never-known. _State Secret_ (1950) - Surgeon Doug Fairbanks, Jr. goes to “Vosnia” - they speak their own language there (specially conceived for the film) - to operate on its dictator. When the patient dies, Doug has to amscray for his life. With Glynis Johns, Herbert Lom, scene-stealing _realpolitik_ bad guy Jack Hawkins and an unusual opening POV segment. _Omar Khayyam_ (1957) – Unexpectedly entertaining while predictably cheesy, this regrettably stars dull Cornel of Wilde, but has good action and a great supporting cast: Debra Paget, Raymond Massey, Michael Rennie (as Hassani Sabbah in magnificent robes), Yma Sumac (sings), Bela Oxmyx, the head of the Organian Council and the Chief of Control. _The Graceful Brute_ (1962) - Shot almost entirely within one apartment, this Japanese black comedy has a family of modern day grifters meeting their match in the title character, played by beautiful Ayako Wakao. _Three Outlaw Samurai_ (1964) – Engrossing, enjoyable, well-paced sword opera has three jaded _ronin_ taking sides in a peasants vs. oppressive landowner dispute with plenty o’ slicing and dicing along the way. _Alucarda_ (1977) – Not just an exploitation film with some awesome visuals, but a genuinely eerie, intense and surreal horror story of two girls causing blood-soaked havoc in a repressive convent. _The Battle Wizard_ (1977) – Indescribably outlandish period martial arts fantasy featuring (among other things) lots of beamage, snakes, a goofy-looking henchman sporting lobster claws, a glowing frog and a kung fu-fighting gorilla. Way more original, imaginative and entertaining than the same year’s _Star Wars_ or any recent comic book-based movie (_imo_) on a fraction of the budget and sans state-of-the-art EFX. Whilst some might deride this as “so bad it’s good,” I see it more as reflecting an art form bearing culturally recognizable iconography, choreography and social mores that’s struggling to absorb (some) Western influences, producing a hybrid with a spirit and character all its own. _Hunter in the Dark_ (1979) - Long, complex, multi-character 18th century Japanese clan intrigue not suitable for passive viewing, but rewarding those who can follow it. Dynamically directed, with commanding lead performances by Tatsuya Nakadai and Sonny Chiba. _The Good Thief_ (2002) – Remarkably worthy remake/updating of _Bob le flambeur_ (1956) has down-and-out junkie gambler Nick Nolte involved in two heists while playing cat-and-mouse with cop Tchéky Karyo. Better than the original in some ways. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/78 "2024-01-03T00:04:48Z")
The chase scene with the blaring revival truck is comedy gold! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/79 "2024-01-03T00:39:22Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > **Hell In The Pacific** (1968) > Another of my top ten. During WW2 a US Navy pilot and a Japanese Navy pilot find themselves stranded together on an otherwise uninhabited Pacific island. Only two actors in the entire film: Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune, both of whom coincidentally were veterans of the war in the Pacific. > The special edition DVD has subtitles in English AND Japanese; earlier home releases had only Marvin’s speech captioned. Since the original theater release had no subtitles, we (English speakers) could only guess at what Mifune’s character was saying. I’ve always assumed the movie was released the same way in Japan, without subtitles, leaving Japanese audiences wondering what Marvin was saying. > A magnificent little anti-war film. This made me think of _The Challenge._ It was a 1970 made for TV movie. A top secret satellite macguffin crashes on an island near an unnamed communist Asian country. The U.S. and the other country are ready to go to war to get it. They agree to each send one soldier to the island for a death match instead of war. Despite Darren McGavin being too old for the role it still works. Mako plays his opponent. There is also a young unknown Sam Elliot as well as some well known actors in smaller roles. I haven’t seen this in decades. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476/80 "2024-01-03T01:06:53Z")
If you can name the star of _ **Tiger Bay** _, _ **Whistle Down the Wind** _, and _ **In Search of the Castaways** _, I’ll buy you a lobster dinner at Scott’s the next time we’re both in London. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-movies/995476.md?page=5)