Available on Amazon Prime and the Roku Channel.
(For those who don’t know justwatch.com and reelgood.com will tell you if a movie is available on a streaming channel)
I learned of this one by reading that it was the basis for Enemy Mine.
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?
Here’s one that I like that has been probably mostly forgotten: Freebie and the Bean
I learned about the existence this one from a very brief mention in another excellent and very poorly known movie, The Specials.
The same thing that happened to Brideshead.
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.
I really liked that film, but I cant find it anywhere for a reasonable price.
Nicely understated, IMHO.
The Russians are Coming the Russians are Coming! kinda made fun of the cold war, and had a nice Title sequence.
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
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.
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
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.
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 has led me wrong before. I can’t find anyplace here that streams Forever Knight for free; 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?
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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), 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.
The chase scene with the blaring revival truck is comedy gold!
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.
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.