Go Ask Alice (1973)

ABC
Directed by John Korty
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Teenager Alice falls in with the wrong crowd at her new high school. Before long, she is a drug addict and runs away with her best friend. She runs out of money and lives on the streets before ending up at a church run by matter-of-fact priest Andy Griffith. Back home, she struggles to stay straight. Resembles an after school special aimed at teaching kids the dangers of drugs, glossing over a much more graphic source material.

Escape (1971)

ABC
Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Christopher George is an ex-escape artist turned private investigator hired by a doctor to protect him from kidnappers. He fails and is kidnapped anyway, so George, with the help of sidekick Avery Schreiber and the doctor's daughter, search for him. The trail leads to a medical laboratory deep underneath an amusement park where a sinister virus is being created. Potentially interesting plot gets bogged down by low budget made-for-tv sets and predictable action scenes. Even George's escapes are boring, borrowed straight from Houdini.

Joe Hill (1971)

Paramount
Directed by Bo Widerberg
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

True story of turn-of-the-century Swedish immigrant Joe Hill who becomes an ardent labor activist. After leaving his menial job in New York City, he travels across the country by rails eventually ending up in California. He lives for a time with a simple farming girl but realizing they have no future together break up. A hobo again, he travels to Utah where he gets arrested and charged with the murder of prominent grocers. In the long trial that follows, he takes up his own defense but realizes his union activities and immigrant status prejudice him with the judge and jury. He accepts his sentence of execution by firing squad with dignity and becomes a union martyr. The soundtrack features many of Hill's own songs which were adopted by the 60s folk movement. There is a memorable scene in which immigrants are forced to sing the Star-Spangled Banner.

Crawlspace (1972)

CBS
Directed by John Newland
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

A childless elderly couple in a remote country house "adopts" a college dropout who takes shelter in the crawl space under their house. Over time they gain his trust and they have a first meal together on Christmas. He starts doing odd jobs but still prefers living in the crawl space rather than a spare bedroom. He gets harassed by local high schoolers leading to a confrontation in a grocery store. The violence gradually escalates leading to the inevitable tragedy. Bizarre but effective drama with Tom Happer convincing as the wild child/hippie dropout.

Baby Snakes (1979)

Intercontinental Absurdities
Directed by Frank Zappa
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Ostensibly a Frank Zappa concert at the Palladium in New York City around Halloween of 1977. However, there is also a lot of time devoted to animator Bruce Bickford and his hypnotic claymation pieces. Zappa's music speaks for itself, and the musicianship is impeccable, though he does seem to have a juvenile fascination with sex and weird voices. Bassist/vocalist Roy Estrada is hilariously over-the-top and easily the funniest person in a cast of crazies, though watching him with a sex doll and knowing he would later go to prison for sexual assault on a child, including one of the dates of these very same concerts, does put things in a different perspective.

Fer de Lance (1974)

CBS
Directed by Russ Mayberry
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Submarine captain David Janssen watches as his crew succumbs to deadly snakes released as a practical joke. The sub crashes and ends up stranded on the sea floor under tons of rock. Among the survivors are expert divers who venture out in the dangerous depths to try to free them. Essentially "snakes on a sub" but highly entertaining.

Three Faces of a Woman (1965)

Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, Mauro Bolognini and Franco Indovina
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Omnibus consisting of three stories, each revolving around actress "Soraya", who in real life was the wife of the Shah of Iran. In the first story she essentially plays herself: a princess making her first screen tests in a large Italian movie studio. The film's real producer, Dino De Laurentiis, even plays himself in this segment. In the second story she plays the unhappy lover of Richard Harris, relentlessly pursued by paparazzi and separated from her husband. In the final segment she is amused by the advances of a hired "Latin lover", played to perfection by Alberto Sordi. Occasionally amusing, especially the final segment, but dated by an infatuation with fashion styles of its era. Luscious soundtrack by Piero Piccioni.

Seven in Darkness (1969)

ABC
Directed by Michael Caffey
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

A group of blind airplane passengers heading for a convention crash in the mountains. After all of those able to see die in the crash, the survivors must find their way to safety using their wits and other senses. Wolf attacks, crumbling bridges and one of their own who is stealing their food turn out to be the main obstacles. It may have sounded like a good idea to the writers, but turns out to be unintentionally hilarious, with Milton Berle struggling to convince he is blind, a teenage girl breaking out a folk song during a thunderstorm, an obviously fake wolf, and other laugh-out loud moments.

In Search of Gregory (1970)

Universal Pictures

Directed by Peter Wood

My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4

IMDb

(YouTube)

Julie Christie travels to Geneva to attend her father's wedding, mainly enticed by his description of a friend who may be just the man she is looking for. The only problem is that the man may not actually exist and she spends most of the film trying to find him. She captures glimpses of him, supposedly a famous race car driver, at parties, during a strange game of "auto-ball" or at her father's fiance's apartment. When she finally meets him in person, he may or may not be the person she thought he was. Enigmatic film from the writer of Blow-Up and Zabriskie Point never quite catches fire, but Julie Christie is perfect as the perplexed but persistent girl.

1984 (1956)

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Michael Anderson
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

First adaptation of Orwell's 1949 novel of a futuristic society where "Big Brother" is omnipresent via two-way television that keeps society in check. Sex is reserved for arranged marriages, but when a man finds himself pursued by a beautiful co-worker they meet secretly in the country away from the all-seeing tv eye. Back in the city, they find an apartment for their trysts but it turns out not to be safe after all and they are carried away by the sex police to be "rehabilitated". Occasionally stiff but still compelling, and relevant, statement of the dangers of a totalitarian society.

Ladybug Ladybug (1963)

United Artists
Directed by Frank Perry
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

When an alarm indicating imminent nuclear attack goes off in a rural school, the teachers escort the children home according their plan. At first they assume it is a drill, but when other schools report the same alarm they begin to think it is real. The children gradually become scared and as we follow them home we see how they cope with the situation. The tension is defused somewhat about halfway through when a short is blamed for the faulty alarm but the teachers and children cannot be reached. However, watch out for that ending!

A Killer in the Family (1983)

ABC
Directed by Richard T. Heffron
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Dad and prison inmate Robert Mitchum convinces his teenage sons to help him and a buddy escape. The oldest son, James Spader, tries to tell the more impressionable younger ones it is a bad idea, but they are completely under the spell of Mitchum. On the lam in the Arizona desert, the two cons murder a family in cold blood for their car. The boys are torn between dedication to dad and the slow realization that he is a killer. Some good moments, but the made-for-tv format lacks the necessary grit to make this convincing.

Short Walk to Daylight (1972)

ABC
Directed by Barry Shear
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

A group of strangers on a NYC subway are stranded after an earthquake wrecks their car and caves in the tunnel system. Policeman James Brolin and conductor James McEachin lead them through the debris as it rapidly fills with water from the East River. They must overcome prejudices and other personal problems along the way. One of the better made-for-tv disaster films from the 70s, though the scenario is similar to The Poseidon Adventure, released the same year.

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976)

Gaumont (France)
Directed by Henri Gruel and Pierre Watrin
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Julius Caesar vows to hand over the Roman Empire to the Gauls if two of its bravest men can complete a series of twelve seemingly impossible tasks. The first few involve beating the fastest Roman runner or throwing a javelin further, which with the help of a little "superpower" potion they do with ease. The tasks get progressively harder, and more absurd, including a government office building that drives people insane with an endless run around. Overall, though, it's episodic with a peculiar French sense of humor that doesn't translate very well.

Death Promise (1977)

Howard Mahler Films
Directed by Robert Warmflash
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(VHS, Paragon)

Charles Bonet and his karate pals get revenge on a group of rich NYC landlords who murder his father when he refuses to vacate their slum tenement building. Each is hunted down and killed in gruesome manners, with a final showdown on a rooftop with their ringleader. The performance by the charismatic Bonet is hampered by a predictable plot and low budget.

Twisted Nerve (1968)

National General Pictures
Directed by Roy Boulting
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

A psychopathic teenager talks his way into living by with the family of his latest crush Hayley Mills by pretending to be homeless and mentally challenged. One night he leaves the house and murders his father. Hayley resists all of his advances, but when her mom tries to seduce he kills her in the shed. Hayley eventually figures out his real identity leading to their confrontation alone in his bedroom. Beautifully filmed in striking colors by the Boulting brothers, but distasteful subject matter is a turn off, something even the producers acknowledge in a disclaimer before the opening credits. 

Wonder Women (1973)

General Film Corporation
Directed by Robert Vincent O'Neill
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Evil doctor Nancy Kwan lives on an island with her all-female bodyguards. She sends them out on missions to kidnap healthy young men for her lucrative underground transplant business. An insurance company hires macho Ross Hagen to find out what happened to one of their missing clients. His search leads to Kwan and her ladies. Ludicrous if entertaining Philippine-made cheapie filled with the requisite amounts of nudity and violence, and an excessively long and repulsive cockfighting scene in slow motion.  

Slaves (1969)

Continental Distributing
Directed by Herbert J. Biberman
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Kentucky slave Ossie Smith is sold to a new owner and sent to work the cotton fields in Mississippi. Separated from his family, Smith adopts an orphaned baby as his own one day after its mother dies in labor. However, his new master Stephen Boyd, a sadistic and cruel man, pushes his slaves to desperation. Film debut of Dionne Warwick as Boyd's mistress, she also can be heard on the soundtrack. A dreary, depressing film that relies more on exploitation than any kind of social commentary. 

Never Take No for an Answer (1951)

Independent Film Distributors (UK)
Directed by Maurice Cloche and Ralph Smart
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Simple story of an Italian boy and his donkey in the town of Assisi. When the donkey comes down sick, the boy appeals to the local church authority to let him visit the tomb of the famous Saint Francis to be healed. Refusing to take no for an answer, he goes all the way to the top to see the pope in Rome. Despite some warm moments, and a particularly effective final shot, it can't quite escape a tendency towards cuteness.

An Inspector Calls (1954)

British Lion
Directed by Guy Hamilton
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Police inspector Alastair Sim pays an unexpected call to a wealthy British family. One by one, he interrogates them about the recent death of a young woman. Through flashbacks we learn about their connections to the woman and how each could have had a hand in her untimely death. An unexpected twist ending completes this short, but extremely effective little film, with Sim perfectly cast as the creepy inspector.

The Wooden Horse (1950)

British Lion
Directed by Jack Lee
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

British officers in a German POW camp dig their way out utilizing a vaulting horse for cover. Once outside, they make a treacherous journey through hostile territory with the help of the French underground to freedom in Sweden. Well acted by a cast of British regulars, headed by Leo Genn.

Passport to Pimlico (1949)

Eagle-Lion Films
Directed by Henry Cornelius
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

An unexploded bomb in a London suburb leads to the discovery of buried treasure and an old treaty which the residents use to declare their independence from the UK. At first they celebrate their new freedoms, but when the streets are overrun but unlicensed sellers they are forced to gradually enact laws to gain some kind of control. The premise is taken to its logical extreme, with customs inspections for visitors and even treaty negotiations, but these absurdities weaken the film.

The Executioner's Song (1982)

NBC
Directed by Lawrence Schiller
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Tommy Lee Jones tries to adjust to real life after a long stint in prison. He eventually gets involved with the much younger Rosanna Arquette. He controls every aspect of her life and goes over the edge when she threatens to leave him. A night of senseless violence leads him back in jail where he is convicted and given the death sentence. The execution goes through endless delays as it winds its way through the courts. Jones is electric as the disturbed killer unable to cope with the world outside of prison with great chemistry with Arquette. However, Norman Mailer's screenplay just goes on and on (in the original 3-hour version), getting lost in the last hour or so it spends while Jones awaits his execution.

The Astronaut (1972)

ABC Movie of the Week
Directed by Robert Michael Lewis
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

After an astronaut dies on Mars, the government space agency tries to hide it by convincing a washed out pilot to submit to plastic surgery and take his place. They manage to convince almost everyone except his wife. When she finds out the truth, they threaten to expose the conspiracy. She falls in love with the replacement husband along the way. Potentially intriguing made-for-TV movie turns out to be mostly a low budget romance.