CONDUCT UNBECOMING

Michael York

CONDUCT UNBECOMING (1975). Director: Michael Anderson.

In Colonial India, two young British men whose fathers were also in the military, arrive to begin a three month probationary period in their distinguished regiment. Arthur Drake (Michael York) is anxious to make good while blase and cynical Edward Millington (James Faulkner) hopes to get thrown out as soon as possible. But there may be more serious consequences when Millington is accused of assaulting Marjorie Scarlett (Susannah York), widow of a legendary hero, and Drake is tapped to defend him in a special private hearing. As the trial progresses, many disturbing revelations come to light ...

James Faulkner and Susannah York

Although based on a stage play, Conduct Unbecoming is not stage-bound or overly talky but is suspenseful, intriguing, and holds the attention throughout. Part of this is due to a compelling story line, and part to some excellent performances.  Michael York and Faulkner are perfection, and Georgia-born Stacy Keach does a dead-on English accent and is absolutely splendid as Captain Harper, who oversees the private hearing. Christopher Plummer, Michael Culver [Goodbye, Mr. Chips], and Richard Attenborough offer riveting portraits of various officers, and Trevor Howard makes a strong and convincing Colonel Strang. Persis Khambatta of Star Trek: The Motion Picture appears briefly as a woman who may have been another victim.

Stacy Keach and Michael York

Susannah York [The Killing of Sister George] is not quite up to the level of the gentlemen, unfortunately, and a stronger actress should have been chosen. York just does her scenes as written in the script but never adds any nuances or layers -- she doesn't make the most of her one big climactic outburst; she has given better performances elsewhere. One could also argue that the inexperienced Drake manages to arrive at certain conclusions as if he were a veritable Perry Mason! -- undoubtedly he has a legal career in front of him. An interesting touch is the role reversal between the two young soldiers, as well as the examination of how keeping one's "honor" is not always so honorable. Director Michael Anderson directed the much less successful Doc Savage the same year and worked with Michael York again the following year on Logan's Run.  By the way, Michael York and Susannah York were not related and were never married to one another.

Verdict: Absorbing, very well-acted courtroom-military drama with some interesting twists. ***. 

ROAD GAMES

Jamie Lee Curtis and Stacy Keach

ROAD GAMES (aka Roadgames/1981). Produced and directed by Richard Franklin.

Pat Quid (Stacy Keach of Butterfly) is a truck driver in Australia hauling a load of pig carcasses. He begins to suspect that a man in a green van may have done away with a woman that this other man shacked up with in a hotel, As his suspicions mount, he picks up a gal named Pamela (Jamie Lee Curtis), who is seemingly taken away by that man in the van. Or did she just shack up with this other guy of her own free will? Quid is torn between forgetting the whole thing or obsessively following the van to find out for sure what's up. Complicating matters is the fact that the police are beginning to suspect Quid of being a serial killer ... 

Stacy Keach

Road Games won some acclaim when it was released, primarily because Richard Franklin was clearly more talented than the average director of slasher films, and the film has virtually no gore. However, although the film starts very well and pulls one along, and is very well photographed by Vincent Monton, it doesn't quite make it as a really excellent thriller. The pic starts to go downhill when Jamie Lee Curtis [Terror Train] , whose acting is highly insufficient, shows up as the hitchhiker, and she and Quid almost immediately start talking about the potential serial killer with hardly any prelude. It makes the film seem as if a chunk wound up on the cutting room floor. Curtis' character is undeveloped and irritating, but at least she isn't on camera too long. Keach gives a solid performance as the smarter-than-average truck driver with issues, but for the most part the score by Brian May is just all wrong for the movie.

The film does boast an exciting, suspenseful and very well-executed climax involving a tight alleyway, Quid's over-sized truck, the van and the man inside it, and two cops, one of whom is crawling under the big truck in an attempt to get to the front of it and the fight that's ensuing there. Everett De Roche's script is unpredictable, and it does have touches that could be considered "Hitchcockian," although the movie is never on the level of the best of Hitchcock. This did, however, help Franklin land the plum assignment of directing Psycho II. 

Verdict: Too many loose ends, implausible moments, and a pretty weak Jamie Lee. **1/2. 

BUTTERFLY

Pia Zadora and Orson Welles -- in the same movie!

BUTTERFLY (1982). Director: Matt Cimber.

In 1937 at the Arizona-Nevada border Kady Tyler (Pia Zadora) comes to live with the father she never knew, a man named Jess (Stacy Keach), who is the caretaker for an abandoned silver mine. Despite their biological connection, Kady and Jess are drawn to one another, something which bothers Jess but doesn't seem to bother the much too free-spirited Kady. Kady's dying mother, Belle (Lois Nettleton), comes calling, along with the man Belle ran off with, Moke Blue (James Franciscus). Then there's Wash Gillespie (Edward Albert), the son of the owner of the mine, and the father of Kady's baby and her fiance. How far will Jess go to get Kady for himself -- and is she really his daughter? Butterfly certainly holds the attention with its intriguing if bizarre situations, as well as some very good acting. Keach takes top honors, with Nettleton a close second, and Franciscus [Youngblood Hawke] also scores in some emotional scenes inside the mine. Pia Zadora [Hairspray] is not bad at all, although one couldn't necessarily call her a great actress -- her pouty looks and attitude fit the part. Orson Welles, of all people, shows up as a judge at two separate trials involving Kady and Jess, and is very effective and amusing. Edward Albert [Galaxy of Terror] is fine as Kady's boyfriend, and in one brief scene June Lockhart and Ed McMahon [!] play his parents -- McMahon is no actor. Stuart Whitman, however, makes his mark as a preacher. This forgotten movie is based on a novel by James M. Cain.

Verdict: Twisted, but interesting, love story. ***.