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Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
Rate:
3
Viewed:
10/21
10/21:
I was most curious when it came to the meaning of the words for the title Electra Glide in Blue.
Within fifteen minutes of the opening, I finally found out, but the rest of the film is a mess. I had a feeling for a while
it was going to end in an Easy Rider way. Lo and behold, that's what happened...just as
exactly. And no, Alan Ladd wasn't that short; he's about four inches taller than Robert Blake.
The rest of everything else is stupid, boring, and slow although the photography by Conrad Hall is first-rate.
There's supposed to be a murder case, but it becomes an afterthought. Instead, I'm at the mercy of many close-ups and
meandering scenes.
The only film ever directed by James William Guercio who's primarily in the music business (hence the random concert
scene), Electra Glide in Blue isn't different from the pretentious pictures made by the Cohen brothers. Reportedly,
Robert Blake and Conrad Hall did most of the directorial work. James William Guercio would later reteam with Robert
Blake to produce an even outstandingly bad movie called Second-Hand Hearts.
I've got to say Robert Blake did a good job as John Wintergreen which got him cast in a TV show entitled Baretta that
he's memorable for. It's the best Robert Blake could do with the material although he captures a lot of his character's persona
from In Cold Blood. Oh boy, Elisha Cook, Jr., has gone wacko. Billy Green Bush and
Mitchell Ryan play caricatures who don't make any sense. It's hard to tell, but Nick Nolte was in the film; he can be spotted
wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt during the confrontation between Wintergreen and the hippies.
All in all, Electra Glide in Blue makes it plain that James William Guercio wasn't cut out to be a film director.