BY LEE PFEIFFER
We at Cinema Retro are always delighted to find that a previously unavailable movie has been made accessible on home video. Such is the case with the low-radar 1971 MGM crime flick "Clay Pigeon", which Mvd Visual has just released on DVD. The film was the brainchild of Tom Stern, a character actor who appeared in small roles in many films before branching out and acting and directing biker movies in the late 1960s. Stern decided to create a star-making crime film for himself and raised the funding for "Clay Pigeon" independently. He then struck a deal with MGM to distribute the movie and pay for the marketing campaign in return for a slice of the grosses. The studio was bleeding red ink at the time and needed product to remain viable. "Clay Pigeon" fit the bill, with MGM having to make a relatively minor investment. The movie was released in many markets as the top feature in a double-fill with another soft-boiled crime movie, "Chandler" starring Warren Oates. It's clear that Stern felt this film would finally elevate him to leading man status. He not only plays the hero but he also co-produced andco-directed the film with Lane Slate, who at some point during production was either fired or left the film, leaving Stern to assume the direction alone."Clay Pigeon" was not a hit, however, and quickly faded from view.
The unique aspect of the movie is that it was a rare film to address the Vietnam War while the conflict was still raging. John Wayne's "The Green Berets", released in 1968 and financially backed by a reluctant Jack Warner, may have been a major hit but it set off protests in front of some of the theaters that were showing it. Hollywood wanted no part of the controversy and it wouldn't be until after the war that films such as "Coming Home", "The Deer Hunter" and "Apocalypse Now" would be viable to studios and audiences. "Clay Pigeon" opens in Vietnam with our protagonist, Joe Ryan (Stern) on patrol. An ambush ensues and Ryan heroically throws his body on a live grenade to shield his fellow soldiers. Fortunately, the grenade doesn't explode and Ryan is awarded the Silver Star. The action then moves to contemporary Los Angeles where Joe is trying to forget the war by living the lifestyle of a hippie, though we are told at some point that he is now an ex-cop (one of numerous script deficiencies that see key points left unexplained.) Joe is living a threadbare but happy life, boozing, smoking weed and getting it on with numerous young women who seem to always be in the mood. Meanwhile, a parallel story line follows Redford (Telly Savalas), a rogue government agent of undefined background who we witness murder a crime suspect. (As rogue cops go, Redford isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, as he assassinates the man by shooting him multiple times in broad daylight on a dock in full view of anyone near the river.) We find out that Redford has been relentlessly tracking a key drug kingpin, Neilsen (Robert Vaughn), for years. Cutting to the chase, Redford ends up asking Joe to act as a conduit to try to find his quarry. When Joe refuses, Redford frames him and forces him into acting as part of the sting operation.As the corrupt cop, Savalas plays his typical hard-boiled character, beating up suspects and giving orders to one and all.
"Clay Pigeon" came and went in a nanosecond back in 1971 without
making much of an impression. Not helping matters was a cheesy ad campaign that featured artwork more suitable for a comic book of the era. It has been shown at least once on Turner
Classic Movies but other than that, it has been unseen since its initial
release. The film is sloppily made, beginning with a script that has
more holes than a Swiss cheese. We never get any background on Joe's
career as a police officer and how he went from being a lawman to a
hippie. Nor do we have any idea how he sustains himself financially, as
we never see him working in any capacity except for collecting scrap
that he sells to an old fellow hippie junk dealer (Burgess Meredith).
Stern makes sure he designates his on screen alter-ego as a chick magnet, however, and he
has a Bondian ability to make any woman he encounters doff their top and
jump into bed with him. (In one scene, two female acquaintances have a
threesome with him in a swimming pool.) Equally underwritten is the
character of Redford. Is he with the FBI? The CIA, or perhaps some
mythical "Deep State" intelligence agency? Who knows? It's never made
clear, but he has enough clout to boss around the L.A. Police Chief
(John Marley) who clearly despises him. In one tantalizing dream-like scene, we see a shirtless Redford seemingly confined somewhere in a small room but the relevance and meaning of the scene is never explained.
Rounding out
the sketchily-presented antagonists is the drug dealer Neilsen, who, when he isn't
terrorizing an underage female drug addict, is barking orders to his hit
men. As played by Robert Vaughn in a tongue-in-cheek manner, Neilsen is
a fascinating villain. At one point, he is seen dictating poetry to a secretary while inexplicably seated in a greenhouse. Equally inexplicably, Vaughn has him wear a variety of
different hats including one ludicrously oversized cap that makes him
resemble an over-aged newsboy from the early 1900s. Vaughn, who steals the film, also appears
to be having a hoot spoofing his on screen image as an
immaculately-dressed bon vivant. He is seen wearing a
powder blue jump suit with a colorful kerchief tied
around his waist. In another scene, he commits the ultimate fashion faux pas by sporting Bermuda shorts with black socks! You expect him to wink at the camera and say, "Take that,
Napoleon Solo!" Vaughn also presides over an apparently improvised
scene in which he tries to instruct henchman Ivan Dixon how to play
pool. Dixon almost breaks the "fourth wall" by cracking up in the same
way Tim Conway used to reduce Harvey Korman to giggling in those comedy
sketches on "The Carol Burnett Show". As for Dixon, he scores by
portraying a man who is outwardly charming and polite but also capable
of committing an atrocious act of murder. Other esteemed cast members include Jeff Corey and Peter Lawford (unbilled) in cameos.
By any standard, "Clay Pigeon" is a mess. Yet, it's a fascinating mess. Director Stern, perhaps lacking funds for studio sets, films mostly in actual locations and captures the look and feel of a bygone L.A. (There are movie theaters advertising "Five Easy Pieces" and Pat Boone in "The Cross and the Switcblade".) He also tosses in some motorcycle and car chases, including one involving a dune buggy and a police car that results in the latter tumbling down a sand dune. Stern was so impressed with the stunt that he presents it in slow motion on screen for almost two minutes. However, if one of your cinematic fantasies is to see Burgess Meredith in a dune buggy chase, your ship has finally come in. The film gets better as it progresses and ends with a creatively-filmed showdown between a wounded Joe and Neilsen and his thugs at the Hollywood Bowl, which is deserted except for an on-going religious sect worshiping with a guru. Just in case viewers might be nodding off, Stern also has leading lady Marilyn Aiken perform a strip routine on stage that shows full frontal nudity. Apparently opting for director's privilege, he finds an excuse to present an almost identical scene later in purely superfluous manner. Stern also tosses in another meaningless scene in which a strip club manager "auditions" an aspiring young woman that requires her to take it all off. The scenes don't work dramatically but Stern knew how to capitalize on the new screen era of T&A.
The long-awaited DVD release is a disappointment. The disc from MVD Visual was obviously mastered from an inferior source, perhaps a 16mm print. Color is inconsistent and at some points there a couple of seconds of drop-out when the screen goes black. The film is presented in a format of 1:37/1:43, which may or not be the original ratio. In any event, it gives the film the boxy look of a TV broadcast. Additionally, there are no final credits and the movie just ends abruptly. Without having a source to compare it to, we can only say that it would have been highly unusual if an MGM movie from that era was presented in such a manner. There are no bonus features.
Despite flaws with the movie and its DVD presentation, "Clay Pigeon" can be recommended because of its more bizarre elements and an inspired cast. If nothing else, you won't want to miss Robert Vaughn in those Bermuda shorts and black socks.
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