IMDb > Targets (1968)
Targets
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Overview

User Rating:
7.5/10   2,554 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 80% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Peter Bogdanovich
Writers:
Polly Platt (story) and
Peter Bogdanovich (story) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Targets on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 August 1968 (USA) more
Genre:
Horror | Thriller more
Tagline:
TARGETS are people...and you could be one of them! more
Plot:
Elderly horror-film star who, while making a personal appearance at a drive-in theater, confronts a psychotic Vietnam veteran who's turned into a mass-murdering sniper. full summary | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
'Bourne 4' Targets Summer 2011 Release
 (From CinemaSpy. 12 April 2009, 9:25 PM, PDT)

Peter Bogdanovich Guest Curator At New Beverly Cinema, L.A January 21-31
 (From CinemaRetro. 16 January 2009, 3:58 AM, PST)

User Comments:
As close to "A" as a "B-Movie" can get. more (73 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Tim O'Kelly ... Bobby Thompson

Boris Karloff ... Byron Orlok
Arthur Peterson ... Ed Loughlin
Monte Landis ... Marshall Smith (as Monty Landis)
Nancy Hsueh ... Jenny, Orlock's Secretary

Peter Bogdanovich ... Sammy Michaels, Director
Daniel Ades ... Ludlum the Chauffeur
Stafford Morgan ... Salesman (first gunshop) (Brass Rail)
James Brown ... Robert Thompson, Sr.
Mary Jackson ... Charlotte Thompson
Tanya Morgan ... Ilene Thompson, Bobby's Wife
Timothy Burns ... Room Service Waiter (as Tim Burns)
Warren White ... Grocery boy
Mark Dennis ... Ray, Salesman (second gunshop)
Sandy Baron ... Kip Larkin, Dejay
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Before I Die
more
MPAA:
Rated R for violent content. (previously rated GP and R)
Runtime:
90 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Pathécolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Argentina:13 | Finland:K-18 (1970) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Brazil:14 | Norway:16 (1969) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:GP (cut version) (1971) | USA:R (original rating) | USA:R (re-rating) (2002) | Singapore:PG

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Roger Corman told Peter Bogdanovich he could make any film he wanted to, with two conditions: he had to use stock footage from The Terror (1963), and he had to hire Boris Karloff for two days (Karloff was under contract and owed Corman those two days). Karloff was so impressed with the script that he refused pay for any shooting time over his contracted two days. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Bobby comes home he parks his convertible Ford Mustang on the street. After being in the house all afternoon Bobby goes to retrieve a firearm from the Mustang's trunk and we see the Mustang is now sitting in the driveway. more
Quotes:
[Jenny has been scolding him]
Byron Orlok: Quite a speech!
Jenny: You should hear it in Chinese.
more
Movie Connections:
Features Beep, Beep (1952) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
37 out of 45 people found the following comment useful.
As close to "A" as a "B-Movie" can get., 7 August 2002
Author: cpetro1 from Melbourne, Australia

Roger Corman explains in his autobiography that he handed this "spec" project to the up-and-coming Bogdanovich primarily because he could basically pay the kid peanuts. Bogdanovich understood Corman's economic sensibilities well, and cut as many corners as he could. He uses Cormans regular bit-players as well as plenty of Jack Nicholson footage from 1963's "The Terror" - another Corman B-movie. Corman's specifications for the film were simple: make a cheap film referring to the recent Charles Whitman shootings at the University of Texas, and make it fast. The script draws heavily from the real-life Whitman story; the all-American boy gone bad kills his wife and mother, and then proceeds on a killing spree, shooting anyone in his sights from a snipers nest. This story is intertwined with that of Byron Orlocks ageing horror legend nearing retirement; here Boris Karloff plays himself, for all intents and purposes. Bogdanovich plays a major role in the film himself, and there is obvious affection between the young director and Karloff in the scenes they share. Although Bogdanovich's wife Polly Platt takes a screenwriting credit, it is often said that her role was actually more of a partner in all Bogdanovich's early work, collaborating and counter-balancing his excesses. There is probably a lot of truth to this theory, as after the couple separated Bogdanovich's suffered a deep decline. I had read much of the history of `Targets' in Peter Biskind's `Easy Riders - Raging Bulls' and Corman's own `How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime', and have been lucky enough to catch it twice on cable in the last week. It really is a very competent debut, and Bogdanovich truly makes the most of what humble resources he had at his disposal. See it.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Targets (1968)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Tim O'Kelly looks like Matt Damon daros84
Boris Karloff swdlong
more movies like this? nickcei
Ask the man at Paramount to re-release this classic on DVD! PK-special
The Ending (spoilers, obviously) josh_ff8
RIP Tim O'Kelly (Bobby Thompson) cultfilmfreak
more

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