Hollywood Man (1976)

Director:

Jack Starrett

Writers:

Ray Girardin (written by) &
William Smith (written by) ...

Release Date:

6 March 1978 (Sweden)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Hollywood action film star Rafe Stoker has sunk $130,000 of his own money into his own production, but...

Plot Keywords:

Biker | Motorcycle | Organized Crime | Filmmaking | Independent Film

Cast

William Smith	...	Rafe Stoker
Jennifer Billingsley	...	Buttons
Ray Girardin	...	Harvey
Jude Farese	...	Rhodes
Mary Woronov	...	Julie (as Mary Waronov)
Tom Simcox	...	The Sheriff
Don Stroud	...	Barney
Carmine Caridi	...	Anthony
Angelo Farese	...	Angelo
Michael Delano	...	J.J.
John Alderman	...	Jesus
Wayde Preston	...	Tex (as Wade Preston)
David Pritchard	...	Dennis
Stefanie Auerbach	...	Audrey (as Stephanie Auerbach)
Art Hern	...	The Hollywood Producer

Also Known As:

Stoker (USA)

Runtime:

Finland:93 min (uncut) | Finland:87 min (cut) | USA:107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Glen Glenn Sound)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (original rating) (uncut) | Finland:K-18 (re-rating) (cut) | Sweden:15 | West Germany:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

Company:

Olympic Film Productions

Trivia:

Selected by Quentin Tarantino for the First Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, Texas, 1996.

Movie Connections:

References Spartacus (1960)

Soundtrack:

Hollywood Man

Harley David Sonofabitch

First off I believe this precedes the movie "Stuntman" which has garnered a lot of cult appeal due to its exploration of the same themes. But with a distinctly grittier, more low-budget and ergo more authentic telling of the tale, H'wood Man turns out to be the superior effort. There are so many wonderful little facets to this movie: An unfortunately turgid, melodramatic theme song which is spliced into the last act at completely gratuitous and inappropriate moments; Mary Woronov as a leading lady (looking rather lissome and not at all Patti Smith'ed out); for villains, a cadre of losers with wonderful parallels to the kidnap-caper misfits in "The Candy Snatchers" -- particular kudos for the designated Tiffany Bolling-psychotic blonde in this grouping of trash ne'er-do-wells and score settlers; the sarcastic one-offs heard from various real-life crew stalwarts playing someone in an alternate universe just like themselves; topped off with a.stylized 70s downer ending a la Bonnie and Clyde. I could go on. Why this film is not considered an exploitation diamond in the rough i do not know, but for anyone with an appreciation for William Smith's acting career as a heavy this is an excellent watch.