Wit's End (1971)

A journalist gets mixed up with a stripper, a defecting Chinese scientist and Red Chinese agents.

Director:

Joel M. Reed

Writers:

Keith Lorenz (story), Joel M. Reed (screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Keena, Victoria Racimo, Angelique Pettyjohn

Cast

Credited cast:
Tom Keena	...	Dave Dearborn
Victoria Racimo	...	Mai Lee Foon (as Vicki Racimo)
Angelique Pettyjohn	...	Bonnie
Janet Wood	...	Cindy
Brian Walden	...	Peter Fields
Peter Gernert	...	Plume
Christopher Ware	...	Stanford Jones
Jonathan Grant
Walter Hill	...	Gregg Morrison
Peter Wescombe
Rex Casey
Mark Louis	...	Street Pimp
Brad Baracks
Dragon Lee	...	Malay that attacks Dave
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anna Ling

Storyline

A journalist gets mixed up with a stripper, a defecting Chinese scientist and Red Chinese agents.

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Plot Keywords:

naked murderer | murder of a nude woman | female nudity | murder | karate | 

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Taglines:

They tried to kill him ... drug him, torture and pervert him, but they could not stop the one-man execution squad ...

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Genres:

Adventure | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs: Bloodsucking Freaks (2020)

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Soundtracks

Wit's End
theme song
by Elliot Chiprut

User Reviews

TWAS A LONG TIME BETWEEN ITS COMPLETION AND ITS RELEASE....EVEN MORE WOULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL.

Dave Dearborn (Tom Keena) Vietnam veteran, free-lance journalist, and mercenary, is operating a discotheque aboard a ramshackle junk plying Singapore's harbor, when he receives an offer to investigate a probable defection of a scientist from Communist China. An overly complicated storyline depicts Dave taking the assignment because Chinese "businessman" Mr. Lim may have his claws into the defector in order to vend his expertise to the highest bidder, assisted by Lim's mistress Mai Lee (Vicki Racimo) for whom Dave carries a torch from their former affair. In the course of searching for the missing researcher, Dave becomes entangled with and beds several avidly willing females, while other bodies of the deceased sort pile up following a string of shootings, and we are given a surfeit of material detailing Dearborn's past as a cocaine addict, murderer for hire, and undercover homosexual! Filming is in Singapore, completed in 1971, but the piece was not released until Troma, a company specializing in exploitation features, offered it in 1984; there is, therefore, some interest within the production for its footage along the city's Orchid Road, Sago Lane and, in particular, Bugis Street with its swarms of transvestites, all given the kindness of being cleaned by the regime of Lee Yuan Lew subsequent to the movie's completion. Aside from this historic significance, little remains of value as the picture suffers from pronounced flaws in continuity and logic, in addition to generally shabby production values under the direction of schlockmeister Joel Reed, with a cast of largely, and thankfully, unknowns. Racimo is an able actress but here is wasted, as during one rather fantastic scene when, after her character dispatches her current squire by shooting him to death, including a close range finishing shot to the head, she then gives in to the demands of lust with Keena's character, the pair thrashing about amid four recently slain evildoers; there is precious little by way of interpretation that can be provided in such an instance.

Details

Official Sites:

Troma

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dragon Lady

Filming Locations:

Bugis Street, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cathay-Keris Film Productions, Lion City

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color