Hollywood Man (1976) User Reviews

B-film about a B-film

[Chase_Witherspoon · 6/10 · 11 February 2012]

Sadistic William Smith vehicle stars Smith as the brawny B-movie actor Rafe Stoker, whose invested heavily in making a biker film, until he runs out of money. He seeks an injection of cash from shady characters who force him to sign away his possessions as collateral - then they hire a loser (Girardin) and his motley crew of misfits to disturb filming so they can collect.

There's some interest in seeing the "film about a film" theme unfold, with the behind-the-scenes type narrative fictionalising the trials of making a B-movie for next to nothing. The tone shifts considerably at midway, as Girardin's gang begin to affect the schedule, their crimes becoming increasingly more daring and deadly. Aside from Smith in the lead role, Mary Woronov is his supportive love-interest, Don Stroud as the easy-going stuntman and Tom Simcox as the no-nonsense lawman. Relative unknown Jude Farese almost steals the picture as the docile thug whose Buddy Hackett-like face belies his killer capability. Interestingly, Woronov co-starred in another "B-film about a B-film" in 1976 titled "Hollywood Boulevard", although the similarities end with her presence.

While the film begins in a relatively tame fashion, the violence escalates to full-blown R-rated status with beatings, murders and rape becoming commonplace, and an unexpected ending that will make some audiences gasp. The beach scene late in the movie where Girardin is emasculated by his disloyal gang leaves an impression, and despite its excess, is quite effective. If you're looking for something a bit different to your average biker film, and don't mind a bit of gratuitous violence, then "Hollywood Man" might fit the bill.

not bad biker flick

[johnc2141 · 6/10 · 19 May 2009]

I saw Hollywood man in a censored version from mill creeks box set called suspense classics,i really wish i saw it uncensored because i hate movies that are chopped up,even for the language.anyway I'm a big fan of William Smith,since he played falconetti on the TV mini series rich man poor man a year before Hollywood man.well Mr Smith is making this biker flick but his studio boss wont front him the money to finish it,so he turns to a mobster for the money to finish it.but the mobsters use his house and property as collateral.and some psycho biker and his pals keep messing up his shoot so he has to go over budget.cult movie queen Mary Woronov plays Mr Smiths girlfriend and b movie Roger Corman regular:Don Stroud as his stuntman.there's plenty of action and violence even in this censored version.but i would'nt call this one of William Smiths best.but ill give it 6 out of 10.hopefully someone will release an uncut version.

"Make a good movie Mr. Hollywood".

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 25 September 2010]

Never, but never take mob money to make a film. You would think the financing for this flick would have been covered by the product placement for Budweiser, Michelob and Miller Beer, all of which were prominently displayed at one point or another throughout the flick. After hearing it about a half dozen times, I would have thought that Harvey (Ray Girardin) might have actually appeared with Kirk Douglas in "Spartacus", so much so that I had to check that film's credits. Nope, never happened. Not being much of a biker movie fan (I did like "The Wild One"), the cool surprise for me here was seeing old Captain Christopher Colt, Wayde Preston show up as biker Tex, part of Harvey's gang of tonsorially challenged henchmen. Too bad he didn't make it to the end of the picture, but then again, not many of the players did. Speaking of which, that was just a dirty rotten deal for Rafe Stoker (William Smith) and Julie (Mary Waronov) at the end of the story. If only he hadn't expected to get back his own money that he sunk into the picture; who ever heard of such a thing?

welcoming comments, if you've seen it.

[rgirardin · 8 February 2003]

Hi, I'm Ray Girardin. I wrote "Stoker" (which became "Hollywood Man") along with my friend Bill Smith in 1976. We wrote it mainly so we could do a movie together, and it worked out. He played the lead, Rafe Stoker, and I played the heavy, Harvey. There were problems along the way, as there always are with low-budget films, but we enjoyed doing it. If you've seen it, I'd welcome your comments, pro or con.

Is It Over Yet?

[Hitchcoc · 3/10 · 7 December 2006]

I'm sorry. I don't care. The people in this film are tiresome and childish. The whole premise is ridiculous. The acting is bad. There is no real suspense. Everything about it is so unbelievable that it looks like whatever popped into someone's head was OK. I know. Money is power. Let's take the guy for everything he is worth. When push comes to shove, turn down the offer you get for help, even though you could then pay it back. The bad guys don't seem to have much reason; they're just bad. If vengeance is yours, don't get into the game. I appreciate that this wasn't an effort to make "Gone With The Wind," but it's a parody on exactly what it is trying to do. And not a very clever one. But it was their money.

Unknown

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 5 February 2020]

Ack Starrett may be best known for Blazing Saddles, but he was also in plenty of biker movies like The Born Losers, Hells Angels on Wheels, Angels from Hell and Hell's Bloody Devils. He moved on to directing, making films like Run, Angel, Run; Nam's Angels; Cleopatra Jones; Race With the Devil and Kiss My Grits.

William Smith is an actor that's been in oh, somewhere around three hundred films. Let me topline some of his roles: Conan's dad in Conan the Barbarian, the captain in Maniac Cop, C.C. and Company, Grave of the Vampire, Hammer, Seven, Hell Comes to Frogtown, Terror In Beverly Hills, Uncle Sam and he shows up as Pharaoh in two of the Roller Blade Seven movies. He was also the father to Lorenzo Lamas' character on the TV show Renegade. Smith also produced this film, one of only three movies he put his money behind (Prologue to Wounded Knee and Body Shop are the other two).

This might be autographical - Smith plays Hollywood action film star Rafe Stoker, who has sunk $130,000 of his own money into a movie but can't get the cash to finish the film. The mob investor agrees to pay, as long as Smith ponies up some big collateral. Then, he hires Harvey and his bikers to sabotage the movie. Plus, the cops are also on Stroker's case. He can't win as he and his girl get gunned down by thugs after finishing the movie.

I can't lie - I only watch this movie because Mary Woronov was in it. Also appearing are Tom Simcox (Grim Prarie Tales), Don Stroud (The Amityville Horror), Carmine Caridi (who was in second and third Godfather films; he was also the first person to be expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for bootlegging Oscar screeners), Clay Tanner (who plated Satan in Rosemary's Baby), former pro wrestler and bullfighter Don Sebastian (Super Fuzz, Mako: The Jaws of Death) and wah wah pedal innovator Charles Pitts (he's also in Truck Turner).

It's a biker/action film about making biker/action films

[Eegah Guy · 7/10 · 1 March 2001]

Star William Smith basically plays himself in this tale of the difficulties low-budget filmmakers face when making their films outside of the Hollywood system. This film is especially cynical about the ways in which these films get financed and how the good guys always get ripped off in the end. Smith just wants to make movies so he puts up his house as collateral and borrows mob money while he's being harassed by some old psycho biker buddies looking for easy money. This film makes you appreciate the hell that is low-budget B-movie filmmaking.

Underrated and virtually lost biker film

[chrisdfilm · 7/10 · 7 April 2007]

This is one of director Jack Starrett's and actor William Smith's least known, least seen biker films, which is a shame because it's one of the most original. Smith plays a biker film star who wants to produce and direct his own film in Florida but cannot find financing through conventional means. As a last resort, he goes to the mob and they give him a deal that will fund his picture. But he has to put up his home as collateral. If the film isn't wrapped by the specified date, he will lose everything - the film, his home, basically everything he owns. From day one, unbeknownst to Smith, the mob hires a sadistic sociopath (Girardin, who is a good heavy) to gum up the works and slow things down so the picture will never be done in time. There's a great supporting cast including Mary Woronov as Smith's wife, assistant and best friend, Don Stroud and Jennifer Billingsley (unnervingly convincing as the lowlife-scaggy girlfriend of Girardin). Starrett keeps things moving at a fast clip and supplies two unexpected and stand out setpieces: a fascinatingly bizarre, surreal scene where Billingsley is partially clad in a wedding veil/dress and flees in slow motion along the shore as the fed-up Girardin fires at her with a rifle, finally killing her; and the climax where Smith and Woronov are waiting in a restaurant to resolve the situation with the mobsters when a hit-man suddenly bursts in and riddles them with bullets. I have also heard through the grapevine that there were some weird coincidental similarities in the film narrative to what actually happened real-life behind-the-scenes on the production, what with Starrett reportedly threatened by some of the shady money men behind the film. I don't know for sure, but this strange dynamic may have also affected why this film is so hard to see (receiving only a limited VHS release in the mid-80s on the now defunct Monterey Home Video label).

Harley David Sonofabitch

[SatyrIX · 8/10 · 26 August 2009]

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.

Hollywood MAN - So 70's, So Sweet!

[shark-43 · 7/10 · 8 June 2007]

Wow, I was lucky enough to see a print of this shown in a big movie theatre and the audience roared with laughter. This film is so of it's time - the clothes, the lingo, the free sex, everything! Now I am a big fan of biker movies AND movies about show biz - so the fact that this one combines both makes it a gem. This film is so odd - obviously they didn't have much of a budget and the jokes about dealing with lowlifes to raise capital are spot on. Legendary William Smith leads the way - who has starred in so many biker films (including NAM'S ANGELS and RUN, ANGEL, RUN) and also the classic 70's GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE (David Chase's first produced screenplay - yes THAT David Chase - it opens with a rape in a graveyard!!) and the supporting cast is filled with strong character actors and not so strong character actors. In fact, the big muscular guy who plays the lead villain's brute is unintentionally hilarious - he plays it like Lenny from Of Mice & Men meets a Bugs Bunny cartoon. The biker stuff is hilarious but there are some GREAT stunts here. The flick is all over the place with one of the strangest music scores EVER. Many times the music (with lush violins) seems more fitting for a Sandra Dee movie and then all of a sudden there's the wah-wah guitar that ALL 70's cheesy movies need. Lots of fun, lots of bad dialogue and a shoot out at the beach that has to be seen to be believed.

Pretty Decent Movie But Less Known

[limkongjin · 7/10 · 14 June 2008]

This is quite a decent movie to spend some time with. It has action, suspense, craziness, violence and great bike stunts. Although this is supposedly a B movie, as a whole it looks professionally done. The cast is also very realistic in their portrayal of their characters. The result is we get a true-to-life kind of movie. In the show, Bill Smith plays an actor who's trying to make his own movie, with a low budget and him in the main role. And then he encounters the difficulties and obstacles in making such a production. Ray Girardin (whose comments you'd find here as well) plays a guy who gives Bill a hard time. I understand some of the elements of the show is a reflection of the real life situation in making this movie i.e. the problems they had when filming, just as Ray mentioned in his post. However the currently available version (a DVD was released in 2007) is an edited one, thus some elements of the show (I would presume some profanities and violence) have been taken out, from the looks of it. Otherwise, this is one to catch given the chance, and is reminiscent of a good 70's movie. If you like that era or am nostalgic to it, this is even an extra reason to watch.

Just bad.

[oscar-35 · 6 February 2013]

*Spoiler/plot- Hollywood man, 1976. A Hollywood actor needs to make a film to get his stalled career going again. He goes to Mob Guys in Florida to get the rest of the film's production money. He makes a deal. The actor not knowing the mob has paid it's own thugs to disrupt film production so they can default on the contract and bankrupt the actor.

*Special Stars- William Smith, Don Stroud.

*Theme- Be careful where you get your money from.

*Trivia/location/goofs- Filmed in Florida.

*Emotion- A typical 'behind-the-scenes' film about low budget film making. Unfortunately the 70's action stunt scenes and the lead actor's acting cannot keep you watching this film for long.