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| Maureen Arthur, dick clark, and Robert Walker in KILLERS THREE. |
KILLERS THREE is an AIP release that got past me in its initial release in late 1968, early 1969; I’ve always wanted to see it. It was a Dick Clark production (make that a dick clark production, in keeping with a trademarked font applied to his name throughout) and he also plays the standout role in the film, which added to its strange allure. I learned earlier this week that it was available free on YouTube in watchable quality and made a date with it last Saturday night.
Despite a talented cast that includes Robert Walker, Diane Varsi (between roles in WILD IN THE STREETS and BLOODY MAMA), Norman Alden, John "Bud" Cardos and Merle Haggard in his screen debut, it doesn't amount to much. It’s basically a BONNIE AND CLYDE rip-off about two homecoming soldiers (Walker, clark) who return to their impoverished town in North Carolina to work as moonshine runners and contrive to steal $200,000 and head off (with Walker’s wife Diane Varsi and young son) to California. Things go wrong and people die, causing them to become fugitives with Varsi's brother Haggard (who plays a highway patrolman) in visual pursuit of them as his rollicking three-verse ballad of their misadventure is played and played and played until we memorize it. I assume the film was meant to be a contemporary story but it’s set do deep in the south that it’s hard to tell if it’s the 1960s or twenty, thirty years earlier. Some local acting talent was employed but the resulting performances were evidently so thickly accented or mumbled that these scenes were overdubbed with selections from the Mike Curb soundtrack album, causing the country and rock tracks to merge uncomfortably. The rock tracks at least help to certify the time frame. Mr. clark, who was fine in 1959's BECAUSE THEY'RE YOUNG, again proves himself a capable actor as the deranged member of the trio, but there are moments in which he seems to drop the stitch of his character; he was wearing a lot of hats in this film, so it's understandable. The little boy, Tony, who was apparently cast for his ability to shed tears on cue, had to be dubbed by a voice actress at Titra; he sounds like an anime character. Here's a link to the film's trailer, should you care to gauge your interest.
Kevin Thomas of the LA TIMES, in a surprising rave review, noted that the film opened in theaters about 12-14 minutes shorter than the running time originally announced, and indeed it appears to have sacrificed some nudity and blood to give it a bigger audience grab. Were the film to be released to Blu-ray today, this deleted material just might find its way back into the picture, as has happened with numerous other AIP releases of this period. It just might make the difference between a hard-hitting picture and a mamby-pamby one.
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