Also staring are Tony Curtis and Carol Lynley. The film's other cast includes Cassandra Peterson, better known to her fans as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark; Sonny Bono and veteran character actor Henry Jones. The film was written and directed by James Polakof.
This movie presents a few conundrums. The IMDB entry is under "Balboa" but one of the DVD covers shown here says "Rich and Powerful." I can find no such film under that name. The plot summary there is simply "Millionaire gets involved in a real estate scam." This version runs 91 minutes, but the entry claims it was originally a mini-series, and nude scenes were added to the video release. It's listed as an independent film released in the U.S on July 19, 1983 The website of the Tony Curtis Estate includes the film as "Balboa" but gives the year as 1986.
I suspect the film is one of many made in recent decades without major studio backing that may have gotten some sort of tape and/or DVD release but even so have essentially disappeared. Not everything is on Netflix, or Amazon Prime, or Hulu, or....
A bit more information follows below. And there's also another interesting connection Chuck Connors has with Alabama...
IMDB image
Image from the Amazon listing, which has this description:
"Welcome to Newport Beach where the exotic sun-drenched waterfront is the setting for intrigue, loyalty, betrayal and million dollar business deals. Wealth and power foster either the best of friends or the worst of enemies -- and some will do anything to get what they want."
I'm going to have to seek out this movie just to find out how a character named "Alabama" fits into it.
Not sure what this image is, perhaps a poster?
Connors played first base for the Mobile Bears in 1947, hitting .255 with 15 home runs. At that time the team played at Hartwell Field.
"The 1947 Southern Association Baseball League champions the Mobile Bears. Chuck Connors, of Rifleman fame, played on the team. Top row from left: Cliff Dapper, Frank Luga, Chuck Connors, Paul Minner, "Doe" Kelly, Jack Maupin, George "Shotgun" Shuba, and Pershing Mandarf. Left to right in the middle row are Joe Powers, Stan Wasiak, Homer Matney, "Red" Rollins, manager Al Todd, Hal Younghans, and Pat McGlathen. On the bottom row from the left are Johnny Sosh, John Hall, Cal Abrams, batboy Donnie Wagner, Ray Boles, Roy Whitaker, and Bill Hart."
Source: Alabama Mosaic
This was filmed for TV originally in 1983, on location in Newport Beach Calif. I played a Croupier in the Casino scenes, I don't think this ever aired on TV, which is why I believe it was edited down to a movie that was only released overseas at the time, I have never seen it to this day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that information! Anything else you want to tell us about the production??
DeleteMy very dear friend did the original music score and songs for this film, which 90% of didn't even make it into the movie because the film editor was a less than desirable person to put it lightly. She refused to put it in because she didn't like it. And did this without even consulting James Polakof, the writer/director.
ReplyDeleteMy friend tried to get hold of James himself to get his input and she deliberately kept the 2 of them apart during the editing and dubbing process, because she knew damn well he would have wanted it in there.
The lost score is fabulous...I hold one of the only copies on the planet of it. It's on the level of an Elmer Bernstein drama score (full orchestra and all).
As for the film itself, it did get minimal TV airing back in 1983 on The Playboy Channel as part of their drama movies they used to show nightly (the early days before they became an all "naughty" channel later in the decade). You're not missing much. The story is very hard to follow and is all over the place.
Each set of characters have their own story going on like a soap opera. A few left unfinished/unresolved by the end. And with the lack of score music, it gets kinda boring with just dialog and nothing to enhance it. Almost like a work print of an unfinished TV show or movie.