1979 Directed by Milton Katselas
A drug dealer's car breaks down in a small U.S. town. In turn, the town's people become victim to his unique brand of physical and mental torture.
O Dia Sem Esperança
USA
USA
Anytime a movie is set in a diner in the middle of nowhere, it immediately has my attention. 'When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?' is sort of a cross between home/diner invasion and post-nam hippiesploitation. Marjoe Gortner slays this role as a total nutbag terrorizing the staff and customers of the diner. The duality between he and the out-of-style greaser, Red Ryder who sulks at the end of the counter reading playboy and dreaming of life beyond those four walls, is palatable. Gortner's brand of torment makes that stint of the film uncomfortable, but all of the characters have a moment to shine. This has flown under my radar for years, but it really is this little nugget of a classic. Would be a great double feature with 'Human Highway' or 'Out of the Blue' . Now can it just get a proper release, please?
As per my contract, I am obligated to give any '70s film that is doing something unique or bold or strange (even by the standards of that idiosyncratic decade) five stars. And, so, here we are.
God this movie is so SWEATY. Drenched in kitchen grease and cigarette smoke. It’s not that great but there were a few moments that left my mouth agape.
Marjoe Gortner is something to behold in this as he dramatically torments the workers and customers in a run down diner.
It's obvious this was adapted from a play, but boy, that must be one hell of a play.
Every woman is treated like an insignificant object, so much so that they are made props in the make believe movie the crazed vet forces them to act in. And the men are all trying to be "macho" in different ways, that only work in their imaginations.
This has a lot to say about post Vietnam America and it's loss of anything that can even be regarded as a hero. It's just a bunch of idiot men playing cowboys as the women silently suffer most of the consequences.
A stranger belittles the customers of a diner in this unsuccessful thriller. Marjoe Gortner plays Teddy, a war veteran who psychologically tortures his unsuspecting victims by slowly revealing his erratic methods in this play adaptation. Gortner looks like "Weird Al" Yankovic and speaks like Matthew McConaughey, so finding him scary will take a lot from viewers who think the resemblance is uncanny. The film wastes its first thirty minutes on pointless sex scenes that do not disappear until Teddy enters the picture. The story has a cute dynamic between an employee named Angel and a customer named Red Ryder, who we learn about as it unfolds. Teddy steals the show with his aggressive entrance, absorbing information from the clientele before…
Several people decide to stop at a roadside diner. When a sociopathic, cocaine dealing, vietnam veteran also stops, they are forced to get to know each other and themselves better than they would like. This movie gets super uncomfortable as the vet humiliates and degrades everyone in the diner. About half the movie introduces the various characters and the other half is the diner part.
Surprised this movie is not better known. Depiction of life in a tiny roadside town and an otherworldly performance by Marjoe Gartner. Character driven movie with a great cast including Hal Linden, Lee Grant, Peter Hingle, Bill Mckinney,Audrey Lindley, and Anne Ramsey. The stop at border patrol is something else. Do they still do that?
Ex-evangelist Marjoe Gortner produced and stars in a kinda lost to the ages film adaptation of the stage play. This thing packs a punch and despite its runtime feels brisk. When i was a teenager I saw recordings of the play. It is likely more popular in the south than elsewhere. Its an intense piece when done well. Here it is pure thick atmosphere once all parties enter the diner. The way Marjoe balances a loony madness that's got some measurement to it and a sociopathic guru bully kinda shows why he was a good real life Christian grifter. That and being born into it. Another not quite a thriller, but consistently tense nonetheless.
Marjoe Gortner is quickly becoming one of my favourite actors. His name combining Mary and Joseph, he became an ordained child preacher at the age of 4 and then left the cults to become a B movie actor. This role he had so much charisma on screen it makes you wonder how he was not better know. It starts off quite slow but it gets incredibly tense and really is a great example of low budget film making just oozing with influence. One of those films that you watch and say "They should show kids this at film school".
Really interesting movie that gets better as it goes on and becomes more uncomfortable. Even with the effective discomfort, I couldn't get around the fact that it is so very obviously adapted from the stage and director Milton Katselas seemed content just operating within those limitations. Really great Lee Grant performance though!
What we have here is a buried gem of low-budget 1970s realist filmmaking. And man, does it tell a story obsessed with the 1970s. Even its poster, a dimly lit diner milieu with the leather-clad back of a long-haired figure turned, and the title seemingly asking a question, emitting a smoke signal to Red Ryder, the popular Western B movie cowboy of the 1940s and '50s, a hero in the classic, oversimplified sense.
Apparently unavailable on any legitimate disc. I saw a shoddy copy ported from a bad VHS and was still blown away. Marjorie Gortner gives a career peak performance. He looks and moves like a young Matthew McConaughey. It’s all a fun ride until we get to the diner. Then shit gets realz. Has an amazing eclectic cast of costars. Not to be missed
