When a friend of mine told me a year ago that there was a rare film,which had been made in 1970,that was based on the Travis McGee books with Rod Taylor playing McGee,I have to admit that I was very surprised to hear about the casting,since the only film that I had seen of Taylors before,was the very enjoyable adaptation of The Time Machine.
Recently,I was at last able to surprisingly get hold of this film,with the added bonus of it being the full-uncut version!.Although,At the start of the film,I was unsure how it would be with Taylor,by the end credits,I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun this great film is.
The plot:
As Travis McGee sits on his boat fishing,he suddenly notices that a young woman has been thrown over board from a boat near by.After having risked his life by diving in to save he,when Travis gets the girl (whose real name is Vangie Bellamer,although due to her being an ex-prostitute she gives him a fake name)When he tells Vangie that she should go to the police,she keeps saying no to his idea,which leads to her running away from McGee.
A day or two later,Travis finds out that someone has murdered the girl.When Travis starts investigating the people that lived near with Bellamer,he discovers that the pimp that Vangie used to work for was,trying to get her to return to "the business",due to the pimp having planned some very big cruise ship robberies,where the girls get rich loners to go with them on cruises,so that no one will notice when the loner has been killed,and has had his cash stolen.After McGee finds out that a robbery is going to happen on a cruise ship in a few days,he realises that he needs to get hold of a ticket right away..
View on the film:
For his performance as Travis McGee,I feel that Rod Taylor does a very entertaining performance,with cleverly giving Travis a charming witty side,that really works well with the focused,invented investigating side of the character.With his performance as the evil pimp,William Smith gives a fun performance,which shows that whilst he is a bit of a slime ball,he is still able to use plenty of pressure,to get the girls to agree to working with him.
Although director Robert Clouse (whose next film would be the Bruce Lee classic Enter the Dragon) keeps the film moving at a very pleasant pace,which includes a surprisingly extremely intense final fight between Taylor and Smith. (which it is was actually done for real!)
The screenplay by Frank V.Phillips sadly gets the film a bit muddled,with the first half of the film,feeling like it is trying to set up a future series of films, (which I think would have been a lot of fun if they had been made)with some characters not being given a moment or two to introduce themselves to the plot,but instead just casually entering and leaving the story.
Final view on the film:
An extremely entertaining film,with very good performances,excellent fights and a fun second half,let down by a slightly muddled first half.
Recently,I was at last able to surprisingly get hold of this film,with the added bonus of it being the full-uncut version!.Although,At the start of the film,I was unsure how it would be with Taylor,by the end credits,I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun this great film is.
The plot:
As Travis McGee sits on his boat fishing,he suddenly notices that a young woman has been thrown over board from a boat near by.After having risked his life by diving in to save he,when Travis gets the girl (whose real name is Vangie Bellamer,although due to her being an ex-prostitute she gives him a fake name)When he tells Vangie that she should go to the police,she keeps saying no to his idea,which leads to her running away from McGee.
A day or two later,Travis finds out that someone has murdered the girl.When Travis starts investigating the people that lived near with Bellamer,he discovers that the pimp that Vangie used to work for was,trying to get her to return to "the business",due to the pimp having planned some very big cruise ship robberies,where the girls get rich loners to go with them on cruises,so that no one will notice when the loner has been killed,and has had his cash stolen.After McGee finds out that a robbery is going to happen on a cruise ship in a few days,he realises that he needs to get hold of a ticket right away..
View on the film:
For his performance as Travis McGee,I feel that Rod Taylor does a very entertaining performance,with cleverly giving Travis a charming witty side,that really works well with the focused,invented investigating side of the character.With his performance as the evil pimp,William Smith gives a fun performance,which shows that whilst he is a bit of a slime ball,he is still able to use plenty of pressure,to get the girls to agree to working with him.
Although director Robert Clouse (whose next film would be the Bruce Lee classic Enter the Dragon) keeps the film moving at a very pleasant pace,which includes a surprisingly extremely intense final fight between Taylor and Smith. (which it is was actually done for real!)
The screenplay by Frank V.Phillips sadly gets the film a bit muddled,with the first half of the film,feeling like it is trying to set up a future series of films, (which I think would have been a lot of fun if they had been made)with some characters not being given a moment or two to introduce themselves to the plot,but instead just casually entering and leaving the story.
Final view on the film:
An extremely entertaining film,with very good performances,excellent fights and a fun second half,let down by a slightly muddled first half.