Here is a video that discusses both the film and the incident as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvbEUkrlZiU&ab_channel=LandumCgoesthere
Anyway, my take is that this is a less sleazy, rapey version of "The Hunting Party" (aka "Pussy for Peaches"). Hardly surprising, as this film was based on a book written by a feminist of the female persuasion.
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Ha. You are speaking of the movie itself (The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing.) I guess you've got that right....the inherent sexual danger of a sole pretty woman held hostage by a group of robbers, some of whom are pretty animalistic bad guys. I've seen both films and The Hunting Party was way worse...low level sadism porn. Cat Dancing was for the "crummy" MGM run by the evil James Aubrey (who butchered films by Peckinpah and others), it felt as hampered as other MGM product of the time. I did like Jack Warden emphasizing -- as he sometimes did -- his size and bulk to play BAD .he beats one guy to death and almost manages to do the same to Burt(no "winning hero," Burt seeks gunshot interference from Sarah Miles to save his own life.) Kinda realistic, I thought.
John Williams did one of his good Western scores for Cat Dancing, and turned the fast-paced instrumental credit music into a pretty song called "Dream Away" that was a hit for Paul Williams(did he write the tune?) and Frank Sinatra.
As to Burt and that dead guy...no, he seems to have been cleared of everything. But you walk into a motel room with a dead guy in it, sent by his woman (and maybe Burt had an on-set affair?)...you probably sweat it for some time. Worse still, this incident happened the same summer Burt was FINALLY making it as a movie star in Deliverance. Could have been a career killer.
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christomacin (4657)
3 years ago
"Ha. You are speaking of the movie itself (The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing.) I guess you've got that right....the inherent sexual danger of a sole pretty woman held hostage by a group of robbers, some of whom are pretty animalistic bad guys. I've seen both films and The Hunting Party was way worse...low level sadism porn. Cat Dancing was for the "crummy" MGM run by the evil James Aubrey (who butchered films by Peckinpah and others), it felt as hampered as other MGM product of the time. I did like Jack Warden emphasizing -- as he sometimes did -- his size and bulk to play BAD .he beats one guy to death and almost manages to do the same to Burt(no "winning hero," Burt seeks gunshot interference from Sarah Miles to save his own life.) Kinda realistic, I thought."
It almost felt as if this film was a intentional riposte to "The Hunting Party"... although they may have overdone it a bit. I found the end a little too rosy.
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ecarle (14979)
3 years ago
It almost felt as if this film was a intentional riposte to "The Hunting Party"... although they may have overdone it a bit. I found the end a little too rosy.
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Hmm..come to think of it..."The Hunting Party" with a happy ending. Also as always in Hollywood, the two projects may have floated around at the same time, one inspiring the other to a greenlight. Mainly I liked Burt in his new "leading man" position(Deliverance established him in 1972 but 1973 fully launched him; then The Longest Yard in 1974 made him a superstar); I liked Jack Warden's big guy villainy (I guess Richard Boone wasn't available) and I liked the score.
Also, Sarah Miles was quite the British hottie in the 70's. "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea." Yum.
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christomacin (4657)
3 years ago
I noticed another thing. In Cat Dancing Burt puts one in Warden's crotch before the kill shot. In Hunting Party, Hackman puts one in Bergen's babymaker before finishing her off.
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ecarle (14979)
3 years ago
Oh...the 70s at the movies!
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christomacin (4657)
3 years ago
Yes indeed. Also, a bit of a role reversal, which was what I was driving at. That happy ending is a reversal as well. The Hunting Party came out in 1971, the Cat Dancing novel by Marilyn Burnham was published in 1972, and the film came out in 1973. So I suppose its possible this was no coincidence.
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ecarle (14979)
3 years ago
Yes indeed. Also, a bit of a role reversal, which was what I was driving at.
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Ah...a little revenge by one movie on another?
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That happy ending is a reversal as well. The Hunting Party came out in 1971, the Cat Dancing novel by Marilyn Burnham was published in 1972, and the film came out in 1973. So I suppose its possible this was no coincidence.
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Probably not. As I recall, The Hunting Party sort of came and went -- it got bad reviews over the sadism. The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing was meant to be a more popular film, and had new star Burt Reynolds out to play a "good guy bad guy" -- nicer than Oliver Reed in The Hunting Party, certainly nicer than Gene Hackman in that film.
I read somewhere that John Wayne angled for the lead in "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing" and was a bit shocked to find out he wasn''t wanted for it. Maybe back in 1955 when he was younger...but they didn't make R rated movies back then.
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