The Sweet Ride

NOT QUITE MAKING THE EXPECTED IMPACT, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF THE SUCCESS OF WILLIAM MURRAY'S 1967 NOVEL, THE SWEET RIDE IS NONETHELESS AN INTRIGUING 1960S PSYCHEDELIC TIME CAPSULE. THE FOCUS IS ON A DIVERSE GROUP OF MALIBU INHABITANTS, FROM TENNIS GURU TONY FRANCIOSA TO BEACH PHILOSOPHER BOB DENVER AND SPIRITED G.F. MICHELE CAREY, PASSIONATE MICHAEL SARRAZIN, SHADED ACTRESS JACQUELINE BISSET AND LEATHER-CLAD CYCLIST CHARLES DIERKOP AS A PASSER-BY WITH HIS CROWD. THE USUAL ANTI-GENERATIONAL THEMES ARE IN EVIDENCE FROM TOM MANKIEWICZ' EXCELLENT SCREENPLAY, TYPIFIED BY FRANCIOSA'S RUNNING CONFLICTS WITH NEIGHBOR LLOYD GOUGH. FRANCIOSA IS ONE OF THE STRONG ANCHORS OF THE FILM, ACCENTED BY MICHAEL WILDING AND NORMA CRANE AS BISSET'S WORLD-WEARY PARENTS, RELENTLESS DETECTIVE PERCY RODRIGUEZ AND JADED FILM PRODUCER WARREN STEVENS- FLESHING OUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH BISSET. PERHAPS IT WAS THE BARRAGE OF SIMILAR FILMS OF THE ERA (WILD IN THE STREETS, ALSO 1968) OR THE CINEMATIC MEASURING STICK OF THE GRADUATE THAT MINIMIZED THE OVERALL IMPACT OF THIS IMPRESSIVE FILM. DIRECTOR HARVEY HART COMMANDS HIS ACTORS ACROSS A LARGE CANVASS, DRAWING THE DRAMATIC ENERGY REQUIRED FROM THEM IN THEIR CRITICAL SCENES. THE FILM MANIFESTED A STRONG SELLING POINT WITH THE CASTING OF BOB DENVER - STRAIGHT OFF OF GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. THE FILM HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME, SHOWING THAT CINEMATIC HISTORY HAS NEATLY DEFINED THE CULTURAL PLACE OF MALIBU IN OUR TIME. IN OTHER WORDS, IT REALLY HASN'T CHANGED, REFLECTED THROUGH ROBERT B. HAUSER'S VIVID CINEMATOGRAPHY. RECCOMENDED FOR STUDENTS OF 1960S CULTURAL EVOLUTION.

NOT QUITE MAKING THE EXPECTED IMPACT, WITH THE SUCCESS OF WILLIAM MURRAY'S PROVOCATIVE 1967 ORIGINAL NOVEL WHICH TOM MANKIEWICZ CLEVERLY SCRIPTED, AND WITH BOB DENVER COMING OFF OF GILLIGIAN'S ISLAND, AND ESPECIALLY WITH MORE VETERAN ACTING POWER IN THE PERSONAS OF TONY FRANCIOSA, MICHAEL WILDING, WARREN STEVENS AND PERCY RODRIGUEZ, THE SWEET RIDE IS, NONETHELESS, AN INTRIGUING TIME CAPSULE OF THE PSYCHEDELIC 1960S. THE FILM FOCUSES ON A GROUP OF MALIBU INITIATES, FROM TENNIS GURU TONY FRANCIOSA, REBELLIOUS MICHAEL SARRAZIN, MYSTERIOUS STARLET JACQUELINE BISSET, BEACH PHILOSOPHER BOB DENVER AND LIVELY G.F. MICHELE CAREY. PERHAPS IT WAS A DELUGE OF SIMILAR FILMS MOVING IN ON THE SAME SUBJECTS OF THE ERA, SUCH AS DISCONTENT WITH ANTI-WAR, ANTI-GENERATIONAL SHADING THAT RESULTED IN THE SWEET RIDE NOT FINDING A DESERVING AUDIENCE. THE CINEMATIC MEASURING STICK OF THE GRADUATE SURELY COMPLICATED THE FILM'S BOX-OFFICE JOURNEY. NONETHELESS, THE YOUTHFUL SIDE OF THE CAST OFFERED EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES UNDER HARVEY HART'S PERCEPTIVE DIRECTION, WITH MICHAEL WILDING AND NORMA CRANE POIGNANTLY DRAMATIC AS BISSET'S PARENTS, AND WARREN STEVENS AS A JADED FILM PRODUCER AND PERCY RODRIGUEZ AS A RELENTLESS POLICE OFFICER. MORE ON THE PSYCHEDELIC SIDE, CHARLES DIERKOP WAS QUITE MEMORABLE AS A LEATHER-CLAD CYCLIST.