markmelsh

I found this to be a routinely different kind of Western. All of the action takes place outdoors in beautiful, majestic locations in Utah and Arizona. Mona Freeman is dreamy! What a woman. Speaking of dreamy, Judy Strangis is in this but as a child, and a sort of weird-looking kid. She grew up to be the gorgeous co-ed in Room 222. Overall a very good cast for a B-western. Extra credit for the soundtrack, the familiar Western melody that repeats throughout the film, and the//haunting, occasionally inspiring vocals of the Roger Wagner Chorale, best known for the most popular version of the Christmas carol The Little Drummer Boy.

This was a nostalgic look back at the early successes of the great Burt Bacharach, lyricist Hal David, and some of the greatest interpreters of their music ever. The show starts with cameras showing Burt driving around London in a Ford convertible, so we get a little snapshot of London 1965. The music then gets underway and Burt and orchestra accompany Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Chuck Jackson, the Searchers, and the Merseybeats in their classic versions of early Bacharach hits. The female vocal trio the Breakaways provide superb vocals, both lead and backing. They were also featured on many of the hit recordings of the day by Petula Clark, Cilla Black, Dusty and others. I notice Cilla was conspicuously absent. She was very popular in the UK with Bacharach songs, but Dionne viewed her as a major rival. Anyway, no love lost between those two so better one or the other. Dusty's appearances were my favorite, but all the music was first rate. Burt does a pretty natural, relaxed job of hosting. This is a treasure of a show that was never shown in America. I am glad that it was preserved so well and highly recommend it for fans of the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

I did enjoy the photography but that was all. Phil and Kay tell their stories in a mid-life chat held with a friend. It's a fictionalized, family-authorized "true story" that's equal parts "Where the Crawdads Sing" and a classic Christian redemption story of the "Sergeant York/Apostle" variety. We see the selfish, childish hellion Phil was before alcoholic rages and the near end of his marriage led him to Jesus. A classic narrative of white Southern culture that is wildly loved by those with hard lives who recognize the turning point that faith might have offered them. Still, the film is sometimes amateurish. It lets the Robertsons have it both ways by boasting Phil as a s-kicker and ties his success in life to his Baptism. One cannot vouch for the truth of the Robertson family lore related here. The acting is indifferent, the production values single-wide/wrecked pickup cheap, with a score built on plaintive violin solos and cut-rate covers of pop oldies. Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top covers "La Grange" for a version for use in the film's 1970s scenes. Whatever potential it had, the film just isn't very good, with or without fact checking. Redemption stories work for a reason and done right, it touches people. Director Andrew Hyatt can't make this one work and the script's humorless, emotionally flat treatment of the material smothers "The Blind" in the crib.