Review #65: 'Electra Glide in Blue' (1973)

The film opens with an unidentified old man, preparing pork chops in a frying pan. He places two sterodents into a glass of water holding his false teeth. The man then proceeds to take his filthy socks off. This entire time, we are never exposed to his face (hence the unidentified part..). He then seemingly appears to tie string to his big toe, fastening the other end to the trigger of a shotgun, aiming the barrel to his heart and pulling the trigger.

John Wintergreen is a short-arse motorcycle cop with dreams of becoming a homicide detective. He is unhappy with patrolling the desert roads (filmed in the Arizona deserts made famous in the John Ford westerns). He is a charming man with the ladies, an effort he seems to have to make due to his lack of height. he has lofty allusions that he may never adhere to, but that is something that does not stop his determination. His partner, Zipper (Billy 'Green' Bush), is perfectly happy with his duties; he particularly enjoys the thrill of harassing hippies (hey, who wouldn't have?). But this life just isn't what John thinks he wants.

They soon discover the body of Frank, the apparent suicide victim, in his lonely shack in the desert. This is signalled by a local crazy, Willie (Elisha Cooke), who's wild ramblings lead them to the body. John is immediately struck by some inconsistencies at the scene, particularly the fact the the pork chops were consumed. this seemed to him as though they had been eaten after the incident occurred. This is much to the chagrin of the local coroner (Royal Dano), who states insistently that it is a straight suicide. These cries from Frank are overheard by Detective Harve Pool (Mitchell Ryan), who agrees with him, then hires Wintergreen as his driver (bizarrely he sees this as a major step up, and dresses himself in the same fashion as Harve, with the stetson and cigar).

Harve takes john to a bar to introduce him to Jolene, who he believes is a very innocent girl. However, we have met her before at the beginning of the film, in bed with john. This causes a major problem between john and Harve, and he is back to motorcycle duties.

This is a slow burner. Whilst it is enjoyable to a degree, it really seems to go nowhere. John does have a story arc, but one that just changes his by-the-books attitude to police procedure. John is played by Robert Blake. who I know from his incredibly scary role as Mystery Man in David Lynch's Lost Highway (1997). He is very good in this film, and has a certain charm to him. He certainly seems to have a way with women (something that he seems to have to do to compensate for his lack of stature).

It also seems be be trying to be an almost authoritarian version of Easy Rider (1967), with its role reversal of highway drifters. In this case the drifting biker procedural of police work. Maybe I'm just reading into that due to it's era and the open desert roads. It's not a bad film, it just seems to drift. There is of course a conclusion, but it only seems to anchor on John's story arc (as I stated before, it simply shows that he no longer wants to work in homicide, as this is seeming full of corruption and ineptitude, and therefore he simply does not follow the proper police procedural). Well, I am certainly repeating myself here, so I will end. A kind of fruitless movie really. On the upside, the cinematography is stunning - but this would not be difficult in the surroundings it was shot.


Directed by: James William Guercio
Starring: Robert Blake, Billy Green Bush, Mitchell Ryan
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy