CHEAP-ASS REPORT: Manson (1972) Unauthorized Release

Running Time: 83 minutes MPAA Rating: R
Format: Standard Pan and Scan Audio: Mono
Languages: English Subtitles: None
Region: 0
MSRP: 4.99

Taking a note from my good buddies over at ATTACK OF THE 50 ft. DVD, I've decided to do a Cheap-Ass DVD review using their format. Actually, this was a review that I had submitted to them, but due to the nature of the DVD and it's slightly nefarious back-story, plus the fact that 50 ft. has made an effort throughout it's history to review and feature discs that are easily available through major retail outlets....well, you get the picture.




ABOUT THE MOVIE-
Seen by few (and often banned, according to Mike Weldon' of PSYCHOTRONIC VIDEO GUIDE fame), the 1972 documentary has had a cloud of controversy since it's limited theatrical release by AIP. Compiled of Manson "Family" hippy and free-love antics shot on the Spahn Ranch prior to infamous Sharon Tate murder of August 9, 1969, mixed with news footage of the following trial and interviews with prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi and former Manson associate Jerry Rubin (amongst others), it paints an incredibly creepy picture of Charlie and his motley crew of outcasts and social misfits. Pre-Tate Slaying footage of rantings by his female followers is a high point, in which they practically map out events of things to come by way of their actions...and, even more fear-inducing...the hopes and beliefs of actions they never had a chance to carry out.
Seeing Lynette "Squeeky" Fromme brandishing a high powered rifle and a large knife is enough to give anyone the willies....hard to believe that film was actually nominated for an Oscar in 1972 in the category of Best Documentary category...
Then suddenly as the film appeared....it vanished. Seeing only a limited VHS release at some point in the early 1980s, it seemed to be one of the films that get shuffled off to the side, only to be mentioned from time to time in reference guides and genre-devoted publications...that is, until the year 2000, and a little DVD outfit calling themselves BEVERLY WILSHIRE FILMWORKS.

And this, faithful reader, is where the trouble starts.....

It seems that Beverly Wilshire, in the beginning, was one of the first manufacturers to offer cheap, affordable discs in the days of DVD infancy. Several manufacturers have popped up in times since, but mostly following the example of similar companies from the now-ancient times of the VHS format, meaning that many of their catalogs are filled to the brim with films and other media that has fallen into the Public Domain, .films whose copyright had slipped and no one had renewed making them fair game for anyone with the assets and material to produce copies of them. But, it seems that Beverly Wilshire wasn't exactly on the up and up on such things, and in hindsight, some of their releases seem to have been a little on the illegal side. And MANSON definitely was one. The story goes as follows: Robert Hendrickson, one of the men credited as director of the documentary, still has the rights to the film, and after discovering the Beverly Wilshire Filmworks disc was for sale in such outlets as Amazon.com and eBay...wasn't exactly too happy about it. Because....no one had asked his permission for a DVD release, and he wasn't seeing a dime of any of the sales. So he sues the two online merchants (why he didn't go after the manufacturer of the discs is beyond me...but alot of what the guy does doesn't really make any sense, as evidenced by this site: http://www.exclusivefilms.com/).

Immediately, Amazon and eBay pull any ads for the disc and stop offering it for sale, and as quickly as they sprang onto the scene, Beverly Wilshire disappears like a ghost....

PRESENTATION:
Absolutely terrible. If this was a transfer from film negative, they must have used to worst print in existence. But, after viewing some of Beverly Wilshire's other discs, more than likely a transfer from one of the copies of an earlier VHS release. Incredibly murky picture, with tons of visible emulsion and base damage scratches and lines. The mono audio is filled to the brim with every imaginable hiss and pop capable from dirty 35mm reels. Watchable (I've seen worse transfers) and probably worth about half of the 4.99 SRP you'll have to dish out, but seeing as how this is the only place you can find the film on disc (yet), who'll complain?

EXTRAS:
Unless your way too thrilled by bad choices in a scene selection option than you should be, none at all.
Now, one may inquire...."How does this differ from your regular run of the mill pirate or bootleg DVD?". Well...glad you asked. Because of the simple fact that is was available for sale in several major retail outlets around the country, such as K-Mart and Sam Goody chainstores, as well as the online sources stated previously. And, more surprisingly, still available to those willing to make the hunt in several chain liquidation stores (in limited quantities) like Odd Lots! and Family Dollar stores. Most pirate discs live in the seedy underground venues of fleamarkets and conventions, bartered for by those amongst the fan community, but with a track record like that mentioned above, the MANSON disc may very well be the best distributed bootleg in the existence of the format.

Update: 3/20/2008-

It seems that according to Hendrickson's exclusivefilms.com that at some point in late February of 2008, he will personally be offering a "limited promotional DVD release" of the film, but as the site says: "this Limited Edition offering is being made for promotional purposes only and may be terminated at anytime."

It looks as if his new documentary, "Inside the Manson Family" is just a rehash of footage from the earlier 1973 documentary, as seen in the trailer posted below:

Mitchell( 1975)

( 1975 Allied Artists) Director: Andrew V. MacLaglen Starring: Joe Don Baker, Martin Balsam, John Saxon, Linda Evens, Merlin Olsen

I first became aware of this unintentional comedy goldmine through Mystery Science Theatre 3000....

...as a matter of fact, the "Mitchell" episode (episode #512, for MST3k freaks out there) was the first of the Rhino Home Video VHS cassettes of the series that I ever purchased, circa 1996. In the days since, I still consider it to be one of the funniest, if not the funniest episode of the series. Host Joel Hodgeson and the bots were so merciless in their heckling, that it's rumored that actor Joe Don Baker is actually pissed off at the show's creators. And, I don't blame him....I would be, too...if one of my current claims to fame is being the target of a constant barrage of fat and drunk jokes.

For years, I actually wanted to experience the torment and pain that is the uncut MITCHELL. Just to see for myself if this flick was as bad as it's made out to be by MST3k. I mean, this was Joe Don Baker...my hero from Walking Tall flicks as a kid. Y'know...James Bond's "Ugly American" buddy. And, John Saxon was in it....the coolest guy in American film, circa the 1970s. How could it be bad? MST3k musta been mistaken, seeing as how they had to make sense out of an obviously cut and chopped edit of a print.

Boy....was I in the wrong. In a BIG way.

Oh, dear God....why?


Watching MITCHELL (well, watching it sober, at least) is like viewing home movie footage taken of your favorite uncle, circa 1975. Y'know the one....everybody has that one uncle whose the "lovable lush" of the family, the one that was married more than once, but stayed a bachelor the majority of his existence. The one from family photo albums whose pictures never seem to be absent of the presence of a beer can of some kind, like it was surgically bonded to his hand.

The Plot: Joe Don Baker is "Mitchell"...whether it's his first or last name is unclear (even to himself, it seems), for it's never mentioned one way or another throughout the course of the film. As the DVD case cover-blurb points out, he's a cop "with a gun, a drink, and no friends" in an unspecified American city (one assumes that it's Los Angeles) who's assigned to tail and pester a scummy druglord named Cummings (Martin Balsam) into a confession about a large shipment of heroin he's supposedly filtering in the country. Mitchell is a no-nonsense kinda cop, shooting civilians purely out of suspect and launching into investigations based on hunches and instinct. That's the problem, I guess, with the American legal system...too much time spent worrying about petty stuff like "evidence" and "probable cause". He has an uncanny method of legwork and keen deductive practices, which seem to involve sleeping with hookers (Linda Evans), drinking beer, and a series of dumbfounded looks (for an example, see below).

Upon investigating the uncut MITCHELL, one finds a few scenes that are missing from the MST3k version that stand out-
-Mitchell getting revenge on the Mustang driving hitman
- Mitchell kills a guy with a blow to the head with a rock (the footage which makes up the slow motion opening credit sequence can be seen here)
-Mitchell has a dune-buggy fight with Deaney (John Saxon), the burgular killin', male chauvanist bad guy, which ends in his fiery death (which finally explains where Saxon disappeared to in the MST3k cut)
-an extended verbal bout with the Adam Rich-like skateboard kid, the original track surprisingly contains the phrase "piss off" instead of "buzz off"!

All in all, it's not a bad movie....just alot of really bad performances. Definitely not Joe Don's shining moment (if he ever really had one to begin with). Stick with the MST3k treatment, unless you are a Baker completist....