Queen of the Roller Derby

Raquel Welch. Not a name that conjures up Oscar-winning movies. Instead, a vision of a cavegirl in a bikini comes to mind. Or maybe a buff female fitness instructor with a video line for women with titles like Lose 10 Lbs. in 3 Weeks. Yet, there was a time when Raquel tried to break the Playboy playmate stereotype and prove herself as a dramatic actress. The year was 1972 and the film was Kansas City Bomber. An attempt to cash in on the then-popular roller derby craze, the film was also the actress’s first bona fide attempt to create a real flesh and blood character – a struggling, single mom of two trying to make ends meet by plying her skating talent in the sports arena.

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The New Orleans Streetfighter

If you have never been tempted to see Charles Bronson in one of his many top-billed action vehicles, then you also probably wonder why he enjoyed superstar status on an international level. But put aside your skepticism for a moment and consider Hard Times (1975), a Depression-era tale about a mysterious drifter named Chaney who makes a living as a bare-knuckle streetfighter.

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Totally Mod

Duffy (1968)The Hollywood film industry is usually a few beats behind the rhythm of any new emerging counterculture and by the time they try to capitalize on it the parade has usually moved on. Duffy (1968) had the misfortune to be released in the dwindling days of the swinging sixties when the mod look of films such as Blow-Up and Kaleidoscope (both 1966) was being edged out by an rougher, less glamorous subgenre of youth oriented movies about bikers, drug dealers and rebels giving the finger to the establishment.    Continue reading