Not all lost movies are literally lost...some languish in studio vaults, victims less of time and tide than corporate neglect. Over the last thirty years, there has been precious little ink spilled over Electra Glide in Blue (1973), the only feature film directed by James William Guercio, and its quiet return to the world on DVD is cause for reevaluation. Starring a post-In Cold Blood (1967), pre-Baretta Robert Blake, Electra Glide in Blue is equal parts modern western, biker flick, policier and existential journey-to-self, complete with the then-requisite downer ending that, however it may echo Easy Rider's (1969) sting in the tale, still packs a punch.

Set in a dusty desert community of trailer parks, titty bars and tumbleweed ennui, Electra Glide in Blue plays like an unpublished Jim Thompson novel, with Blake's ambitious chopper cop making good at a crime scene and earning a detective grade promotion that introduces him to a new world of pain. Guercio corralled a stellar cast with supporting parts played by Mitch Ryan, Elisha Cook, Jr., Royal Dano and Billy "Green" Bush but the film's best performance comes from Jeannine Riley, former star of TV's Petticoat Junction. As a washed-up Rockette reduced to roadhouse waitressing, Riley delivers an impressive drunken monologue late in the film, turning the disappointments of her life into an interpretive dance while humiliating both Blake and Ryan. It's a tour-de-force moment, one of many in a film that has lingered too long in the shadows.

Producer: James William Guercio, Rupert Hitzig
Director: James William Guercio
Screenplay: Robert Boris, Rupert Hitzig
Cinematography: Conrad Hall
Film Editing: Jim Benson, Gerald B. Greenberg, John Link
Art Direction:
Music: James William Guercio
Cast: Robert Blake (Officer Wintergreen), Billy Green (Officer Davis), Mitch Ryan (Detective Harve Poole), Jeannine Riley (Jolene), Elisha Cook (Crazy Willie), Royal Dano (Coroner).
C-114m. Letterboxed.

by Richard Harland Smith