The Big Cube (1969)

Director:

Tito Davison

Writers:

Edmundo Báez (story)
Tito Davison (story)

Release Date:

30 April 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

Poor daddy. Bibi was just shedding her inhibitions. So he threw the gang out. He never should have done it. Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never.

Plot:

A former actress clashes with her wealthy and spoiled stepdaughter over their inheritance after the death of their protector.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Convertible | Campiness | Strip Tease | Fortune Hunter

Cast

Lana Turner	...	Adriana Roman
George Chakiris	...	Johnny Allen
Richard Egan	...	Frederick Lonsdale
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Charles Winthrop
Karin Mossberg	...	Lisa Winthrop
Pamela Rodgers	...	Bibi
Carlos East	...	Lalo
Augusto Benedico	...	Dr. Lorenz
Víctor Junco	...	Delacroix
Norma Herrera	...	Stella
Pedro Galván	...	University Dean
Regina Torné	...	Queen Bee
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Javier Batiz
Carolina Cortázar
Rogelio Guerra
José Roberto Hill
Alma Muriel
Penelope
Carlos Riquelme
Sergio Virel

Also Known As:

Terrón de azúcar, El (Mexico)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA | Mexico

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

Francisco Diez Barroso

Quotes:

Johnny Allen: [Putting his arm around her] Do you know you really turn me on?
Girl sketching model: [Disinterested] Since when?
Johnny Allen: Since now. I belong to 'The Now Generation.'

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood High (2003) (TV)

Not even campy.

"The Big Cube" marked Lana Turner's swift descent from movie stardom. A very cheap Mexican potboiler supposedly co-produced by her husband at the time, Robert Eaton, it improbably cast her in the role of a great stage actress, giving up her fame to marry a wealthy tycoon, who comes complete with a grown daughter. Soon Dad (Dan O'Herlihy) is drowned in a yachting accident, leaving Lana as the executrix of his estate. By now, her stepdaughter (Karin Mossberg) is involved with a slimy drug dealer (George Chakiris of "West Side Story"). Because Stepmom won't give her consent to their wedding, these two plan to drive her into the nuthouse by spiking her drink with LSD. That they do, and it's up to a playwright (Richard Egan) who has loved her from afar, to set things straight. So much for the "plot". Turner, taut-faced and victimized by grotesque wigs and costumes, seems unsure of how to play her part, so, she plays for sympathy and merely whispers her lines - no doubt hoping the audience won't hear them. Chakiris is properly scummy, but Mossberg, sporting a German accent is as wooden as a cigar store Indian - and none too attractive as well. Neither O'Herlihy nor Egan make any impression at all. The rest of the cast don't even try to act - especially Mossberg's friend Bibi, who just laughs and does a striptease at a very unconvincing "freakout party". The music is nondescript, the songs go in one ear and right out the other, and the part that should have been a riot, Lana Turner's LSD-induced hallucinations, is so pathetically done that it's as dull as the rest of the film. This also has to be one of the most clumsily edited movies I have ever seen. Even the Acapulco scenery is so sloppily filmed it's useless. I was looking forward to seeing this, but barely made it all the way through. Be warned: this isn't campy; this isn't funny; this isn't much of anything.