Glen and Randa (1971)

User Rating:

2.0/10   

Director:

Jim McBride

Writers:

Lorenzo Mans (writer)
Jim McBride (writer)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Once upon a time, there were countries, cities, schools, movies, electric appliances, The Beatles, politicians, then...Glen and Randa.

Plot:

Teenagers Glen and Randa are members of a tribe that lives in a rural area, several decades after nuclear war has devastated the planet...

Plot Keywords:

Comic Book | Pregnancy | Post Apocalyptic Scenario | Survivor | Hippie

Cast

Steve Curry	...	Glen
Shelley Plimpton	...	Randa
Woody Chambliss	...	Sidney Miller
Garry Goodrow	...	Magician
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roy Fox
William Fratis
Richard Frazier
Martha Furey
Laura Hawbecker
Mary Henry
Talmadge Holiday
Robert Holmer
Alice Huffman
Charles Huffman
Leonard Johnson
Lucille Johnson
Matthew Levine
James Nankerius
Hubert Powers
Ortega Sangster
Barbara Spiegel
Jack Tatarsky
Dwight Tate
Bud Thompson
David Woeller

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | USA:X (original rating)

Company:

Universal Marion Corporation (UMC)

Soundtrack:

Time is On My Side

I've wanted to see this for years

I've wanted to see this film for years, ever since I first read about it, and somehow it got released on DVD back in March without my even knowing about it, so I ordered it, got it, and just watched it.

Glen & Randa are two young lovers who were born long after the nuclear war that took out most everything there was to take out. They live with sort of a tribe, moving from place to place, scavenging for food (NO! Not the cans with the shell on them, that's motor oil), and just scraping by. Along comes a man with a mysterious contraption (a motorcycle towing a pop-up camper) and he's a magician and a wheeler-dealer of sorts (played by Garry Goodrow). He puts on a rather pathetic show for the people, who don't know quite what to make of it, but Glen & Randa are fascinated. The Magician also has a bounty of salvage including food, Playboy magazines, Wonder Woman comic books, and maps, among other things (including a vibrator). Now, Glen has taken an interest in the Wonder Woman comic and has determined that he and Randa will go find Metropolis, the big city, although The Magician has told them that there's really no reason to go there, it's all gone. Of course, once Glen's mind is made up though, there's no stopping them.

Randa, however, isn't so willing, although she goes. She's pregnant, she's frequently sick because of that, & every time they find a nice place she wants to stay there. They also find a horse, even though they're not sure what it is at first (a dog, a camel..?) and while they find a rope & bring it along with them, it never occurs to them to ride it.

Eventually, they do not come to a city, but what appears to be an ocean (in Idaho? well, maybe after a nuclear war..). They find an old man named Sidney Miller, who is fishing from the shore. Sidney says he hasn't seen another human being in 20 years, and he befriends them and takes them to a house where Randa can have the baby. Of course, Glen becomes rather obsessed with what's in the house, what it is/was, and what it does. And of course, with no electricity, most of it is useless now anyway.

Eventually Randa is ready to have the baby but things don't exactly happen as planned, and the ending is rather a down note but also rather mysterious too.

I have a tendency to build up expectations of films I've wanted to see for a long time, and I was a tad disappointed with this, not quite what I'd expected, but still, it's well worth seeing & is kind of a different take on the post-nuclear holocaust film. 7 out of 10.