Slither (1973)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Howard Zieff

Writer:

W.D. Richter (writer)

Release Date:

7 March 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

Kopetzky & Kanipsia together at last.

Plot:

While searching for a small fortune of embezzled money, an ex-con, a small-time bandleader, his doting...

Plot Keywords:

Bingo | Gun | Singer | Shootout | Diner

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

James Caan	...	Dick Kanipsia
Peter Boyle	...	Barry Fenaka
Sally Kellerman	...	Kitty Kopetzky
Louise Lasser	...	Mary Fenaka
Allen Garfield	...	Vincent J. Palmer
Richard B. Shull	...	Harry Moss
Alex Rocco	...	Man with Ice Cream
Seamon Glass	...	Farmer in Truck
Wayne Storm	...	Highway Patrolman
Diana Darrin	...	Band Singer
Stuart Nisbet	...	Buddy
Edwina Gough	...	Bingo Player
Al Dunlap	...	Man in Men's Room
James Joseph	...	Short Order Cook
Virginia Sale	...	Bingo Caller

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:AA (original rating) | Iceland:12 | Norway:16 | USA:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Continuity: During the period the film was set, the USA was changing its road marking from white to yellow. In various shots on country roads, you can make out the same section of road having white center stripes one minute and yellow the next. It is possible that the road had its lines repainted during the filming.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Slither (1974) (TV)

Soundtrack:

One O'Clock Jump

Most underrated comedy of its whole kind

I usually either don't like, or hate, action comedies - though Slither isn't one entirely. But, as far as it IS an action one, it's the best one ever made, and (to me) about the most underrated comedy of ANY category. Most comedies or dramas about cops and robbers (or about criminals, period) promise to be about the CHARACTERS more than anything, but this one keeps that promise completely. I do have one complaint about the Sally Kellerman character, and that's that, in most of the film, she was a sort of WOULD-BE maniacal character, and that one scene of her actually holding up a diner spoils that in a way. But at least that scene gave James Caan the chance to do what he did best in the movie, which was acting horrifed or disgusted by everything that happened around him. Somehow, this doesn't wear thin anywhere in the movie, especially in his scenes with Kellerman. I usually don't like crude dialogue when it's there just for the sake of it, but the laundromat scene, where she grosses him out with her talk, is done just right, and that's why it's funny. I have what is probably a real minority opinion about the film version of MASH, and that's that it works EXCEPT for the "Burns and Houlihan" scenes, which (to me) were a real waste of both her and Duvall (including that hugely famous scene). All I can say is that anyone wanting to see Sally Kellerman in a FUNNY role should see Slither instead. The same is true of Peter Boyle and Louise Lasser, and all the character actors in smaller parts, all the way to the ones in the bingo hall scene. I don't know why most other comedies of this category can't at least APPROACH this one.