Lolly-Madonna XXX, 1973 - ★★★★½

Lolly-Madonna XXX, 1973 - ★★★★½

REVIEWED



“From this day on, till the day I die. You just don't exist for me.” - Chickie Feather (Katherine Squire)



You could arguably call this unappreciated & underseen Peckinpah'esq 70's treat, the Mona Lisa of hicksploitation movies. Slow burning tensions between a pair of battling hick families the Feathers & Gutshalls boils to an head. When the Feathers sons kidnap a glamorous new in town woman Lolly Madonna, who they mistakingly believe to be marrying one of the Gutshalls. Then later while making moonshine sexually assault one of the Gutshalls sisters.


Wow, woW, WOW... best film I've seen in ages, FUCK YOU CRITICS. Directed by seminal cult 'Vanishing Point' director Richard C. Sarafian, apparently on its release critics savaged it so harshly it slipped into almost total obscurity. I'm so glad I finally caught up with this, because its one hell of a charismatic movie packed to the rafters with powerful 5 star performances.


You just couldn't put together ensemble casts this great anymore. From its young up & comers (Jeff Bridges, Gary Busey to name a few) and familiar established faces (Robert Ryan & Rod Steiger as the papas, and Tresa Hughes & Katherine Squire as the mamas). Joan Goodfellow as Sister E, & Season Hubley as Lolly Madonna play the mighty purty female kin. Ed Lauter as Hawk, gives what surely must be the most eccentric and funny performance of his whole career. The brooding Scott Wilson typically as ever steals the movie as the rebellious Trush. hehe and just get a load of those bird names Finch, Thrush, Chickie and Hawk, if you love classic Americana seek this out.


[Personal Reasons For Remembering]

So, so many wonderful scenes, the hilarious musical interlude Hawk Hudson (Lauter) entertains his pigs, by goofing as an hillbilly Elvis... then going full-on tranny to amuse his brother Thrush (Wilson) stood out for me.






Originally taken from Letterboxd

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