Majorthebys Charming and brutal

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Wuchak Released in 1974, "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" stars Susan George and Peter Fonda in the eponymous roles. Larry is a wannabe racer and Mary a promiscuous hippie chick he picks up in a town where Larry and his mechanic, Deke (Adam Roarke), rob a grocery store (where Roddy McDowall plays the manager in a glorified cameo). The chase is on as the police (led by Vic Morrow) try to apprehend the speed trio in the Big Valley of California.This is actually one of the best 70's car-chase flicks. It plays like a mishmash of 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde" and 1971's "Vanishing Point." It's almost as good as the former and more compelling than the latter. Larry and Deke only turn to thuggery because of their desperation for money, but that doesn't negate that the first act establishes them as criminal scum, which naturally makes it hard to root for them. The fact that you sorta start hoping they get away is testimony to the quality of the screenplay and actors. While Susan George has a cute face, her body is too thin and un-curvy for my tastes. The fact that she plays an amiable skank doesn't help. Nevertheless, the social dynamics of the trio are interesting.Leonard Maltin in his movie guide gave the film a positive review, but criticized the ending because it was too "downbeat." Actually it ends the way it had to, emblematic of sudden hellish perdition. Enough said.The movie runs 93 minutes and was shot in areas West of Stockton, California.GRADE: A-

RavenGlamDVDCollector The roar of the engines, the glorious heroine... My high score for this overlooks the fact that this movie is badly constructed in many different ways, yet excellent in others. Counting first and foremost is the great casting, I am of course especially thankful for Susan George. Without her in it, I wouldn't have been here reviewing it today. She was the most exciting actress of her time, unfortunately ending up in movies where she shouldn't have been wasting her time, but in this one's case, wow! And again, wow! And again, wow! There is that scene with the police car coming up behind them like a vengeful shark, and the camera shows Mary's face, and wow! That expression! That giggle! That movie magic! That glorious partner-in-crime! Of course this movie begs to be remade, but I will be staunchly critical of whomever they choose as Mary. And actually it was remade, Charlie Sheen and Kristy Swanson during the Nineties in THE CHASE, not bad at all, but not with the same kind of vibe, not the feel of these late Sixties cars, and of course, no Peter OUTLAW BLUES Fonda or Susan George. By the way, Susan might be best known for STRAW DOGS, but this is the ultimate Susan George movie!The character of Larry was of course a total sh*t, and yet, the two protagonists made a powerful on-screen couple. What this one REALLY NEEDED when the bucks started rolling in was less of a lament about 'We Killed the Golden Goose, There Cannot Be a Sequel' as nothing about the film's ending was final, nothing is witnessed except that the car is clearly a flaming wreck. The sequel should just have shown them, in the grand old tradition of old-time movie serials, jumping from the car the moment before actual collision, and however corny my solution of course is, NEVER MIND WE'D HAVE HAD A SEQUEL.Vic Morrow gave particular depth to the movie, representing the other side, and was a full-fledged alternative lead instead of a cardboard character. The irony of the actor's death in a helicopter-related incident some years later does much to undermine watching this movie now. That is beyond control, just a twist of fate. Just as tragic is that Susan fizzled out soon afterward due to health problems, and of course, there were deaths among the rest of the cast as well. The curse of DMCL?

Mr-Fusion but it more than makes up for that in sweet road action. One car chase leads to another, bridges are jumped, and there's even a low-flying helicopter chase. And as much as I like Adam Roarke's pensive angst in this movie, the real one to watch out for is Vic Morrow. For the crime that Fonda and Roarke committed (unarmed theft), you've gotta wonder why Morrow would come down on them as hard as he did. His big move in the end (although brilliant) was overly vindictive. What makes this hard- line lawman tick? And that ending's a true shocker that hits me right where I live.But in the end, this movie's a classic. The chases are fun, the stunts are cool, and it's just an awesome ride.And that is one righteous Charger. 7.5/10

evening1 Peter Fonda's on the road again -- but as an Easy Rider of a whole nuther stripe. Here he's a wisecracking psychopath who races his chartreuse Chevy down backroads like they're NASCAR -- other traffic, cop cars or not, be damned.This trip is one long chase scene with the law after Crazy Larry, his deadpan partner (a sublime Adam Roarke), and Susan George's Dirty Mary flee with a cache of ill-gotten ransom.This set-in-the-middle-of-nowhere movie keeps you interested mainly for the repartee among its cast, rounded out by a world-weary Vic Morrow, who plays a police captain with contempt for underlings who'd do a lot better if he'd buy them a decent patrol car.Each of the characters here really IS a character, and they form the motliest of ensembles that's lots of fun to watch. Fonda and Roark are perfectly paired foils. Mary seems wild-eyed nuts at times. But otherwise, "Dingleberry" can be exquisitely perceptive. "Things felt a little too good for you last night -- so you ran!" she yells at Larry. And later, "people don't even rate a glance with you." Moments before the movie's shocking ending she brilliantly declares her final gambit.The rivalry between Morrow and his superior on the force is an unlikely treat along the way. (It's a little creepy to see Morrow, only eight years from the freak helicopter accident that took his life, pursuing crooks in a chopper that's low on fuel.) In all, an entertaining example of Seventies film at its best.