Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This movie is a classic example of 1970's unintentional hilarity. John Saxon plays bounty hunter Sam Kellogg. He is financially down on his luck and is trying to get custody of his young daughter from his estranged wife. Rosie Grier plays a recently released prison inmate who is beating up guards with a lead filled riot glove, hence the title: The Glove. Saxon's character provides an extremely cheesy narration throughout the entire film. It is good for a few chuckles. The scene in the slaughter house where Saxon and a baddie engage in a battle with two racks of raw lamb makes the film worth seeing alone. There is actually a scene where you can tell it was an obvious blooper but they just keep the camera rolling and used it in the final print. See if you can find it.

Stocky ex-felon Victor Hale (amiably essayed by hulking pro footballer Rosey Grier of "The Thing With Two Heads" fame) goes around Los Angeles, brutally mashing up crooked prison guards who beat him up in jail with a lethal steel riot glove. Out to bring him in is dour and divorced no-nonsense bounty hunter supreme Samuel Kellog (a nicely rough'n'tumble performance by longtime favorite veteran tough guy actor John Saxon, who really sinks his teeth into a juicy lead part), who desperately needs the substantial bounty placed on Hale's head to settle his domestic woes with his bitter ex-wife.Clumsily directed with a certain endearing ineptitude by seasoned trash movie thespian Ross Hagen (who later helmed the not half bad medical sci-fi/horror effort "B.O.R.N."), with typically accomplished cinematography by ace exploitation feature cameraman Gary ("Satan's Sadists," "The Toolbox Murders") Graver, a groovy score by Robert O. ("Evils of the Night," "Deep Space") Ragland, and a simply stupendous campy sub-"Shaft" R&B theme song ("You can't escape/From the kiss and rape of the Glove"), "The Glove" makes for a whole lot of irresistibly cheesy low-budget grindhouse junk fun. It's meant to be more of a bleak and low-key character study than a straight-out exciting action item. The scenes with the macho Kellog attempting to bond with his estranged daughter are pretty damn funny (I especially dug the moment where Kellog does push-ups while his adorably diminutive daughter sits on his back!). Kellog's ersatz Humphrey Bogart hard-boiled narration provides plenty of solid amusement as well (sample line: "I felt like someone kicked me in the stomach and left the shoe there"). Moreover, the sporadic badly choreographed fight scenes are likewise quite unintentionally hilarious, with the definite gut-busting highlight being Kellog's tussle with a guy in a meat packing plant (the guy smacks Kellog with a big bloody side of beef!). The stand-out B-picture cast qualifies as another substantial asset: the lovely Joanna Cassidy as a classy secretary Kellog becomes romantically involved with, the always delightful Keenan Wynn as Kellog's cranky loudmouth boss, Jack Carter as a stuck-up rich jerk, Michael Pataki as Kellog's ruthless sleazeball rival, Nicholas Worth (the raving psycho Vietnam vet photographer killer in "Don't Answer the Phone") as a gay blank check dropper Kellog tosses into a pool, and Aldo Ray as an ill-fated prison guard. All in all, "The Glove" rates highly as a most entertaining oddball drive-in movie hoot.

A film like this can't be rated on any normative 1-10 scale which we usually enlist to appraise the world's great cinema landmarks. This movie appeals only to the shrewder connoisseur of the halt and the lame, the distressed, and the warped. There is no scale for such a movie as 'The Glove' (except perhaps if we use negative integers or decimals).'The Glove' has that quintessential charm of the 1970's movie. The grainy stock, fuzzy sound recording, squinty leading men, large automobiles, aimless & episodic screenplay; yes, everything right down to the sentimental piano notes in the score wordlessly 'decrying the violence deep inside man'.The plot is simple at first. Hulking Marauder, methodically eliminating Taxpaying Citizens in a Relentless Revenge Ritual. Big and ugly in the black leather outfit (+ black motorcycle visor helmet?? yes!) has some incredible wicked strange instrument of death--fascinating in its own unique way--a bonafide 'restricted' riot-glove {sometimes used by law enforcement personnel in the course of their 1970s duties}. You can still buy these via mail-order, you know. They are fearsome devices. OK so, simple plot wrapped around an obscure piece of morbid guy-gear--true. But this film is not without character or psychology.I say, any film with Rosy Grier is worth a look. Need I remind you of 'The Thing with Two Heads'? Now, in this movie, Grier plays his role with restraint and aplomb. Let's give him some credit. Even if just for his sheer physical size, he is interesting to watch. Combine that with his wispy, faint-hearted voice (in this film, philosophizing about 'defining boundaries' and 'the cyclical nature of violence' and you have the basic ingredients for a memorable cult film. In one scene he even plays guitar. In fact, he is jovial throughout most of the flick. It's perfect. He plays the anti-hero well, and by the end of the movie, fully manages to evoke a twinge of sympathy. Makes an engaging contrast with our growing suspicion that of course, it is him committing these brutal executions. The violent scenes we witness (as the film develops), fyi, are not boring at all! Lovable Aldo Ray (another big guy, remember him from 'Battle Cry'?) getting "the Glove treatment" while he is trying to instead cage some nooky in the shadowy back seat of what looks like a Chevy LeSabre. Coitus interruptus! Fantastic. 70's film-making at its seamy best.Another great 'Glove revenge' scene: a revisitation of that old stand-by of the 70s thriller--masked assailant and victim thrashing around in a brightly-lit bathroom, with the shower curtain flailing wildly around and the light strobing. Ending with victim seeping blood over white grouted porcelain tile. Classic.As for John Saxon: he is fine in this movie. He does his best. Makes it look sincere as he can. He has a secretary he is pursuing, debts to pay, a young daughter to raise, a great old Caddy convertible to keep up--this is a sensitive guy. You can see he is not really that into the violent side of his work. This is a character that has some delicacy, not just the usual 70s slob cop/bounty hunter/detective.Saxon's character is soft-spoken--shrewd--and good at his job, where his job requires brainwork. Where it requires the strong arm stuff--well, we see that he gets by. But here's where the psychology comes in: Grier (the suspect) is not just a dumb ex-con and through their game of cat-and-mouse he gradually works on Saxon and makes Saxon at least see Grier's motives for the crazy glove killings. So the interplay between Saxon and Grier is basically where it's all at in this film. And of course that fiendish glove. You just gotta wonder what its like both to hit someone with that thing and also to get hit by it. Anyway, Grier, tired of being chased, forces Saxon to give him a fair fight. And he gets it. And that Glove is used one last time.Guys, a good fight scene like this deserves our esteem. Take another look at what's going on. Would you accept the terms of the final fight as laid down by Grier? You can at least see how smart he is, by arranging it just in this manner? Its clever resolution to what would be, in any other movie of the same stripe, just another shootout.This movie is worth recalling in any retrospective of twisted B-violence flicks. I personally, will always recall 'The Glove' with some fondness.

It's interesting to note that Ross Hagen, a man who starred in numerous trashy films in his infamous career, did the directing. The film's kinda sleazy in a few parts, and the theme song is hilarious, but the violent scenes should have been the main attraction here, and unfortunately there's little of it. John Saxon talks through the whole picture like I'm waiting for some blood to fly. The best parts I liked about The Glove are the beginning, the middle, and the end. It's O.K. as long as cheap thrills are your cup of tea. Don't let the film's ad mat entice you!