I can imagine the few drive-in and grindhouse patrons who saw this when it first came out were both baffled and bored. It's deadly serious for the most part, with not that much material that could be called exploitive. Not only that, it's extremely slow-moving; it could probably be edited down to a half hour without losing anything important to the plot... the little there is. There is a strong feeling of improvisation to the entire thing, which seems to explain (among other things) why the ending really doesn't feel like a proper ending.
It's strange that MGM decided to pick up the distribution rights to it not long ago (for cable), though since they need all the money they can get these days, maybe it's understandable. The only thing that may be of interest is that the movie shows a few sides of Los Angeles that we don't usually see in movies of this period.
It's strange that MGM decided to pick up the distribution rights to it not long ago (for cable), though since they need all the money they can get these days, maybe it's understandable. The only thing that may be of interest is that the movie shows a few sides of Los Angeles that we don't usually see in movies of this period.