I have increasingly come to realise that I am a definite fan of the types of movies Crown International Pictures were knocking out in the early 70's. This was a time period when the influence of the American counter-culture was still very apparent and Crown were clearly tapping into this with a string of flicks which featured themes revolving around the hippy lifestyle, drugs, sexual liberation and alienated youth. In fairness, most of these films also had at least one foot in the sexploitation bracket too. For my money, this period is easily the most fertile and interesting in the history of Crown's output, with great films such as Pick-Up, Best Friends, Trip with the Teacher and various others providing excellent entertainment as well as thoroughly enjoyable time-capsule fun. The Sister-in Law is yet another to add to this selection of drive-in delights. After traveling around America to find himself, a young guy called Robert indulges in affairs with the wife and mistress of his writer brother Edward, who in turn lives a secret life as a drug peddler. Edward finds himself in deep trouble with his crime bosses and eventually ropes his brother into his world in an underhand way that leads to a path of destruction.
This one could perhaps best be described as a melodrama with thriller elements. It doesn't really have much of a focus on suspense and for the most part is a tale of two brothers. The title of the movie is pretty misleading to say the least, as the sister-in-law doesn't especially have a pivotal role in this one and is merely one of two women who interact with both brothers. I guess the title was used to imply this might be a soft-core romp. It does begin like this may be the case with the opening credits introducing us to the sister-in-law of the title strutting through the streets in a seductive manner. The actress who plays her is Anne Saxon. It appears that this was her only film role which is a bit of a shame as she was a bit of a fox for sure and most of the erotic content of the movie revolves around her appearances. The top billed actor, however, is a young John Savage, who also provided the folksy songs on the soundtrack and in fairness he is the most impressive actor on display here for sure, fleshing out his troubled character pretty well. I enjoyed the deliberate pace if this one and never at any point found it boring at all. After all, quite regularly the drama is interspersed with some nudity, a catfight in a pool, drugs, gangsters and...water-based basketball. Pleasingly, it also opts for that other staple of the times - the insanely nihilistic downbeat ending. I like these types of endings, as they indicate the unfortunate truth in life that bad people sometimes get away with extremely nasty deeds and other people pay for it. Yeah, what can I say other than this is yet another early 70's Crown International movie that I connected with and enjoyed very much.
This one could perhaps best be described as a melodrama with thriller elements. It doesn't really have much of a focus on suspense and for the most part is a tale of two brothers. The title of the movie is pretty misleading to say the least, as the sister-in-law doesn't especially have a pivotal role in this one and is merely one of two women who interact with both brothers. I guess the title was used to imply this might be a soft-core romp. It does begin like this may be the case with the opening credits introducing us to the sister-in-law of the title strutting through the streets in a seductive manner. The actress who plays her is Anne Saxon. It appears that this was her only film role which is a bit of a shame as she was a bit of a fox for sure and most of the erotic content of the movie revolves around her appearances. The top billed actor, however, is a young John Savage, who also provided the folksy songs on the soundtrack and in fairness he is the most impressive actor on display here for sure, fleshing out his troubled character pretty well. I enjoyed the deliberate pace if this one and never at any point found it boring at all. After all, quite regularly the drama is interspersed with some nudity, a catfight in a pool, drugs, gangsters and...water-based basketball. Pleasingly, it also opts for that other staple of the times - the insanely nihilistic downbeat ending. I like these types of endings, as they indicate the unfortunate truth in life that bad people sometimes get away with extremely nasty deeds and other people pay for it. Yeah, what can I say other than this is yet another early 70's Crown International movie that I connected with and enjoyed very much.