Thursday, February 26, 2009

STUMP THE VICAR: HippIes, Black Power, and a Desert?

UPDATE: We thought we had this one sussed with Nigel_M's suggestion of the 1971 fake documentary Punishment Park, but the original questioner David informs me that, while PP is indeed an excellent movie and worth everyone's time, it's NOT the droid he's looking for. Back to the drawing board! Any more suggestions?

Good morning, parishioners! You know your ever-lovin' Vicar takes pride in knowing his stuff when it comes to trash cinema, but sadly even my time in B-Movie Seminary did not expose me to *every* piece of movie magic that might fall under this title. Reader David emailed me recently with the following poser that I couldn't quite place. But knowing that my readers are among the most knowledgeable on the planet when it comes to obscure 70s flicks, I thought if we put our heads together, we might just be able to solve this mystery. Here's David with the details:

it may have been a made-for-tv movie, made around 1971. during the last half hour of the film (maybe longer) there's several young hippie-like people (in their 20s) sitting around a table in a rather dark room, i think in a house out in the california desert. the people sitting at the table are deciding by consensus as to whom must leave the table. one woman is terrified at the prospect of being forced to leave the table. when the rest of the group decides she has to go, she screams like it's a matter of life and death. the last four people at the table are 2 men and 2 women. one of the 2 men is a Black Power militant, one of the women is a white revolutionary feminist - - these 2 come across as favoring violence as a means of addressing society's ills. the Black Power militant and white revolutionary feminist end up leaving the table. the last 2 people at the table are a white man and a white woman, apparently not interested in revolution. in the last scene of the film this man and woman leave the house and they're walking together across a desert, while the sun rises.

i saw bits and pieces of it as a rerun on some mid-day movie show on free tv around 1985. but i never got the title. does this sound familiar?
So what do you think, parishioners? To me, it sounds like it might be a post-apocalyptic joint, or else some kind of No Exit homage with hippies and Black Panthers thrown in for spice. But I have nothing but gut feelings to base that on.

If you recognize the movie by this description, post it in the comments and help a brother out! Anyone who comes up with the correct answer gets his or her very own Thank-You tweet, direct from the Vicar! Who could ask for more? :)

Come on gang--we've got a mystery to solve!

2 comments:

Nigel M said...

Sounds a little bit like Punishment Park- which was 1971, had a desert, hippies and some philosophising about revolution

The Vicar of VHS said...

@Nigel (and Cinebeats via twitter): Looking at the plot summary here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punishment_Park

I'd say you two have hit the nail on the head! David, if you're reading...does this satisfy your curiosity?

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