70's Drive-In Explolitation Babe Candice Rialson

   Candice Rialson racked up a pretty impressive resume in the 1970's appearing in Roger Corman's Candy Stripe Nurses & Summer School Teachers (both from 1974), played one of Gloria Grahame's evil daughters in Mama's Dirty Girls (also from '74) and a runaway who hooks up with some really whacked out people in Pets (again - '74 !). She also appeared in Moonshine County Express  & Chatterbox (both from 1977). Like most actresses in low budget films she hoped to break into bigger pictures and had bit parts in Logan's Run (1976) & Winter Kills (1979). In The Eiger Sanction from 1975 she a had a small but memorable role as a flirtatious student of teacher Clint Eastwood. 

  Probably her best role was in Allan Arkush & Joe Dante's 1976 classic send-up of Roger Corman's New World Pictures - Hollywood Boulevard, playing hapless starlet Candy Wednesday ("Miracle Pictures - If It's a Good Picture, It's a Miracle"). 

  She was born in Santa Monica Ca. in 1951, won Miss Hermosa Beach at age 18 and later worked as a go-go dancer. In 1979 she retired to raise a family and sadly passed away from liver cancer in 2006. A talented (often much better then the roles called for) & natural actress who always seemed to have a bit of innocence about her.   

Raquel Welch - One Million Years B.C. 1966

 
"I thought I'll go to London, I'll do this turkey and then everyone will forget about it and I'll have myself a great time" - Raquel Welch

    Here's some publicity & behind-the-scenes stills of Raquel from Hammer's One Million Years B.C. I especially like the one of her talking to director Don Chaffey in the dining room - funny, none of the guys (or girls for that matter) seem to be paying much attention to their meal. In interviews she mentions how cold it was on the Canary Islands set, as it even snowed one day ! By the looks of some of the bundled up crew members it does look bit brisk, considering her costume (Yeah, I know - the mind boggles, doesn't it).
  Unfortunately the current Region 1 Fox DVD of One Million Years B.C. contains the cut version (91 minutes vs. 100 min). What's missing is some caveman violence, some sexy cavewoman dancing courtesy of Martine Beswick and most unbelievably - some Ray Harryhausen stop-motion dinosaur footage !  By a strange fact Fox did release the uncut version on laser disc back in the day, but for some reason dropped the ball big time on the DVD. The Region 2 DVD from Optimum contains the uncut version, plus has interviews with Raquel & Ray.
   We all know the three main reasons to watch One Million Years B.C. - Raquel Welch in a fur bikini, Ray Harryhausen dinosaurs (plus a giant prehistoric turtle !) and Raquel Welch in a fur bikini.

Holy Cow !! One Million Years B.C. AND Bugs Bunny Cartoons !!

70's Drive-In Exploitation Babe Linda Haynes

 

   With the upcoming release of Rolling Thunder on Blu from Shout Factory its time for some Linda Haynes around here. A very pretty & talented actress (with a great "70's All American Girl" look to her) and who despite appearing in only a handful of films before retiring left an indelible impression on 1970's cinema.

   Born Nov. 4 1947 she made her film debut in Toho's wild & wacky Latitude Zero in 1969 and went to have a small but memorable role opposite Pam Grier in Jack Hill's Coffy (1969) playing ballsy prostitute Meg.  Probably her best role was Linda Forchet in 1977's Rolling Thunder, playing a small town cocktail waitress who hooks up with Vietnam Vet Major Rayne (William Devane) & his trunk full of guns to track down his family's killers. Being a exploitation actress in the 70's meant women in prison and Linda appeared in one of the great sleazy WIP flicks, 1979's Human Experiments. She seemed to be just on the cusp of breaking into the big leagues, getting good parts (and reviews) in 1980 - the T.V. movie Guyana Tragedy : The Story of Jim Jones and Robert Redford's prison flick Brubaker. Soon afterwards she walked away from acting and became a legal secretary in Fl. Among her other credits is the underrated The Nickle Ride from 1974 and 1975's The Drowning Pool

70's Drive-In Exploitation Babe Claudia Jennings

 

    To any fan of 1970's drive-in movies Claudia Jennings pretty much has to be at the top of your list for favorite actresses. Born Mary Eileen Chestertonn in St. Paul MN in 1949. In the 60's she moved out to Calif. to make it in movies and later became a part time receptionist at the offices of Playboy magazine. As things sometimes turn out she was chosen for Playboy's Miss November 1969 and later became Playmate of the Year. Her acting career soon took off and she appeared in many low budget 70's classics -  Unholy Rollers & Sisters of Death (both from 1972), The Single Girls (1973), Truck Stop Women (1974), The Great Texas Dynamite Chase (1977), Deathsport (1978) and of course 'Gator Bait from 1974. She also had a small role in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and although she did co-star in a David Cronenberg movie, it turned out to be the one David Cronenberg movie that no one knows about - 1979's Fast Company. In addition and somewhat unbelievably in the midst of her exploitation career she appeared in The Brady Bunch as Greg's manager in the famous (or infamous) "Adios, Johnny Bravo" episode.

  Although she was up for some bigger parts - TV's Wonder Woman which Lynda Carter eventually won and as Kate Jackson's replacement in Charlie's Angels (Shelly Hack beat her out for that), her career never really elevated itself to the next level to which she had hoped for. Later in life she unfortunately struggled with some personal demons and tragically in 1979 would die in an auto accident just as she was attempting to put her life in order. Her presence in films was (and still is) very much appreciated & remembered. The catch phrase for more then a few of them is - "Hey, at least it's got Claudia Jennings in it !"