Little Fauss and Big Halsy

Trailer—Little Fauss and Big Halsy

Robert Redford and Michael J, Pollard give good performances in this character study of two opposites who form an alliance as motorcycle racers down South, Lauren Hutton is the girl who comes between them. Nothing great, but watchable, and a rare chance to see Redford as a heavy.

Saw this in the drive-in back in '71 and thought it was pretty good! Saw it again on Speedvisions "Lost Drive-in" some time ago but some of the scenes were "edited for TV". I don't believe it was ever released on video...too bad!

A genuinely odd, surreal jumble of visual ideas which probably looked extremely puzzling on the printed page--just what drew Robert Redford to the project, one may never know. Sidney J. Furie directs this knockabout journey of an egotistical motorcycle racer taking a milquetoast juvenile under his wing. The kid looks up to this anti-hero, and eventually begins to ape his amorality. Disjointed and off-putting, although for some the sight of Redford disrobing, about to disrobe or having been disrobed might be enough to warrant attention. Lauren Hutton gets naked, too, however all the sexy flashes are just teasers for the prurient-minded; there simply is no story. Perhaps Furie was making an esoteric comment about feckless wheelers and their flock circa 1970. If true, then this pre-Blank Generation approach backfired, as the film was not a success. *1/2 from ****

This film, about a pair of motorbike racers, is notable for starring Robert Redford, then on the cusp of megastardom. Here he's teamed up with the diminutive Michael J. Pollard for a friendship drama laced with the expected racing sequences, dust, and heat. There's also some relationship stuff thrown into the mix too and it's not all easy sailing. I was interested in watching this both for Redford's typically charismatic turn - although he's a little more subdued than usual here - and for Canadian director Sidney J. Furie, who turned his back on British B-movie cinema in favour of America. LITTLE FAUSS AND BIG HALSY is rather forgettable compared to other movies in both of their careers, but Redford fans will lap it up regardless.

Had always been intrigued by this title ever since seeing the trailer 'arriving Sunday for seven days' almost half a century ago. Something in the voice-over resounded with me, which I was always reminded of when Ronnie Barker did his country and western skits. I never heard the film mentioned again, though believe it got a couple of airings with little fanfare on the BBC decades ago. Finally got a chance to see it courtesy of Talking Pictures TV - what would we do without them? Should like to say I loved it but it generally left me cold. Perhaps it is fair to say that along with one or two other films of the same period - Peckinpah's Junior Bonner springs to mind - it is essentially a slice of Americana with limited appeal outside the US except for the star. Still I did enjoy the songs from Johnny Cash.

I just got this movie on Blu ray from Blu ray.com/amazon and it looks fantastic! For a low budget movie in 1970, the transfer is amazing, crystal clear and the audio is great. It's funny because Redford wears sun glasses in about 60% of the film and you can see the reflection of the movie lights and even film crew in a number of scenes. You'd think they would have noticed this when filming. The movie isn't the greatest, but it is a cult classic. It's weird seeing Redford playing such a jerk of a character. He was actually really good at it in this movie. I found it interesting that Redford and Michael Pollard couldn't stand each other while filming this movie. I wonder what caused it?