cult film freak: LIFE'S A 1970'S BEACH WITH SAM ELLIOTT AS A CAREER 'LIFEGUARD'

Sam Elliott in LIFEGUARD Year: 1976

A film as laidback as the title and occupation, but for lifeguard Sam Elliott, who seems a part of the beach he protects, there's plenty to do other than "bedding down babes" and looking good shirtless.

70's Babe Watch

At thirty-three years old, with pressure from friends, family, lovers, and even strangers, he's forced to deal with the realization he's not a kid anymore, and too old for his occupation. All this leading to his fifteen-year high school reunion where he gets back in touch with ex-sweetheart and now single mom Anne Archer, who breezily runs a successful art gallery, and old buddy Stephen Young, co-owner of a lucritive Porsche dealership.

Quinlan and Elliott in Lifeguard RATES: ****

Might Sam be a better boyfriend/salesman than tan-toned lady-killer lifeguard? This is a rare gem mixing comedy, drama, romance, but is mostly a character-study: each element blending perfectly, mostly thanks to our mustached, deep-voiced star, one of the coolest cats in cinema...

Sharon Clark in LIFEGUARD

Meanwhile, the romance between Sam Elliott and Anne Archer is kindhearted and genuine, but the best scenes have Sam the maverick...

Not only making it with the ladies but relaxing all alone, watching the beach before anyone else arrives while a frisky teenage girl, played by Kathleen Quinlan and who adorns all the poster artwork, is practically a stalker. That he doesn't fight off, noticed by Parker Stevenson, who makes great sidekick and student (along with the audience) in the job harder than it seems: So BAYWATCH (that initially featured Stevenson) brought lifeguards to a comic book status, LIFEGUARD (penned by future INTO THE NIGHT and FIRSTBORN scribe Ron Kolso) provides a story where the occupation and the man are one in the same.