Written by / 12/02/2021 / No comments / , , , , , , , ,

SUE LYON & JENNIFER ASHLEY IN 'TOWING' WITH JOE MANTENGA

Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon verses J.J. Johnston in TOWING Year: 1978 Rating: ***

Before calling it quits after ALLIGATOR, Sue Lyon starred alongside Jennifer Ashley in what was once the Holy Grail of the former Lolita's low-budget 1970's flicks, finally coexisting with EVEL KNIEVEL, TAROT, MURDER IN A BLUE WORLD, CRASH!, THE ASTRAL FACTOR, SMASH-UP ON INTERSTATE  5 and END OF THE WORLD...

Her penultimate feature TOWING is a low-budget street-set sex-comedy influenced by CAR WASH, with a similar funky theme playing from beginning to end, starring Ashley and Lyon as barmaid besties... 

Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING

Ashley's a flirtatiously fun, disco-dancing/would-be singer and Lyon a hopeful hopeless-romantic, both pitted against the titular TOWING company that illegally tows cars for cash payment... 

An operation targeting all the same people including "irate couple" Steven Kampmann and Audrie Neenan along with lowbrow male leads Joe Mantegna as a bearded lawyer and fast-talking punk Bobby Di Cicco, who wind-up hooked-up with Lyon and Ashley respectively...

Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING

But with such a potentially nefarious villain in towing company owner J.J. Johnson (who'd later appear in FATAL ATTRACTION with good guy bartender Mike Nussbaum), he's hardly seen or really even effectively targeted...

That's until... not counting random sequences of Ashley day-lighting at a gas station across the tow-yard (using a road cone to scream insults)... practically the last minute...

Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING with Joe Mantegna

At which point, through the grungy one-street downtown Chicago location, after the girls turn tables during much too darkly-lit night shots, the plot is an afterthought along with the characters... 

Portrayed by otherwise good actors turning in such affably laidback performances, the entire movie feels like the cast jovially hanging-out before the inevitable script's thrown their way — which was obviously ignored anyway.  

Opeing Credits for in TOWING
Opeing Credits for in TOWING
Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING with Steven Kampmann and Audrie Nennan
Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING
Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING
Jennifer Ashley in TOWING
Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING
Mike Nussbaum and Jennifer Ashley with Sue Lyon and Bobby Di Cici in TOWING
Jennifer Ashley and Bobby Di Cici in TOWING
Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING
Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING
Sue Lyon in TOWING
Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING
Sue Lyon in TOWING
Jennifer Ashley and Sue Lyon in TOWING
Sue Lyon in TOWING
J.J. Johnston in TOWING
Steven Kampmann and Audrie Neenan in TOWING
Credits for TOWING
Sue Lyon in TOWING
Sue Lyon in TOWING with Jennifer Ashley
Sue Lyon in TOWING with Jennifer Ashley
Sue Lyon in TOWING with Jennifer Ashley

Share This Post :
Tags : , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

RUSHING THROUGH JOHN SCHLESINGER'S 'HONKY TONK FREEWAY'

Title: HONKY TONK FREEWAY Year: 1981 Rating: **** John Schlesinger's HONKY TONK FREEWAY has two composers: Elmer Bernstein doing his usu...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "Powerful little things, these credit cards." Harry Morgan, Dragnet

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)CALCULATED RISK 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)THE SERGEANT 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)SANDS OF THE KALAHARI 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)RIOT 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6) CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

Most Popular Last Year