Road to Salina (1971)

I love this movie so much

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

How sad is this?

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Georges Lautner is far from being an accursed director:his career is full of these comedies "à la française " the likes of "la grande sauterelle", "les tontons flingueurs" "ne nous fâchons pas" which are not exactly what we call artistic ambitions.But there are exceptions: at least three of his works are worthy of investigation:the first one is "le septième juré " in the early sixties ,a mesmerizing study of a bourgeois's psychopathology ,masterfully portrayed by Bernard Blier;in the late eighties ,he made a stunning return to rural melodrama with "la maison assassinée" ,an unfairly overlooked movie.The third one is "la route de Salina".First of all,the cast is amazing:Rita Hayworth directed by a Froggy!And ,most amazing thing,she portrays a mad woman :it was to be one of her last parts ;soon she was to get Alzheimer's .Robert Walker jr,Jennifer Jones 's son, plays a young man whom she mistakes for her own son;beautiful Mimsy Farmer is his so-called sister,with whom he soon has a love affair.More a psychological drama than a detective story,and despite several steamy love scenes ,it's a rather austere and slow-moving story.What seems dated today is just that :the hippie side,swimming in the nude (probably inspired by Schroeder's "more" (1969) which features Farmer as well),a soundtrack made up of hip pop music (Jethro Tull 's "bourrée").But what remains is intriguing,often spellbinding and would deserve a better rating.Lautner succeeded in creating a sultry atmosphere,turning to good account his offbeat cast,including Ed Beagley as a good-natured neighbor.The characters' psychology is more complex than it appears at first sight,particularly Billie's (Farmer).We soon discover she's as crazy as her mother .The story is told by the hero,and is a long flashback . "La route de Salina" was not really a blockbuster for Lautner who would be soon returning to his favorite "style" ("Il était une fois un flic",1972)

***SLIGHT SPOILERS** Granted, I haven't seen this peculiar oddity in the 31-years since it was given a quick American release by Avco-Embassy, who quickly yanked it into apparent oblivion. After 31 years, "Road to Salina" still haunts me with its ravishing, anamorphic cinematography, weird plot, and the astoundingly raw performances by Rita Hayworth (in her next-to-last role, the Sex Goddess of the 1940s looks ravaged, but still astoundingly sexy); Robert Walker Jr.(the image of his talented late father. Walker Jr. was an uncanny replica of his dad, and a a terrific actor in his own right--so where is he now?), and the glorious Mimsy Farmer (the blonde sexpot who lusted after James MacArthur in "Spencer's Mountain," wisely then headed for Rome, where she was typecast as '70s Eurotrash--and wbatever happened to HER? The plot, as I recall, takes place at a desolate Mexican/bordertown/motel, where drifter Walker shows up and is immediately hired by its owner, Ms. Hayworth, who is convinced the sexy stranger is her long-lost son. No problem for nympho Mimsy, who, after drooling over him in the outdoor shower, quickly introduces him to the joys of skinny-dipping (a bold display of frontal nudity; no big deal in the early '70s, now a cause for alarm for the increasingly blue-nosed MPAA_ and rollicking in the altogether in her boudoir. Ed Begley Sr. portrays Hayworth's queasy-geezer companion, and the scene of them doing the frug is a mind-blower! Seething with an undercurrent of carnal desire, plus the appearance of Bruce Pecheur (another handsome traveler who checks into this cursed roadhouse--and is brutally murdered--in the film as in real life two years later). "Road to Salina" is a gorgeously photographed souvenir of '71 (actually 1969, when it was filmed). "Road to Salina" is a hypnotic, dazzlingly photographed, unjustly forgotten (or critically panned) movie of its time. It concluded the careers of two veteran actors (Ms. Hayworth, Ed Begley Sr.), while simultaneously featuring a quartet of talents primed for stardom. Marc Porel whose death in flashbacks nails the real killer (and you will be surprised) died at age 32. "Road to Salina" can easily function as an exercise in morbidity. But enjoy it as audiences did in 1971, and what awaits you is a hypnotic, lusciously-colored, insidious and wickedly mesmerizing psychodrama.The Betamax copy I bought of this film in the late '70s has long since disappeared. High time for a restored, letterboxed version on Cable-TV or DVD. P.S. POSSIBLE SPOILER: If you want to know the identity of the psycho-killer, look no further than Dario Argento's "FOUR FLIES IN GREY VELVET"!

Road to Salina is a sadly over looked film that has allot of what people can enjoy in a movie. Of course you have to be into the whole open idea about the film's theme of a suggestive incest. From the start there is a tension set in the film (thanks to Barbet Schroeder)that will hold your attention. Many people wish to see Rita Hayworth's last film. If you get a chance to watch it be sure you are in the mood (70's....) to give it time to build to the climax... you might be amused with the ending.

an immensely satisfying film which grabs you from the beginning and never causes you to lose interest ... Just what is going on? Ironically this film was meant as a "come back" for Rita Hayworth and her poignant portrayal is worth the price of entry. Mimsy Farmer is super, as always (does anyone know why her career seems limited to these imported suspense movies) and Robert Walker Jr. is right on target as the narrator of the tale.