Plot summaryThe story concerns an insurance agent and Vietnam veteran, played by Tim O'Kelly, who murders his wife and mother and then goes on a shooting rampage from atop a Los Angeles oil refinery. When police start tracking him down, he flees to and resumes his shootings at a drive-in theater where an aging horror film actor is making a final promotional appearance.The character and actions of the killer are based on Charles Whitman, the University of Texas sniper. The character of actor Byron Orlok, named after Max Schreck's vampire Count Orlok in 1922's Nosferatu, is based on Boris Karloff himself, who in fact plays the part in his last appearance in a major American film (although Bogdanovich states that, unlike Orlok, Karloff was not embittered with the movie business and did not wish to retire).In the film's finale, which takes place at a San Fernando Valley drive-in theater, Karloff — the old-fashioned, traditional screen monster who always obeyed the rules — confronts the new, nihilistic late-1960s monster in the shape of a clean-cut, unassuming multiple murderer.
Post film note supplied by Grahame: The guy who was shot in the telephone booth was Mike Farrell, later B J Hunnicutt in MASH on TV.
Production
Bogdanovich got the chance to make Targets because Boris Karloff owed studio head Roger Corman three days' work. Corman told Bogdanovich he could make any film he liked provided he used Karloff and stayed under budget. In addition, Bogdanovich had to use clips from the Victorian-era thriller The Terror in the movie. The clips from The Terror feature Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff. Bogdanovich has said that Samuel Fuller provided generous help on the screenplay and refused to accept either a fee or a screen credit, so Bogdanovich named his own character Sammy Michaels (Fuller's middle name was Michael) in tribute.
Background Notes
Although the film was written and production photography completed in 1967, it was released after the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy and thus had some topical relevance to then-current events. Nevertheless it was not very successful at the box office.However, Bogdanovich, who appears in the film as a young writer-director (i.e. like Karloff, playing a character very similar to himself in real life), credits it with getting him noticed by the studios, which in turn led to his directing three very successful films in the early 1970s.
Production
Bogdanovich got the chance to make Targets because Boris Karloff owed studio head Roger Corman three days' work. Corman told Bogdanovich he could make any film he liked provided he used Karloff and stayed under budget. In addition, Bogdanovich had to use clips from the Victorian-era thriller The Terror in the movie. The clips from The Terror feature Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff. Bogdanovich has said that Samuel Fuller provided generous help on the screenplay and refused to accept either a fee or a screen credit, so Bogdanovich named his own character Sammy Michaels (Fuller's middle name was Michael) in tribute.
Background Notes
Although the film was written and production photography completed in 1967, it was released after the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy and thus had some topical relevance to then-current events. Nevertheless it was not very successful at the box office.However, Bogdanovich, who appears in the film as a young writer-director (i.e. like Karloff, playing a character very similar to himself in real life), credits it with getting him noticed by the studios, which in turn led to his directing three very successful films in the early 1970s.
What was that you said about the Buffalo Springfield producers?
ReplyDeleteGreen & Stone were credited with "Radio music production" on Targets.
ReplyDeleteChris Hillman persuaded the owners of the famous Whisky a Go Go to give the Buffalo Springfield an audition. They essentially became the house band at the Whisky for seven weeks, from May 2 to June 18, 1966. This legendary series of concerts solidified the band’s reputation for exhilarating live performances and attracted immediate interest from a number of record labels. It also brought an invitation to Dickie Davis, who had been lighting manager for the Byrds, to become involved in the group’s management. In turn, Davis sought advice from Sonny & Cher’s management team, Charlie Green and Brian Stone. They eventually struck a deal with Ahmet Ertegün of Atlantic Records and arranged for the band to start recording at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.
Young, Stills and Furay would all record demos for the album, but Greene and Stone, who had installed themselves as the album's producers, deemed Young's voice "too weird" and assigned lead vocals on the majority of Young's songs to Furay.
The first Buffalo Springfield single, “Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing”, was released in July but made little impact outside of Los Angeles, where it reached the Top 25. The group was dissatisfied with and reworked some of their early recording efforts for the rest of the album. In fact, Young and Stills have long maintained that their own mono mix was superior to the stereo mix engineered by Greene and Stone. The album—eponymously titled Buffalo Springfield—was originally released by Atlantic’s subsidiary Atco in mono and in stereo in October 1966.