Electra Glide in Blue has finally been released in Region 1, unfortunately it’s the American release with a second of violence missing (which only partly explains the astonishing PG certificate). Even better, it’s less than a tenner and has a director’s commentary.

For the uneducated, this is a story of a traffic cop in Arizona with aspirations to become a detective, hampered by his corrupt bosses and the fact that he’s only five feet four inches tall. It’s the only movie directed by music producer James William Guercio and is stunningly photographed by the great Conrad Hall, and the story is slow and unpredictable but never boring.

Incidentally, the vinyl LP version of the soundtrack for this movie (see above) contains more stuff than any album I ever bought – a six foot poster of Blake and his bike in Monument Valley, stills, an Electra Guide blueprint and more. I suspect Guercio was involved in the album presentation, as well as getting several members of his most famous band Chicago to appear in the movie – fans of The Karate Kid should keep their eyes peeled for Peter Cetera…

While I’m doing trivia, you may recognise the song Tell Me, performed by Terry Kath, which plays during the extended tracking shot at the end of Electra Glide In Blue – it was also used in the last scene of the final episode of the TV series Miami Vice.

Commercially, Electra Glide in Blue never really recovered from being labelled as ‘fascist’ at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival – another indicator of how much times have changed – but it’s slowly picked up a cult following over the years, and is now seen as more of a companion piece to Easy Rider than a direct attack on its politics. For my money it’s much better and has certainly stood the test of time better. It’s the sort of movie that doesn’t get made any more, and to be honest wasn’t made that often back then. Presumably it’s only being released due to star Robert Blake being in the news after being acquitted of murdering his wife, but either way it’s a fascinating snapshot of a very different time.

Mild Peril Rating:

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Tags: Lost Classics