Tiger by the Tail

Yes folks, that's the last film of RG Springsteen. A film director specialized in westerns, and that's even more surprising to see that his last film is a crime drama. As John Sturges, two films before his retirement, gave us MC Q, a crime movie starring John Wayne impersonating Dirty Harry. This RG Springstee's film looks like a TV movie and is worth watching only because of its scarcity. Chris George is bland as usual but that's not a real problem for such a film. It is agreeable for early seventies gem diggers as me. The scheme is used, overused, so don't expect any surprise. Except maybe the horserace track heist, which will never make you forget Stan Kubrick's THE KILLING heist, but which is enjoyable to watch though.

Polar bears, rhinos, elephants. It doesn't matter which animal you choose, this title makes no sense. This looks like a TV movie and I was surprised to find that it isn't. The story centres around a racecourse and some missing money and unfortunately, it's pretty boring. There is nothing too convincing about any of it especially when Christopher George (Steve) starts throwing around Alan Hale Jr (Whitehorn). I don't think so! Badger by the belly, cat by the coccyx, hippo by the hairline…..like I said, this film is boring so there's nothing much to say about it. Why not spend time making up alternate titles for it? Remember that the title must bear absolutely no relevance to the film and keep to the animal theme.

Sometimes you have to wonder why some films are snubbed at the Oscars, and Tiger by the Tail is one of those films. Afterall, Charo is in it. Any film about a guy being framed for murder is obviously top notch. Why is there no Maltin review?