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The Short Version: HOLLYWOOD MAN, which is a blend of factual events and fiction, is bound to stir some thoughts and intrigue you. This is completely different from the usual fare you are likely accustomed to. William Smith, the actor cum director, tough guy in Jack Starrett’s classic exploitation feature, HOLLYWOOD MAN, gets himself into immense trouble when he accepts money from the mob to fund his film endeavors. He is a notorious figure in Hollywood. The imagery in Jack Starrett’s other feature films – A SMALL TOWN IN TEXAS and RACE WITH THE DEVIL – inspired me to create the fictitious character of the HOLLYWOOD MAN.
Rafe Stoker is a broke actor turned filmmaker that needs a whopping sum of $375,000 to create his masterpiece, but his employer won’t budge. Rafe, while blanking his producer’s red flags, strikes a deal with local mafia for the money. They accept, but with the condition that Rafe finishes the movie within four weeks. If not, he would lose his house, assets and everything he owns. Literally signing his life away, Rafe believes them. The mob, on the other hand, has different plans. They dispatch a deranged biker and their horde of maniacs purely for the sake of stopping Rafe from finishing at any cost. Along the way, they are willing to kill a few people as well.
The standout, yet terribly underrated exploration film of the 1970’s is HOLLYWOOD MAN. If you enjoy drive-in cinema, then there is a little bit of everything for devotees of low-budget drama films in HOLLYWOOD MAN. There’s action, there’s drama, sadistic motorbike riders, the most corrupt sheriff this side of the MACON COUNTY LINE (1974), excessive violence, and to top it off there is the toughest tough guy of them all, Big Bill Smith. To put the icing on the cake, not only did Smith write the film, he produced it as well. Interestingly enough, the only thing missing is a title card which states ‘Based On A True Story’ since the financiers of HOLLYWOOD MAN were indeed mobsters. Fortunately, the essence of the film wasn’t fabricated later. However, there is a foreboding title card that reads, ‘You always find out what something is worth when you pay for it.’
While the relationship between the mob and films was nothing new, it was still a magnificent idea to base a movie off of. The plot of HOLLYWOOD MAN is not as over the top as one would imagine, especially when we consider the perilous circumstances that Hong Kong personalities had to go through during the 1990’s when the Triads infiltrated the film industry.
If you know Smith and director Starrett, then HOLLYWOOD MAN feels like you are watching a movie that is about making a Jack Starrett movie. Starrett used to do things a bit differently from his peers, and if you were to look at the movies he made, and did not see his ‘Directed by’ credit, we would still know who made it. It is also a bit of a tribute the the biker genre that both Starrett and Smith have helped to popularize. This was the third and last time the two worked together, their previous works being biker cult classics RUN, ANGEL, RUN and THE LOSERS.
It offers tons of clever concepts and self-referential jokes, which is quite refreshing. One downside that can be said about this unique enactment is that it does not have a budget that allows it to do so flawlessly. It is still quite entertaining and engaging most of the time since Starrett was fortunate enough to take 90 minutes and offer it equal amounts of explanation and exploitation. Starrett’s, unlike HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD (1976), ‘behind the scenes’ is a bit more intense, blended with some surprising brutality. The script had a few unexpected twists that some might pick up on while other will not. Things begin at quite a joking manner, but it quickly nose dives into LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT territory and features movie sets alongside motorcycle.
Instead of hog riding, if Krug and his henchmen used motorcycles, they would resemble Harvey and his hired thugs. Ray Giardin steps fully over the edge when it comes to his portrayal of the deeply insane mob enforcer Harvey, who is described as ‘an insane biker who was in Spartacus with Kirk Douglas.’ If he is evaluated by his enraged emotional demeanor, then he is a major supporter of Jack Nicholson. His scenes with Smith are a few of the most incredible in this movie. Giardin has no choice but to act together with Smith, some of the worst parts are their first tense meeting when Harvey, before getting pushed off, says ‘2 1/2 weeks I worked with ya on RUN, ANGEL, RUN, for chrissakes to the tweaked out moment where Harvey threatens both Rafe and his wife in a restaurant. There is no denying that Giardin co-wrote with William Smith this incredibly amazing ‘bad guy’ role. It truly is a disappointment that Giardin has done little film work because he has mostly been involved in television. It is upsetting that this incredibly vile character was his only one in the movies.
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