Review for Electra Glide in Blue

Wow! What a depressingly impressive directorial debut. And also a great final film in this particular director’s canon of work.

This Golden Globe nominated crime drama, which was something of a cult hit on release, clearly resonated with a young audience during a particularly depressing era of American politics. Many had recently returned from Vietnam, with all of the pent-up cynicism that often accompanied that, and this was made immediately post-Watergate. Which probably explains a lot.


It stars a very-short Robert Blake as John Wintergreen, a cut above the average Highway Patrolman in Arizona, who rides an Blue Electra-Glide Harley Davidson (hence the title) but actually dreams of becoming a fully-fledged detective.


Due to his short stature, he is not taken seriously by his superiors, but a smart hunch about an apparent "suicide" lands him the promotion he wants. However a few days on to the job, Wintergreen begins to realise how corrupt his boss Poole (Mitchell Ryan) is, discovering the job is less glamorous than he had imagined.


It was directed and produced by musician James William Guercio (from the band ‘Chicago’) based on a story by Robert Boris and Rupert Hitzig. As a first movie it’s pretty stunning work, using the back-drop of desolate Arizona to amazing effect looking every bit like a classic western but with the ‘heroes’ riding bikes, not horses.


John Wintergreen may be short (it’s emphasised in the opening sequences by showing a parade where he is so low the tracking camera only picks up the top of his helmet) but he’s damned serious about his job. That means giving tickets to speeding detectives who think they are above the law and to desperate truck-drivers just trying to make an honest living. As far as he is concerned, no one is above the law.


But he’s a good man too, not wanting to participate in busting some hippies with planted dope even though his partner, Zipper, (Billy Green Bush) is determined to reel them in for something.


When the duo discover an elderly man dead in his shack seemingly at his own hand (well, we saw him do it just before the opening credits didn’t we?) he’s desperate for it to be a murder to help give him a leg up to Detective work. His partner couldn't care less, far happier riding his bike and goofing off for hours reading comic books.


As a result of his insistence, a senior detective Harve Poole (Mitchell Ryan) agrees with his instincts and insists on an autopsy which shows the hunch was right, despite all the signs to the contrary. By way of reward, John is elevated to driver to the great detective.


Only it turns out that things are really no better or fairer when working as a bonafide detective.

The film is almost the opposite side of the coin to ‘Easy Rider’. Here we have law and order riding the bikes though we soon see that they are no better (or worse) than the people they arrest. It’s very depressing stuff with corruption and duplicity alive and well in all walks of life.


The performances are first class and, despite the pleasing aesthetic look to the film in general, it has a gritty, almost documentary-like feel to it.
This Odyssey release looks fine if unspectacular. However, I have made this assessment (and grabbed accompanying frames) from a DVD-R that was entirely menu-free so I have no idea if this is the intended commercial release.


‘Electra Glide In Blue’ should be seen at least once by anyone interested in films of the seventies. It’s impressive stuff in almost every regard. However, it’s not a feel-good movie and therefore is probably not one that will bear repeated viewings.

The release appears to be completely bare bones too which is a shame. Maybe someone will take the time to give this the release it deserves in glorious HD with lots of extra features. In the meantime, if this is all there is (R2-wise anyway) it’s probably worth picking up.