Blu ray review: Skullduggery (1970)

I remember seeing this movie back in the summer of 1970 in a double feature with the Elvis Presley picture Change of Habit. So, it is somewhat amusing to me that both films are being released at around the same time by Kino Lorber.

Skullduggery is based on a bizarre best seller from 1953 that had once been optioned by Otto Preminger for a film that never got made. Producer Saul David began shooting this movie in January of 1969, but fired his director, Richard Wilson, on the first day. He was replaced by Gordon Douglas, a veteran whose career dated back to Laurel and Hardy. Douglas had successfully directed Saul David’s production In Like Flint a few years before.

Burt Reynolds and Susan Clark were signed to the film, which resulted in Karl Malden showing some interest, but it was felt he was not right for a role described in the book as “a fat man.” Roger C. Carmel, a chubby character actor, was then hired, but when he showed up on the set, the producer was taken aback by his having dieted down to a slimmer weight for the role. Chips Rafferty also appears.

This very bizarre film was not box office success when it was first released in March, so by the summer it was being paired up with Elvis as the opening feature. But, despite this, the movie holds up well. Often films that tanked when first released look better years later.

Burt Reynolds was known mostly for TV work in shows like Riverboat and Gunsmoke when he appeared in Skullduggery, his only movie appearances having been in films like Navajo Joe, 100 Rifles, Sam Whiskey, and Shark. His screen career would be a lock with Deliverance a couple of years later. It is he who carries Skullduggery, the eerie surroundings and bizarre narrative benefiting from his character’s leadership and affability.

The film is about an expedition that uncovers a group of ape-human hybrids that may be an example of early man, offering a key to evolution. As they ponder whether these creatures are human or animal, their discussion delves into what is defined as human, what being human means, and other headier concepts. There are some underlying statements about human relations within the film’s context, especially when sex and murder are brought in, that make Skullduggery much more cerebral, while a creepy bestiality sub-plot makes it quite controversial. According to Burt Reynolds years later, “they didn’t know how to sell it.”

The vastness of Gordon Douglas’s establishing shots makes great use of the widescreen image, while the acting is serious and committed to the narrative, which helps with some of its more bizarre elements. There is a really strong poignancy to the film’s ending that truly resonates within its context, despite it lapsing into some shocking subject matter that is purposefully unsettling as part of its point..

Kino Lorber’s blu ray offers an insightful, interesting commentary by film historians Sergio Mims, Howard S. Berger and C. Courtney Joyner, who offer their usual intelligent discussion that is both enjoyable and enlightening. They have quite a challenge with such a bizarre movie, and they rise to the occasion.

Skullduggery can be purchased at this link: SKULLDUGGERY