Tub Time: Bath Salt and Peppard

Did you ever have this happen to you? You come across a movie and think, "Oh yeah... I've seen that," and then later discover that you actually haven't seen it! You've just confused it with another movie that you did watch at some prior point. That was the case with 1970's Cannon for Cordoba. I recently ran across it and decided that it had been ticked off my list, but I somehow had gotten it gummed up in my mind with the 1972 TV-movie, The Bravos. So I dove into Cannon and found it to be watchable enough, thanks to a surprisingly familiar cast and a variety of colorful characters. (It also boasts an Elmer Bernstein score, which often helps.) One of the movie's set pieces concerns a bath and so - completist that I am - I had to bring that to this site.

 

George Peppard plays the ringleader of a hardscrabble group of mercenaries hired to retrieve some cannons that have been swiped by Mexican rebels. He and his "dirty half dozen or so" pals have to wade through various dangers en route to a fortress where the guns are being held. It's derivative of several other (better) movies and even presages Peppard's later hit series The A-Team.

While doing some reconnaissance work in a brothel, Peppard is trying to keep tabs on a person of interest, but becomes sidelined by one of the prostitutes! This blonde lady of the evening is played by Janis Hansen. (Hansen, this very same year, played a nun in Airport - the one who helps the doctor with the injured - meaning she really covered all the acting bases in one brief period!)

One of her pals at the house of ill-repute is Kate O'Mara (perhaps you'll recall her as Alexis' sister Caress Morrell on Dynasty.) She's immediately overcome by the smell of dusty, filthy, sweaty Peppard. 

Before anyone can say, "Do you take American Express?" they've dragged him into O'Mara's room and have begun trying to remove various articles of his clothing and accessories. As he's not actually there to get it on with them, he resists.

This won't do for Hansen. She takes his gun and holds it on him, saying (hilariously), "We don't do laundry" and ordering him to get his foul-smelling clothes off and get into the nearby tub.

A few moments later he's being made presentable by the two bath time attendants.

O'Mara even makes doubly-sure that he's squeaky clean everywhere before they entertain him!

Then his bath is over and he's given a pink towel (a "Cannon?") to dry of with.

Fun as it all was, this is not why he's there or what he came for! So he has to struggle to get dressed because now they really want to give him a tumble!

These are "working girls" after all, so he manages to cut himself a deal.

He gives them "half" their money by splitting a bill down the middle. If they'll let him go for a few minutes in order to take care of his other business, he'll be back with the other half. This placates them enough to where he can go shoot it up outside for a minute.

This sequence made the lobby cards for the film, albeit with the negative flipped. (This happened so often back in the day!)

There! An easy fix.

This foreign card even depicts the cast between takes with Peppard's pants open. The movie, in a better, more sharp print than the ones I screen-capped here, is available for viewing if you're interested at this link.

The End!