I Wish I'd Have "Dug" it More...

Most of my loyal readers are aware of my affection for early Burt Reynolds. He had one tribute, followed by a second after his passing and has figured into a number of other posts through the years. After many, many years, never once having seen it broadcast anyplace, I finally had the opportunity to watch one of his most obscure movies, 1970's Skullduggery, and was so excited to see it in widescreen hi-def, to boot! Unfortunately, it proved to be a rather sizeable let-down. There were wild swings in tone, some erratic editing and a built-in camp factor (which began, actually, with the cartoonish poster!) that prevented it from being a enjoyable as I'd hoped. Still, it wasn't completely without its merits, which I will be sure to point out as we take a gander at it today. 

Our budding star, Reynolds, had been a busy TV actor from 1959, making his movie debut in 1961 with the little-known Angel Baby. Other shows and movies followed, but by 1969 he'd emerged in more notable projects like 100 Rifles and Sam Whiskey. For the movie we're looking at today, he reportedly turned down the chance to costar in M*A*S*H (1970), an iconic hit. Directly after this, he would head into the Quinn Martin detective series Dan August, which deserved a longer run than its one season. Fortunately, within two years of this, a little movie called Deliverance (1972) would hit screens and his continued success was secured.

One thing this film does have going for it is some eye-popping location filming in widescreen Panavision. The cast and crew actually went to New Guinea, Samoa and Jamaica in order to capture the lush jungle settings versus so many other movies that were filmed on a back lot or California ranch.

There's a bit of hubbub in New Guinea as a female visitor arrives.

This catches the attention of local man about town Burt Reynolds (sporting a jaunty li'l red cap which will be visible for much of the first half of the film.) His partner in "crime" is one Roger C. Carmel, unrecognizable under a thatch of glued-on facial hair.

Inside the crown of his ball cap, Reynolds has a (remarkably sweat-free and un-stained!) clipping from the local newspaper. He refers to it in order to be certain that this visitor is the one he's interested in. (I mean, there's virtually no other female, Caucasian anyway, in sight, so it oughtn't to be that hard to narrow it down!)

Sure enough, Susan Clark is the woman in question, an anthropologist who's come to dig up bones in the nearby mountains in a search for "the missing link." ("TROG!")

This isn't an entirely artless movie, as demonstrated in this unusually-framed shot. A supine Reynolds is seen from underneath a table in the foreground.

Little did he know that this pose he's striking would soon be repeated in a life-changing Cosmopolitan magazine centerfold! Now we know where he first struck it, anyway, so we're digging up some bones of our own around here.

Carmel and Reynolds want to glom on to Clark's expedition. You see, they are after phosphorus for use in color TVs, but they don't want her to know that. So they invent another reason to tag along into the wilds with her.

The journey begins via river and Clark is stunned to see that the expedition is "manned" by a legion of topless female canoers (!) (Do anthropologists really get freaked by seeing unclad native women?) This National Geographic-esque development explains why you don't see this one on just any local TV channel...!

Turns out, these women will not follow any orders from Clark. They only do what a man tells them to do! So Reynolds has already come in handy when he directs them to load the cargo into their boats.

Once closer to their destination, the expedition is invited to a festive feast being given by an indigenous tribe. Clark offers up items from her cosmetic case (a must on any jungle expedition!) so that Reynolds can delight the chief with a mini-makeover. 

The use of Clark's lipstick provides a rather gory result! But the customer does seem pleased.

Speaking of being pleased... Back at her tent, Clark does a bit of a Salome routine with her mosquito netting serving as a veil. And suddenly Reynolds discovers a bone of his own!

The following morning, Reynolds (sporting his best Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island shirt knot) is delighted to bring Clark her morning coffee and a kiss.

Sadly, for him, she ain't havin' it. She wants to keep things "uncomplicated." He realizes that his one night with her doesn't equate to a "season ticket."

On they plod, to more jungle adventure involving native tribes, local officials and treacherous terrain. And now Clark is sporting a "Mary Ann" herself!

The landscape is truly beautiful as they wend their way deeper into the jungle.

Carmel and Reynolds reveal some bones they've brought along. They want to scatter them around to keep Clark occupied while they collect the phosphorus that they've stumbled upon.

Clark is no dim bulb, however, and quickly discerns that the bones are not authentic to the region.

Things take a turn, though, when Reynolds presents a skull he also dug up. This turns out to be a real find, leading her that much closer to the task at hand.

And her reticence to become emotionally involved with Reynolds is also beginning to thaw. She finds herself falling for him (first, literally, then romantically.)

Now is when things begin to go a little wonky... Clark thought she was searching for the remains of a species that might be the missing link. Suddenly, she and the others spy a cave-dwelling community of, er, creatures!

The Tropi are not exactly human and yet not exactly simian either. The missing link?

If you ever watched Land of the Lost, with Richard Chamberlain's old boyfriend Wes Eure, this concept will seem a little reminiscent of that! Hell, for all I know there could have been some designer douple-dipping going on, minus the nipples...!

A sense of trust is gingerly established between the humans and the Tropi. Carmel seems to attract the interest of one particular member of the tribe. (I presume she likes 'em tall and hairy?)

Walking upright is still a thing of the future, but at least false eyelashes have made their way to the interior of New Guinea...!

Carmel discovers that the Tropi have a strong affection for the canned ham that he's brought along.

For reasons unknown (I guess he's just a big eater), he has a slew of ready-made ham sandwiches in his bag that he uses to draw the other members of the tribe to him. (They have no use for the bread and generally toss it aside. They must be on Atkins?)

The other members of the expedition watch from a distance as Carmel charms the tribe. 

"The world is a circle without a beginning and nobody knows where it really ends..!" (No, Liv Ullman doesn't suddenly pop out to lead the way... LOL)

Back in their tent, an amazed Reynolds tries using his foot in order to retrieve a coffee mug. (He succeeds, too! And his hand on his crotch is also a success with me. Ha ha!)

Soon after he repeats the feet, er, feat!

Finally, at long last, we catch a glimpse of the fur we wanted to see in this movie all along!

Perhaps sensing a kinship with the furry Reynolds, the Tropi start to pay him some attention themselves.

He even bestows his beloved cap on one of them.

Things are turning out amazingly well, all in all. (The minister seen here, if your interested, is played by Chips Rafferty, a rugged Australian character actor who was very busy at this time.)

Reynolds and Clark even find a cozy jungle nook in which to rekindle their affections.

For a minute, I thought that we were being cheated and that this was actually shot in the same spot...

...where Barry Coe and Terry Moore canoodled for Peyton Place (1957), but it's not!

Anyway, time goes by and now Reynolds has constructed a phosphorus mine on site!

The Tropi work in the mine, bringing out wheelbarrows full of the mineral in exchange for cans of the ham they so love...!

Though he's never cruel to them, and they still seem fond of him, this does raise some ethical questions, to say the least.

Things get further complicated by the arrival of Clark's Swiss boyfriend Paul Hubschmid, who not only irks Reynolds, but who also has no special regard for the well-being of the Tropi.

Said Tropi have a tendency to appear in droves with little to no warning!

This time, however, there's a method to their being dragged out to the lagoon. Raffery has decided they qualify enough as humanoid that they all need to be Baptized!

They're reluctant to get in the water until (thank you, Jesus!) Reynolds takes them in with him.

And then the festivities really begin.

Hubschmid decides to study the mating habits of the Tropi and sets up a facility where they are monitored while they (don't!) make sweet monkey love.

Reynolds can hardly hide his disdain for Clark's pal, but at least we're treated to some snug white jeans on our leading man.

By the way, I love this burnt tangerine color and have a vintage shirt in this exact hue, which I always wore with white shorts. It looks better on ol' Burt, though, I must say.

A local tribe drops in to invite all of the interlopers to a big celebratory feast at their encampment.

While there, Reynolds is utterly mortified to discover that the tribesmen are actually roasting one of the Tropi on a spitz!!! He angrily breaks the whole scene up as his fellow expedition members drop their dinner to the ground. (We're told later that the Tropi used for din-din was from another, less-developed group, but wowza....!)

From here the film moves into still another phase, and it's just as head-scratching as some of the rest. It seems one of the Tropi has turned up pregnant. And a HUMAN is the father! Reynolds smuggles her out and takes her to a motel back in "civilization" but the whole enterprise takes a bad turn.

Before it's all said and done, Reynolds is defending himself in court on a murder rap! (In the courtroom, you can spy some of the other "names" who appeared in this movie, such as Edward Fox, Wilfred Hyde-White and Alexander Knox.)

Clark visits Reynolds in jail where he is sporting an eye-popping red shirt.

A variation on this look would become an iconic image for Reynolds when he made Smokey and the Bandit in 1977.

I've left some of the details of this very unusual movie out of my write-up. If you should wish to see it, a great copy can be found right here. As I said, it's a bit schizophrenic, but then so am I, I guess, because I actively disliked it while watching it the first time, then softened a bit the second time, perhaps because I was no longer expecting the sort of movie I had anticipated that it was going to be.

Had anyone other than Reynolds been cast as the leading man, I doubt I could have withstood it more than once. But he's handsomely photographed throughout with his tan face and colorful clothing standing out against the deep green foliage of the setting. And we're treated here and there to his gently simian physique!

Clark, who is a member of our Disaster Movie Club thanks to her roles in Airport 1975 (1974) and City on Fire (1979) affects a crisp British accent here, which kept drawing me out of the moment virtually every time she spoke (not that it's all that unusual for performers to do this. For some reason, I just wasn't down for it.)

I also found it horribly distracting that the normally zany and well-groomed Carmel (remember his as Harry Mudd on two eps of Star Trek?) was done up in all that hairy makeup. I thought it was Lionel Jeffries at first! (The uncle in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 1968!)

But the real shocker was in the "lead" member of the Tropi.

Beneath what had to be an excruciatingly hot and uncomfortable costume...

...lay 1950s Broadway star Pat Suzuki, who had done Flower Drum Song and introduced the classic song, "I Enjoy Being a Girl!" I wonder how she enjoyed this assignment?!

As this was rather fast on the heels of the colossally successful Planet of the Apes (1968), in which Oscar-winning actress Kim Hunter sported revolutionary ape makeup, maybe Suzuki thought it was a good idea. But Hunter's Dr. Zira was an articulate, astute, fully-clothed character who walked upright. She didn't have to wallow around on the ground munching Spam!

So at least our cup ranneth over with some nice looking glimpses of our Burt in his prime. I dug that! Till next time...