Tub Time: A Little "Glove" Love

Where have I been...? I don't mean where have I been when I take long stretches without posting. I mean, where in the hell have I been that it is 2026 before I have laid my hands on The Glove (1979?!)  It seems to contain so many elements that appeal to me as a rule. Pre-1990: check. Potentially gritty subject matter: check. Attractive leading man: check. Cast of name-brand actors: check! Yet it was days ago when I finally took it in. Is it good? Uh, no. Was it intriguing? To a point. 

Things are a bit askew from the start with regards to the poster. A reasonably slender figure with a Caucasian left hand is depicted. Yet the title object is worn by the hulking 6'5" football star turn actor Rosey Grier, who was not white. He plays an ex-con out for vengeance against some prison guards who abused him with a five-pound riot glove when he was incarcerated.  

Handsome 1950s movie idol John Saxon is a down on his luck bounty hunter in danger of losing visitation rights with his daughter if he can't come up with back child support. 

Around 43 by this time, he was still in great shape and, while he wasn't overly generous in sharing his beefcake, he has several open-shirt scenes. 

He's supported by a small gallery of veteran performers who have basically cameo parts on which they likely worked one or perhaps two days. There is 1940s hunk Aldo Ray as a victim.  

Keenan Wynn appears as a bail bondsman who metes out cases for Saxon to work on, giving him a percentage of the rewards for each instance. 

1930s & '40s star Joan Blondell (in the last film role she ever played) has a scene as an employee who made off with a wad of cash after struggling to make ends meet on her meager pay.

Nightclub comic turned actor Jack Carter plays a wealthy gambler and shady con man. 

Costarring as a potential love interest for Saxon is Joanna Cassidy. 

Busy character actor Michael Pataki plays a New York bounty hunter and rival of Saxon's. 

Though not a "name" actor, Howard Honig shows up as an associate of Saxon's. He will be recognizable to fans of the movie Airplane! (1980) and its sequel as a man whose wife come down with one unforgettable case of food poisoning.  

Then there's Grier (seen here with a light brown-bag lunch) who is wanted so badly that there is a $20,000 bounty on him! Naturally, Saxon wants to be sure that he's the one who nabs him and collects the reward.  

Here in a moment of semi-undress, we see Saxon conferring with Pataki over the prey. 

I just have to say that, while it was common back in the day, you just wouldn't see a movie now in which two guys come into a house where one of them lives and one of them untucks and unbuttons his shirt simply to get comfy!

In a rare moment of revelation, Saxon is briefly seen toweling his hair after a shower without his customary "comb-over." Saxon was cursed to be a leading man at a time when close-cropped hair was OUT and it was unthinkable for anyone outside Yul Brynner or Telly Savalas to be bald. Now it's basically a non-issue, especially in the action genre, but in the 1970s people did everything they could to appear to have plenty of hair. 

Anyway, he's quick to remedy the situation at the first possible moment. 

This is a Tub Time post and so we'll be focusing on that. This sequence involves a tub, but isn't the one I'm going to go into as much. One of the prison guards heads into his bathroom...

...and starts running water for a bath. Now, anyone I know would consider getting out of all those clothes as the tub is filling. 

But our guy plops down on the toilet seat and proceeds to leaf through a girly magazine and an adult newspaper. 

Trouble is... he's not alone in there!

The man gets the shit kicked out of him by "the glove" and winds up in the tub. 

Where he'll remain...

Before Saxon takes on the $20K case of the gloved one, he has a couple of other, smaller instances of jumped bail to contend with. One involves a man who's been bouncing checks. 

He might have known from the lawn decor what he was in for...

Peering through a back window, he spies a man soaking in a hot tub while playing the skin flute...

Longtime character actor Logan Clarke is billed as "Young Man" (Instead of "Young Man with a Horn" it's "Young Man with a Flute?")

Saxon makes his approach and Clarke seems pleased enough to see him coming.

As Mae West might have said, "Is that a flute in your hand or are ya just happy to see me?"

At first, Clarke has no clue who Saxon is or what he wants. 

But when he pulls out his cuffs, and they aren't for the purpose which might have crossed Clarke's mind, he isn't as happy. 

Saxon lurches forward...

...and Clarke rears back. 

And from here things get frenetic quickly. 

Clarke hops up and out of the tub. (Can I just tell you that I felt all along that he was going to be naked and it was a bit of a shock to find that he had these briefs on?)  

The two engage in a scuffle which, hilarious as it may be, is a little more rowdy than these caps might indicate. 

After some back and forth, Saxon up and tosses Clarke into the pool.

If you've ever seen a movie, you know that pool water always renders any adversary temporarily immobile, so things seem to be under control now. 

Only, surprise! Emerging from the house is burly Nicholas Worth. 

It turns out HE is the man that Saxon is after, not the flutist! In a rage, he takes a swing at Saxon. 

Having had a punch land upside his head, he has to take a beat to shake it off. 

A relieved Clarke now cheers his friend on from the sidelines. 

Worth is a far bigger target to take down than the first man. Still, Saxon seems to toss him all about the backyard. 

At various nanoseconds during this conflict, we can see that under his robe, Worth is wearing a skimpy li'l pair of white briefs. (Maybe I've been doing it wrong, but in a private backyard oasis like this, I'd not be bothering with such things. But, in the end, this is a movie and there have to be some standards. I guess...)

Eventually Saxon is being tag-teamed by the duo, and turns to a long-handled pool skimmer for use as a weapon. 

Clarke takes a stab to the breadbasket. 

Eventually, he careens back into the hot tub from whence he came. 

Worth, still in the game, winds up with the skimmer shoved over his head. 

And like an animal on a leash is hurled into the swimming pool. 

Horrifield Clarke looks on...

...as his hefty partner is finally incapacitated.

Keeping things tongue in cheek, Clarke is seen resigning himself to Worth's capture...

...before comedically sinking back into the tub. 

Later, out in the street, the now-dry lovers have a few moments of farewell as a few nosy broads from the neighborhood look on. 

Move along, girls... nothing for you here!

If Worth seems at all familiar to you, it may be because during his long career as a brute and a weirdo in many projects...

including his turn as a crazed psychotic killer in Don't Answer the Phone! (1980)

The story for The Glove was created by actor Ross Hagen (of many exploitation films and the TV series Daktari), who also made his directorial debut with it. He went on to direct seven more times and produced and/or acted in more films with gritty subject matter. 

Those of you who are a certain age doubtlessly recall seeing this movie on VHS down at the "now-defunct" video stores. I know I did, countless times, but I never did rent it. 

This movie came up for me as a recommendation on Tubi, which is where I watched it. But the video quality was remarkably bad, especially on my big ol' 70 inch-er.   

The blur took away much of the details which could be seen better in the original print. 

Thankfully, a far better rendition of the movie is available on YT. Here is the link if you want to check it out. 

The End!