★ 4 / 10
**_Wannabe late 60’s cult flick is a tedious
Wuchak
**_Wannabe late 60’s cult flick is a tedious mess with not enough highlights_** A chubby debutante (Holly Near) returns from school in Europe to her lousy…
**_Wannabe late 60’s cult flick is a tedious mess with not enough highlights_**
A chubby debutante (Holly Near) returns from school in Europe to her lousy filthy rich parents in Beverly Hills (Jennifer Jones & Charles Aidman). At her coming out party she falls for the charms of a charismatic rock star (Jordan Christopher) and he & his group proceed to move into the mansion and manipulate the family with their ‘hip’ drug-addled nonsense. The band members are played by Lou Rawls, Roddy McDowall and Davey Davison.
"Angel, Angel, Down We Go” was released ten days after the Manson Family murders in August, 1969, but understandably failed at the box office and so was retitled & rereleased the following year as “Cult of the Damned” with an ad campaign that capitalized on those infamous hippie murders. It was written & directed by the scripter of “Wild in the Streets” from the previous year and so there are similarities, but this is the lesser film.
The comparable "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" came out the following year and it’s just all-around more entertaining if you want an amusing taste of the late 60s, but both flicks are marred by too much fruity twaddle, if you know what I mean. Thankfully, there are at least a handful of legitimate laughs to be had here.
Speaking of which, I can’t believe some people describe this movie as “unintentionally funny” because, trust me, it’s all intentional. The opening scenes advertise beyond any shadow of doubt that this is a comedic take on counterculture nuttiness, at least in the satirical sense. It’s also noticeably stagey and sometimes surreal, but there’s some decent late 60’s rock in the mold of The Doors mixed with The Mamas & the Papas.
Despite some amusing or interesting bits here and there, the story simply isn’t compelling as a whole. It starts witty enough, but bogs down in the first 15 minutes with focus on Holly Near’s character and she’s just not an interesting person IMHO. Once the ersatz Jim Morrison enters the picture things perk up but the proceedings bog down again at the Steele estate with random happenings and dull, spacey dialogues. A couple of skydiving sequences are thrown in, but who’s looking for that in a flick like this?
As for the post factum tie-in to the Manson Family slayings with the title change and a new tagline claiming “Drugs, thugs and freaked-out starlets, ritual murder and cannibalism, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created evil,” it’s mostly false advertisement. I suppose the Bogie-led band could be viewed as a mini-cult of sorts, but there’s no ritualistic murder or cannibalism, merely “If it feels good do it” libertinism and self-damnation.
If I’m in the mood for zany 60’s youth entertainment, I’ll go with "Lord Love a Duck,” starring Roddy McDowall, or even “Village of the Giants.” If I want something serious, I’ll go with “The Wild Angels,” “Easy Rider” or “Billy Jack.”
The film runs 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica with studio stuff done in Culver City.
GRADE: C-
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★ 3 / 10
Jen misses Selznick
bkoganbing
In her next to last film Jennifer Jones plays once again a decadent over sexed sultry figure in Angel Angel Down We Go. In the film she did a few years back…
In her next to last film Jennifer Jones plays once again a decadent over sexed sultry figure in Angel Angel Down We Go. In the film she did a few years back The Idol Jones plays an older woman who flips for her son's friend who just looks at her as someone he wants to nail. But The Idol was classic next to this one.Jennifer Jones and Charles Aidman play a rich power couple who have a daughter Holly Near who's no Miss Junior Miss. Still her status requires she be given a coming out as any débutante must have. At that party she meets Jordan Christopher who is a second hand version of Christopher Jones's character Max Frost from Wild In The Streets. He hangs out with a group of Manson like followers that include Davey Davison, Roddy McDowall, and Lou Rawls. With her millions they welcome Holly into their group all the while Christopher takes aim on Jones.We learned here that Jeanne Crain showed uncommon good judgment in turning this film down. Watching Charles Aidman I thought he was imitating Jason Robards and maybe Jason was who was originally thought of to play the father. I guess that Aidman was having his own little joke knowing he was in a Thanksgiving Day special.The Idol and Angel Angel Down We Go were both made after the death of David O. Selznick, Jennifer Jones's second husband and career Svengali. Selznick sure had his faults but there ain't no way he would have let his wife appear in those two films, especially Angel Angel Down We Go.Jones was apparently no good at charting her own career, but her final film was The Towering Inferno where she played the part of a respectable widow who stays respectable.Jordan Christopher was imitating Jim Morrison in his role and I can't believe that they didn't give the genuine talent of Lou Rawls a song to sing.Fans of Jennifer Jones will not like Angel Angel Down We Go.
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4.3/10
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