Dirty O'Neil
1974
Dirty O'Neil is a long
forgotten artifact of the
early 70s drive-in era,
and contains most of the
usual characteristics of
that sub-genre: a bit of
violence, a few car
chases, some comedy,
amateurish acting,
confusing editing, and
lots of attractive female
flesh.
The titular O'Neil is a
tall, handsome young cop
in what must be, according
to the dialogue, the most
boring small town in
America. The lack of
action gives the patrolman
plenty of time to pursue
his favorite
extracurricular activity,
which is to bed beautiful
women. The plot, such as
it is, centers around a
trio of lowlifes who
wander into the sleepy
town while on the lam. It
isn't long before the
baddies realize the quiet
town might represent some
easy pickin's, so they
start robbing and raping,
and thus forcing the
laid-back local cop to
fight some real crime, big
city style.
This effort may be a cut
above the typical drive-in
fare, if for no other
reason than it was
scripted by Leon
Capetanos, who would later
team with mainstream
director Paul Mazursky to
write some fairly good
scripts like Moon Over
Parador, Moscow on the
Hudson, The Tempest and
Down and Out in Beverly
Hills. Unfortunately,
Capetanos didn't restrict
his participation in Dirty
O'Neil to scripting
duties. He also directed
the film, and he showed
far less talent in that
capacity, as the film is
clumsy and poorly paced.
Within a year Capetanos
would give up on
directing, or maybe it
gave up on him. Either
way, he eventually managed
a solid career as a
screenwriter.
The exploitation elements
of this film are oddly
inconsistent. At times
it's balls-to-the-wall
violence and full frontal
nudity. At other times,
the violence (from the
same perpetrators) is
remarkably subdued and the
sex is bewilderingly coy.
A couple of examples of
the latter:
- Sultry Anitra Ford
was no stranger to
screen nudity, having
bared all in several
other films from the
same era. In this
flick, however, Ford
grabs the cop's gun,
tells him to undress
her and ... nothing.
The scene cuts off
abruptly.
- Beautiful Ella
Edwards plays a hooker
who throws Dirty
O'Neil a complimentary
fuck, but nothing is
seen on camera. The
invitation is
portrayed, and the
post-coital
discussion, but
nothing in between!
- August, 1974
Playmate Jeane Manson
is brutally raped by
all three of the
baddies, and the film
devotes several
minutes of running
time to that
unpleasantness, but no
part of Manson's body
is exposed in that
footage. Earlier in
the film, Manson drops
in to the cop's
apartment for some
booty calls, but all
the good stuff occurs
off-camera. (She does
later bare a single
breast when the
baddies come back to
rob her cafe.)
Those scenes seemed to
be designed specifically
for nudity, but the
nudity never happened.
Anyway, here are the
women who DO get naked,
and there were many:
Pat
Anderson - full
frontal
Jeane
Manson - one breast.
For a much better look
at Jeane, look down
there in Catch o' the
Day for some caps from
The Young Nurses, a
movie in which she bared
all, front and rear.
Liv
Lindeland shows some
first-class breasts as
the sexually
frustrated wife of an
elderly judge.
Katie
Saylor strips down to
have sex with ... Art
Metrano, who plays
Dirty O'Neil's partner.
Several
women get naked in the
showers and locker
room. They play on
a basketball team
coached by Dirty O'Neil.
Two other members
of that team, Tara
Strohmeier and Kitty
Carl, strip in front
of a glass door to
tease their neighbor.
Another
woman comes out of a
cake topless.
Based on the credits,
using the process of
elimination, I suppose
that she must be either
Susan McIver or Linda
Gold, but I can't pin it
down more definitely.