''Cry Uncle!'', released in the UK as ''Super Dick'' (theatrical title) and ''American Oddballs'' (video title), is a 1971 American film in the

Troma Entertainment Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...

library. It is directed by

John G. Avildsen John Guilbert Avildsen (December 21, 1935 – June 16, 2017) was an American film director. He is perhaps best known for directing ''Rocky'' (1976), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Director, and the first three ''The Karate Kid'' fil ...

and stars

Allen Garfield Allen Garfield (born Allen Goorwitz; November 22, 1939 – April 7, 2020) was an American film and television actor. Early life Garfield was born in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family, the son of Alice (née Lavroff) and Philip Goorwitz. H ...

. The story, based on the Michael Brett novel ''Lie a Little, Die a Little'', follows the misadventures of a slobbish private detective who is hired by a millionaire to investigate a murder. The film features one of

Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino (, ; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law. Sorvino was particularly known for his roles as Lucchese cri ...

's first screen performances, and an early appearance from TV star Debbi Morgan.

Plot

Private detective Jake Masters is with his girlfriend Renee when he gets a call about a new case. The

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act i ...

is hunting for an eccentric millionaire, Jason Dominic, in connection with the murder of a cocktail waitress named Lucille Reynolds. Jason wants Jake to find the real killer. Jake goes to

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia ...

to pick up Jason's bodyguard, Cora Merrill. After an initial case of mistaken identity, Jake, his trainee nephew Keith, and Cora meet up and visit Jason's yacht. Jason tells them the police believe he killed Lucille because she had filmed an orgy featuring him with three prostitutes, who then blackmailed him out of $50,000. Jake, Keith, and Cora go back to Jake's apartment. Cora rebuffs Jake's advances and instead has sex with Keith. The three start working through their list of prostitutes and other unsavory suspects one by one. While questioning a man, Cora becomes violent, leading Jake to exclude her from questioning others afterward. During one encounter, two prostitutes and a male suspect tie up Jake, but the male suspect goes outside and is killed by an unknown person. Jake then follows one of the prostitutes to an apartment and rapes her before realizing that she is dead. By chance, Jake finds out that Cora's story does not make sense. He realizes that she is actually working on the orders of Jason to kill the blackmailers after Jake has located them. Jake notifies the police of this. He then goes back to his apartment and has sex with Cora. Afterward, he confronts her, and she admits to killing all of the suspects. A struggle ensues, and Cora is killed by the police. Renee then surprises Jake at his apartment, and the two are happy to be reunited.

Cast

– Jake Masters *Madeleine Le Roux – Cora Merrill *Devin Goldenberg – Keith *David Kirk – Jason Dominic *Pamela Gruen – Renee *Sean Walsh – Gene Sprigg * Debbi Morgan – Olga Winter *Maureen Byrnes – Lena Right *Nancy Salmon – Connie Landfield *Bruce Pecheur – Larry Caulk *

– Coughing Cop * Ray Barron – Bald Cop * Mel Stewart – Lt. Fowler *

Jackson Beck Jackson Beck (July 23, 1912 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor best known as the announcer on radio's '' The Adventures of Superman''Dunning, John. (1998). ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. Oxford University Press. . Pp. 1 ...

– Narrator

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featur ...

, co-founder of Troma, has a cameo appearance as a

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

Reception

The film features a great deal of nudity, sex, drug use. The film was banned in Finland for the year following its release, and in Norway until 2003. In addition to becoming a cult classic, the film launched a string of Troma films that appeared in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, many of them becoming cult films that ran on cable TV. During an interview featured in the Special Edition of the film's DVD, Allen Garfield says that ''Cry Uncle!'' is

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

's favorite comedy.

References

External links

* *
''Cry Uncle''
– at the

movie database {{John G. Avildsen 1971 films 1970s sex comedy films American sex comedy films 1970s English-language films Troma Entertainment films Films about murder Films directed by John G. Avildsen Films set in New York City Necrophilia in film 1971 comedy films Films with screenplays by David Odell Films based on novels American detective films Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Films about the New York City Police Department 1970s American films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links