''Angels Hard as They Come'' is a 1971 biker film directed by

Joe Viola Joseph Andrew Viola (May 27, 1938 – October 16, 2024) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Life and career Viola was born in The Bronx on May 27, 1938. He is known for his work with Jonathan Demme, with whom he collabora ...

and starring

Scott Glenn Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...

Charles Dierkop Charles Richard Dierkop (September 11, 1936 – February 25, 2024) was an American character actor. He is most recognized for his supporting roles in the films ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969) and ''The Sting'' (1973) and the televis ...

, Gilda Texter, James Iglehart, and

Gary Busey William Gary Busey (; born June 29, 1944) is an American actor. He portrayed Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics Award fo ...

. It was co-written and produced by

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, whose career directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. He was an ...

.Christopher T Koetting, ''Mind Warp!: The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman's New World Pictures'', Hemlock Books. 2009 p 30

Plot

Long John, Juicer, and Monk are members of a motorcycle gang, The Angels. When one of their drug deals is cancelled, members of another motorcycle gang, The Dragons, invite them to the ghost town of Lost Cause, where some hippies have started a commune. General, leader of the Dragons, challenges Long John to a race and loses. Long John then meets the hippie Astrid, to whom he is attracted. She says their leaders, Vicki and Henry, are unhappy with the Dragons. That night, several drunk Dragons attempt to gang-rape Astrid. The Angels intervene, and one of the Dragons stabs Astrid to death. The Dragons blame Long John, accusing him of trying to kill General. The next day, the Dragons tie up the Angels and attempt to kill them. Long John frees Monk, who escapes. Monk runs out of gas in the desert, is chased by a racist on a dune buggy, and eventually steals a camper. The hippies drug the Dragons' food and help Long John and Juicer escape. Monk finally reaches the home of Cloud, the drug dealer whom the Angels were to have met at the film's start. The remainder of the Angels are at Cloud's, and they follow Monk back to Lost Cause. In the morning, General ties Vicki to a pole and threatens to burn her alive if the hippies don't turn over Long John and Juicer. Henry attempts to kill General with a knife. General takes it from him and realizes the knife belongs to a fellow Dragon, Axe. General now realizes Axe tried to kill him during the rape of Astrid, and kills Axe. The Angels finally arrive in town, kill all the Dragons, and rescue Long John and Juicer. Everyone leaves town, the bikers and hippies going their separate ways.

Cast

as John "Long John" *

as General * James Iglehart as Monk * Gilda Texter as Astrid *

as Henry * Gary Littlejohn as "Axe" * Don Carerra as "Juicer" * Janet Wood as Vicki * Brendan Kelly as "Brain"

Production

met

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

while doing publicity on '' Von Richthofen and Brown''. The producer was impressed by publicity material Demme had written and asked if he was interested in writing a motorcycle movie. Demme pitched the idea of a motorcycle version of ''

Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay he co-wrote with Shinobu Hashimoto. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura, it follows various people who describe how a ...

'' and wrote it with Joe Viola, who directed TV commercials Demme had produced. Jack Fisk was the art director.

Reception

The film was very successful with Corman saying it earned rentals of over $700,000 and returning a profit of 46% within the first year.

References

External links

* *{{Rotten Tomatoes, angels_hard_as_they_come
''Angels Hard as They Come''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...