''Cowards'' is a 1970 American

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film written and directed by Simon Nuchtern about the then-topical issue of

draft evasion in the Vietnam War Draft evasion in the Vietnam War was a common practice in the United States and in Australia. Significant draft avoidance was taking place even before the United States became heavily involved in the Vietnam War. The large cohort of Baby Boom Gen ...

. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1970. Following the commercial failure of ''Cowards'', the film was re-edited with newly shot erotic scenes featuring unrelated actors, and was reissued under the title ''Love-In '72'' so that it could be remarketed as a

sexploitation film A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit se ...

. Nuchtern's name was removed from the credits of the recut version; the direction of ''Love-In '72'' was credited to Sidney Knight and Karl Hansen, and the writing to Jay Robins.

Plot

A young man must decide whether to flee the U.S. draft and move to Canada, or stay to go fight for his country in Vietnam.

Cast

* John Ross as Phillip Haller * Susan Sparling as Joan Boyd * Will Patent as Peter Yates * Tom Murphy as Howard Yates *

Philip Baker Hall Philip Baker Hall (September 10, 1931 – June 12, 2022) was an American character actor. He is known for his collaborations with Paul Thomas Anderson, including '' Hard Eight'' (1996), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), and ''Magnolia'' (1999). He also ...

as Father Reis * Alexander Gellman as Gregory Haller *

Spalding Gray Spalding Gray (June 5, 1941 – ) was an American actor, novelist, playwright, screenwriter and performance artist. He is best known for the autobiographical monologues that he wrote and performed for the theater in the 1980s and 1990s, as well ...

as Radical at party Additional cast in ''Love-In '72'' version: * Linda Southern as Sunny * Daniel Nugent as Steve *

Sandra Peabody Sandra Peabody (born January 11, 1948) is an American producer, writer, acting coach, talent agent, and retired actress. Peabody is best known for her role as Mari Collingwood in Wes Craven's directorial debut horror film '' The Last House on t ...

as Linda * Lucy Grantham as Susan

Reception

Reviews of ''Cowards'' were mixed to negative.

Roger Greenspun Roger Greenspun (December 16, 1929 – June 18, 2017) was an American journalist and film critic, best known for his work with ''The New York Times'' in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for '' ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said he "liked" ''Cowards'' despite it being "one of the squarest, most unashamedly flat‐footed films of the year," and praised the performances of John Ross and Susan Sparling. The ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' said that "at best, the drama is talky and labored." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' dismissed it as "inept" and "a film best forgotten." Reviewing the DVD release of the ''Love-In '72'' cut for

Something Weird Video Something Weird Video is an American film distributor company based in Seattle, Washington. They specialize in exploitation B to Z films, particularly the works of Harry Novak, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman and Herschell Gordon Lewis. ...

Frank Henenlotter Frank Henenlotter (born August 29, 1950) is an American film director, screenwriter and film historian. He is known primarily for directing horror comedies, especially '' Basket Case'' (1982), ''Brain Damage'' (1988), and '' Frankenhooker'' (199 ...

wrote "Eagle-eyed viewers will enjoy spotting two now-mainstream actors in small, incendiary roles:

plays the priest who preaches the gospel of civil disobedience, while monologuist Spalding Grey is alternately funny and scary as a psycho terrorist babbling at a party."

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1970 films American drama films American sexploitation films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films