C.C. and Company

Last updated
C.C. and Company
C c and company poster 01.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Seymour Robbie
Written by Roger Smith
Produced by Allan Carr
Roger Smith
Starring Joe Namath
Ann-Margret
William Smith
Cinematography Charles Wheeler
Edited byFred Chulack
Music byLenny Stack
Production
companies
Namanco
Rogallan Productions
Distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures
Release date
  • October 14, 1970 (1970-10-14)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.1 million (US/ Canada rentals) [1] or $2.8 million [2]

C.C. and Company is a 1970 American biker film directed by Seymour Robbie. It starred Joe Namath as biker C.C. Ryder, Ann-Margret as fashion journalist Ann, and William Smith as Moon, the leader of the fictitious outlaw biker club the "Heads Company". The film also features singer Wayne Cochran and his band The C.C. Riders.

Contents

Plot

C.C. Ryder falls in with a biker gang in the desert, and then rescues Ann from trouble with the same gang. There next occurs a motocross race tied in with a fashion shoot. The Heads disrupt the event, but C.C. Ryder enters the race to gain Ann's favor. This puts him in conflict with Moon. When Ryder wins the race and leaves with his award money the gang kidnaps Ann, and Ryder must ride back to save her.

Cast

Reception

Reviews were mostly negative. It was described by The New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby as "the picture to name when someone asks you to recommend 'a good bad movie.'":

It's not very long; it pays attention to every hallowed idiocy of its genre, and its characters talk a marvelously unreal type of movie repartee.

(Truck-driver: "You a student?"

She (cheerfully): "No. I'm a teen-age prostitute. Give you any ideas?")

What's more, its images are crammed with advertisements (for, among other things, Hamm's Beer, Hondas and Kraft Cheese) that are its own kind of relevant symbology. [3]

In his Chicago Tribune review, Gene Siskel, who supplied it with no stars, felt it was "hateful", adding:

"C.C. and Company" is the film that asks the musical question, "What do you want - bad acting or bad taste?" Director Seymore Robbie's idea is to have the women in the film make obscene remarks with their fingers and mouth.

After 20 minutes of visual effluvia, the big race is finally on. No, not around the dirt motorcycle track ... the one up in the aisles.

Ann-Margret has a brief nude scene in which she proves that in addition to having a foul mouth she is fat. [4]

The film was also blasted by the Cleveland Press' Tony Mastroianni:

"C. C. and Company" arrives on the waves of such big budget ballyhoo that it seems a shame to dismiss it by simply calling it awful, which it is.

How about meretricious? That's a big budget word for awful and the fellows responsible for this picture needn't feel they've been short-changed in the adjective department. "C. C." is a simple-minded movie for simple-minded audiences. There were times when it came close to being a fairly simple-hearted exercise in action melodramatics if it weren't so purposely and unrelievedly foul mouthed. The motorcycle movie is trying very hard to be a type by itself but it remains basically a western with wheels instead of hooves. This one is a variation on the old melodrama romance plot that at various times has been about an outlaw and a lady, a rustler and the rancher's daughter, a virgin and a gypsy, a princess and commoner and on and on. Football player Joe Namath should have stuck to football ... Actress Ann Margret should have taken up football or something else other than acting.

...

[William] Smith offers a perfect picture of nastiness, especially with his whisper-soft voice. He should stick to acting. In one scene a man points to [Joe] Namath and says " ... that's what gives motorcycling a bad name."

So do movies like this one. [5]

Filmink called it a "remarkably poor vehicle for Ann-Margret "considering it was written by her husband." [6]

The film's trailer is played during a scene in a movie theater in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood . (This constitutes an anachronism, as Tarantino's film is set in February 1969, and C.C. and Company was not released until October 1970.)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann-Margret</span> Swedish actress, singer, and dancer (born 1941)

Ann-Margret Olsson, credited as Ann-Margret, is a Swedish-American actress and singer. She has won five Golden Globe Awards and been nominated for two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and six Emmy Awards, winning in 2010 for a guest role in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

<i>Taxi</i> (2004 film) 2004 film by Tim Story

Taxi is a 2004 action comedy film directed by Tim Story and starring Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, Gisele Bündchen, Jennifer Esposito, and Ann-Margret. An incompetent New York City police officer is banned from driving and comes to rely on a talented taxi driver to help him solve a series of bank robberies. The film is a remake of the 1998 French film of the same name and was panned by critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AJS</span> British automobile and motorcycle manufacturer from 1909 to 1931

A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd was a British automobile and motorcycle manufacturer in operation from 1909 to 1931. The company was founded by Joe Stevens in Wolverhampton, England. After the firm was sold, the name continued to be used by Matchless, Associated Motorcycles and Norton-Villiers on four-stroke motorcycles until 1969, and since the name's resale in 1974, on lightweight, two-stroke scramblers and today on small-capacity roadsters and cruisers. The company held 117 motorcycle world records.

<i>Viva Las Vegas</i> 1964 film by George Sidney

Viva Las Vegas is a 1964 American rock and roll musical film, with auto racing thrown in, directed by George Sidney, choreographed by David Winters, and starring Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova, William Demarest. Set in Las Vegas, Nevada, the film tells about two competing race car drivers who also compete for the same girl.

<i>The Losers</i> (1970 film) 1970 film by Jack Starrett

The Losers released on video as Nam's Angels is a 1970 American biker war film directed by Jack Starrett.

<i>The Wild Angels</i> 1966 film by Roger Corman

The Wild Angels is a 1966 American independent outlaw biker film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Made on location in Southern California, The Wild Angels was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and 1960s counterculture. It inspired the biker film genre that continued into the early 1970s.

<i>The Rebel Rousers</i> 1970 film

The Rebel Rousers is a 1970 American independent outlaw biker film starring Cameron Mitchell, Jack Nicholson, Diane Ladd, Bruce Dern, and Harry Dean Stanton. Filmed in 1967, it did not receive a release until 1970 following the success of Easy Rider. It is one of several motorcycle gang films of the period to feature Nicholson, Dern and Stanton. The film was co-written, produced and directed by Martin B. Cohen in his only directorial effort.

<i>Stone</i> (1974 film) 1974 Australian outlaw biker film

Stone is a 1974 Australian outlaw biker film written, directed and produced by Sandy Harbutt. It is a low budget film by company Hedon Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne Cochran</span> American singer (1939–2017)

Talvin Wayne Cochran was an American singer, known for his outlandish outfits and platinum blond pompadour hairstyle. He was sometimes referred to as The White Knight of Soul. Cochran is best known today for writing the song "Last Kiss", which he performed with the C.C. Riders.

The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club.

<i>Made in Paris</i> 1966 film by Boris Sagal

Made in Paris is a 1966 American romantic-comedy film starring Ann-Margret, Louis Jourdan, Richard Crenna, Edie Adams, and Chad Everett. The film was written by Stanley Roberts and directed by Boris Sagal.

<i>Once a Thief</i> (1965 film) 1965 film by Ralph Nelson

Once a Thief is a 1965 crime film directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Alain Delon, Ann-Margret, Van Heflin and Jack Palance. It was written by Zekial Marko, based on his 1961 novel Scratch a Thief. The movie was known in France as Les tueurs de San Francisco.

<i>Joseph Andrews</i> (film) 1977 British film

Joseph Andrews is a 1977 British period comedy film directed by Tony Richardson. It is based on the 1742 novel Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding.

<i>R. P. M.</i> 1970 film by Stanley Kramer

R. P. M. is a 1970 American drama film directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Anthony Quinn and Ann-Margret. As the film's poster notes, the title is an initialism for "revolutions per minute", which at the time was a common term for the variable speed of a record player's turntable.

<i>Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur</i> 2011 American film

Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur is a 2011 direct-to-video film based on Scooby-Doo. The film was released on September 6, 2011. It premiered on Cartoon Network on September 3, 2011.

<i>The Swinger</i> 1966 film by George Sidney

The Swinger is a 1966 American sex comedy film directed by George Sidney and starring Ann-Margret and Anthony Franciosa.

<i>Darktown Strutters</i> 1975 film by William Witney

Darktown Strutters is a 1975 blaxploitation musical comedy film from New World Pictures. Despite having mixed reviews at the time it has gained cult status over the years with praise from film director Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino called it "a ridiculous satire".

<i>For Singles Only</i> 1968 film by Arthur Dreifuss

For Singles Only is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Arthur Dreifuss and starring John Saxon, Mary Ann Mobley, Lana Wood, Peter Mark Richman and Ann Elder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sin City Deciples Motorcycle Club</span> Outlaw motorcycle club

The Sin City Deciples Motorcycle Club, also known as Sin City Nation, is a mixed race one-percenter outlaw motorcycle club. As one of the most well-known and oldest black outlaw motorcycle clubs in the United States, they have multiple chapters across the nation and have an additional presence in Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. Additionally, the organization has many support clubs in across the U.S. in select states.

References

  1. ↑ "Big Rental Films of 1970", Variety, 6 January 1971 p 11
  2. ↑ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 294. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  3. ↑ Vincent Canby (15 October 1970). "Movie Review -Joe Namath Rides a Motorcycle:Football Player Seems Her Perfect Match Ann-Margret Co-Stars in 'C.C. and Co.'". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "MOVIES (October 16, 1970)".
  5. ↑ ""C.C. Si?" No! : The Cleveland Memory Project". www.clevelandmemory.org.
  6. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (September 6, 2021). "Surviving Cold Streaks: Ann-Margret". Filmink. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.