Hunters Are for Killing

Director: Bernard L. Kowalski, Bernard Girard Bernard L. Kowalski

Overview

L.G. Floran (Burt Reynolds) is released from prison after serving six years for manslaughter -- convicted of killing his own brother in a drunk driving incident in which he always denied being involved. He returns to his home, in the California wine country, hoping to put his life back together, but that won't be easy -- in the interim, his mother has died, but his hostile stepfather Keller Floran (Mevlyn Douglas) won't let him get anywhere near any inheritance he might have coming, or the home he grew up in. And the local law, led by police chief Wade Hamilton (Martin Balsam), is mostly arrayed against him, especially when Hamilton realizes that his married daughter Barbara (Suzanne Pleshette) is still attracted to L.G. Most of the town is convinced that L.G. got off too easy for killing his brother, and wouldn't mind someone evening the score -- add to that the presence of a bored (and randy) 17-year-old Holly Farnell (Jill Bennett), who is attracted to L.G.'s rebel, outcast persona; and Rudy LeRoy (Larry Storch), a nightclub owner whose testimony helped convict L.G. (and who has his thugs beat him up), and the stage is set for an explosive mix of violence and retribution that will touch almost everyone in L.G.'s hometown.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/12/2019
UPC:	0810017887446
Original Release:	1970
Source:	Cbs Mod
Language:	English
Time:	1:37:00
Sales rank:	52,474

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Burt Reynolds	Actor
Melvyn Douglas	Actor
Suzanne Pleshette	Actor
Martin Balsam	Actor
Jill Banner	Actor
Don Barry	Actor
Peter Brown	Actor
Angus Duncan	Actor
Ivor Francis	Actor
Larry Storch	Actor
A Martinez	Actor
Jerry Fielding	Composer

Technical Credits

Charles Kuenstle

Bernard L. Kowalski	Director
Bernard Girard	Director
Hugh Benson	Producer
Charles Kuenstle	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Hunters Are For Killing was a well-above-average made-for-television feature, a production of Cinema Center films from the first full-blown wave of that hybrid genre. And on this particular picture, it looked like the makers were really on to something. With a cast that (except for its up-and-coming star, Burt Reynolds) was still mostly identified with feature films, Hunters Are For Killing looked sensational in 1970, and struck an ideal balance between character development and action. There is also a certain amount of topicality at work, which still seems valid when seen 40 years later -- generations at war, and truths untold between them that have terrible consequences for those concerned. Melvyn Douglas is outstanding in an unusually unpleasant role, stealing every scene he's in with his quiet power and authority as an actor, with Suzanne Pleshette and Martin Balsam only a few paces behind him, and Burt Reynolds holds his own in their company, itself an achievement for the young leading man. {A. Martinez and Larry Storch are also good in their parts, and apart from its other virtues, the photography and story take full advantage of what the Napa wine country of California has to offer visually and dramatically. And there's a first-rate, richly textured score by Jerry Fielding that is not only good listening in its own right (a soundtrack CD was issued in 2010), but gets inside the characters' psychology as well. In all, it was a great night's viewing in 1970 and still holds up 40 years on -- we can only wish for a DVD release.