James Caan & Marsha Mason in Cinderella Liberty (1973)

Obscurity factor: 8

American Life Network strikes again! This film was on a few days ago as part of their "R to G" film series. Now aside from the fact that I think this is a particularly peculiar marketing concept - taking the teeth out of a film and trying to use that fact as a virtue - it really makes this film a bit of a confused mess, with almost half the dialog bleeped out and entire scenes removed. The intent and charm of the film still shines through though. John Baggs Jr. (Caan) is on leave from his ship because of a little medical problem. While in Seattle he meets Maggie Paul (Mason), a prostitute in a bar and is drawn into her chaotic, impoverished life with her illegitimate mixed-race son. As their relationship develops his Navy records are lost and he finds himself in limbo with no source of pay and no place to go. As he gets by on Navy relief funds, his connection to Maggie and her son deepens. Will he be able to pull himself and them out of the seedy life they find themselves in?

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This film has a lot going for it. The acting and direction are first rate and the gritty story has a warmth and genuineness to it that rings true. James Caan, at the top of his game is adorable and Marsha Mason, in her first, big, featured role gives a powerful, yet subtle performance. Look for Eli Wallach as a burnt out old drill sergeant, down on his luck and Dabney Coleman as a heartless base commander.

Though not high in the public consciousness, this film is available on DVD. The scene above is the first meeting of John and Maggie. It was uploaded to YouTube by mistofoles.

Obscurity factor: 8 (not well known, available on DVD)

James Caan, Marsha Mason & Valerie Harper in Chapter Two (1979)

Obscurity factor: 8

Successful author George Schneider (Caan) has recently lost his wife and is having trouble getting back into life. His brother Leo (Joseph Bologna) urges him to go out with other women and fixes him up with actress Jennie MacLaine. While the two hit it off, George has trouble reconciling the relationship with the grief he feels about his wife's passing. Meanwhile Leo has started dating Jennie's friend Faye (Harper). Can the two couples navigate love, loss and dating in the 70's?

This is one of Neil Simon's lesser known films, and there's some charm to be had from it. Marsha Mason is charming as the slightly neurotic actress and though James Caan is a bit wooden, his natural charisma comes through. Harper and Bologna are delightful as the second leads. 

This film is not yet available on DVD, though there is a VHS release of it out. It can also be seen in full on YouTube, though the uploader has disabled embedding, so you'll have to click this link to see it. A television commercial for the film is above, uploaded to YouTube by robatsee2009. The poster above is from Romanian site gk.ro.

Obscurity factor: 8 (not on DVD, not one of Simon's better known films, available on YouTube)

Peter Falk, Madeline Kahn & Eileen Brennan in The Cheap Detective (1978)

Obscurity factor: 7

Hot off the success of Murder By Death, Neil Simon and Robert Moore put this little film together. It extrapolates on the Humphrey Bogart style character that Peter Falk played in the film and pairs him with a bevy of saucy ladies from femme fatales to girls Friday. The film is a parody of the best of the genre, including Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Chinatown and even A Streetcar Named Desire.

The production values are very high, it's beautifully shot in smoky rooms with dramatic lighting and the costumes and sets are nicely rendered. They provide the setting for some deftly handled, if at times silly comedy. Also look for Ann Margaret, Stockard Channing, Sid Caesar, Marsha Mason, James Coco, Phil Silvers, Fernando Lamas and John Housman.

In the clip above, Eileen Brennan plays a remarkably funny lounge singer, uploaded to YouTube by SueSnell. The film is available on DVD. The poster above is available from MoviePosterShop.com.

Obscurity factor: 7 (available on DVD, has cult following, but isn't as well known as Murder by Death)