Friday, September 16, 2011

Barbara Eden & Robert Vaughn in The Woman Hunter (1972)

Dina Hunter (Eden) is a wealthy socialite vacationing in Acapulco with her husband (Vaughn). She's still out-of-sorts after a traumatic automobile accident in which she killed a man and was put on trial and acquitted, but the couple hope that the change of scenery will do Dina some good. Shortly after her arrival she meets painter, Paul Carter (Stuart Whitman), who tries to seduce her with mixed results. She agrees to sit for him, but changes her mind when she finds and unfinished painting featuring her priceless emerald necklace and clippings about her and another woman who had been killed for her jewelry in his apartment one night. Is Paul the killer she thinks he is?

This made-for-TV movie is a bit stilted, but has some fun, campy moments in it. Eden is just gorgeous and changes clothes at the drop of a hat and the scenery is breathtaking. Look for a campy cameo from Larry Storch at the beginning and a wacky dance Eden does in the middle of the film that seems completely unmotivated. The Woman Hunter has been released on DVD, in a cheap dollar bin transfer and can be found on Amazon. It's also available in full on YouTube, uploaded by drelbcom.

Obscurity factor: 8 (available on DVD & YouTube, almost completely forgotten)

7 comments:

  1. Have had, and always will have a crush on Barbara Eden. I still Dream Of Genie, and the results are invariably satisfying!

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  2. Yes, and she's so beautiful in this...

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  3. Barbara Eden probably did better then any of the blonde bombshells. Most of the others faded or (you'll excuse the expression) died. She could have easily been sucked into the "pretty girl vortex", but didn't. Her career has been VERY well crafted.

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  4. Watched about 30 minutes - very interesting. I think Eden is intentionally playing the role as far removed from "Jeannie" as possible, in terms of personality, if not clothing. I cannot agree that her career has been well-crafted, but she has managed to maintain her dignity/integrity throughout the years.

    I found the "binocular" shots to be quite amusing - being that they are capable of all types of cinematic wonders...notice how the first such shot of Eden's character, manages to track her from the exact same angle for quite a while (meaning, of course, they took an illogical shot, and slapped the binocular circle around the image).

    Look forward to "the dance", as I continue watching later tonight...after The Emmys, of course.

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  5. Finally finished it - very subdued, well, except for the dance. Now I want to see the TV movie she a did a year earlier, with Larry Hagman - "A Howling in the Woods." And it's on YouTube!!

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  6. Mmm, I'll have to look for that one! Don't be surprised if you see it on the blog soon!

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  7. Just watched it - quite good. See what you think...would love to hear your comments.

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