Review of The Steagle

The Steagle (1971) is the movie that put the skids under Avco- Embassy. I remember seeing this one on first release. I was alone in the theater – one of the largest in the city – with the usherettes. The movie cost over two million dollars (including print and advertising costs) and returned less than two thousand to Avco- Embassy on first release. Of course, it has since picked up a bit of money on TV and DVD sales but nothing much. The problems are (1) the title: Nobody (including IMDb itself) knows what a steagle is, and (2) the cast: Richard Benjamin is a very capable actor, but he lacks charisma and never had much of a fan following, let alone a BIG fan following. Chill Wills has a bit of appeal, but he doesn't come on until the final segment, and by that time everyone has left the theater. But the biggest problem of all is that the movie itself is just so utterly incomprehensible – unless you read the Synopsis here at IMDb first. The movie itself explains nothing and the actions of the central character are just so weird that most viewers will leave the theater or take the excellent Mill Creek DVD off the machine after battling with the what-the-hell-is-going-on plot for ten or twenty minutes.