Ryan O’Neal makes his big screen debut as Jack Ryan, a Vietnam veteran and ex-con who loses his job as a cucumber picker on a California produce farm run by mean-spirited camp manager Bob Rodgers (Robert Webber).
Ryan meets and teams up with the seductive she-wolf Nancy Barker (O’Neal’s then-wife Leigh Taylor-Young), the secretary and mistress to the unscrupulous owner Ray Ritchie (James Daly). Nancy likes having sex in graveyards.
When Ryan takes another job as a cleaner at a local motel owned by local justice-of-the-peace Sam Mirakian (Van Heflin), Nancy approaches Ryan to help her rob Ritchie’s safe in his house which allegedly has $50,000 of payroll money inside.
Ryan reluctantly agrees to help with the heist, but becomes highly distrustful of Nancy, suspecting she may double-cross him to keep all the money for herself.
Made in 1969, this adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel is one of those “youth movies” that’s full of hippie characters, free sex, “daring” nudity and a general air of social rebellion. It’s an elastic plot that ambles on for more than 100 minutes.
Jack Ryan
Ryan O’Neal Nancy Barker
Leigh Taylor-Young Sam Mirakian
Van Heflin Motel resident
Lee Grant Ray Ritchie
James Daly Bob Rodgers
Robert Webber Cheryl
Cindy Eilbacher Sam Turner
Noam Pitlik
Director
Alex March
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