Ageing country music entertainer Maury Dann (Rip Torn) is one of those men who sweep through life, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Holding on to the precarious position of a top star, he lives out to the full his creed that “you only pass this way once. If you can’t smoke it, drink it, spend it or love it, forget it!”
As his white Cadillac travels on a whistle-stop tour of one-night stands through small-town America, Maury drives himself and his entourage to the limit of their energies. He systematically pushes aside anyone or anything that gets in his way – charming a traffic cop when the car is stopped for speeding, brutally rejecting one girlfriend for another, dropping in on a local DJ and putting on a false act of bonhomie for the benefit of listeners.
And when Maury accidentally kills a man (Walter Bamberg) who accuses him of raping his girl (Linda Spatz), it is Maury’s driver, Chicago (Cliff Emmich), who has to take the rap for it.
Maury’s family ties are as hollow as his business contacts – his mother exists in a state of lethargy until provided with a handful of pep pills, and visiting his ex-wife to bring presents for his son’s birthday, he is coldly told he has miscalculated the date by four months and the age by several years.
As the man who has lost himself in the pursuit of success, Rip Torn – who at the time was primarily a stage actor – catches the spirit of shallow charm needed for the central role, with good support from the rest of the cast and some fine directing from Daryl Duke.
Maury Dann
Rip Torn Mayleen Travis
Ahna Capri Rosamond McClintock
Elayne Heilveil Clarence McGinty
Michael C. Gwynne Bob Tally
Jeff Morris Chicago
Cliff Emmich Ted
Henry O. Arnold Lyman Pitt
Bobby Smith Henry Tutweiler
Dallas Smith Foggy Bottom Yonce
Richard Hoffman Bridgeway
Walter Bamberg Galen Dann
Eleanor Fell Mama Dann
Clara Dunn Sandy
Linda Spatz Bob Dickey
Earle Trigg Officer Ratliff
Winton McNair Restaurant manager
Mike Edwards Motel manager
Gene Cody Jesse Weatherwax
Frazier Moss Billy Lee Blackstone
Philip Wende Abe
Ed Neeley Dabney
Sonny Shroyer Club manager
Cliff Hillerby
