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63-614: Kansas City Bomber is a 1972 American sports drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , directed by Jerrold Freedman and starring Raquel Welch , Kevin McCarthy and Jodie Foster in her second appearance in a feature film. The film is an inside look at the world of Roller Games , then a popular league sport-entertainment, a more theatrical version of roller derby . The story focuses on K.C. Carr, who has just left her former team in Kansas City, Missouri , to start her life as

126-433: A weighted average of 8.00/10. The site's consensus reads: ' Performance is an exuberant and grimy ode to the sexual revolution, evoking cultural upheaval and identity crisis with rock 'n' roll verve and a beguiling turn by Mick Jagger.' Several aspects of Performance were novel, and it foreshadowed MTV -type music videos (particularly the sequence with "Memo from Turner", in which Jagger sings) and many popular films of

189-532: A 'fundamentally rotten' job, regularly 'upstaging the action and the actors with tricky (and often unintelligible) sound recording and 'striking' composition. Oddly enough, they may have stumbled into a cult hit.' Richard Schickel of Life described the film as 'the most disgusting, the most completely worthless film I have seen since I began reviewing'. By way of contrast, Jan Dawson of The Monthly Film Bulletin called it 'the kind of brilliant, baffling film about which it would be marginally more easy to write

252-418: A book than a review ... though visually dazzling, wittily and literately scripted, and brilliantly conceived, the film inevitably derives much of its strength from its performers, nearly all of whom achieve a near-symbiotic relationship with their roles'. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Performance gradually acquired a cult following on the late night and repertory cinema circuits. By the 1990s, it had undergone

315-470: A bottle hidden in a skating boot, she goes to the dogs with an inappropriate passion rich enough to suggest an over-the-hill Sarah Bernhardt being traded off to the minors by the Comédie Française . Arthur Murphy of Variety wrote, "Raquel Welch stars in one of her most effective roles to date. Rugged, brawling action will more than satisfy those who enjoy that type of commercial carnage, while

378-626: A critical reappraisal. The film has become canonised by many theorists of British cinema, who have suggested it is iconic within the British gangster genre. This is primarily due to its reflection of the coexistence of the criminal world of the East End and the bohemian culture in London during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1995, Performance appeared at number 30 in a Time Out 'all-time greats' poll of critics and directors. After Cammell's death in 1996,

441-433: A dark, experimental film which included graphic depictions of violence, sex and drug use. It was intended that The Rolling Stones would write the soundtrack, but due to the complicated nature of the various relationships on and off-screen, this never happened. At the time of filming, there was fear from Keith Richards that Pallenberg, his partner, took part in real sex during the filming with his bandmate Mick Jagger. This

504-509: A fight scene with co-star Helena Kallianiotes . An MGM spokesman said the two actors "got carried away" and Welch "got slugged". Welch later said she also bruised her knees, got a spasm in her trapezius , had some hematomas on her head, and suffered several headaches. The film used real-life stars of the National Skating Derby, Roller Games, as uncredited extras, such as Patti Cavin ('Big Bertha' Bogliani), Judy Arnold (who

567-430: A more richly developed sport world, and may also be more player-oriented or thematically complex. Often, they feature a hero of adventure origins and a clear distinction between loss and victory set against each other in a play time struggle. Thematically, the story is often one of "our team" versus "their team"; their team will always try to win, and our team will show the world that they deserve recognition or redemption;

630-490: A reclusive rock star ( Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones ). The film was produced in 1968 but not released until 1970, as Warner Bros. was reluctant to distribute the film, owing to its sexual content and graphic violence. It initially received a mixed critical response, but its reputation has grown since then, and it is now regarded as one of the most influential and innovative films of the 1970s, as well as one of

693-456: A room. "It's all set up, as everyone knows", said Welch of skating. "It's too bad it couldn't be a more legitimate sport. The skaters have great athletic ability. I'm not much of an athlete ... For the film I had to learn to skate again. I hadn't skated since I was seven." Filming was to have started in February 1972. Welch practiced skating for several months, training with pro teams, wearing

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756-600: A single mother over again in Portland, Oregon , with a team called the Portland Loggers. Loggers' owner Burt Henry is clearly interested in her, and he and K.C. date. Henry has a rather ruthless side to him: he trades away K.C.'s best friend and roommate on the team, and when he sees that star male skater "Horrible" Hank Hopkins ( Norman Alden ) is interested in her, he manipulates the audience into booing Hopkins, causing him to go crazy and lose his job. Henry's endgame

819-562: A specific moment in history like I, Tonya (2018). Examples of this overall genre/type include: Body and Soul (1947), The Hustler (1961), Rocky (1976), Hoosiers (1986), Remember the Titans (2000), Lagaan (2001), Moneyball (2011), Ford v Ferrari (2019), Ferrari (2023) and the Goal! trilogy. There have been numerous sports movies that have become award winning phenomenons. Several films have been nominated for and won

882-481: A suitcase and runs from the scene. When Flowers makes it clear that he has no intention of offering protection to Chas, but instead wants him eliminated, Chas decides to head for the countryside to hide out, but after overhearing a musician talk about going on tour and leaving his rented room in Notting Hill Gate , Chas goes there and pretends the musician was a friend who recommended him. He tells Pherber,

945-400: A tight roller derby jersey, running around the track. Listen, they weren't stupid, they were smart to do that. It certainly made them a lot of money, and it would have been a much riskier project to go the other way. They weren't sure whether Raquel could pull it off. I think she could have, but they wanted to play it much safer and go with a much more straight-on roller derby story. So, the film

1008-429: A time. Over the course of moving from studio to studio, the script was heavily rewritten. Sandler later said if the film had been made at Warner Bros, "they would have stuck to" the original conception: Warner Brothers was a much more adventurous studio at the time. They were making The Devils and A Clockwork Orange , Performance ... they stuck with those kinds of movies. ... MGM wanted to sell Raquel Welch in

1071-420: A wig and dark glasses and posing as a journalist looking into a story. In January, a rink was constructed on an MGM soundstage, enabling Welch to practice daily. She broke her right wrist during a speed skating session, forcing shooting to be postponed eight weeks until April. Filming of Kansas City Bomber took place in Portland, Oregon . Two weeks into the shoot Welch suffered a cut lip and swollen face during

1134-568: A woman living there, that he is a fellow performer, juggler Johnny Dean. She lives there with Turner, a reclusive, eccentric former rock star who has 'lost his demon', and Lucy, with whom he enjoys a non-possessive and bisexual ménage à trois. Floating in and out of the house is a child, Lorraine. At first, Chas is contemptuous of Turner, who himself attempts to return the rent paid in advance, but they start influencing each other. Pherber and Turner understand his conflict, and want to understand what makes him function so well within his world. To speed up

1197-448: Is a personal triumph for her after surviving more rotten movies than anyone would care to remember." Tom Milne of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that for "a few minutes" the film was "fast, furious and funny", until the "dismally scripted" film turned serious. Joyce Haber called it one of the worst films of 1972. Helena Kallianiotes was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture . The film

1260-411: Is almost show business, it's a carnival atmosphere, but I can understand its popularity. Most of the spectators are basic people and there's something cathartic about watching people get dumped. The yelling creates a certain kind of intensity. The type of violence draws you in, makes you involved. The skaters are tough but I think all women are tough. The skaters aren't any tougher than most of the women in

1323-410: Is clear that this genre is loved by many. Performance (film) Performance (stylised in promotional material as performance. ) is a 1970 British crime drama film directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg , written by Cammell and filmed by Roeg. The film stars James Fox as a violent and ambitious London gangster who, after killing an old friend, goes into hiding at the home of

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1386-486: Is really sharp enough or fast enough or even wide enough open. His roller-games scenes seem authentic but rather unexciting; and his major stylistic contribution is to indulge a penchant for zooming his camera back, leaving characters trapped behind windows in pretentious and often ludicrous dramatic isolation. ... The film's one incredible performance comes from Helena Kailianiotes, as Jackie Burdette. Slouching sullenly in doorways, staring moodily into space, cadging booze from

1449-515: Is to set up a match race between K.C. and her teammate and rival Jackie Burdette, with K.C. deliberately losing so that she can join Henry at a new team he's setting up in Chicago . However, K.C. no longer trusts Henry (or his promises to let her bring her children along, a son and daughter) and wins the match race. The film was written by Barry Sandler as a UCLA MA Thesis , with Welch in mind for

1512-443: Is very good at his job, and has a reputation for liking it. His sexual liaisons are casual and rough. When Flowers decides to take over a betting shop owned by Joey Maddocks, he forbids Chas to get involved because he feels Chas' complicated personal history with Maddocks may lead to trouble. Chas is angry about this and later humiliates Maddocks, who retaliates by wrecking Chas' apartment and attacking Chas, who in turn shoots him, packs

1575-501: The Chicago Tribune gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that the first 40 minutes 'crackle with excitement', but then 'the pace slows down considerably, the nudity tires and the growing attraction of Fox for Jagger is unprepared for'. Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote that the film was suggestive of ' Mickey Spillane trying to write like Harold Pinter ' and that filmmakers Cammell and Roeg had done

1638-461: The 1990s and 2000s. The soundtrack album was released by Warner Bros. Records on 19 September 1970. It features Jagger, Ry Cooder , Randy Newman , The Last Poets , Buffy Sainte-Marie and Merry Clayton . A novelisation of Donald Cammel's screenplay was published in 1970, under the by-line William Hughes (the publishing identity of Hugh Williams, a British author who seems never to have written under his own name, nor to have written anything but

1701-587: The Rolling Stones' Bridges to Babylon Tour . In 2003, the British Film Institute financed a new print of Performance , which was premiered at the recently refurbished Electric Cinema in Portobello Road in London's Notting Hill (with an incognito Pallenberg in attendance). An individual member of a group of stalwart London based fans of the movie (which included the journalist Mick Brown ) worked to ensure that any eventual DVD release

1764-458: The audience, Colin MacCabe , who went on to write a guide to the film), a screening of the uncut UK edition, and finally a question-and-answer session. Those in attendance included Fox (and family), Pallenberg, set designer Christopher Gibbs and Cammell's brother, who introduced part of a video interview with Donald, shot just before his death. Jagger was originally to appear but was committed to

1827-421: The bath water was dirty.' The film was shelved by Ken Hyman, head of Warner Brothers, when he concluded that no amount of editing, re-looping, or re-scheduling would cover up the fact that the picture ultimately made no sense. The response from the studio was to deny the film a cinematic release. Performance was released in 1970, after major re-editing (performed by the uncredited Frank Mazzola , working under

1890-471: The close supervision of Cammell, with a brief from Warner Bros. to introduce Jagger earlier in the film) and changes in administration at Warner Bros. When the film was first released in the United States, the voices of a number of the actors in key roles were dubbed because the studio had feared that Americans would find their Cockney accents difficult to understand. Different edits were shown around

1953-446: The country. Flowers and his henchmen use Tony to track Chas to Turner's flat. They allow him to go and collect his things upstairs. Chas tells Turner and Pherber he is leaving, then shoots and kills Turner before being escorted into Flowers' car. As the car is driving away, Chas still wears his feminine clothes and wig, but his face is identical to Turner's. Performance was initially conceived by Donald Cammell as "The Performers", and

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2016-525: The criminal underworld, researching his role. As the project evolved, the story became significantly darker. Cammell was influenced by the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (whose portrait, on a book cover, can be seen at a crucial moment in the film), as he re-drafted the script to create an intense, intellectual film dealing with an identity crisis. The theories put forward by Antonin Artaud , on

2079-473: The dialogue and the music are all audible on other releases of the film. The voices of Harry Flowers (Johnny Shannon), Moody (John Bindon) and Lorraine, the young maid in Turner's mansion (Laraine Wickens), have been restored to the voices of the original actors. Upon its initial release, Performance received mixed reviews. Roger Greenspun of The New York Times wrote that it 'is not a very good movie', but

2142-439: The era of silent films. Several sub-categories of sports films can be identified, although the delineations between these subgenres, much as in live action, are somewhat fluid. The most common sports subgenres depicted in movies are sports drama and sports comedy. Both categories typically employ playground settings, match, game creatures and other elements commonly associated with biological stories. Sports films tend to feature

2205-482: The film was one of the few in her career with which she was happy, the others being L'Animal and The Three Musketeers . After being featured in the film, the World Famous Kenton Club in Portland, Oregon had its "world famous" tagline subsequently added to its title and features memorabilia from the film. Sports drama film The first sports film was released 1915, this was during

2268-432: The film's exploration of the darker side of the 1960s psychedelic dream. In his 15-hour documentary The Story of Film: An Odyssey , Mark Cousins says: ' Performance was not only the greatest seventies film about identity; if any movie in the whole Story of Film should be compulsory viewing for film makers, maybe this is it.' Performance holds an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 34 reviews, with

2331-608: The film's reputation grew still further. It is often cited as a classic of British cinema. In the September–October 2009 issue of Film Comment , Jagger's Turner was voted the best performance by a musician in a film. In an introduction before the film's screening on Sky Indie, Quentin Tarantino cited Performance as 'one of the best rock movies of all time.' He praised James Fox's performance as his favourite British gangster portrayal in cinema, and expressed admiration for

2394-439: The greatest films in the history of British cinema . In 1999, Performance was voted the 48th greatest British film of the 20th century by the British Film Institute . In 2008 Empire magazine ranked the film 182nd on its list of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Chas is a member of an East London gang , led by gangster Harry Flowers; his specialty is intimidation through violence, as he collects pay-offs for Flowers. Chas

2457-497: The highest award of Best Picture at the Academy Awards , including Chariots of Fire (1981), Rocky (1976), and Million Dollar Baby (2004). Other movies that received awards of a high caliber are Jerry Maguire (Best Supporting Actor, 1996), Bull Durham (Best Original Screenplay, 1988), and The Karate Kid (Best Supporting Actor, 1984). Regardless of the awards that these sports films have been granted, it

2520-452: The house Welch then shared with her husband and manager, Patrick Curtis. Curtis bought the script in March 1971 for their production company, Curtwel Productions. "She was a huge star at the time, and that meant if she wanted to do it, the movie would get made", said Sandler. "I believe that he had me in mind when he wrote it", said Welch. "The girl is more than a little bitchy." Sandler says

2583-416: The lead. "Raquel was a huge star at the time--kind of like the pop culture goddess", recalled Sandler. "I just thought it would be great to see her as a roller derby queen; it seemed like a perfect meshing of pop culture with that role." Although Sandler and Welch shared the same agent, ICM, he was a very new screenwriter and was unsure if the script would actually get read. He delivered a copy personally to

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2646-411: The lines of Midnight Cowboy . The film was originally going to be made for Warner Bros. , then for United Artists . Eventually Welch divorced Curtis and made the film for her own company in association with Artists Entertainment Complex and Levy-Gardner-Laven. The film was part-financed and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , whose president, James T. Aubrey , was romantically linked with Welch for

2709-401: The links between performing and madness, also influenced Cammell, who—along with co-director Nicolas Roeg —was mainly responsible for the 'look' of the film. It also benefited from a lack of interference from studio executives at Warner Bros. , who believed they were getting a Rolling Stones equivalent of The Beatles ' playful A Hard Day's Night (1964). Instead, Cammell and Roeg delivered

2772-619: The original script was very different from what the movie became: [It was] a dark, gritty, character piece, more in the vein of Requiem for a Heavyweight . It's about this young woman from Kansas City who goes out to Hollywood dreaming of fame and fortune, making it in the movies, and she's really not good enough to do so, but she's desperate to make her name and to get attention. She struggles and struggles, and never makes it, and then one day, she meets this kind of beat up, bruised up, burnt-out ex roller derby queen who kind of takes her under her wing and coaches her, and tries to get her involved in

2835-497: The personalities of Jagger and Fox were enough to make it 'the kind of all-round fun that in the movies is often tried but rarely so well achieved'. Variety panned the film for 'needless, boring sadism', a 'dull' script, and 'flat' performances. Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called it a 'pretentious and repellent little film' that 'cannot rise above the world it pretends to examine'. Gene Siskel of

2898-429: The process, Pherber tricks him by feeding him a psychedelic mushroom , and Chas accuses her and Turner of poisoning him. He soon accepts it, and in his hallucinogenic state, he experiments with clothing and identity, including the wearing of feminine clothes. Chas opens up, and he begins a caring relationship with Lucy. Before all this, he phones Tony (a trusted friend who refers to Chas as 'Uncle') to help him get out of

2961-425: The real skaters who worked with me, they were terrific. Most of them suffer from the same image I do. They're on skates, they're padded up, they're on a raised track. Most people tend to think of these girls as Amazons. But most of them are even smaller than me. They're not as muscular or as butch as you'd expect. I have a similar problem. Most people are disappointed if the door hinges don't shatter off when I walk into

3024-478: The roller derby. It sort of shows her becoming a roller derby star, and the irony is that she makes it in the roller derby, but as a black-trophy ... as a bad girl who gets hissed at, beat up, and spit on every week. The irony is that she is able to find the stardom she desperately yearned for, but not as a movie star--as a star on the roller derby track getting booed at and spit at every week. And so it's kind of dark, and much grittier and different, kind of almost along

3087-487: The score of the film. Kansas City Bomber was one of MGM's most successful releases of 1972, along with Shaft and Skyjacked . The success of the film caused the share price of Artist Entertainment Complex to rise. Barry Sandler says the film was profitable and proved lucrative for him. Roger Greenspun of The New York Times wrote that: Jerrold Freedman has directed "Kansas City Bomber" with an eye to hard-hitting action and gutsy detail. But I don't think his eye

3150-586: The script explores deftly the cynical manipulation of players and audiences." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and thought it was "more than good fun. It's a gas." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times thought Welch "comes through with a characterization as unexpected as it is persuasive" and said the film "is a well observed slice of contemporary Americana" which "marks Raquel Welch's coming of age as an actress and

3213-493: The sequence involving " Memo from Turner "—has been removed. This is because at this crucial stage of the film (the music sequence), one of the stereo sounds has been used on both channels. Other music and sound effects are also missing from this scene on the DVD release (some drums, the throbbing sound as Turner plugs a lead into his music generator, and the shrieking sound at the climax of his fluorescent light tube dance). These sounds,

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3276-549: The song as a single anyway. He hoped to publicly debut the song at the Los Angeles Thunderbirds ' track during a Roller Games television taping at Los Angeles' Olympic Auditorium , for many of the Thunderbirds skaters had appeared in the movie as extras, and announcer Dick Lane had a small speaking role; however, Thunderbirds owner Bill Griffiths Sr. likewise rejected that idea. Don Ellis contributed

3339-485: The sport they are playing and trying to get back into it. Examples and staples of the genre include The Waterboy , The Longest Yard , Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby , and Blades of Glory . Sports drama combines the sports film genre with drama film elements. These films rely on conflict, usually revolving around an athlete or a team. These dramas can further be broken up into categories, some movies focusing on race such as 42 (2013), or focusing on

3402-434: The story does not always have to involve a team. The story could also be about an individual athlete or the story could focus on an individual playing on a team. Sports comedy combines the sports film genre with comedy film elements. Traditionally, these films heavily rely on slapstick humor and very physical comedy, such as someone getting hurt in a comical way. A typical storyline may revolve around someone losing sight of

3465-481: The studio. It has been reported that during a test screening, the wife of one Warner Bros. executive vomited in shock. In the series Hollywood UK: British Cinema of the Sixties (presented by Richard Lester , originally broadcast on 3 October 1993, and later repeated on BBC Four in 2005 and 2006), Roeg said that a Warner Bros. executive commented on the scene depicting Jagger in a bath with Pallenberg and Breton, 'Even

3528-408: The world, underneath. Skating is a batchy, sweaty, funky life. I don't want to do another film about it. I've done my number. But I enjoyed it. Welch later said this was the first of her films that she actually liked. The songwriter Phil Ochs wrote a song of the same title ; he had intended it as title song for the film, but it was rejected by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . Ochs had A&M Records issue

3591-407: The world, with the film gaining a following through to the late 1970s, by which time a variety of versions of varying quality could be seen in a handful of independent cinemas around London. A home video release eventually appeared in 1980, but contained the dubbed US version. A commemorative event was held at London's ICA on 18 October 1997, incorporating a talk by film theorists (including, in

3654-548: Was a skating stunt double for Raquel Welch's character), Ralph Valladares, Ronnie Rains, Judy Sowinski , Richard Brown, Tonette Kadrmas and John Hall. Real roller derby venues in Kansas City, Fresno, and Portland were also used for key scenes. "The film was fun", said Welch. "I like to be in physical pictures. And the Roller Games is a microcosm of this country, the kind of thing we create." She elaborated: The game

3717-506: Was heavily publicized during filming. This inspired Roger Corman to finance an exploitation film set in the world of roller derbies, Unholy Rollers . Welch sent up the film as part of her Las Vegas act in late 1972. Welch later said she was "good" in the film just as she was good in Myra Breckinridge (1970) and The Last of Sheila (1973), "but being good in a bad film doesn't do anything for your career." In 1978 she said

3780-457: Was later confirmed to have happened by Ian Stewart , who was present on set. When Richards heard the rumours, he apparently took to sitting in his car outside the house where the film was being shot. Needless to say, this did not do much for the Jagger–Richards musical chemistry, and the soundtrack came together from a number of other sources. The content of Performance was a surprise to

3843-405: Was made like that, and I think it's pretty good, but it's a different kind of movie than the version I envisioned. Raquel Welch discussed her character in detail to the press: The motivation of the character I play is simply to make a buck in life and to attain a sense of identity. There's a futility in what she does. The shape of the track is her life, round and round, going nowhere. But the pros,

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3906-601: Was not merely a straight 'VHS to DVD' transfer of the dubbed VHS version (as was often the policy of Warner Bros. at the time) by making sure Warner Home Video (London) were fully aware of the new BFI-financed print. After a period of campaigning with Warner Brothers in Burbank, the Region 1 DVD was released on 13 February 2007 and elsewhere soon after. Although the film has undergone significant restoration, one famous line of dialogue—Jagger's 'Here's to old England!' heard during

3969-495: Was to be a light-hearted swinging '60s romp. At one stage, Cammell's friend Marlon Brando (with whom he later collaborated on the posthumously published novel Fan Tan ) was to play the gangster role of 'Chas'. At that stage, the story involved an American gangster hiding out in London. James Fox, previously cast in rather upper crust roles, eventually took the place of Brando, and spent several months in South London among

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