Roland A. Rippy’s movie career was brief, as he just appeared in three movies. His main claim to any fame that he may have had, was that he was a master practitioner of the samurai sword, in fact, he would bill himself as, "The Round Eye Samurai".
Rippy's first role was small, but memorable, as a sword wielding mafia goon in the 1976 crime movie, THE RENO CONNECTION (1975).
PLOT: Small time hood, Blackie Turner, has twenty-four hours to travel from Albuquerque, NM., make a sizable narcotics pick up in Las Vegas, then make the Reno Connection for the final payoff and a life of prosperity out of the country, before the mob can catch him.
Rippy has three scenes, the first is an introductory scene, where the mob boss introduces the two manhunters that he has hired to find Blackie, to each other. Both named Remson.
The second, when they are pulled over by a motorcycle cop, and the final action fight scene with Blackie. Rippy has no lines in the movie, but his skills with the sword are easily apparent.
Blackie Turner was played by first and last timer Brice McDonald. McDonald does well as the hunted and harried drug courier. He passed away in 1981 due to an odd murder/suicide, in which he was the only participant.
The producers of THE RENO CONNECTION, Gold Bar Films, concocted a gimmick to lure movie goers into seeing the film by having giveaways available only to ticket holders.
Gold Bar Films hired Rippy to play a part in their next production, BLAST, BABY BLAST! (1977) aka STAND BY YOUR MAN.
PLOT: Jennie Lee Pickle was raised in a family of soldiers. She grew up around weapons and was taught how to use them by her father, uncle (Rippy, who teaches her swordplay) and brothers. In fact, a nifty flashback montage shows her, in pigtails and camouflage, blowing up her doll house with a hand Granade. After she marries and moves to a small town in Texas, trouble begins to brew. Some local leather jacketed toughs, who work at a cannery plant, beat up her husband to within an inch of his life. While he is laid up in a hospital in traction, Jennie dusts off the goodies in her hope chest and commences a solo search and destroy mission to create some job openings at the cannery.
Gold Bar Films enticed theater goers with the chance of winning more goodies.
It wouldn’t be till 1979 that he returned to the big screen. Rippy wrote, produced and had his only starring role in his final movie, AMERICAN SWORDSMAN (1979). Billing and promoting his character as a “Billy Jack for the 80’s!”
PLOT: Nelson Parks, a Vietnam veteran, who has spent a few years after the war honing his craft, training with martial artists in the Philippines, returns to his hometown for his father’s funeral. It turns out that his father and brother had a long running feud with Mr. Drake, the town boss. Mr. Drake wants Parks’ family land and will revert to any lowly means necessary to get it.
Rippy does not make for an interesting lead. He mumbles his lines and is as wooden and uninteresting as a picnic table without a gingham.
Rippy would travel with the film and appear at drive in theaters demonstrating his skills in between features. Here, he would be more in his element.
AMERICAN SWORDSMAN had little appeal at the box office, but reportedly did well with its Namibian VHS release - under the title, WIT OU MET SKERP SWAARD aka WHITE GUY WITH A SHARP SWORD- in 1983, but by this time Roland A. Rippy left the entertainment business for good; he would move to Wyoming to become a survivalist, where he would pass away a week after the move.
This was Bob Martins first job as an editor. He would go on to cut dozens of films, his last being HOWLING XI: YOUR DOORMAN IS A WEREWOLF (2005). In which, a young businesswoman, new to the big city, has to deal with the male chauvinist attitudes of co-workers and a lycanthropic doorman sniffing around her panties.
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