Buddy Garfield was always quick with a joke. A gregarious fellow who had worked as a sub distributor out of the Carolinas for years. He even kept his sense of humor when he named his new film production company.
Another
Movie Company was based out of Charlotte, North Carolina and was formed mainly for
its releases to play the thriving Southern Drive-in circuit. The Carolinas had over a hundred ozoners
alone and Buddy wanted to make the most of it.
He knew from experience that he could just make a profit playing the
Southern states and that all other playdates would be thick, tasty gravy. Another Movie companies’ first release was a
Southern fried moonshine sex comedy called SHANTY TOWN SWEETHEARTS (1970).
The
script was written by Garfield, his wife Ginny, and credit was also given to
their parrot, Larry, but Larry just repeated what they said. The film was directed by Carter Ramsey, who
would be the house director for all of AMC’s filmed output. Carter Ramsey had been around the film
business, basically since his birth. He
was calling for F-stop readings before he could walk. His father, Buddy, worked for D.W Griffith as
a cross wrangler. As a grown man Ramsey
directed driver safety films for the Carolina Highway Patrol like; RUN A RED... YOU’LL END UP DEAD (1963), DEADLY PILE-UP ON HWY 501 (1964), LEADFOOT LOUIE: THE SCOURGE OF THE ROAD (1965) and CRIMSON STAINED ROADWAYS (1966). The Garfield’s teenage daughter would be
scared shitless when she viewed these films in school, describing them to her
parents, prompted them to arrange a screening, and after getting over their
newly discovered deathly fear of getting anywhere near a moving vehicle, they
set up a meeting with Ramsey.
Janene
and Clarabelle are the sweet hearts of Shanty Town. Pervis is the overall clad, clubfooted town weirdo
who spies on the woman folk and also carries around a pair of beets. Joe-Bob claims to be a preacher, and he does
preach from the good book that seems to be glued to his hand, but he doesn’t
necessary practice what he preaches. Big
Red is a violent, ornery, perpetually soused beet farmer, who spends half of
his time trying to hook up with the sweethearts and the other half trying to keep
Pervis away from his beets.
The film was a huge success in the South, running for well into the eighties at drive ins. It also gave rise to the catchphrase “Hold On to Your Beets!”, which became a favorite saying below the Mason-Dixon line, joining others like “The South’s Gonna Rise Again,” “Sock It to Me,” and “Leggo My Eggo.”
When Democratic presidential
candidate George Wallace was shot on May 15th, 1972, in an
assassination attempt, reportedly Wallace’s first words were, “Hold onto your
beats”.
Next up
was a Nature Run Amuck film called SIDEWINDER HORROR! (1971). AFC went on location to Taos, New Mexico for
this well remembered killer snake film.
PLOT: Past A-bomb testing has turned the indigenous sidewinder population more aggressive. They slither amuck through the town, taking over every nook and cranny, and biting every kid and granny.
The best
scene has the sidewinders converge on and attack the residents of an old folk's
home.
The star
of the film was Itzhak Lowenstein, whose birth name was Roger Cohen, making him
the only Jewish performer to change his stage name to something more Jewish sounding. He previously had a small role in coming-of-age comedy called A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT (1968).
In 1975 AMC Co-Billed SIDEWINDER HORROR! with two other killer snake flicks, SERPENT INFERNO and SSSSSSSINISTER as a “Giant Snake-A-Thon”, this triple
bill proved to be popular and would slink across screens into the late
seventies.
SERPENT
INFERNO was a re-title of the Taiwan lensed THE SNAKE CHARMERS REVENGE (1973).
PLOT: An
old loner who is forced to live on the outskirts of town due to the constant
harassment from the townspeople, raises an army of snakes in which he plans to
unleash on the town that shunned him.
SERPENT
INFERNO is a wild film featuring thousands of snakes and dozens of violent snake attacks.
The
viewer feels no empathy for the townsfolk as there is not a one who treated the
old loner with any dignity or compassion.
SSSSSSSINISTER (1974) involves a cult of snake worshippers and a family who tries to rescue their daughter from the jaws of the cult.
AMC’s last release was the IN THE BUFF (1976). A lackluster comedy about the streaking fad, that streaked out of theaters after minimal play dates. The film does hold the record for showcasing the greatest amount of butt cheeks to ever grace a non-pornographic movie screen.
PLOT: James and
Laura have hit a rough spot in their marriage.
The excitement of their early years as lovebirds has dismissed year by
year and they are now mired in a rut. A
boring rut at that. They decide that
becoming streakers will add the excitement that they need. They soon find that they are not alone, as it
seems that the entire town is joining them on their streaking expeditions.
