The Farmer (film)

The Farmer
The Farmer
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	David Berlatsky
Written by	John Carmody; Janice Eymann; George Fargo; Patrick Regan
Produced by	Gary Conway; Lang Elliott
Starring	Gary Conway; Angel Tompkins; Michael Dante; George Memmoli
Cinematography	Irv Goodnoff
Edited by	Richard Weber
Music by	Hugo Montenegro
Production; companies	Fai Cinema; Milway Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	March 9, 1977;
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Farmer is a 1977 American crime action film directed by David Berlatsky and starring Gary Conway, Angel Tompkins, Michael Dante, and George Memmoli. The film was released by Columbia Pictures on March 9, 1977. The revenge thriller is probably best remembered for its lack of a home media release, as the film never had a release on VHS, Beta, Laserdisc, DVD, or any other release outside of theaters for years until a limited edition Blu-ray was released by Scorpion Releasing in early 2022. The websites Letterboxd and The Grindhouse Database list this movie as belonging to the vetsploitation subgenre.^[1]^[2]

Plot

Decorated World War II veteran Kyle Martin returns home with a Silver Star to Georgia to start a farm, but realizes running a one-man farm isn't profitable, and the bank needs to foreclose, despite his being a veteran. At that point a gambler named Johnny has an auto crash close to the farm, in which Kyle spares his life. Johnny offers him $1,500, which actually isn't sufficient to spare the homestead.

At this time, Johnny past-posts mobster Passini on a horse race for $50,000. This angers Passini who along with his three colleagues, murders Johnny's bodyguard, and blinds Johnny's eyes with corrosive acid to "make a example out of him".

Johnny asks his mistress Betty to hire Kyle so he can kill Passini and his men individually for $50,000, which he needs to save his farm. Kyle is initially reluctant to do so. However, one of Passini's men by the name of Weasel rapes Betty at Kyle's farm. Weasel then kills the farmhand Gumshoe while trying to save Betty, then burns down the farm.

After arriving in time to save Betty from the burning farm and surveying through the burnt wreckage the next day, Kyle finally accepts Johnny's offer which sets the path for revenge.

Cast

Gary Conway as Kyle Martin
Angel Tompkins as Betty
Michael Dante as Johnny O.
George Memmoli as Passini
Lewell Akins as Conductor
Dave Graig as 2nd Soldier
Stratton Leopold as Laundry Sam
Ray McIver as Train Bartender
Bill Moses as Bank Representative
Judge Parker as Banjo Player
Don Payne as Mr. Moore
Louis C. Pessolano as Bartender
Johnny Popwell as Conners
Ken Renard as Gumshoe
Timothy Scott as Weasel
Sonny Shroyer as Corrigan
Wayne Stewart as Sergeant
Roy Tatum as Soldier
Jack Waltzer as Doc Valentine
Eric Weston as Lopie
Laura Whyte as Waitress

Production

Due to injuries sustained in an accident during the production of this movie, George Memmoli had to decline the part of the disturbed passenger in Taxi Driver that was ultimately played by the film's director, Martin Scorsese. According to Scorsese, the injuries contributed to Memmoli's death in 1985.

Release

Theatrical release

The film was theatrically released on March 9, 1977, by Columbia Pictures.

DVD

In 2006, Code Red announced a release of the film on DVD, posting 10 screenshots on their blog,^[3] but this never happened.^[4]

Blu-ray

Distributor Scorpion Releasing released the film on Blu-ray Disc in February 2022.^[5]

References

^ "Vetsploitation. List by Jarrett". Letterboxd. 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
^ "Category. Vetsploitation. From The Grindhouse Cinema Database". The Grindhouse Cinema Database. February 4, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
^ "Code Red's announcement of The Farmer DVD Release". Blogspot. August 1, 2007.
^ Stockman, Tom (September 2, 2009). "NOT Available on DVD: 'The Farmer'". We Are Movie Geeks. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
^ "Scorpion Releasing's announcement of The Farmer Blu-ray Disc release". Blu-ray. January 20, 2022.

External links

The Farmer at IMDb

[1] "Vetsploitation. List by Jarrett". Letterboxd. 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2024.

[2] "Category. Vetsploitation. From The Grindhouse Cinema Database". The Grindhouse Cinema Database. February 4, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2024.

[3] "Code Red's announcement of The Farmer DVD Release". Blogspot. August 1, 2007.

[4] Stockman, Tom (September 2, 2009). "NOT Available on DVD: 'The Farmer'". We Are Movie Geeks. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2022.

[5] "Scorpion Releasing's announcement of The Farmer Blu-ray Disc release". Blu-ray. January 20, 2022.

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