Cometogether (1971) User Reviews

Strangely familiar but quite unique

[lazarillo · 27 March 2009]

This is a rather strange film. On one hand, it's one of those independent American productions that came out in the wake of "Easy Rider", but on the other hand there was obviously a lot of Italian money involved as the film locations were all in Italy or Spain and the two main actresses--Lucianna Paluzzi and Rosemary Dexter--were European (even though their characters are American), and moreover, the whole thing is post-synched like an Italian movie rather than a Hollywood one.

Expatriate spaghetti western American actor Tony Anthony plays an expatriate spaghetti western American stuntman named "Tony". He meets two American women (Paluzzi and Dexter) while in Rome and the three of them embark on tour of Italy which eventually turns into a sexual menage a trois. The movie has a lot of music (by the 1960's band the Youngbloods), a lot of voice-over narration, and a lot of flashback scenes (Anthony's character in Vietnam, Dexter's character getting an abortion, etc.). It really doesn't have much of a plot, but it is fairly effective at creating the mood (both free-spirited and nihilistic) of its particular time and place. It kind of reminded me of "Smoke" with another American expatriate Lee Hazelwood, but that film was set in Sweden and had a lot more of a story.

Paluzzi(typically)and Dexter(very atypically)keep their clothes on, but they are both pretty appealing. Anthony is not great actor by any means, but then he doesn't have to deliver a whole lot of dialogue here. This movie has a really strange ending that kind of resembles "Easy Rider", but also resembles a lot of Italian movies of the era like "Zabriskie's Point". It's an interesting movie in that it seems vaguely familiar, but at the same time is quite unique.

Post-hippie era Euro road movie produced by Ringo Starr

[Eegah Guy · 5/10 · 19 December 2000]

Aimless spaghetti-western stuntman picks up two hitchhikers and they have adventures driving around southern Europe. Not much of a plot but that's part of the charm of post-EASY RIDER existential road movies of the early 70s. Tony Anthony wears a big floppy hat the whole time and whines about how directionless his existence is while the two girls just want to have a good time. Most interesting was the behind-the-scenes look at the shooting of European Westerns. The ending borrows a lot from EASY RIDER but at least it was a real surprise.

Significant life-style film evokes its time

[lor_ · 29 March 2017]

I became interested in Tony Anthony in the '60s when I saw his indie production "Out of It" on TV via a syndication package and then admired his MGM Italian Western "A Stranger in Town", which was one of the bigger hits imitating Leone/Eastwood's success in the genre. I eventually interviewed him when I worked at Variety in 1983, covering the brief 3-D revival he spearheaded with his hit "Comin' At Ya".

I also saw this odd feature in 1971 theatrically and was pleased by its beauty and off-beat qualities. In retrospect, it reflects the time when it was shot, post-"Easy Rider" and significantly, just post-"Vanishing Point", my favorite film at that time.

The title suggests a Beatles connection from their song (not used in the film, obviously too costly to license), and director Saul Swimmer's next project was with George Harrison, directing "The Concert for Bangla Desh". And Tony's next film was "Blindman", the strange Italian Western best known for Ringo Starr's starring role.

"Come Together" has unfortunate elements of an ego trip, since many scenes play as if merely to indulge producer-star Anthony performing a one-man show. It's what I classify as a Life-Style movie, not about a dramatic or comedic story but rather portraying how people live, usually reflecting trends current at the time. Themes here include hedonism, living as a free spirit (the "drop out" of society movement of the '60s) as well as the free love movement. In particular, the movie's hook is a "menage a trois" that gradually develops for Tony with the two Continental leading ladies that are cast as American women traveling together in Europe, either BFF or perhaps lesbians.

Anthony uses his background starring in Italian Westerns as a key plot device, with his profession as a stuntman proving relevant later in the film as the rather subtle setup for the surprise/shock ending. Many flashbacks (or fantasy sequences) are inserted to keep the pot boiling.

The "Vanishing Point" influence comes in many details and devices (though I have no evidence that Anthony saw that film prior to shooting). Instead of the iconic Dodge Challenger, he drives a beautiful red Corvette, not too shabby. The open road is a key element visually, and Tony has Italy's number one cameraman on the case: Tonino Delli Colli whose work ranged from Pasolini classics to Leone's greatest hits. A key flashback has Tony in the Vietnam War, left for dead by the enemy (he's reported as dead to his family, changing his life forever). And the apocalyptic ending, owing perhaps a nod to Antonioni's influential "Zabriskie Point", is in the mode of "Vanishing Point" rather than "Easy Rider", as his life-style as stuntman seems rooted in a foolhardiness or death wish or perhaps as co-star Rosemary Dexter sizes it up, masochism.

Tony's post-syncing his own dialog works well, as it did in Italian Westerns, but is quite poor when applied to Luciana Paluzzi and Dexter, especially since Paluzzi's delightful accent, so well-known to fans of her innumerable American TV appearances ("The Man from U.N.C.L.E. for example) is gone thanks to nameless dubbers. Soundtrack does well, like the breakthrough rock score of "Vanishing Point", with its use of appropriate pop songs ranging from "Get Together" (perhaps a better film title) and "Games People Play" to "Love Is Blue".