HardToFindMovies Review of Lolly-Madonna XXX

Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973)

Lolly Madonna XXX - RARE & INTENSE Flawed Film

[5/10 · 19 January 2014]

Lolly Madonna XXX was released in 1973 with an all star cast with direction by Richard Sarafin....this juicy film has been a lost movie since that time as it was never released on VHS, laser disk, DVD or pal in the U.K.....I finally watched a treasured print today 1/19/2014 and it certainly was not boring. One thing to remember is that the title actually refers to a signature written at the end of a letter and should be read as: Lolly Madonna Kiss Kiss Kiss. The movie appears to be a metaphor for the futility of war and the waste of precious lives over petty feuds. Though this film is about a hillbilly Hatfield/McCoy type feud it seems to be eluding to the Vietnam War going on at that time. What we have here is a poorly written violent film with an all star cast and riveting action! Rod Steiger is the tough and crazed Daddy of the Feather family and his nemesis is Robert Ryan aka Pap Gutshall of the Gutshall clan. This film has a tragic accident, land dispute, kidnapping...and then moves on to violent attacks, shootouts and murders....WOW! If you like plenty of southern good-ole-boy characters and a chance to see Jeff Bridges, Gary Busey & Randy Quaid very early in their careers then this is the film for you. the film was shoot in the actual mountains of Tennessee and looks fine, it just has choppy editing and a storyline that is not always clear to the viewer. These issues could be overlooked by the fine acting as Steiger verses Ryan is pretty wild to see and the talented supporting cast does good work...if only the film was not so depressing. The film is not upbeat in any way, shape or form and reeks of despair...this is truly the fatal flaw here and the reason I rate it a 5 out of 10 despite all the acting talent on display.