The Big Bounce (1969 film)
| The Big Bounce | |
|---|---|
Movie Poster
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| Directed by | Alex March |
| Produced by | William Dozier |
| Screenplay by | Robert Dozier |
| Based on |
The Big Bounce by Elmore Leonard |
| Starring |
Ryan O'Neal Leigh Taylor-Young Van Heflin |
| Music by | Mike Curb |
| Cinematography | Howard Schwartz |
| Edited by | William H. Ziegler |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros.-Seven Arts |
|
Release date
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March 5, 1969 |
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Running time
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110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Big Bounce is a 1969 film directed by Alex March, based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard and starring Ryan O'Neal, Van Heflin, and Leigh Taylor-Young in what was the first of several films based on Leonard's crime novels. Taylor-Young was nominated for a Laurel Award for her performance in the film. The film was shot on location in Monterey and Carmel, California.
The book was also adapted into a film in 2004 with the same name.
Jack Ryan (Ryan O'Neal) is a Vietnam veteran with a criminal record who is employed as a migrant laborer on a California produce farm. When Camacho, one of his Mexican co-workers, tries to knife him during a softball game, Jack hits him in the face with a baseball bat. Jack is thrown in jail, but sprung out by the unscrupulous owner of the farm, Ray Ritchie (James Daly) and his head foreman, Bob Rodgers (Robert Webber) because they need to get the crop in in time and don't want any trouble with the police and the workers. However, they fire Jack and Rodgers advises Jack to get out of town because otherwise Camacho will surely come looking for him once he is out of the hospital.
En route to the migrant camp to collect his gear, Jack meets the beautiful Nancy Barker (Leigh Taylor-Young, then O'Neal's wife), the secretary and mistress to Mr. Ritchie. Sam Mirakian (Van Heflin), a local justice-of-the-peace who has taken a liking to Jack, offers him a job as a handyman. Jack accepts the offer, a decision which earns him Rodgers' anger. Meanwhile, the volatile and scheming Nancy is bored by her current lot in life and wishes to move on. She tries to seduce Rodgers but when Jack stands up to him, his defiance impresses her and she sets her sights on Jack instead.
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