Recovered Classic: Electra Glide In Blue


The biker flick had long since run out of gas when this cult favourite originally roared onto the big screen, but it made such an impact that its anti-Easy Rider stance has resonated ever since.

Directed by James William Guerico, who managed the band Chicago during their early career, this story of a vertically-challenged Arizona motorcycle cop with a conscience is by no means perfect, yet it leaves its mark long after the camera pulls back from the unforgettable closing shot.

Robert Blake stars as John Wintergreen, who patrols the spectacular open spaces of Monument Valley on a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide, a vehicle he hates and describes as the “elephant under my ass.” He’d much rather be transferred to homicide and work as a detective, getting paid to use his brain as opposed to stopping hippies and issuing tickets for petty motoring offences.

When he and his partner discover the body of a hermit in a run-down shack, he gets his chance. Because while everyone else dismisses the man’s death as suicide, Wintergreen cries foul and claims he was murdered. Once proved right, he’s quickly taken under the wing of seasoned detective Mitchell Ryan and his craved move out of the saddle looks an odds-on cert. But his shot at the big leagues doesn’t quite pan out as he’d hoped.

Essentially a character study of a good cop surrounded by rampant corruption, it’s Wintergreen’s basic decentness which ultimately threatens to scupper his dreams. Because as the only cop who’s apparently willing to cut the movie’s cast of peace-loving hippies any slack, he’s basically on a one-man crusade and has no hopes of mending the chasm which has been created between the police and basically everyone else.
In some respects, the murder is used purely as a means of advancing the development of Blake’s character, but Guerico doesn’t just focus on the human element. There’s a neatly staged bike chase for starters, which features plenty of thrills and some very nasty spills, while the scenes shot in Monument Valley are breathtaking.

A mention must also go to Jeannine Riley, who completely steals one barroom scene when her bed-hopping revelations drive a wedge between Wintergreen and his homicide squad mentor.
Blake’s performance is a stand-out (he was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1974 for Best Actor), but the rest of the cast also give strong support and trivia junkies might be interested to know that two members of Chicago (Peter Cetera and Terry Kath) also make appearances.

Some humour is derived from Blake’s stature (at one stage Wintergreen points out that he’s exactly the same height to the quarter inch as Alan Ladd) but there’s little comedy in evidence. This is mainly because he might be one short cop, but he’s got big plans and he’s got to battle against a bad old world of no-good social conflict, not to mention his own inner voices, if he wants to get anywhere.

The best bit apart from that closing shot? When Blake is taking pot shots at an Easy Rider poster. A wry summing up of the movie’s anti-hippie culture tilt.

David Lichtneker

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