LIFEGUARD (1976)
Label: Fun City Edition
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 96 Minutes 29 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Daniel Petrie
Cast: Sam Elliott, Anne Archer, Kathleen Quinlan, Parker Stevenson, Stephen Young
In Lifeguard (1976), directed by journeyman director Daniel Petrie (Resurrection), Sam Elliott (The Big Lebowski) plays professional Southern Californian lifeguard Rick Carlson, a svelte sun-tanned bachelor who patrols a small stretch of California beach. He's good at his job which keeps him on the beach all day, enjoying tanned beautiful women, and occasionally saving someone from a riptide. Now in his early-30s Rick is the sort of guy who can pretty much get laid any night of the week, as evidenced by the sexy stewardess (1971 Playboy Playmate of the Year Sharon Clark) that we find in his bed with at the start of the film. Despite his seemingly satisfying bachelor lifestyle he begins to questions his life and career choices, having been stirred by several factors; first we have his disapproving father (George D. Wallace, The Swinging Cheerleaders) who berates him to grow-up and geta real job; while a chance encounter with a former highschool pal Larry (Stephen Young, Soylent Green), a guy who once dreamt of being an actor but has settled into a comfy career as Porsche salesman, offers him a chance to make more money and leave the beach-life behind. Another impetus for his self-reflection is attending his 15th year class reunion, seeing how his former chums have grown-up, matured and have gotten proper jobs, but who noticeably look much older and fatter than he is. They all sort of roll their eyes when he says he's still a lifeguard, which makes him question his career choice. It's also at the reunion that he reconnects with his former high school flame Cathy (Anne Archer, Fatal Attraction), a recent divorce with a young kid, and who manages an art gallery. The pair rekindle their romance and have good chemistry, but she too thinks he should get a grown-up career, but Rick is in no hurry to trade in the sun-drenched beach-life for the standard 9 to 5 rat race.
Other factors include Rick staring to feel his age, realizing that he's nearly twice the age of the kids he's mentoring at work, like the recently hired part-time lifeguard Chris (Parker Stevenson, TV's The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries), forcing him to confront that fact that he's aging-out of being a lifeguard. Then there's teenager Wendy (Kathleen Quinlan, Warning Sign), a young woman he encounters while treating her wounded finger at the beach. She becomes infatuated with the older man, awkwardly pursuing him sexually. Rick initially recognizes that she is jailbait and rebuffs and redirects her advances in a sweet way, but eventually he does cross that line and enter an inappropriate, yet tender relationship with her.
Rick is left to asses his life, is he willing to trade-in his swimsuit for a three-piece suit and sell Porsches, and carry-on an adult relationship with his former flame, and leave behind his bachelor ways, or keep chasing after his lost youth and remain a beach-loving bachelor? It's not so much a romantic film or a melodrama as it is a character study of a man in his 30s at the crossroads. Elliot is quite a vision, a handsome well-built specimen of Southern Californian vitality and sexuality, sporting his signature moustache and a chest full of hair, and just looking terrifically tanned. It's perhaps odd that he comes across as so likable given the inappropriate relationship with teenager Wendy, which is certainly eyebrow raising. That he does not come across as a sleazeball must be attributed to the sensitive portrayals from both Elliot and Quinlan, who are terrific. He is quite charming and seems like a good dude, and somehow manages to not come across as a predator, especially when seen through the lens of the late-70s. As filtered through modern eyes such an inherently problematic relationship, it is statutory rape after all, could derail the whole thing, but as someone who grew up in the 70s/80s I remember observing these sort of age-gap flings, while not condoning it, this sort of was certainly something that was not uncommon, it felt very realistic to me, if played more sympathetically than it would have played out or deserved.
The deeper themes of self introspection and a wish to find fulfillment, and to keep doing what you love despite others expectations, is what I took away from this, and it's a flick that resonates with you for a bit afterward, there's a lot to chew on here. I also like that it doesn't quite fully lay it all out at the end, there's some ambiguity to it.
The flick looks gorgeous, too, the sun-drench Southern California beach community locales look terrific, the film was shot by cinematographer Ralph Woolsey, who captures that golden SoCal aura of the era beautifully; he having worked a lot in TV on stuff like Colt .45 and the 60's iteration of Batman, as well as films like Black Eye, Fire Sale and the animal-attack classic The Pack, it's a terrific looking flick. While Lifeguard (1976) is a far cry from the sex-on-the-beach thrills that the wildly misleading movie poster seems to promise, which I am sure lead to disappointment by movie goers who were expecting more raunchy T&A thrills, it does instead offers a fascinating character driven story of mid-30's self-assessment, with terrific turns from Elliot, Archer and Quinlan.
Audio/Video: Fun City Editions debut Lifeguard (1976) on Blu-ray now remastered from a 4K scan of its original camera negative, presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. A very handsome and filmic looking presentation all around, the warm SoCal sun-soaked environs looks terrific. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track sounds clean, no issues with distortion or age-related wear, dialogue coming across naturally, and the score by Dale Menten sounds great in th mix.
Extras include an Audio Commentary by Jim Healy and Ben Reiserl, an extensive 8-min Image Gallery; 1-min of Radio Spots; 1-min of TV Spots, and the 3-min Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release is housed in a clear keepcase Double-sided Wrap with Legacy Artwork, offering three options, plus a 12- Page Illustrated Booklet with new 'To Beach, Or Not To Beach essay by Cristina Cacioppo, which is limited to the first pressing only.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by 70 Movies We Saw in the 70s co-hosts Jim Healy and Ben Reiser
- Double-sided Wrap with Legacy Artwork
- Image Gallery (7:45)
- Radio Spot (0:59)
- Trailers: Lifeguard (2:52)
- TV Spots (0:45)
- 12- Page Illustrated Booklet with new 'To Beach, Or Not To Beach essay by Cristina Cacioppo (first pressing only)
Screenshots from the Fun City Editions Blu-ray:
Extras:
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