A few weeks ago, TCM aired a late night double feature with 1971's Willard, and its 1972 sequel Ben. I had vague memories of seeing promotion for the 2003 re-make with Crispin Glover, but never saw it, nor knew at the time of the original. Rats don't really bother me, although I don't want to find one in my house, I did briefly house sit a friends two white rats and was impressed with how smart they were and how excited they would get when I'd bring them blueberries.
I thoroughly enjoyed Willard, especially it's seventies feel and it's blend of both scary and silly. I was also impressed with the cast which included Sondra Locke, Ernest Borgnine and the great Elsa Lanchester who I also enjoyed in Bell, Book and Candle which I posted about last year. (HERE:)
I also pleasantly surprised to see Bruce Davison, an actor I first saw in 1989's Longtime Companion. I have seen Davison in a number of films in the last decade or two, but wasn't at all familiar with his early work, especially his string of successful seventies films.
In Longtime Companion, Davison was one of the older cast members, but in Willard, he is the young one, both naive and angry, especially after the death of his mother. Davison is also incredibly hot, even with hundreds of rodents as his co-stars. Bullied and mistreated by his boss (Borgnine) Willard uses his favorite rat Ben, to help achieve his revenge. Ben gets his own revenge, turning on Willard in the movies climax after Willard decides he needs to clear his home of the hundreds of rats he had previously welcomed in.
Although there was no nudity in Willard, (except the rats of course...) I of course was curious if Davison had any nude scenes on his resume. He did! Check out my Actors & SKIN post featuring Davison's body of work in a separate below.
Longtime Companion
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