Kyle Martin (GARY CONWAY) is a Silver Star hero who returns home to his Georgia farm at the close of World War II. Behind its Currier & Ives exteriors, it becomes apparent that his farm is terribly rundown and close to foreclosure. Kyle is now in another and more primal war — his own Pearl Harbor. To save his farm, he must confront the rural power brokers.<\/p>\n
He soon learns that Silver Stars do not pay off creditors. The only real help to come his way is the $1500 from a grateful gambler, Johnny O\u2019Neill (MICHAEL DANTE), whose life he saves by pulling the unconscious man from his overturned car moments before it bursts into flames and explodes. The two men are destined to have a closer association.<\/p>\n
Later, Johnny O\u2019 is blinded in an underworld vendetta and turns to the farmer to seek revenge. He offers Kyle $50,000 as a gun for hire. \u201cYou\u2019ve killed 26 men to save your country, probably farmers like yourself. Why not go after five scumbags to save your farm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was war,\u201d says Kyle.<\/p>\n
\u201cBullshit war!\u201d Johnny yells. \u201cIf Uncle Sam can ask you to kill, why can\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kyle says he\u2019ll think about it.<\/p>\n
But Kyle is not persuaded. War is war and crime is crime. It\u2019s a different kind of killing to the farmer. But, he\u2019s in deeper than he knows. One night when he\u2019s in town, his barn is burned to ashes. Gumshoe (KEN RENARD), an old Black who long has been in the family, is shot and left to burn in the barn. And Betty (ANGEL TOMPKINS), Kyle\u2019s girl and long-time friend of Johnny O\u2019, is brutally raped in the barn by Weasel (TIMOTHY SCOTT), one of the syndicate men.<\/p>\n
This drives the farmer to action. Violence begets violence. Through the courtesy of Uncle Sam, Kyle already is a trained killer. With impeccable professionalism, he begins to eliminate, one by one, the men Johnny O\u2019 sent him after. In panic, Passini (GEORGE MEMMOLI), the rival chieftain, hires a top hit man, Conners (JOHN POPWELL), to track down the unknown killer of his men. He also has the hospitalized Johnny O\u2019 killed by a poisonous injection.<\/p>\n
Kyle completes his wipe-out and drives back to the farm to rejoin Betty. Out of his truck, he embraces her. At that moment, Kyle is being pinpointed on the cross hairs of a telescopic sight. On a bluff overlooking the reunion scene is the dead Passini\u2019s hit man. He is behind a rifle slowly bringing Kyle\u2019s face into bold focus. The farmer\u2019s eyes, usually hard-set and wary, for the first time are sun-bright with hope. The hit man and Kyle have crossed paths once before\u2026<\/p>\n
The ending is unexpected \u2013 not to be revealed here \u2013 and jolts the moral complacency of the viewer. Like Billy Budd, Kyle Martin is fated to be what he is\u2026to do what he does. We meet in the farmer the tormenting struggle between good and evil and the search for rough justice in the scheme of things. But, THE FARMER is ultimately a statement against violence, against hypocrisy, and against man\u2019s inhumanity to man.<\/p>\n
THE FARMER, released by Columbia Pictures in 1977, was one of many Bronsonesque revenge fantasies produced in the wake of the mega-smash DEATH WISH (1974), though its rural setting is more akin to the similar WALKING TALL (1973). I\u2019d love to write a more detailed retrospective of THE FARMER but it\u2019s been 32 years since I saw it at age 15. I do recall it being a straightforward, fast-paced thriller with plenty of bullets, blood and action. I can remember THE OUTFIT, which played right after it (and is also currently MIA on DVD, though it did at least have a VHS release), seeming slow by contrast. Perhaps THE FARMER is not as good as I remember, but I\u2019d like the chance to find out. If anyone can track down a copy of THE FARMER for me, I will trade them my oldest child. THE FARMER is just 33 years old and not a \u2018lost\u2019 film, just one that is hiding. It\u2019s lying low, aware of my obsession and mocking me (it\u2019s probably locked in a vault next to a print of Jerry Lewis\u2019 THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED). But there is hope. A company called Code Red DVD announced in 2004 that they were releasing THE FARMER on disc and even put its trailer on some of their other releases. They had an article on their blog about a commentary and on-camera interview with director David Bertalasky and even put up some screen shots of their transfer. Code Red has a reputation for delaying their releases and it\u2019s been five long years since their announcement. Code Red distributed their titles through BCI Eclipse Corporation, which went under last year so the fate of a THE FARMER DVD is unclear and my emails to Code Red have gone unanswered. If Code Red DVD fails to come through with THE FARMER, I won\u2019t get mad. I\u2019ll get even<\/p>\n
THE FARMER (1977)
\na.k.a. BLAZING REVENGE and THE KILLER FARMER<\/p>\n
Starring
\nGary Conway (Kyle Martin)
\nAngel Tompkins (Betty)
\nMichael Dante (Johnny O\u2019)
\nGeorge Memmoli (Passini)
\nTimothy Scott (Weasel)
\nJack Waltzer (Doc Valentine)
\nKen Renard (Gumshoe)
\nJohn Popwell (Conners, The Hit Man)
\nStratton Leopold (Laundry Sam)
\nSonny Shroyer (Corrigan)
\nEric Weston (Lopie)<\/p>\n
Directed by
\nDavid Berlatsky<\/p>\n
Produced by
\nGary Conway<\/p>\n
Written by
\nJanice Colson-Dodge
\nJohn Carmody
\nPatrick Regan
\nGeorge Fargo<\/p>\n
Executive Producer
\nPeter B. Mills<\/p>\n
Cinematography by
\nIrv Goodnoff<\/p>\n
Edited by
\nRichard Weber<\/p>\n
Music composed & conducted
\nby
\nHugo Montenegro<\/p>\n
\u201cThe American Dreamer\u201d
\n\u201cOutside the Law\u201d<\/p>\n
Composed & Sung
\nby
\nGene Clark<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s Only Me and You\u201d<\/p>\n
Composed by Jack Segal
\nSung by Jackie Alter<\/p>\n
Filmed in Panavision and Color
\non location in Georgia<\/p>\n
A Milway Production
\nReleased by Columbia Pictures<\/p>\n
MPAA rating: R
\nRunning time: 98 minutes