Combining the two posts for this from 2021 to make the interview clips--still available at YouTube--more directly accessible.

Now here is a neo-noir that is going to be neglected for awhile, due to the unfortunate and unsavory developments that continue to swirl around one of its stars. I suspect that HICKEY & BOGGS, which was cast aside for quite some time while the legacy of neo-noir took its time to become fully formed, is going to be in limbo for at least as long as its original bout of obscurity as a result.

Of course, that's a shame, because it is one of the bleakest (and best) neo-noirs out there, firmly ensconced in the Top 100 as compiled here by Mike. Neither of the current neo-noir festivals underway this month have chosen to include it--Criterion, unlike TCM, did at least try to cover its absence by selecting several blaxploitation noirs from the adjacent time period to cover the racial themes that were prevalent in early 70s neo-noir.

To help keep the film from slipping even further under the radar, here are links to an interview with Robert Culp (who both directed and starred in the film with a certain "elephant in the room" who was once venerated as a show business giant) conducted by the American Cinematheque's Grant Moninger at the Aero Theater in 2007. (The interview was posted to YouTube in three parts, hence three links.)






Culp on HICKEY & BOGGS/1






Culp on HICKEY & BOGGS/2

Watching the film--and watching Culp's reminiscences--simply reinforces the fact that there really are films that go maudit through no fault of their own. HICKEY & BOGGS has endured the same fate in its post-release afterlife as what befell the characters in the film itself.

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I missed Part 3 of the late Robert Culp's Aero Theatre interview (which is a continuation of the Q&A session after the actual chat between Culp and Grant Moninger). You can find it here:





Culp on HICKEY & BOGGS/3