STANLEY (1972)

Director: William Grefé

Writers: Gary Crutcher, William Grefé

Producer: William Grefé

Cast: Chris Robinson, Alex Rocco, Steve Alaimo, Mark Harris, Marcia Knight (as Marcie Knight), Susan Carroll, Rey Baumel, Paul Avery, Gary Crutcher, Pamela Talus, Milton ‘Butterball’ Smith, William Marquez, Mel Pape, (and uncredited cast) Charles Lawlor, Melanie Grefé, Frank Weed, Julio C. Chávez

Tim Ochopee is a Seminole Indian living alone in his shack amidst the Florida Everglades. His Vietnam War experiences have soured him on humanity. He feels more kinship with the many snakes that he has caught and cares for in his home. Tim’s closest companion is the rattlesnake he names Stanley. When various locals further aggravate the disturbed young man’s misanthropy, Tim uses his venomous pets to enforce his sense of justice.

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

Since 1971’s Willard was a big hit at the box office, animal-inflicted-horror films were all the rage for the rest of the decade. Florida filmmaker William Grefé was savvy enough to hop on that trend early. That surely inspired Grefé’s dream, which formed the story basis of his weaponized-snake flick Stanley.

This film takes a slow-burn approach by establishing the setting, psychology of the protagonist, and the conflicts that protagonist has with the rest of the main characters. This certainly seems to be a Willard-modeled template, though the setting and characters are unique here.

But snakes alive! No time is wasted in immediately rousing the audience’s ophidiophobia. Our maladjusted hero, Tim Ochopee, is bitten by a venomous snake in the very first scene. Tim takes it in stride and adds the slithering reptile to his vast array of snakes that he keeps as pets in his humble home. We soon learn that snakes are the only true friends the reclusive Vietnam War veteran has.

Chris Robinson stars as lead character Tim Ochopee. Robinson was a prolific actor on television, and he is probably best remembered for continuing roles in the soap operas General Hospital (1963–present), Another World (1964–99), and The Bold and the Beautiful (1987–present).

Robinson is one of the many Caucasian actors impersonating Native Americans in this film’s era. Details of his character’s backstory are sketchy. Although his Tim Ochopee is referred to by the locals as an Indian, there is one moment when he says that he does not feel like he is either an Indian or a white man. This could be a throwaway indication he may be of mixed-race heritage and that his blue-green eyes are appropriate for his character.

What will probably impress the most about Robinson’s performance in Stanley is how much interaction he has with snakes. It is absolutely vital for this story that his character is completely comfortable mingling with his unusual pets. He is constantly talking to them, removing them from their cages to crawl all over the floor of his home, draping them around his neck, and even setting places at his dinner table for a couple of them. His petting and conversations with his closest chum, the rattlesnake Stanley, makes the poisonous, scaly critter seem almost cuddly.

Not only Robinson, but many other cast members are in very close proximity to the snakes in the film. Even with the on-set snake wrangler’s coaching and milking of the poisonous snakes’ venom, this had to be quite a challenge for the cast to be able to focus on their performances while their slithering co-stars are around. There were some measures taken with the snakes, such as defanging, that helped ensure actors’ safety. Unfortunately, there seems to be quite a bit of snake abuse happening in the film that just would not fly today. I can only hope that the abuse was only inflicted on some of the snakes that had died in captivity, but that appears doubtful in a couple of shots.

Stoic recluse Tim Ochopee is confronted by some obnoxious louts (Steve Alaimo, Mark Harris, and Paul Avery) in the employ of Richard Thomkins. This entrepreneur’s business-model is dependent on harvesting the reptiles in the Everglades for their skins to be used as fashion accessories. Thomkins’ philosophy is that he should be appreciated for making “worthless” animals into something valuable (belts, vests, shoes, etc.) It is not only Thomkins’ predation-for-profit of Tim’s beloved snakes that creates conflict; Tim’s father was “accidentally” shot by one of Thomkins’ goons.

As Richard Thomkins, Alex Rocco’s performance is delightfully despicable. He is a soulless capitalist creep who thinks everything and everyone is for sale. Thomkins not only pays for the company of his “girlfriend” (Pamela Talus), he also leers at his teenage daughter (Susan Carroll), who he thinks should respect him because his money provides everything she could want. His vanity and insecurity make him quite entertaining. We watch Thomkins primping before his poolside mirror as he performs a series of pointless and low-effort motions, as if they will somehow maintain his physique. The ridiculous dumbbells he curls are little more than paperweights. His loud swim trunks perfectly complement the frivolous nature of this character.

Alex Rocco is probably the most recognizable cast member in Stanley. His exploitation movie roots were planted with his very first film role in Russ Meyer’s Motorpsycho (1965). He would become a ubiquitous face as a guest-star on many television series for decades and was a busy character actor in feature films. Rocco would be awarded a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a comedy television series as Al Floss in The Famous Teddy Z (1989–90). Perhaps his most high-profile role was as Moe Greene in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972). While Rocco was in Miami, Florida doing promotion for Coppola’s film, he squeezed in his enjoyably hissable role for Stanley.

Without a doubt, Gloria is the most important character in Stanley. Why? Because she is this film’s featured burlesque dancer, of course! I must admit that her stirring my adolescent loins (when I first saw Stanley on late- night television before I even knew I had loins) has endeared this flick to me. Ahhh, those never-to-be-forgotten formative experiences… They have honed the cinematic insight and critical perception that I know you all appreciate and have come to expect here.

While charming the trouser snakes at The Climax club (and in the film’s audience), Gloria’s dance routine is distinguished by brandishing the snakes that Tim lends to her for the act. It is an extra kink she adds later to her performance that pushes our protagonist even further over the edge. However, early on she proves to me that Tim must already have a few screws loose if he’d rather snuggle with snakes than Gloria. Perhaps he is afraid of being gored by Gloria’s fearsome, false eyelashes.

Marcia Knight appeared in three of director Grefé’s 1970s films. Her filmography is quite limited, but she seems to have made her movie debut back in 1961’s inept-movie exemplar The Beast of Yucca Flats. Knight is quite good here as Gloria. She is embittered and a bit sad as an aging exotic dancer stuck with her disrespectful, money-grubbing hubby (Rey Baumel) who owns the club where she works. Even when Knight’s Gloria does the wrong thing, we understand why. Hell, with a beer in my hand and her on stage, I’d let Gloria get away with murder. Gloria has not only cultivated my critical faculties, she has also nurtured nuance in my wishy-washy morality.

Exploitation films just can’t serve up too much cheesecake, so we have sexy Susan Carroll around to add to that beauty-and-the-beasts vibe. As Susie Thomkins, the impudent, rebellious, and promiscuous teenage daughter of this flick’s biggest heel, she hates her greedy and intolerant father. I find it quite refreshing and honest that this film does not make Susie some idealized moral counterpoint to her awful old man; she is not really very likable. It stands to reason that she might be spoiled being raised by a rich jerk like Richard Thomkins, and that some of his lack of tact might rub off on her.

Therefore, it’s up to our maladjusted hero to give us someone to root for. Once all the foes of Tim Ochopee step up, and then step way over the line, our snake-loving loner starts slinging serpents around to do his “dirty work.” That’s what we all are waiting for, right? Those oh so mellow ’70s had no room for the “I’m okay—you’re okay” philosophy at the drive-in. Yeah, yeah, I’m still trying to justify my Gloria-influenced, wishy-washy morality.