Karen Black Movies

Though her career of the late '80s and early '90s might indicate otherwise, Karen Black is one of Hollywood's finest actresses and has appeared in a number of well-wrought dramas. Born Karen Ziegler, she began her professional acting career after graduating from Northwestern University. After appearing in a few revues off-Broadway, Black enrolled in the Actor's Studio to study under Lee Strasberg. She made her film debut as a teenage artist's model in exploitation filmmaker Herschel Gordon Lewis' The Prime Time (1960). In 1965, Black appeared on Broadway in The Playroom which only ran for a month, but did garner her a nomination for a New York Critic's Circle award. She then appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now (1967). She next appeared in Hard Contact (1969), but did not become well known until her convincing portrayal of a spaced-out LSD-taking hooker in the box-office sleeper Easy Rider (1969). The following year, Black won further acclaim for playing a goodhearted but somewhat dim-witted waitress in Five Easy Pieces. The role earned her a Best Supporting Actress award from the New York Film Critics and an Oscar nomination. With this auspicious beginning, Black went on to appear in a number of major Hollywood features during the '70s. Some of her most notable performances can be found in such films as Jack Nicholson's directorial debut Drive He Said (1971), The Great Gatsby (1974), The Day of the Locust (1975), and Robert Altman's Nashville (1975), where she got to show off her singing ability. In 1975, she also played four roles in the chilling television thriller Trilogy of Terror. But despite her excellent reputation as a fine performer, the dawn of the '80s marked a downswing in Black's career; she began appearing in lower quality films, a trend that did not reverse in the '90s, though she did make her screenwriting debut in 1997 with the drama Men. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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You're a Big Boy Now: 1966

This cult favorite began as Francis Ford Coppola's UCLA thesis, ending up with a professional cast and nationwide release. Teen Peter Kastner undergoes his coming-of-age rites when, urged on by dad Rip Torn, he strikes out on own and moves to NYC. Every person Kastner meets is an eccentric's eccentric, from landlady Julie Harris to cop Dolph Sweet. Kastner's new friend Tony Bill, who works at the New York Public Library and accumulates pornography on side, introduces the boy to sex and drugs. Our hero truly matriculates to manhood after his heart is broken by disco dancer Elizabeth Hartman; he settles instead for Karen Black, still enough of an unknown quantity in 1966 to play against type as "the right girl". Adapted from a novel by David Benedictus, Big Boy is afflicted with usual youthful film-class fervor, crammed full of showoffish cinematic tricks that Coppola would eventually outgrow. But one can't deny that this seminal production is both heartfelt and energetic. To improve the film's saleability, distributors Seven Arts tacked on a music score by the Lovin' Spoonful, hardly necessary but very enjoyable appendange. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Elizabeth Hartman, Geraldine Page, (more)

The F.B.I.: The Satellite: 1967

Trouble comes in pairs for the family of a young kidnap victim. Not only has the family received a ransom note from the kidnappers, but they are also being shaken down for money from an extortionist who hopes to cash in on their travails. It is up to Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) to round up all the various and sundry villains and return the abductee safely. Featured as one of the kidnappers is a young Karen Black, several years removed from her stardom vis-à-vis such films as The Great Gatsby and Nashville. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adam-12: Log 132: Producer: 1968

A pre-stardom Karen Black appears in this episode as a beautiful model whom Officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) endeavor to protect from an obsessed stalker. The two officers' other assignments this evening include extricating a youngster who has gotten his head stuck in an iron fence. And on a more serious note, Pete and Jim corner a pair of desperate burglars in a swimsuit factory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Easy Rider: 1969; R; Add Easy Rider to Queue Add Easy Rider to top of Queue

Tossing wristwatches away, two bikers hit the road to find America in Dennis Hopper's anti-establishment classic. After a major cocaine sale to an L.A. connection (Phil Spector), free-wheeling potheads Billy (Hopper) and Wyatt, aka Captain America (Peter Fonda, who also produced), motor eastward to party at Mardi Gras before "retiring" to Florida with the riches concealed in Wyatt's stars-and-stripes gas tank. As they ride through the Southwest, they take a hitchhiker (Luke Askew) to a struggling hippie commune before they get thrown in a small-town jail for "parading without a permit." Their cellmate, drunken ACLU lawyer George Hanson (Jack Nicholson, replacing Rip Torn), does them a "groovy" favor by getting them out of jail and then decides to join them. Babbling about Venusians, George discovers the joys of smoking grass, but an encounter with Southern rednecks soon proves how right he is about the danger posed by Billy's and Wyatt's unfettered life in a country that has lost its ideals. With the straight world closing in, Wyatt and Billy try to revel in New Orleans with some LSD and hookers (Karen Black and Toni Basil), but the acid trip is shot through with morbidity. Once they reach Florida, Billy raves about attaining the American dream; Wyatt, however, knows the truth: "We blew it."

Produced and directed by two Hollywood iconoclasts with under a half-million non-studio dollars, Easy Rider shook up the languishing movie industry when it grossed over 19 million dollars in 1969; it captured the spirit of the times as it woke Hollywood up to the power of young audiences and socially relevant movies, along with such other landmarks of the late '60s as Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, and 2001. Shot on location by Laszlo Kovacs, Easy Rider eschewed old-fashioned Hollywood polish for documentary-style immediacy, and it enhanced its casual feel with improvised dialogue and realistically "stoned" acting. With a soundtrack of contemporary rock songs by Jimi Hendrix, the Band, and Steppenwolf to complete the atmosphere, Easy Rider was hailed for capturing the increasingly violent Vietnam-era split between the counterculture and the repressive Establishment. Experiencing the "shock of recognition," youth audiences embraced Easy Rider's vision of both the attractions and the limits of dropping out, proving that audience's box-office power and turning Nicholson into a movie star. The momentarily hip Academy nominated Nicholson for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and Fonda, Hopper, and Terry Southern for their screenplay. Though none of its imitators would match its impact, Easy Rider remains one of the seminal works of late '60s Hollywood both for its trailblazing legacy and its sharply perceptive portrait of its chaotic times. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, (more)

Hard Contract: 1969; PG

John Cunningham (James Coburn) is a cold-blooded assassin sent by his superior Ramsey (Burgess Meredith) to murder three people in Europe. He takes off for Spain where he meets a foursome of jet-setting socialites. Sheila (Lee Remick) is a wealthy divorcee who falls for John. Alexi (Patrick Magee) is a former Nazi weasel who has eyes for Sheila. Adrianne (Lilli Palmer) is a social butterfly who plays Cupid for John and Sheila. Sterling Hayden and Claude Dauphin also star in this romantic story of how love can soften a man's stone-cold heart. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Starring:: James Coburn, Lee Remick, (more)

Five Easy Pieces: 1970; R; Add Five Easy Pieces to Queue Add Five Easy Pieces to top of Queue

A disaffected man seeks a sense of identity in one of the key films of Hollywood's 1970s New Wave. Once a promising pianist from a family of classical musicians, Bobby Eroica Dupea (Jack Nicholson, in his first major starring role) leads a blue-collar life as an oil rigger, living with needy waitress girlfriend Rayette (Karen Black) and bowling with their friends Elton (Billy "Green" Bush) and Stoney (Fannie Flagg). Feeling suffocated by responsibilities, Bobby seeks out his sister, Tita (Lois Smith), and, discovering that his father is gravely ill, he reluctantly heads back to the patrician family compound in Puget Sound with a pregnant Rayette in tow. After a road trip featuring a harangue from hitchhiker Palm (Helena Kallianiotes) about filth, and Bobby's ill-fated attempt to make a menu substitution in a diner, he tucks Rayette away in a motel before heading to the house. There Bobby seduces his uptight brother Carl's cultured fiancée, Catherine (Susan Anspach), but Rayette shows up unexpectedly. As Rayette's crassness collides with the snobbery of the Dupea circle, Bobby loses patience with both sides. After trying to reconcile with his mute father, Bobby departs, unwilling to give in to either destiny. Director Bob Rafelson and screenwriter Adrien Joyce (aka Carole Eastman) used the creative control afforded by the low budget to craft a European-influenced character study, catching a cultural mood of anomie and resentment as it was embodied in Bobby. Neither older generation nor hippie, Bobby fits in nowhere, and his desire for independence conflicts with his emotional emptiness. Nicholson's nuanced performance of simmering frustration resonated with 1970 audiences caught between Nixon's "silent majority" and the troubled counterculture; a substantial hit, Five Easy Pieces was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and established Nicholson as a star. Offering no "easy" answers to Bobby's existential crisis, Five Easy Pieces is one of the pre-eminent films in the early-'70s cycle of alienated American art movies, as even the fantasy of rebellion is reduced to merely running away. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, (more)

A Gunfight: 1971; PG

A Gunfight was the first mainstream American film to be produced by an Indian tribe -- specifically, the Jicarilla Apaches of New Mexico. Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash star as Will and Abe, two long-in-tooth gunfighters with nary a dime between them. Although Will and Abe are fast friends, they agree to a winner-take-all showdown, selling tickets to the momentous event. The townspeople are certain that Will is going to win the shootout, but he knows that it would be a fatal mistake to underestimate Abe. Standing on the sidelines is Will's wife Nora (Jane Alexander), who seems curiously disinterested in the outcome, even though she may become a widow before the day is over. Despite the financial input of the Jicarilla tribe, A Gunfight has nothing to do with Indians; perhaps the tribe just wanted to put together a good, old-fashioned western, sans any social commentary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Kirk Douglas, Johnny Cash, (more)

Born to Win: 1971; R; Add Born to Win to Queue Add Born to Win to top of Queue

Born to Win is the grimly ironic title of this jet-black comedy about heroin addicts. George Segal plays Jay Jay, an ex-hairdresser who struggles to support his expensive drug habit. To avoid arrest, Jay Jay turns "narc," informing on his fellow junkies. Eventually Jay Jay's sense of self-hatred threatens to overwhelm him. Also released as Born to Lose and Addict, Born to Win was the first American film for Czech director Ivan Passer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starring:: George Segal, Karen Black, (more)

Drive, He Said: 1971; R

Jack Nicholson first put his well-documented enthusiasm for basketball to good use in this film, which he wrote and directed between his roles in Five Easy Pieces and Carnal Knowledge. William Tepper plays Hector, a student at a college in Ohio who shares a room with his friend Gabriel (Michael Margotta) and is the star player on the school's basketball team. Hector has been approached to quit college and play pro ball, but Gabriel is urging him to devote more time to radical political causes. Of course, both have plenty of other things on their mind; Hector is having a clandestine affair with the wife of one of his professors (Karen Black), while Gabriel, in a bid to beat the draft and avoid going to Vietnam, is trying to convince the draft board that he's insane. Unfortunately, Gabriel is feigning madness so well that he's not so sure he hasn't actually become crazy. Director Henry Jaglom and screenwriter Robert Towne also have supporting roles, as do future sitcom greats Cindy Williams and David Ogden Stiers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Starring:: William Tepper, Karen Black, (more)

Cisco Pike: 1971; R; Add Cisco Pike to Queue Add Cisco Pike to top of Queue

This crime-drama follows the exploits of a rock star who is finally freed from prison after being convicted of drug dealing. Though he wants to go straight, he is blackmailed by a crooked cop who forces him to sell marijuana. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Portnoy's Complaint: 1972; R

Screenwriter Ernest Lehman, whose credits include the screenplays for North by Northwest, Sabrina, West Side Story, and The Sweet Smell of Success, made a less than distinguished debut as a director with this adaptation of Philip Roth's controversial novel about Alexander Portnoy (Richard Benjamin), a Jewish man who, during a session with his analyst, goes on one long tirade after another about his family, his childhood, his sexual fantasies and desires, his problems with women, and his obsession with his own Judaism. If ever there was a novel that by its nature would defy accurate presentation onscreen, this was it; but for all its flaws, Portnoy's Complaint does feature a few good performances, most notably Karen Black as Portnoy's Gentile lust object, "The Monkey," Jeannie Berlin as the memorably named local slattern Bubbles Girardi, and Jill Clayburgh as Naomi, a woman Portnoy meets in Israel. Lehman never directed again. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Richard Benjamin, Karen Black, (more)

The Outfit: 1973; PG

A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death in this drama based on a novel by Donald E. Westlake. Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall) is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother. As it turns out, the bank that Earl and his brother hit was controlled by gangster Mailer (Robert Ryan). Macklin learns that he's on the mob's hit list as well, so he teams up with his old partner Cody (Joe Don Baker) to take on Mailer and his second in command, Jake Menner (Timothy Carey). The Outfit also features a top-notch supporting cast, including Karen Black, Sheree North, Joanna Cassidy, Richard Jaeckel, and Anita O'Day; Marie Windsor and Elisha Cook, Jr. also appear, 18 years after their memorable turn together in The Killing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Robert Duvall, Karen Black, (more)

Little Laura & Big John: 1973; R

A pair of outlaws find both love and danger on the road in this period crime drama. John Ashley (pop singer-turned-actor Fabian Forte) grew up in a small town in the swamps of Florida, and carried a torch for his childhood sweetheart, Laura (Karen Black). However, in the '20s there wasn't much work to be had, and John turned to poaching to make money for Laura and himself. When John accidentally killed a man, he found himself facing a long stretch in prison, but with the help of his brother he escaped, and John and Laura hit the road, making a living robbing bands and bootlegging liquor until they became minor celebrities for their criminal exploits. The sole directorial credit for Luke Moberly, Little Laura & Big John was inspired by the real-life story of John Ashley, a Florida-based criminal who earned a certain fame in the Deep South during the depression. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Hooker Cult Murders: 1973; R; Add The Hooker Cult Murders to Queue Add The Hooker Cult Murders to top of Queue

Featuring a deft blend of sci-fi, horror and suspense, this Canadian thriller centers on a Montreal police detective's attempts to solve the strange and grisly murder of a young woman. His investigation leads him into a mysterious terrifying world of Satanic ritual. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Law and Disorder: 1974; R

Fed up with an escalating crime rate and an increasingly ineffective police force, blue-collar New Yorkers Willie and Cy (Carroll O'Connor and Ernest Borgnine) join a citizen's vigilante group. Their efforts to act as an auxiliary police force are comically inept, but director Ivan Passer lulls us into laughter only to catch us unprepared when he wants to play things in dead seriousness. After finally proving their worth as after-hours cops, Willie and Cy are euphoric; this lasts just long enough for Cy to be killed. Constantly changing its tone and point of view, Law and Disorder struck just the right nihilistic note in the 1970s. Modern viewers may not be quite as responsive, though many will cheer Willie's final act of defiance against the Big Apple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Airport 1975: 1974; Add Airport 1975 to Queue Add Airport 1975 to top of Queue

In the wake of the 45-million-dollar gross of the original Airport (1970), Universal was all but required by an act of Congress to produce Airport '75. Charlton Heston heads the all-star cast as Alan Murdock, the former test pilot who must keep a disabled 747 from crashing in flames. The crisis begins when a businessman (Dana Andrews), flying his small private plane, suffers a fatal heart attack and the plane smashes into the cockpit of the 747. Following Murdock's radioed instructions, stewardess Nancy Pryor (Karen Black) takes over the controls. The special-guest passenger lineup includes Helen Reddy as a singing nun (a character wickedly satirized in the 1980 parody Airplane!), Myrna Loy as an alcoholic, and Sid Caesar as a garrulous passenger. While Airport '75 yielded only 25 million dollars at the box office, the franchise continued, spawning Airport '77 a few years later and Airport '79 two years after that. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Charlton Heston, Karen Black, (more)

Rhinoceros: 1974; PG; Add Rhinoceros to Queue Add Rhinoceros to top of Queue

Rhinoceros is another American Film Theatre movie recording a notable stage production. The incomparable duo of Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, whose earlier work in The Producers is now a comedy classic, join forces here to make the surreal comedy of Eugene Ionesco's play come to life. Ionesco was a leading exponent of "theater of the absurd," and realism was the last thing on his mind. For that reason, many people find this comedy rough going. Stanley (Gene Wilder) seems to be the only one who notices that everyone in the world is turning into Rhinoceroses--Everyone. First, they are overcome by a certain indifference to human values, and then POOF! they are on all fours, knocking over buildings and eating vegetation. He confides his concerns to his friend John (Zero Mostel), but even he swiftly begins to develop certain "thickish" tendencies. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The Great Gatsby: 1974; PG; Add The Great Gatsby to Queue Add The Great Gatsby to top of Queue

This third film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic 1925 novel was one of the most hyped movies of the summer of 1974. Robert Redford stars as self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby, who uses his vast (and implicitly ill-gotten) fortune to buy his way into Long Island society. Most of all, Gatsby wants to win back the love of socialite Daisy Buchanan (Mia Farrow), now married to "old money" Tom Buchanan (Bruce Dern). Calmly observing the passing parade is Nick Carraway (Sam Waterston), Gatsby's best friend, who narrates the film. Francis Ford Coppola's screenplay is meticulously faithful to the original novel, but Theoni V. Aldredge's costume design and Nelson Riddle's nostalgic musical score won the film its only Oscars. The huge supporting cast includes Howard Da Silva, who played Wilson in the 1949 Great Gatsby, and a very young Patsy Kensit as Daisy's daughter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, (more)

The Day of the Locust: 1975; R; Add The Day of the Locust to Queue Add The Day of the Locust to top of Queue

The Day of the Locust is anything but a cheerful, light look at Hollywood in the '30s. It recreates both the town as well as the filmmaking world around which much of the town revolved with devastating accuracy. The movie tells the twin tales of talentless wannabe actress Faye Greener (Karen Black) and Homer Simpson (Donald Sutherland), a lovelorn accountant who couldn't care less about movies. Around this framework, a huge and intricate social network is tellingly revealed, until the film's gruesome and tragic ending. Not for those who prefer to hang onto their illusions about the glory days of Hollywood, The Day of the Locust, based on the novel by Nathanael West, is a must-see for serious film buffs. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Donald Sutherland, Karen Black, (more)

Nashville: 1975; R; Add Nashville to Queue Add Nashville to top of Queue

Following 24 characters through 5 days in the country music capital, Robert Altman's 1975 epic presents a complexly textured portrayal (and critique) of American obsessions with celebrity and power. Among the various stars, aspirants, hangers-on, observers, and media folk are politically ambitious country icon Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson) and his fragile star protegée Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley); Tom (Keith Carradine), a self-absorbed rock star who woos lonely married gospel singer Linnea Reese (Lily Tomlin); Sueleen Gay (Gwen Welles), a talentless waitress painfully humiliated at her first singing gig; Albuquerque (Barbara Harris), a runaway wife with dreams of stardom; nightclub owner Lady Pearl (Barbara Baxley), who reminisces about "those Kennedy boys"; single-minded groupie L.A. Joan (Shelley Duvall); vapid BBC commentator Opal (Geraldine Chaplin); and campaign guru John Triplette (Michael Murphy), who is trying to organize a concert rally for the unseen but always heard populist presidential candidate-cum-demagogue Hal Phillip Walker. Everything comes to a head during a climactic concert at Nashville's replica of the Parthenon temple, as the entertainment-hungry audience is momentarily woken out of its stupor by unexpected violence, only to be lulled into a restorative sing-along to "It Don't Worry Me." ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Henry Gibson, Barbara Baxley, (more)

Trilogy of Terror: 1975; Add Trilogy of Terror to Queue Add Trilogy of Terror to top of Queue

In this made-for-TV horror showcase, Karen Black plays four separate roles in three successive tales written or based on the works of venerable genre writer Richard Matheson. In "Julie," Black portrays a prim college literature instructor who engages in a debauched affair with one of her students after he drugs, date-rapes, and blackmails her into submission; here and in the other stories, however, things aren't what they seem. "Millicent and Therese" features the actress in two roles as good sister/bad sister twins who use witchcraft to settle their sexual and moral differences. In the final and most famous segment, "Amelia," Black plays a spinster with an insufferable mother who sublets a high-rise apartment in the city in order to find romantic freedom. When she purchases a Zuni fetish warrior doll as a present for her anthropology-professor beau, it comes to life and chases her around the flat with considerable tenacity. A failed pilot for a horror anthology series, Trilogy of Terror first appeared on ABC in 1975 and subsequently gained a devoted cult following. Black originally didn't want to participate, but agreed after her husband, Robert Burton, was cast in the role of the date-raping blackmailer. Although the actress has appeared in numerous subsequent horror films, it was her indelible quadruple roles here that inspired cult New York rockers the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. The film also allegedly inspired the 1984 horror-blaxploitation flick Black Devil Doll From Hell. A belated sequel, Trilogy of Terror 2, also from former Dark Shadows director Dan Curtis, followed in 1996. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Crime and Passion: 1975; R

Crime and Passion is a mediocre comedy-drama, about an investment counselor who doesn't handle his investments wisely. Andre (Omar Sharif) is in trouble with Rolf (Bernhard Wicki) because of Rolf's losses based on Andre's advice. Andre and his lover Susan (Karen Black) devise a scheme to have Susan marry Rolf in order to save Andre and possibly make some money. The plot is weak and the direction by Ivan Passer is lackluster, but Omar Sharif gives a fine performance in the central role. The film is also aided by a nice score by Vangelis. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Omar Sharif, Karen Black, (more)

Family Plot: 1976; PG; Add Family Plot to Queue Add Family Plot to top of Queue

Alfred Hitchcock's final film was adapted from Victor Canning's novel The Rainbird Pattern by Ernest Lehman, who previously wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's North by Northwest. Barbara Harris plays Blanche, a phony psychic, hired by wealthy Julia Rainbird (Cathleen Nesbitt) to trace the whereabouts of her nephew, who'd been given up for adoption years earlier and who is now heir to a fortune. Blanche's cohort is "investigator" Lumley (Bruce Dern), who is fully prepared to milk the last dollar out of Julia before locating the long-lost nephew. Meanwhile, we are introduced to elegant kidnappers Adamson and Fran (William Devane and Karen Black). The fates of the two couples are inextricably intertwined by the search for the missing heir. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starring:: Karen Black, Bruce Dern, (more)

The Squeeze: 1976; R; Add The Squeeze to Queue Add The Squeeze to top of Queue

In this crime drama a safe cracker comes out of retirement to pull off one last caper. The Germans behind the theft are planning to steal $1 million; unbeknownst to the safe cracker, they are also planning to kill him afterward. As soon as he finds out, he begins plotting his revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide