Its strange to think of a film from 1970 as being lost , but that’s just what has Happened to Director Robert Clouse’s, Darker than Amber.
In the late 1960’s the crime novels written by John D. MacDonald and staring his ” salvage consultant ” Travis McGee, we’re very popular. McGee wasn’t a P.I. in the traditional sense, instead he always seemed to get involved with a crime that was happening off the Florida coast.
Darker than Amber was the 7th McGee Novel to be published, and so far its the only one ever to be turned into a film.
Unfortunately it didn’t do well at the box office and in 1974 the company that produced it wen’t bankrupt.
which is why the film has never had a home video release and since then has just simply fallen through the cracks.
In fact its fallen so deep through the cracks that the only trailer I could find was a fan made one for a theater screening from a few years ago. ( Although this trailer does make me what to watch the movie ! )
One of the main things the film is remembered for is the brutal end fight between Rod Taylor’s McGee and a bleach blonde psycho played by genre legend William Smith.
( In fact the films advertising was based around this fight)
In fact when Bruce Lee screened the film to check out Taylor and Smith as possible co-stars for Enter the Dragon , he ended up asking for Robert Clouse to direct his film instead.
Now since there is no way to watch this film on home video or streaming, here it is on youtube. Maybe someday we’ll get a decent looking copy.
