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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Saturday, July 27, 2013

The Illustrated Man (1969)

Starring Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, Robert Drivas, Don Dubbins, Jason Evers
Directed by Jack Smight
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A young hitchhiker encounters another traveler, a surly man covered with tattoos, who warns that those who stare at his tattoos will see them come alive and show visions of the future.

Based on a book of short stories by Ray Bradbury, this film has a fairly ingenious plot, fashioning the film as a vehicle for Steiger by casting him as both the Illustrated Man and the main character in each of the stories springing from the tattoos.  However the film is so interminably slow-moving, it can't help but drag.  Bloom is very good as the mysterious woman who illustrates Steiger's body and co-stars with him in the the tales, and Drivas puts in good work as well as the young hitchhiker, but the sci-fi scenes are so drab, with little imagination put forth in the sets and special effects, that they contribute to the dragging effect.

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