Review of Get Off My Back

Using the famed drug rehab center of SYNANON as a backdrop seems like a sure fire hit, but this film misses more than it scores. Alex Cord is a junkie who seeks help at the center and finds himself at odds with former prison crony Chuck Connors. He also finds himself smitten with sexy fellow addict Stella Stevens. A film of such noble bearing is difficult to criticize but it is a shame that director Richard Quine infuses the story with such cliché-ridden melodrama. The acting is mightily uneven with Stevens and Connors coming off best. Cord is far too dull a screen presence to be truly compelling and, as the founder of the program, Edmond O'Brien recites each and every line as if he's addressing an assembly. He's so didactic it's impossible not to snicker at his verbose delivery. There's some great B&W cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr. and some very odd pseudo-jazz music by Neal Hefti. The supporting cast includes Barbara Luna, Alejandro Rey, Eartha Kitt and Richard Evans as "Hopper," Cord's demented junkie pal.