‘Night of the Juggler’ is light on crazed street performers, big on sleazy action
I didn’t need to know much more than the title of Night of the Juggler to know that it was something I wanted to see. The implication of a crazy street performer serial killer never makes it past my assumptions, however, the moment when Dan Hedaya is firing off shotgun rounds at James Brolin in crowded New York City streets during a foot chase through the Deuce is when this movie revealed its greatness to me. And that’s after James Brolin goes a couple of rounds in some peepshow fisticuffs looking for a stripper who picked up some evidence that will lead to locating the man who mistakenly kidnapped his daughter earlier in the film.
Directed by Robert Butler and based on the novel by William McGivern, 1980’s Night of the Juggler is basically what happens when crazy guy Gus Soltic (Cliff Gorman) — whose nuttiness is a mix of Travis Bickle, the Joker, and Top Cat — becomes so hellbent on a million dollar ransom that he doesn’t care that he’s kidnapped the wrong mop-headed kid in frumpy overalls on her way to school. Being a slummy South Bronx property owner, Soltic’s got a real sore spot for rich land developers like Hampton Clayton (Marco St. John) whose daughter he actually meant to grab. But in this classic accidental switcheroo — not unlike the intricate plot point in an episode of Top Cat — Soltic’s kidnapping of ex-cop truck driver Sean Boyd’s (James Brolin) teenage daughter Kathy (Abby Bluestone) sends the next 20 minutes of this movie on one of the wildest chases you never hear anyone talk about, and then another chase after that, and one more for good measure with plenty of bone-crunching brawling in between complete with gangs and strippers.
You may have seen the classic kidnapper-holds-child-for-ransom movie before, but have you seen it with Dan Hedaya dangling upside-down from a chain-link fence being mauled by savage dogs? For the sake of throwing more rocks at James Brolin while he’s up in this child-for-ransom-kidnapping-chase-across-New York City tree, his ex-cop bona fides have him encounter angry ex-partner Sergeant Barnes (Dan Hedaya) whose marriage and career was nearly ruined after Boyd ratted him out for corruption involving a Puerto Rican hooker. With all of his ex-cop, ex-partner, and ex-wife trouble, Juggler could easily be the sequel to an equally entertaining movie about Boyd’s past.
The police in Juggler are portrayed as mildly corrupt, or at the very least, lazy, and even a little stupid. If Special Crimes Lieutentant Tonelli (Richard Castellano) worked half as hard at figuring out Soltic had the wrong kid as he does at trying to have less to do with his daughter’s wedding plans, well, we wouldn’t have much of a movie. Also, earlier in the film Tonelli storms out of a frozen yogurt stand after a brief bizarre conversation with its owner who reveals to him the disturbing bacterial science behind yogurt. “I got a feeling it’s gonna be another goddam New York day.”
At its heart, Night of the Juggler seems to be a comment on the crumbling social and economic state of the city at the time as well as a love letter to the spirit of New Yorkers. After all, it’s Boyd along with the help of a stripper (porn star Sharon Mitchell) and a dog shelter office worker (Julie Carmen) who tracks down Soltic, not the police. What else is amazing is the sheer lack of panic from Boyd throughout the film. Like any handsome dad would, armed with only his beard, his Vidal Sassoned hairdo, and his plaid flannel shirt unbuttoned down to here, Boyd confidently and relentlessly pursues his daughter’s kidnapper. And as for the movie’s anti-establishment comment, when it’s not being done to the extremes of Soltic’s crazy diatribes of injustice to the point of racist tirades and ransom, it seems like everyone is paying for something throughout the entire film; from hot dogs to taxes, from information to sex, everyone is having to shell out in a city that can barely pay its bills.
And while James Brolin is fantastic in this film, Cliff Gorman successfully manages convincing lines of crazy dialogue like, “You hear that, sucktooth,” and the pedophilic “It’s time to get the gold at the end of the rainbow, sweet meat.” Soltic’s not only pissed off at the establishment, but he’s also loaded with mommy issues to the point of essentially trying to turn Kathy into his mother — making her sit in his mother’s chair and wear her old clothes — and then professing his love to her, completely pegging out the creep-o-meter, during which Kathy remains surprisingly cool as a cucumber. If he weren’t so danged racist and pervy, you’d almost feel sorry for him; kind of like Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck in 2019’s Most Annoying Movie of the Year The Joker (which I happened to like, but sure, it was annoying).
Jam-packed with enough action and car chases to make William Friedkin blush, you’d never guess that Juggler was a bit of a troubled production. Early during filming, James Brolin broke his foot and after the studio suggestion of having him finish the film in a cast, original director Sidney J. Furie (Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, yikes!) left the movie, and the production was turned over to director Robert Butler. Still kicking, the 93 year old Butler has 100 credits to his name including the original unaired pilot of Star Trek, “The Cage.” Of course Brolin didn’t have to finish the film in a cast, but he does walk with a noticeable limp for part of it which was worked into the plot.
I may have spoiled the ending, but the ending doesn’t matter so much in this as the ride this movie takes you on. Besides, you already know from the start how this thing is gonna end up, but you’ll never expect how entertained you’ll be along the way. And to answer your question, there’s no juggling and the movie takes place mostly in the day time, but any other title might not have gotten my attention. Wasting the opportunity for making a perfectly good Batman villain, the only connection the film makes to juggling dangles by a thread in one of Soltic’s nutty rants: “They’re all in it together, juggling the books. Now they’re gonna pay. Now I’m gonna be the juggler. I’m gonna juggle the books my way and it’s gonna balance out for me.” Of course I don’t know how holding a real-estate developer’s daughter for ransom equates to juggling, but I’m also not a crazy person.
Unfortunately, this movie is not available on home video, but can be found out there somewhere on YouTube ripped from a VHS recording off Cinemax. And what’s even more unfortunate, that in spite of the racist, pervy antagonist meeting his doom, the social discomfort of this movie may ensure that it never sees the light of day in any official release.
But if you’re up for some great action with a little sleaze — and who isn’t! — Night of the Juggler is a low-pressure thrill ride, that takes a little light kidnapping in stride and isn’t disturbing enough to ruin your Sunday, but just enough fun to make you marvel that it was ever released by a major studio.
Four stars.
