Main Cast: Raquel Welch, Kevin McCarthy, Helena Kallianiotes, Norman Alden, Jeanne Cooper
Release Year: 1972
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
While Raquel Welch was a household name and an international sex symbol through much of the 1960s'and 1970s, Hollywood didn't seem sure about what to do with her; this was one of her more unusual vehicles from this period, in which Welch plays K.C. Carr, a divorcee with two children who becomes romantically involved with Burt Henry (Kevin McCarthy). Burt is the owner of a roller derby team, the Kansas City Bombers, and convinces K.C. that a career on the rink might be just the thing for her. K.C. soon discovers that the sport is rougher than she imagined, and her teammate Jackie (Helena Kallianiotes) is convinced that K.C. is out to replace her as the Bombers' star attraction. But another member of the team, Horrible Hank Hopkins (Norman Alden), shows K.C. the ropes and stands up for her. When Hank gets traded to another team, K.C. has to learn to fend for herself against Jackie as well as Burt. Raquel Welch did all her own skating for this film; an accident while filming one of the derby sequences left her with a broken wrist that shut down production for six weeks. Legendary singer and songwriter Phil Ochs was tapped by the producers of Kansas City Bomber to write a theme song for the film; it wasn't used, though it was released as a single and appeared on the compilation CD The War is Over: The Best of Phil Ochs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A clichéd, at times trashy melodrama, Kansas City Bomber nonetheless has a certain gritty power to it that keeps it sticking in the mind. True, it's undeniably campy in places -- the mere thought of Raquel Welch as a roller-derby queen makes that unavoidable -- and at times it seems as if the creators threw in every dramatic cliché they could think of; however, it's not as bad as it seems it really should be. It's not good, either, mind you, just more memorable than one would expect. Surprisingly, Welch acquits herself pretty well. She's impressive in the skating sequences and she gets through the dramatic scenes with few major missteps. Kevin McCarthy does even better with his thankless oily-heel role, Jodie Foster is fine in a small part, and Helena Kallianiotes manages to rise above the material to give a genuinely impressive performance. Jerrold Freedman's direction too often emphasizes the obvious, but he shoots the action scenes well and creates a convincingly shabby atmosphere as he chronicles the not so glamorous life of the skaters and their equally not so glamorous fans. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Joseph Jennings - Art Director, Ron Talsky - Costume Designer, Richard Glassman - First Assistant Director, Jerrold Freedman - Director, David Berlatsky - Editor, Arthur Gardner - Executive Producer, Jules Levy - Executive Producer, Don Ellis - Composer (Music Score), Howard Liebling - Songwriter, Jeff Thomas - Songwriter, Don Ellis - Songwriter, Mario Eckstein - Songwriter, Bruce Hutchinson - Makeup, Richard Cobos - Makeup, Fred Koenekamp - Cinematographer, Martin Elfand - Producer, Don Johnson - Sound/Sound Designer, Harry W. Tetrick - Sound/Sound Designer, Barry Sandler - Screen Story, Tom Rickman - Screenwriter, Calvin Clements - Screenwriter, Stanley Brossette - Unit Publicist, Harry Sandler - Short Story Author
