The Ultimate Puzzle

Directed by Christian Doherty. Filmed: 1973/Completed: 2008
With Christian Doherty, Tom Soter, Leslie Smith, Kathy Kramer, and Alan Saly as “The Big Guy”
Filmed and edited in 1973, this late Doherty gem sat unfinished until 2008 when, at the instigation of Apar archivist Tom Soter, Tom Sinclair provided a scriptful of words to match the silent action that occurs on screen. Sinclair, who actually created the hero of this movie, Jason Rogers, in a series of short stories in the 1970s, said he “had a blast” writing the dialogue for this absurd thriller and trying to make sense of the jigsaw puzzle of images Doherty had left (Doherty himself could no longer remember the plot). Using the sort of emotionally charged dialogue for which Doherty was known, Sinclair does a fine job of recreating the Apar style – a lot of colorful language and simple-minded plot explanations. The story involves a character known as Bob the (Soter), out for revenge against detective Jason Rogers (Doherty), who arrested his brother years before. There’s a lot of great action, leading off with a ridiculous precredits scene in which Rogers and Bob fire off rounds of ammunition at each other without connecting once, and there are also three women (four if you count the uncredited Marina Saly in a truly bizarre part), all of whom are abused in one way or another by Rogers, a nutcase with a badge. Alan Saly, nearly unrecognizable in a character part, has a memorable turn as Rogers’ chief, “The Big Guy.”

Duration : 0:9:8

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Directed by Christian Doherty. Filmed: 1973/Completed: 2008
With Christian Doherty, Tom Soter, Leslie Smith, Kathy Kramer, and Alan Saly as “The Big Guy”
Filmed and edited in 1973, this late Doherty gem sat unfinished until 2008 when, at the instigation of Apar archivist Tom Soter, Tom Sinclair provided a scriptful of words to match the silent action that occurs on screen. Sinclair, who actually created the hero of this movie, Jason Rogers, in a series of short stories in the 1970s, said he “had a blast” writing the dialogue for this absurd thriller and trying to make sense of the jigsaw puzzle of images Doherty had left (Doherty himself could no longer remember the plot). Using the sort of emotionally charged dialogue for which Doherty was known, Sinclair does a fine job of recreating the Apar style – a lot of colorful language and simple-minded plot explanations. The story involves a character known as Bob the (Soter), out for revenge against detective Jason Rogers (Doherty), who arrested his brother years before. There’s a lot of great action, leading off with a ridiculous precredits scene in which Rogers and Bob fire off rounds of ammunition at each other without connecting once, and there are also three women (four if you count the uncredited Marina Saly in a truly bizarre part), all of whom are abused in one way or another by Rogers, a nutcase with a badge. Alan Saly, nearly unrecognizable in a character part, has a memorable turn as Rogers’ chief, “The Big Guy.”

Duration : 0:6:34

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