The recent documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films focused on the prolific, ill-fated 1980s production outfit Cannon Films, whose moguls Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus bankrolled numerous schlock-exploitation and bandwagon-jumping movies until the inevitable flameout. But Cannon did do the occasional quality drama—it's just not as entertaining to talk about them. Exhibit A: the post-WWII Maria's Lovers, a respectable, grownup (if slightly moribund) Americana drama done for Cannon by Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky.
In a blue-collar Pennsylvania town with a Yugoslav-emigre enclave, local youth Ivan (John Savage) gets a hero's welcome after surviving an Imperial Japanese POW camp. Ivan intends to marry his childhood sweetheart, Maria Bosic (Nastassja Kinski), and she accepts. But the fact is that pretty Maria has plenty of other beaus. Ivan's wartime trauma (and perhaps jealousy) renders him impotent in bed with Maria, though he can perform successfully with the town tramp (dancer-actress Anita Morris, so pneumatic the top buttons of her blouse pop off).
The marriage suffers, with Maria, working as a nurse, witnessing the postwar baby boom among peers. Yet Ivan claims to adore her—but other circling males around the lonesome bride include Ivan's close friend and fellow vet Al (Vincent Spano) and a traveling troubadour (Keith Carradine). Who will end up being Maria's lover?
Four screenwriters are credited (including author/playwright Paul Zindel), with results understandably mixed. The cast is certainly spectacular, featuring supporting bits by Robert Mitchum (bravely taking on the Eastern European accent that Nastassia Kinski comes by more naturally), Bud Cort, Karen Young, and a young, charismatic John Goodman. Despite themes of adultery and sex, eroticism/nudity is on the milder side (especially compared to Cannon's other, more downmarket catalog), and the 1940s-period atmosphere is Hollywood-handsomely done.
Extras on Kino Lorber's release include fond reminiscences in interviews with actors Savage and Spano. Savage compares Andrei Konchalovsky to St. Francis of Assisi. Will this mildly John O'Hara-esque meller perform the miracle of mending Cannon's reputation for posterity? Not really, but it's a strong optional purchase for drama and erotic library shelves, Nastassja watchers, and Mitchum completists.
Discover more titles for your film collection in our list of romance movies.