Lolly-Madonna XXX
Tags: revenge, prank, murder, violence, flashback

Plot synopsis:
This isn't perfect - I'm doing this from memory. But 'til now, there was no synopsis at all.The movie revolves around a minor feud between the Feather and Gutshall families. They dispute ownership of a small plot of land.As a prank and to provoke the Feathers, two of the Gustshall brothers forge a romantic postcard to themselves, from a fictitious girl named "Lolly Madonna." The postcard ends "Lolly Madonna XXX" (XXX meaning kisses).The Feathers find the postcard and decide to kidnap the girl to provoke the Gutshalls. They find a pretty girl, a stranger to the mountain, at a bus stop. The Feather brothers presume she's "Lolly." The girl says her real name is Roonie Gill, but the Feathers don't believe her and kidnap her anyway.Pap (Robert Ryan) decides to save Roonie ("Lolly"), even though he doesn't know her. The two families have minor skirmishes, but each one escalates.The Feathers steal a pig from the Gutshalls, partly as a prank. Sister E Gutshall comes to get the pig back, and seems also to want to visit with Hawk feather, on whom she has a crush. She watches as Hawk, a hopeful country singer, singing and performs as he fantasizes he's on stage.Sister E taunts Hawk, who chases her. He catches her and they start to make out. (I think) Skylar wants to join in, but Sister E resists. Both brothers end up raping Sister E. She goes home to her mom and dad crying. This further enrages the parents against the Feather family.Two Feather sons and their father, Laban, stake the stolen pig out where Pap Gutshall can see it. They threaten to shoot it if Laban doesn't give them title to some disputed land between them. The argument escalates and the Feathers set fire to the grass around the pig. Roonie attempts to rescue the pig, but can't. Pap shoots the pig to put it out of its misery in the fire.Fuming for revenge, Pap has Ludie, his overactive son, and Villum his Vietnam-vet son start an attack on the Feather house.Inside the Feather house, it appears there's a dark secret which has torn the family apart. Laban hates his son Thrush, who goads Laban into beating him up. Through flashbacks during the beating, we see that the two families were once close friends, bonded through the marriage of Zack (Jeff Bridges) and the daughter of Pap. Thrush was good with horses and trained the horse Pap's daughter loved. I found it odd that Zack was the only non-bird named son in the Feather family. Even the mom is named "Chickie."In the flashback, we see there was once love and happiness in the family. It all ended with a tragic accident, in which Zack's wife, who is also Pap Gutshall's daughter, fell off a horse and was killed. Laban kills all the horses including the "guilty" one, and forever blames Thrush, who trained them all. We see at the end of the flashback that Laban has beaten Thrush to death.Meanwhile, Pap's son Zeb (Gary Busey) has come to make peace and is held hostage instead. It's apparent that Laban is losing his mind and the violence will escalate even further out of control.Skylar Feather decides this is all too much. The only way to live is to escape. He offers to take Roonie away to safety, but sees she and Zack are obviously in love. He leaves on his own. Ludie and Villum see the truck. Villum uses his sniper rifle to kill Skylar just as he drives off the property.Ludie and Villum set up a siege of the Feather house. There is gunfire between them and those inside. Hawk is fatally injured. He makes a last stand on the porch, wearing his on-stage jacket. Hawk is hoping to go out in style and perhaps end the battle. Villum shoots Hawk again. As he dies he has one final on-stage fantasy.Laban finally retreats into total insanity. Zack banishes him to his room, where he prepares sandwiches of ketchup and mayonnaise.In revenge for the killing of Hawk, Chickie Feather shoots and kills the hostage Zeb. Now, they have no cards to play and have to battle it out to the end.Ludie attacks the Feather house with egg "grenades" and Zack shoots him. Villum makes an angry charge and is also shot to death.Pap sadly walks back to his home, childless. His wife retreats to her room. It's obvious she is disgusted with this "war" and has no more respect or love for Pap.I believe Finch, the retarded Feather son, is still alive at the end. Chickie is left with him and the insane Laban. It appears that Zack and Roonie will leave the battle-scarred mountain and start a better life together somewhere else.That's the best I remember how it ends. Like Vietnam, there were no winners, except maybe those who ran off (to Canada, in the US case).Hope this has been helpful. It should be close to accurate. Feel free to improve upon it. My memory isn't what it used to be!YouTube has a behind the scenes video of this movie:(add " /watch?v=JabMYjwYO7c " to the their URL)Sister E. Gutshall (I have no idea what the E stands for) is still alive at the end, but she is shown taking off suitcase in hand too. Also, it wasn't Hawk she was in love with. It was Skylar. It was really a good movie, but the ending was so sad.

Review: Two rustic families, headed by patriarchs Laban Feather (Rod Steiger)and Pap Gutshall (Robert Ryan), begin a feud.
One such trick gives the Feather boys the idea to kidnap a girl, who turns out to be innocent bystander Roonie, not the made-up girlfriend named Lolly Madonna.
As events escalate, Jeff Bridges' character, Zack Feather, and Roonie fall in love and try to bring the others to their senses.
What Roonie doesn't know is that Zack has a dark secret, which will explain why there is much real pain between the two families that once were close friends.The plot really pushes forward in this movie, which I believe is in part an allegory for the mindlessness of war in general, and for Vietnam in particular (the Paris Peace Talks were about to start when the movie was released).
The touching performances make you feel for and care about every character, from wannabe "Elvis" Hawk Feather (Ed Lauter) and his sensitive brother, Thrush Feather (Scott Wilson), both patriarchs, each with a different cross to bear, to the patient, wise, quietly suffering matriarchs (Tresa Hughes and Katherine Squire).
Relative newcomers Jeff Bridges, Gary Busey and Season Hubley bring focus and hope to the film.
Even the simple melodic score is perfect, coming forward at just the right time."Lolly-Madonna XXX" brings tears to my eyes every time I see it...
This is a movie I, like many others, caught on late night TV.
Being a long-time Jeff Bridges fan, I thought I would give this a whirl when it showed up on TBS back in the 80's.
Scott Wilson, Randy Quaid, Ed Lauter, Keil Martin and 70's staple Paul Koslo all add to the richness of this flick.
I too saw Lolly Madonna XXX very late one night 20 years ago.
I am now 41 years old and still haunted by this film.
When I saw this movie at 21 years of age, I was very disturbed by it - the way these families lived, the misunderstanding and violence between the families, the misunderstanding and violence within each family itself -it was overwhelming.
However, to this day, I consider this to be the best film I have ever seen.
I judge a movie based on the ability it has to make me really FEEL - and Lolly Madonna did that for me like no other film ever has!!
I was fortunate enough to have caught this a second time about 15 years ago on the late, late movie (from the beginning) and was able to video tape it.
I saw this movie on TCM late at night (must be around 2 AM) when I was channel surfing.
But once you see established names like Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges, Randy Quaid, Scott Wilson, Ed Lauter and Gary Busey, you know you are wrong.Though not everybody's cup of tea, Lolly Madonna XXX is a surprise treat - one of those movies that surprise you just when you think you know whats going to happen next or assume nothings going to happen at all.
With terrific performances especially by Ed Lauter, a(very thin looking)Randy Quaid and a very young Jeff Bridges besides a beautiful score thats just right,this is a movie you shouldn't miss..
I can't tell you how many years ago I saw this movie late night on some local station.
The only thing I can tell you is that it has stayed with me for years, haunted me and I can't say why.I'm from Tennessee, so that part may resonate with me, although I'm not from the back hills of the state.I remember how cute Season Hubley and Jeff Bridges were.I don't remember much about the music, but perhaps it wormed itself into my mind.Nope, no particular reason for it, and I've only seen it once..
Robert Ryan (wonderful actor since the 40's) and Rod Steiger (more restrained than usual) are the patriarchs of two rural hillbilly families with an innocent girl standing between them.Jeff Bridges, Scott Wilson, Gary Busey, and Randy Quaid are some of their brood that puts this slightly above the usual drive-in fare.
At that point the Feathers family appears to be only a few generations of inbreeding away from moving down to Texas to make lampshades out of human skin and chase Marilyn Burns with a buzzing chainsaw.Then, as the two feuding families headed by patriarchs Rod Steiger and Robert Ryan begin to spar about stolen hogs and a postcard written to one Lolly-Madonna and a grassy meadow that at one time belonged to one or the other family, something begins to change like a dark cloud passes over the movie.
It's about the creeping realization of a broken life muttering to itself late at night on a rocking chair by the window that "it's too late", that it's too late not for killing and dying but for even words.It's about something that happened long ago which can't be made right again, and it has something to do with a son who never came back from the war, about brothers who can never measure up to that son who never came back from the war because they stayed behind, about a dead wife who was more important to the father-in-law than the son who lost her, that much more important that the father-in-law had to sacrifice that which was the most important thing in the life of the other son (the one who never amounted much for anything) to repudiate the killing.
It's about bitter regret pain and anguish gnawing at the insides and then the grassy meadow is set on fire and the two families meet for a standoff outside the old rundown Feathers home, once probably elegant with wealth happiness and good fortune.In the end, the look on Rod Steiger's eyes turns from anger and sadness to complete madness and Sarafian gives us freeze frames of the main characters that look like portraits of despair, the colors are drained out and the movie turns sepia yellowish as if in memory of something lost, of that small insubstantial detail that involved horses and the dead wife that was the result not of practical design or coincidence but of the pure blind chance of the cointoss that forever changed the lives of two families.
Or like William Faulkner would say, between grief and nothing, Lolly-Madonna XXX will choose grief..
This viewer had been wanting to see this little movie for years.
Not only does it have a strong cast of veterans and then up-and-coming young stars, but it sounded like fun.
Sarafian (of "Vanishing Point" fame).Rod Steiger and Robert Ryan (the latter in one of his final film roles) play Laban and Pap, the patriarchs of the Feather and Gutshall families.
The title comes from a phony postcard, signed by a made-up woman, "Lolly-Madonna", designed to get one family to abandon their still.
This leads the Feathers to kidnap a young traveller (Season Hubley) who they are convinced must be this "Lolly- Madonna".It's interesting to note that this was an early credit for the famed author Sue Grafton, who also wrote the screenplay with producer Rodney Carr-Smith.
And what a supporting cast: Jeff Bridges, Scott Wilson, Timothy Scott, Kiel Martin, Ed Lauter, Randy Quaid, Gary Busey, Paul Koslo.
Bridges plays Labans' son Zack, and as he and Hubley make a connection, you realize that they're the biggest hope for some semblance of sanity and reason in this story.
Still, it's hard to deny the somber feeling of inevitability to everything here.The rough, grainy look is actually appropriate for the mood, and Fred Myrow contributes a very affecting music score.This is an intriguing, now somewhat obscure, movie deserving of another look.Eight out of 10..
Lolly-Madonna XXX is one of the exceptions.
I first saw it about 15 years after its release on late-night TV, and was very surprised at the way the plot held my interest, and the absence of even a slight awkwardness in any of the performances, given the potential for some of them to be taken over the top.
I wish it were available on tape or DVD so I could choose the times to watch it, and not have to wait for it to show up on late-night TV, whenever someone decides to run it..
I wish this movie was available on VHS or DVD..
Two rustic families controlled by fathers (Rod Steiger) and (Robert Ryan), provide for some excellent acting.
Not to mention Jeff Bridges, Randy Quaid, Ed Lauter, and Gary Busey.
Then there is Season Hubley making her movie debut, what a looker in her time.
Lolly-Madonna XXX, you just can not go wrong with this all star cast.
The cast alone makes viewing this multiple title film worthwhile.
Scott Wilson, Ed Lauter, Jeff Bridges, and Season Hubley, really carry the film, with top billed Rod Steiger and Robert Ryan more in the background.
Like a number of movies from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that were made in the first half of the 1970s, "Lolly-Madonna XXX" was hard to see for many years until quite recently.
I'd always been curious about it, so when it popped up on Turner Classic Movies one night, I was sure to record it and subsequently watch it.
After seeing it, I think I can understand why the movie was held back for so long.
It is well acted, both by established stars Steiger and Ryan, as well as by the members of the cast who hadn't become stars yet.
The movie feels authentic; you really get a taste of what run down and poverty-stricken life the characters live.
But as it is, the movie will probably only appeal to film buffs with interest in the cast as well as with major studio movies that are obscure..
Here a dispute over a lovely Tennessee meadow escalates tragically into a shooting war between two patriarchal families that devastates both clans.
Tragically, neither patriarch (Steiger nor Ryan) exercises the kind of leadership to head off the calamitous results.
Thus headstrong elements are allowed to operate at gut level instead of anything reasoned, producing tragic results.Frankly, I'm not sure whether I liked the film or not.
And judging from the dilapidated shacks, their time would be better spent fixing up where they dwell instead of taking each other down.On the movie's downside is the choppy editing that at times makes the storyline hard to follow, especially when the scene shifts from one clan to the other.
Anyway, Steiger is uncharacteristically restrained, while Ryan doesn't get the screen time his talent deserves.
At the same time, a lot of younger talent does get a chance to shine.All in all, I guess I respect the movie more than I liked it, its moral certainly meriting that kind of consideration..
i saw this movie in the early 70's aboard a submarine (ssn669) and since we had it on board for a month or more i was able to see it several times.
i fell in love with the movie in general but also with two things, the soundtrack by Michael Legrande was fanastic!!!!
i would love to know where to buy a copy of this as i'm not a fan of late night TV and i (gasp) don't have cable.
One is run by Rod Steiger, the other by Robert Ryan.
Things quickly escalate and it all ends tragically.This has a great cast--aside from Steiger and Ryan we have Jeff Bridges, Ed Lauter, Randy Quaid, Gary Busey and Season Hubley (a great actress who starred in many B movies well into the 1990s).
However despite all the good acting this movie never really works.
DVD of Lolly Madonna War at amazon.com.
Regarding the DVD version of Lolly Madonna War: I happened to see that the DVD version is for sale on amazon.com (United States).
To find it, type in Lolly Madonna War in search box.
I love this movie.
I saw this movie late at night when I was about thirteen, and loved it.
I am now forty years old and took the time to look this movie up on IMDB, so it seems to have made an impression.
I have always been a fan of Season Hubley and enjoyed the relationship that developed between her character and the Jeff Bridges character.
I would love to see this movie come out on VHS or DVD as well..
Watched it several times.If I would have known then what I know now, I would have kept it period.I have seen it on late night tube but not for years there either and it was seriously cut, cut=slaughtered.
Impressive acting by Steiger and Ryan.
I've only seen this movie 1 1/2 times.
I caught the end half of the movie decades ago on AMC when they didn't have commercials.
From that time on I watched for the movie to come on again, and finally I saw the whole picture so now I understand the plot better and was even more impressed.
A few times I saw a film short on the making of Lolly Madonna (xxx), but no movie.
This movie got me interested in Ryan and Steiger movies and since TCM I usually watch that channel 90% of time so I have come to really appreciate their catalog of movies.
I think perhaps the name with a triple X tacked on end is reason why movie is not shown or well known.
Had I see the listing for it I would not have even watched the movie the first time.
It should use it's less known name, the Lolly Madonna War..
I also saw this on the late night movie channels a few times and then when VHS & DVD became common I tried to get a copy for my collection and found that it is not been released ever !!!
What is with that ???...So I checked Amazon every month and other sites but no luck at all...Then a friend said they might possibly get it for me but it would be $50 or so...I said go ahead and 2 weeks later I got a copy on DVD that has been recorded from TCM and is a 5 in quality (scale of 1 to 10) and I could not have been happier to see this wonderful film again !!!
a great "family feuding" kind of movie, yet with a very "touching" scenario...still one of my favorite movie memories of the 70's!.
I was a runaway at 17, and after seeing this movie, I was so very grateful that I did NOT end up in a situation like Miss Hubley's character (Lolly).
I would love to see this movie re-released, especially in this "cyber" world...maybe an "education" can be achieved by some viewers.
This film is also notable as an early appearance for Randy Quaid -  I don't know if it came before or after The Last Detail, but for me it should have made his name in the business..
Lolly Madonna XXX - RARE & INTENSE Flawed Film.
Lolly Madonna XXX was released in 1973 with an all star cast with direction by Richard Sarafin....this juicy film has been a lost movie since that time as it was never released on VHS, laser disk, DVD or pal in the U.K.....I finally watched a treasured print today 1/19/2014 and it certainly was not boring.
One thing to remember is that the title actually refers to a signature written at the end of a letter and should be read as: Lolly Madonna Kiss Kiss Kiss.
The movie appears to be a metaphor for the futility of war and the waste of precious lives over petty feuds.
Though this film is about a hillbilly Hatfield/McCoy type feud it seems to be eluding to the Vietnam War going on at that time.
What we have here is a poorly written violent film with an all star cast and riveting action!
Rod Steiger is the tough and crazed Daddy of the Feather family and his nemesis is Robert Ryan aka Pap Gutshall of the Gutshall clan.
If you like plenty of southern good-ole-boy characters and a chance to see Jeff Bridges, Gary Busey & Randy Quaid very early in their careers then this is the film for you.
These issues could be overlooked by the fine acting as Steiger verses Ryan is pretty wild to see and the talented supporting cast does good work...if only the film was not so depressing.
The famous Hatfield/McCoy feud this film stylizes, is true, FYI.The director --Richard Sarafian--is not a famous name.
And Sarafian also has one of the best ensemble casts ever, to play with: Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger, Jeff Bridges, Ed Lauter, Garey Busey, Randy Quaid, Scott Wilson, Season Hubley.
You haven't seen a cast like that outside of "The Long Riders".The story, two hick families warring over a contested meadow; has some wonderful moments.
Season Hubley (remember her in 'Hardcore'?) is the perfect waif for this film (she's hitch-hiking through and gets snatched by one of the families) but for the focal point of the movie there's not a lot of impact which stems from her presence.
The chance to see a sweating, grizzled, Robert Ryan and slovenly, brooding, Rod Steiger as characters nursing a huge hatred for each other is a helluva treat.
There's strong work from everybody in the film and even one awesome laugh-out-loud moment.What I found very interesting reading the IMDb page for the movie is that the screenplay is by none other than Sue Grafton.
I didn't know she was writing screenplays in the early 70s.Lolly Madonna XXX: worth a look!.
Rod Steiger is the grizzled patriarch of one family, Robert Ryan is the "principled" head of the other.
Steiger and Ryan are, as expected, excellent, but it's the cast of newcomers playing the sons that steal the movie.
Scott Wilson, Jeff Bridges, Gary Busey, Randy Quaid and especially Kiel Martin are outstanding.
The great underutilized Season Hubley plays the title role (or does she?).