Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
James William Guercio, the record producer who discovered and nurtured such acts as Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago directed exactly one film, Electra Glide in Blue.
Best known as a pop music producer and owner of Caribou Ranch recording studios outside of Nederland, Colorado, Guercio produced and directed this western on motorcycles as a sort of great American novel on film. Personally, I'm a sucker for these films from the American New Wave. But this isn't Easy Rider, where the younger generation condemns and threatens societal institutions. Electra Glide in Blue is a far more nuanced examination of the definition of success and the American Dream.
Robert Blake is brilliantly cast as a short-statured motorcycle cop in rural Arizona with ambitions of making detective. And Jeannine Riley (of Petticoat Junction fame) gives a moving performance as an aging starlet.
Conrad Hall's cinematography captures the desolate beauty of Monument Valley. Most of the band Chicago play smaller roles as hippies, and an eagle-eyed observer can even catch a young Nick Nolte in the background of some scenes.