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Society says, 'Cannonball!' By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland resident and retired, semi-famous movie star Jack Elam will be honored at the next meeting of the Bad Film Society with a showing of the 1994 film Cannonball Run II and clips from other Elam movies. "For film buffs, Jack Elam is a national treasure," Society spokesman Ed Polish said. "I met Jack because we are both members of the Ashland Elks Lodge. When I mentioned to him that I was going to show Cannonball Run II, he said, 'Why do you want to show that piece of crap?'" Burt Reynolds put out some of the worst films ever to be seen by human eyes, according to Polish. "But Cannonball Run II takes the cake," he said. "Clearly, Burt Reynolds had made some pact with the devil, and the devil came in the form of Dom DeLuise burning up the screen as Captain Chaos. The sheer number of washed up actors and actresses parading around, driving at high speeds and the ridiculous stunts gives the film a surrealism that almost makes it a commentary on pop-art culture." Tony Danza makes an appearance with a rowdy ape, Shirley MacLaine and Marilu Henner as nuns, Jamie Farr as an Arab oil sheik, Jim Nabors, Ricardo Montalban, Sid Caesar, Charles Nelson Reilly, Telly Savalas, Susan Anton and Catherine Bach and many others hamming it up in a film Polish equates with a tacky home movie. The film also earns a footnote in film history for containing not only one of the first English-speaking performances of martial-arts star Jackie Chan, but also for featuring the last on-screen teaming of the three seminal Rat Pack members, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin - his last screen appearance, according to Polish. "This film is a bizarre hoot!" Polish said. There will also be another episode of the 1951 serial "Radar Men from the Moon." The next meeting of the Bad Film Society will be at 6 p.m. Sunday downstairs at the Ashland Elks. There will be a pot luck dinner before the feature. The entrance to the Ashland Elks is on Will Dodge Way, the alley between East Main and Lithia Way and First and Second streets. The private Elks parking lot will be open for society use, and Polish is asking for a $2 minimum donation to cover the room rental and for supplies. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -