A drifter in his 20s, having just walked 10 miles through the desert, comes upon a diner/filling station and helps himself to the water pump; the diner's proprietress, an older woman--possibly mad--welcomes the young man in believing him to be her long-lost son Rocky, a volatile kid who apparently left his mother and sister four years ago after a family row. Unpredictable bughouse melodrama, a French-Italian co-production shot in the Canary Islands, which lends to the story's netherworld atmosphere. Well-directed by Georges Lautner, who also co-adapted the screenplay with Jack Miller and Pascal Jardin, from the novel "Sur la Route de Salina" by Maurice Cury. Bernard Gerard's dramatic music cues contribute greatly to the queasily mounting suspense, although the celebrated rock music which blankets most of the film (by artists Christophe and Clinic) dates the movie more than anything else. A terrific performance by Rita Hayworth in the last act of her career is just one of the many surprises to be found here. Unusual and thrilling. *** from ****

After seeing the IMDb rating and reading a few reviews I had high hopes for ROAD TO SALINA but unfortunately the Road To Salina heads south pretty fast. The story and dialog are the weakest link. The plot itself sounds interesting : A young drifter appears and is taken in by a strange family as a long lost son.. throw in some incest, a mystery, a very hot and often nude Mimsy Farmer, and Rita Hayworth.. How bad could it be?Pretty Bad..The nudity is not erotic. The execution of the story is dull and there is no real drama. The acting & cinema photography is mediocre. Perhaps, it was artsy & cool back in the early 1970's but now it's only function is as a sleep aid. The best thing about this movie is the music soundtrack and for that reason alone I give it 2 stars but otherwise I'm Out.

Georges Lautner is far from being an accursed director:his career is full of these comedies "à la française " the likes of "la grande sauterelle", "les tontons flingueurs" "ne nous fâchons pas" which are not exactly what we call artistic ambitions.But there are exceptions: at least three of his works are worthy of investigation:the first one is "le septième juré " in the early sixties ,a mesmerizing study of a bourgeois's psychopathology ,masterfully portrayed by Bernard Blier;in the late eighties ,he made a stunning return to rural melodrama with "la maison assassinée" ,an unfairly overlooked movie.The third one is "la route de Salina".First of all,the cast is amazing:Rita Hayworth directed by a Froggy!And ,most amazing thing,she portrays a mad woman :it was to be one of her last parts ;soon she was to get Alzheimer's .Robert Walker jr,Jennifer Jones 's son, plays a young man whom she mistakes for her own son;beautiful Mimsy Farmer is his so-called sister,with whom he soon has a love affair.More a psychological drama than a detective story,and despite several steamy love scenes ,it's a rather austere and slow-moving story.What seems dated today is just that :the hippie side,swimming in the nude (probably inspired by Schroeder's "more" (1969) which features Farmer as well),a soundtrack made up of hip pop music (Jethro Tull 's "bourrée").But what remains is intriguing,often spellbinding and would deserve a better rating.Lautner succeeded in creating a sultry atmosphere,turning to good account his offbeat cast,including Ed Beagley as a good-natured neighbor.The characters' psychology is more complex than it appears at first sight,particularly Billie's (Farmer).We soon discover she's as crazy as her mother .The story is told by the hero,and is a long flashback . "La route de Salina" was not really a blockbuster for Lautner who would be soon returning to his favorite "style" ("Il était une fois un flic",1972)

***SLIGHT SPOILERS** Granted, I haven't seen this peculiar oddity in the 31-years since it was given a quick American release by Avco-Embassy, who quickly yanked it into apparent oblivion. After 31 years, "Road to Salina" still haunts me with its ravishing, anamorphic cinematography, weird plot, and the astoundingly raw performances by Rita Hayworth (in her next-to-last role, the Sex Goddess of the 1940s looks ravaged, but still astoundingly sexy); Robert Walker Jr.(the image of his talented late father. Walker Jr. was an uncanny replica of his dad, and a a terrific actor in his own right--so where is he now?), and the glorious Mimsy Farmer (the blonde sexpot who lusted after James MacArthur in "Spencer's Mountain," wisely then headed for Rome, where she was typecast as '70s Eurotrash--and wbatever happened to HER? The plot, as I recall, takes place at a desolate Mexican/bordertown/motel, where drifter Walker shows up and is immediately hired by its owner, Ms. Hayworth, who is convinced the sexy stranger is her long-lost son. No problem for nympho Mimsy, who, after drooling over him in the outdoor shower, quickly introduces him to the joys of skinny-dipping (a bold display of frontal nudity; no big deal in the early '70s, now a cause for alarm for the increasingly blue-nosed MPAA_ and rollicking in the altogether in her boudoir. Ed Begley Sr. portrays Hayworth's queasy-geezer companion, and the scene of them doing the frug is a mind-blower! Seething with an undercurrent of carnal desire, plus the appearance of Bruce Pecheur (another handsome traveler who checks into this cursed roadhouse--and is brutally murdered--in the film as in real life two years later). "Road to Salina" is a gorgeously photographed souvenir of '71 (actually 1969, when it was filmed). "Road to Salina" is a hypnotic, dazzlingly photographed, unjustly forgotten (or critically panned) movie of its time. It concluded the careers of two veteran actors (Ms. Hayworth, Ed Begley Sr.), while simultaneously featuring a quartet of talents primed for stardom. Marc Porel whose death in flashbacks nails the real killer (and you will be surprised) died at age 32. "Road to Salina" can easily function as an exercise in morbidity. But enjoy it as audiences did in 1971, and what awaits you is a hypnotic, lusciously-colored, insidious and wickedly mesmerizing psychodrama.The Betamax copy I bought of this film in the late '70s has long since disappeared. High time for a restored, letterboxed version on Cable-TV or DVD. P.S. POSSIBLE SPOILER: If you want to know the identity of the psycho-killer, look no further than Dario Argento's "FOUR FLIES IN GREY VELVET"!