Targets (1968)

Byron Orlok: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'd like to leave you with a little story to think about as you drive home... through the darkness... Once upon a time, many, many years ago, a rich merchant in Baghdad sent his servant to the marketplace to buy provisions... and after a while the servant came back, white-faced and trembling, and said, 'Master, when I was in the marketplace, I was jostled by a woman in the crowd, and I turned to look, and I saw that it was Death that jostled me. And she looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Oh, master, please, lend me your horse, that I may ride away from this city and escape my fate. I will ride to Samarra and Death will not find me there.' So the merchant loaned him the horse and the servant mounted it, and dug his spurs into its flank, and as fast as the horse could gallop he rode towards Samarra. Then the merchant went to the market-place and he saw Death standing in the crowd and he said to her, 'Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?' And Death said, 'I made no threatening gesture - that was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him here in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight... in Samarra.'

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Kip Larkin, Dejay: OK, groovy, groovy. Now, um, somebody announces me on the PA, uh, laddies and janes, papas and mamas, here's your boss dis daddy, the winner spinner with the sounds around, Kip the Hip Larkin, le-e-t's hearken Larkin...
Sammy Michaels: All right then, after you finish plugging your show you introduce Mr. Orlok and we can get on with it.
Kip Larkin, Dejay: No plugs, not Kip the Hip, I am just gonna tell 'em what a big thrill this is for me, and that's no put-on. When I was a kid, Mr. O., I musta dug your flicks four zillion times. You blew my mind.
Byron Orlok: Obviously.

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Jenny: You really are in a foul mood.
Byron Orlok: Not at all. I'm just tired of your baleful looks.

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Shot in 22 days and completed in December 1967 (copyright 1967). Due to its controversial nature, Paramount only released it after inserting a written prologue denouncing gun violence. Fortunately, Boris Karloff lived long enough to view the completed film as well as enjoy the accolades he deserved for his performance.
Roger Corman told Peter Bogdanovich he could make any film he wanted to, with two conditions: he had to use stock footage from The Terror, and he had to hire Boris Karloff for two days (Karloff was under contract and owed Corman those two days). Karloff was so impressed with the script that he refused pay for any shooting time over his contracted two days. He worked for a total of five days on the movie.
Drive-in scenes were shot at the since-closed Reseda Drive-In Theatre in Reseda, CA, as clearly shown on the marquee and screen tower. Early in the movie, the Sepulveda Drive-In in Van Nuys is briefly shown in the background as Bobby drives down the highway. On the DVD commentary, Peter Bogdanovich incorrectly credits this as being the Reseda Drive-In.
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