52 PickUp

In 1986, John Frankenheimer the director of The Manchurian Candidate, Seconds and French Connection II made the unlikely career move of working with schlockmeisters Cannon Films. Adapting Elmore Leonard s novel of the same name, 52 Pick-Up s union brought about the perfect blend of high calibre thrills and Cannon-grade trash.Roy Scheider (Jaws, Cohen and Tate) plays a successful businessman whose life quickly falls apart when a compromising videotape of him and his mistress (Kelly Preston) becomes a tool for blackmail. Unable to go to the police without compromising the political career of his wife (Ann-Margret), he must take things into his own hands and delve into a world of drugs, sleaze, pornography and snuff.Co-starring Prince protégé Vanity and John Glover (who was described as the best, most reprehensible villain of the year by Roger Ebert), and featuring a host of cameos from the stars of the Silver Age of Porn , 52 Pick-Up has been described by Leonard as his favourite big-screen adaptation of his works.